GIT-STATUS(1) Git Manual GIT-STATUS(1)

NAME

git-status - Show the working tree status

SYNOPSIS

git status [<options>] [--] [<pathspec>...]

DESCRIPTION

Displays paths that have differences between the index file and the
current HEAD commit, paths that have differences between the working
tree and the index file, and paths in the working tree that are not
tracked by Git (and are not ignored by gitignore(5)). The first are
what you would commit by running git commit; the second and third are
what you could commit by running git add before running git commit.

OPTIONS

-s, --short
Give the output in the short-format.

-b, --branch
Show the branch and tracking info even in short-format.

--show-stash
Show the number of entries currently stashed away.

--porcelain[=<version>]
Give the output in an easy-to-parse format for scripts. This is
similar to the short output, but will remain stable across Git
versions and regardless of user configuration. See below for
details.

The version parameter is used to specify the format version. This
is optional and defaults to the original version v1 format.

--long
Give the output in the long-format. This is the default.

-v, --verbose
In addition to the names of files that have been changed, also
show the textual changes that are staged to be committed (i.e.,
like the output of git diff --cached). If -v is specified twice,
then also show the changes in the working tree that have not yet
been staged (i.e., like the output of git diff).

-u[<mode>], --untracked-files[=<mode>]
Show untracked files.

The mode parameter is used to specify the handling of untracked
files. It is optional: it defaults to all, and if specified, it
must be stuck to the option (e.g. -uno, but not -u no).

The possible options are:

+o no - Show no untracked files.

+o normal - Shows untracked files and directories.

+o all - Also shows individual files in untracked directories.

When -u option is not used, untracked files and directories are
shown (i.e. the same as specifying normal), to help you avoid
forgetting to add newly created files. Because it takes extra
work to find untracked files in the filesystem, this mode may
take some time in a large working tree. Consider enabling
untracked cache and split index if supported (see git
update-index --untracked-cache and git update-index
--split-index), Otherwise you can use no to have git status
return more quickly without showing untracked files. All usual
spellings for Boolean value true are taken as normal and false as
no.

The default can be changed using the status.showUntrackedFiles
configuration variable documented in git-config(1).

--ignore-submodules[=<when>]
Ignore changes to submodules when looking for changes. <when> can
be either "none", "untracked", "dirty" or "all", which is the
default. Using "none" will consider the submodule modified when
it either contains untracked or modified files or its HEAD
differs from the commit recorded in the superproject and can be
used to override any settings of the ignore option in git-
config(1) or gitmodules(5). When "untracked" is used submodules
are not considered dirty when they only contain untracked content
(but they are still scanned for modified content). Using "dirty"
ignores all changes to the work tree of submodules, only changes
to the commits stored in the superproject are shown (this was the
behavior before 1.7.0). Using "all" hides all changes to
submodules (and suppresses the output of submodule summaries when
the config option status.submoduleSummary is set).

--ignored[=<mode>]
Show ignored files as well.

The mode parameter is used to specify the handling of ignored
files. It is optional: it defaults to traditional.

The possible options are:

+o traditional - Shows ignored files and directories, unless
--untracked-files=all is specified, in which case individual
files in ignored directories are displayed.

+o no - Show no ignored files.

+o matching - Shows ignored files and directories matching an
ignore pattern.

When matching mode is specified, paths that explicitly match an
ignored pattern are shown. If a directory matches an ignore
pattern, then it is shown, but not paths contained in the ignored
directory. If a directory does not match an ignore pattern, but
all contents are ignored, then the directory is not shown, but
all contents are shown.

-z
Terminate entries with NUL, instead of LF. This implies the
--porcelain=v1 output format if no other format is given.

--column[=<options>], --no-column
Display untracked files in columns. See configuration variable
column.status for option syntax. --column and --no-column
without options are equivalent to always and never respectively.

--ahead-behind, --no-ahead-behind
Display or do not display detailed ahead/behind counts for the
branch relative to its upstream branch. Defaults to true.

--renames, --no-renames
Turn on/off rename detection regardless of user configuration.
See also git-diff(1) --no-renames.

--find-renames[=<n>]
Turn on rename detection, optionally setting the similarity
threshold. See also git-diff(1) --find-renames.

<pathspec>...
See the pathspec entry in gitglossary(7).

OUTPUT

The output from this command is designed to be used as a commit
template comment. The default, long format, is designed to be human
readable, verbose and descriptive. Its contents and format are
subject to change at any time.

The paths mentioned in the output, unlike many other Git commands,
are made relative to the current directory if you are working in a
subdirectory (this is on purpose, to help cutting and pasting). See
the status.relativePaths config option below.

Short Format

In the short-format, the status of each path is shown as one of these
forms

XY PATH
XY ORIG_PATH -> PATH

where ORIG_PATH is where the renamed/copied contents came from.
ORIG_PATH is only shown when the entry is renamed or copied. The XY
is a two-letter status code.

The fields (including the ->) are separated from each other by a
single space. If a filename contains whitespace or other nonprintable
characters, that field will be quoted in the manner of a C string
literal: surrounded by ASCII double quote (34) characters, and with
interior special characters backslash-escaped.

There are three different types of states that are shown using this
format, and each one uses the XY syntax differently:

+o When a merge is occurring and the merge was successful, or
outside of a merge situation, X shows the status of the index and
Y shows the status of the working tree.

+o When a merge conflict has occurred and has not yet been resolved,
X and Y show the state introduced by each head of the merge,
relative to the common ancestor. These paths are said to be
unmerged.

+o When a path is untracked, X and Y are always the same, since they
are unknown to the index. ?? is used for untracked paths. Ignored
files are not listed unless --ignored is used; if it is, ignored
files are indicated by !!.

Note that the term merge here also includes rebases using the default
--merge strategy, cherry-picks, and anything else using the merge
machinery.

In the following table, these three classes are shown in separate
sections, and these characters are used for X and Y fields for the
first two sections that show tracked paths:

+o ' ' = unmodified

+o M = modified

+o T = file type changed (regular file, symbolic link or submodule)

+o A = added

+o D = deleted

+o R = renamed

+o C = copied (if config option status.renames is set to "copies")

+o U = updated but unmerged

X Y Meaning
-------------------------------------------------
[AMD] not updated
M [ MTD] updated in index
T [ MTD] type changed in index
A [ MTD] added to index
D deleted from index
R [ MTD] renamed in index
C [ MTD] copied in index
[MTARC] index and work tree matches
[ MTARC] M work tree changed since index
[ MTARC] T type changed in work tree since index
[ MTARC] D deleted in work tree
R renamed in work tree
C copied in work tree
-------------------------------------------------
D D unmerged, both deleted
A U unmerged, added by us
U D unmerged, deleted by them
U A unmerged, added by them
D U unmerged, deleted by us
A A unmerged, both added
U U unmerged, both modified
-------------------------------------------------
? ? untracked
! ! ignored
-------------------------------------------------

Submodules have more state and instead report

+o M = the submodule has a different HEAD than recorded in the index

+o m = the submodule has modified content

+o ? = the submodule has untracked files

This is since modified content or untracked files in a submodule
cannot be added via git add in the superproject to prepare a commit.

m and ? are applied recursively. For example if a nested submodule in
a submodule contains an untracked file, this is reported as ? as
well.

If -b is used the short-format status is preceded by a line

## branchname tracking info

Porcelain Format Version 1
Version 1 porcelain format is similar to the short format, but is
guaranteed not to change in a backwards-incompatible way between Git
versions or based on user configuration. This makes it ideal for
parsing by scripts. The description of the short format above also
describes the porcelain format, with a few exceptions:

1. The user's color.status configuration is not respected; color
will always be off.

2. The user's status.relativePaths configuration is not respected;
paths shown will always be relative to the repository root.

There is also an alternate -z format recommended for machine parsing.
In that format, the status field is the same, but some other things
change. First, the -> is omitted from rename entries and the field
order is reversed (e.g from -> to becomes to from). Second, a NUL
(ASCII 0) follows each filename, replacing space as a field separator
and the terminating newline (but a space still separates the status
field from the first filename). Third, filenames containing special
characters are not specially formatted; no quoting or
backslash-escaping is performed.

Any submodule changes are reported as modified M instead of m or
single ?.

Porcelain Format Version 2
Version 2 format adds more detailed information about the state of
the worktree and changed items. Version 2 also defines an extensible
set of easy to parse optional headers.

Header lines start with "#" and are added in response to specific
command line arguments. Parsers should ignore headers they don't
recognize.

Branch Headers

If --branch is given, a series of header lines are printed with
information about the current branch.

Line Notes
------------------------------------------------------------
# branch.oid <commit> | (initial) Current commit.
# branch.head <branch> | (detached) Current branch.
# branch.upstream <upstream-branch> If upstream is set.
# branch.ab +<ahead> -<behind> If upstream is set and
the commit is present.
------------------------------------------------------------

Stash Information

If --show-stash is given, one line is printed showing the number
of stash entries if non-zero:

# stash <N>

Changed Tracked Entries

Following the headers, a series of lines are printed for tracked
entries. One of three different line formats may be used to
describe an entry depending on the type of change. Tracked
entries are printed in an undefined order; parsers should allow
for a mixture of the 3 line types in any order.

Ordinary changed entries have the following format:

1 <XY> <sub> <mH> <mI> <mW> <hH> <hI> <path>

Renamed or copied entries have the following format:

2 <XY> <sub> <mH> <mI> <mW> <hH> <hI> <X><score> <path><sep><origPath>

Field Meaning
--------------------------------------------------------
<XY> A 2 character field containing the staged and
unstaged XY values described in the short format,
with unchanged indicated by a "." rather than
a space.
<sub> A 4 character field describing the submodule state.
"N..." when the entry is not a submodule.
"S<c><m><u>" when the entry is a submodule.
<c> is "C" if the commit changed; otherwise ".".
<m> is "M" if it has tracked changes; otherwise ".".
<u> is "U" if there are untracked changes; otherwise ".".
<mH> The octal file mode in HEAD.
<mI> The octal file mode in the index.
<mW> The octal file mode in the worktree.
<hH> The object name in HEAD.
<hI> The object name in the index.
<X><score> The rename or copy score (denoting the percentage
of similarity between the source and target of the
move or copy). For example "R100" or "C75".
<path> The pathname. In a renamed/copied entry, this
is the target path.
<sep> When the `-z` option is used, the 2 pathnames are separated
with a NUL (ASCII 0x00) byte; otherwise, a tab (ASCII 0x09)
byte separates them.
<origPath> The pathname in the commit at HEAD or in the index.
This is only present in a renamed/copied entry, and
tells where the renamed/copied contents came from.
--------------------------------------------------------

Unmerged entries have the following format; the first character
is a "u" to distinguish from ordinary changed entries.

u <XY> <sub> <m1> <m2> <m3> <mW> <h1> <h2> <h3> <path>

Field Meaning
--------------------------------------------------------
<XY> A 2 character field describing the conflict type
as described in the short format.
<sub> A 4 character field describing the submodule state
as described above.
<m1> The octal file mode in stage 1.
<m2> The octal file mode in stage 2.
<m3> The octal file mode in stage 3.
<mW> The octal file mode in the worktree.
<h1> The object name in stage 1.
<h2> The object name in stage 2.
<h3> The object name in stage 3.
<path> The pathname.
--------------------------------------------------------

Other Items

Following the tracked entries (and if requested), a series of
lines will be printed for untracked and then ignored items found
in the worktree.

Untracked items have the following format:

? <path>

Ignored items have the following format:

! <path>

Pathname Format Notes and -z

When the -z option is given, pathnames are printed as is and
without any quoting and lines are terminated with a NUL (ASCII
0x00) byte.

Without the -z option, pathnames with "unusual" characters are
quoted as explained for the configuration variable core.quotePath
(see git-config(1)).

CONFIGURATION

The command honors color.status (or status.color -- they mean the
same thing and the latter is kept for backward compatibility) and
color.status.<slot> configuration variables to colorize its output.

If the config variable status.relativePaths is set to false, then all
paths shown are relative to the repository root, not to the current
directory.

If status.submoduleSummary is set to a non zero number or true
(identical to -1 or an unlimited number), the submodule summary will
be enabled for the long format and a summary of commits for modified
submodules will be shown (see --summary-limit option of git-
submodule(1)). Please note that the summary output from the status
command will be suppressed for all submodules when
diff.ignoreSubmodules is set to all or only for those submodules
where submodule.<name>.ignore=all. To also view the summary for
ignored submodules you can either use the --ignore-submodules=dirty
command line option or the git submodule summary command, which shows
a similar output but does not honor these settings.

BACKGROUND REFRESH

By default, git status will automatically refresh the index, updating
the cached stat information from the working tree and writing out the
result. Writing out the updated index is an optimization that isn't
strictly necessary (status computes the values for itself, but
writing them out is just to save subsequent programs from repeating
our computation). When status is run in the background, the lock held
during the write may conflict with other simultaneous processes,
causing them to fail. Scripts running status in the background should
consider using git --no-optional-locks status (see git(1) for
details).

UNTRACKED FILES AND PERFORMANCE

git status can be very slow in large worktrees if/when it needs to
search for untracked files and directories. There are many
configuration options available to speed this up by either avoiding
the work or making use of cached results from previous Git commands.
There is no single optimum set of settings right for everyone. We'll
list a summary of the relevant options to help you, but before going
into the list, you may want to run git status again, because your
configuration may already be caching git status results, so it could
be faster on subsequent runs.

+o The --untracked-files=no flag or the status.showUntrackedFiles=no
config (see above for both): indicate that git status should not
report untracked files. This is the fastest option. git status
will not list the untracked files, so you need to be careful to
remember if you create any new files and manually git add them.

+o advice.statusUoption=false (see git-config(1)): setting this
variable to false disables the warning message given when
enumerating untracked files takes more than 2 seconds. In a large
project, it may take longer and the user may have already
accepted the trade off (e.g. using "-uno" may not be an
acceptable option for the user), in which case, there is no point
issuing the warning message, and in such a case, disabling the
warning may be the best.

+o core.untrackedCache=true (see git-update-index(1)): enable the
untracked cache feature and only search directories that have
been modified since the previous git status command. Git
remembers the set of untracked files within each directory and
assumes that if a directory has not been modified, then the set
of untracked files within has not changed. This is much faster
than enumerating the contents of every directory, but still not
without cost, because Git still has to search for the set of
modified directories. The untracked cache is stored in the
.git/index file. The reduced cost of searching for untracked
files is offset slightly by the increased size of the index and
the cost of keeping it up-to-date. That reduced search time is
usually worth the additional size.

+o core.untrackedCache=true and core.fsmonitor=true or
core.fsmonitor=<hook-command-pathname> (see git-update-index(1)):
enable both the untracked cache and FSMonitor features and only
search directories that have been modified since the previous git
status command. This is faster than using just the untracked
cache alone because Git can also avoid searching for modified
directories. Git only has to enumerate the exact set of
directories that have changed recently. While the FSMonitor
feature can be enabled without the untracked cache, the benefits
are greatly reduced in that case.

Note that after you turn on the untracked cache and/or FSMonitor
features it may take a few git status commands for the various caches
to warm up before you see improved command times. This is normal.

SEE ALSO

gitignore(5)

GIT

Part of the git(1) suite

Git 2.48.1 2025-01-13 GIT-STATUS(1)