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+gitcli(7)
+=========
+
+NAME
+----
+gitcli - git command line interface and conventions
+
+SYNOPSIS
+--------
+gitcli
+
+
+DESCRIPTION
+-----------
+
+This manual describes the convention used throughout git CLI.
+
+Many commands take revisions (most often "commits", but sometimes
+"tree-ish", depending on the context and command) and paths as their
+arguments. Here are the rules:
+
+ * Revisions come first and then paths.
+ E.g. in `git diff v1.0 v2.0 arch/x86 include/asm-x86`,
+ `v1.0` and `v2.0` are revisions and `arch/x86` and `include/asm-x86`
+ are paths.
+
+ * When an argument can be misunderstood as either a revision or a path,
+ they can be disambiguated by placing `\--` between them.
+ E.g. `git diff \-- HEAD` is, "I have a file called HEAD in my work
+ tree. Please show changes between the version I staged in the index
+ and what I have in the work tree for that file". not "show difference
+ between the HEAD commit and the work tree as a whole". You can say
+ `git diff HEAD \--` to ask for the latter.
+
+ * Without disambiguating `\--`, git makes a reasonable guess, but errors
+ out and asking you to disambiguate when ambiguous. E.g. if you have a
+ file called HEAD in your work tree, `git diff HEAD` is ambiguous, and
+ you have to say either `git diff HEAD \--` or `git diff \-- HEAD` to
+ disambiguate.
+
+When writing a script that is expected to handle random user-input, it is
+a good practice to make it explicit which arguments are which by placing
+disambiguating `\--` at appropriate places.
+
+Here are the rules regarding the "flags" that you should follow when you are
+scripting git:
+
+ * it's preferred to use the non dashed form of git commands, which means that
+ you should prefer `git foo` to `git-foo`.
+
+ * splitting short options to separate words (prefer `git foo -a -b`
+ to `git foo -ab`, the latter may not even work).
+
+ * when a command line option takes an argument, use the 'sticked' form. In
+ other words, write `git foo -oArg` instead of `git foo -o Arg` for short
+ options, and `git foo --long-opt=Arg` instead of `git foo --long-opt Arg`
+ for long options. An option that takes optional option-argument must be
+ written in the 'sticked' form.
+
+ * when you give a revision parameter to a command, make sure the parameter is
+ not ambiguous with a name of a file in the work tree. E.g. do not write
+ `git log -1 HEAD` but write `git log -1 HEAD --`; the former will not work
+ if you happen to have a file called `HEAD` in the work tree.
+
+
+ENHANCED OPTION PARSER
+----------------------
+From the git 1.5.4 series and further, many git commands (not all of them at the
+time of the writing though) come with an enhanced option parser.
+
+Here is an exhaustive list of the facilities provided by this option parser.
+
+
+Magic Options
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+Commands which have the enhanced option parser activated all understand a
+couple of magic command line options:
+
+-h::
+ gives a pretty printed usage of the command.
++
+---------------------------------------------
+$ git describe -h
+usage: git describe [options] <committish>*
+
+ --contains find the tag that comes after the commit
+ --debug debug search strategy on stderr
+ --all use any ref in .git/refs
+ --tags use any tag in .git/refs/tags
+ --abbrev [<n>] use <n> digits to display SHA-1s
+ --candidates <n> consider <n> most recent tags (default: 10)
+---------------------------------------------
+
+--help-all::
+ Some git commands take options that are only used for plumbing or that
+ are deprecated, and such options are hidden from the default usage. This
+ option gives the full list of options.
+
+
+Negating options
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+Options with long option names can be negated by prefixing `--no-`. For
+example, `git branch` has the option `--track` which is 'on' by default. You
+can use `--no-track` to override that behaviour. The same goes for `--color`
+and `--no-color`.
+
+
+Aggregating short options
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+Commands that support the enhanced option parser allow you to aggregate short
+options. This means that you can for example use `git rm -rf` or
+`git clean -fdx`.
+
+
+Separating argument from the option
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+You can write the mandatory option parameter to an option as a separate
+word on the command line. That means that all the following uses work:
+
+----------------------------
+$ git foo --long-opt=Arg
+$ git foo --long-opt Arg
+$ git foo -oArg
+$ git foo -o Arg
+----------------------------
+
+However, this is *NOT* allowed for switches with an optional value, where the
+'sticked' form must be used:
+----------------------------
+$ git describe --abbrev HEAD # correct
+$ git describe --abbrev=10 HEAD # correct
+$ git describe --abbrev 10 HEAD # NOT WHAT YOU MEANT
+----------------------------
+
+
+NOTES ON FREQUENTLY CONFUSED OPTIONS
+------------------------------------
+
+Many commands that can work on files in the working tree
+and/or in the index can take `--cached` and/or `--index`
+options. Sometimes people incorrectly think that, because
+the index was originally called cache, these two are
+synonyms. They are *not* -- these two options mean very
+different things.
+
+ * The `--cached` option is used to ask a command that
+ usually works on files in the working tree to *only* work
+ with the index. For example, `git grep`, when used
+ without a commit to specify from which commit to look for
+ strings in, usually works on files in the working tree,
+ but with the `--cached` option, it looks for strings in
+ the index.
+
+ * The `--index` option is used to ask a command that
+ usually works on files in the working tree to *also*
+ affect the index. For example, `git stash apply` usually
+ merges changes recorded in a stash to the working tree,
+ but with the `--index` option, it also merges changes to
+ the index as well.
+
+`git apply` command can be used with `--cached` and
+`--index` (but not at the same time). Usually the command
+only affects the files in the working tree, but with
+`--index`, it patches both the files and their index
+entries, and with `--cached`, it modifies only the index
+entries.
+
+See also http://marc.info/?l=git&m=116563135620359 and
+http://marc.info/?l=git&m=119150393620273 for further
+information.
+
+GIT
+---
+Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite