git-ls-files(1) — Linux manual page

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | OPTIONS | OUTPUT | FIELD NAMES | EXCLUDE PATTERNS | SEE ALSO | GIT | COLOPHON

GIT-LS-FILES(1)                Git Manual                GIT-LS-FILES(1)

NAME         top

       git-ls-files - Show information about files in the index and the
       working tree

SYNOPSIS         top

       git ls-files [-z] [-t] [-v] [-f]
                       [-c|--cached] [-d|--deleted] [-o|--others] [-i|--ignored]
                       [-s|--stage] [-u|--unmerged] [-k|--killed] [-m|--modified]
                       [--resolve-undo]
                       [--directory [--no-empty-directory]] [--eol]
                       [--deduplicate]
                       [-x <pattern>|--exclude=<pattern>]
                       [-X <file>|--exclude-from=<file>]
                       [--exclude-per-directory=<file>]
                       [--exclude-standard]
                       [--error-unmatch] [--with-tree=<tree-ish>]
                       [--full-name] [--recurse-submodules]
                       [--abbrev[=<n>]] [--format=<format>] [--] [<file>...]

DESCRIPTION         top

       This command merges the file listing in the index with the actual
       working directory list, and shows different combinations of the
       two.

       Several flags can be used to determine which files are shown, and
       each file may be printed multiple times if there are multiple
       entries in the index or if multiple statuses are applicable for
       the relevant file selection options.

OPTIONS         top

       -c, --cached
           Show all files cached in Git’s index, i.e. all tracked files.
           (This is the default if no
           -c/-s/-d/-o/-u/-k/-m/--resolve-undo options are specified.)

       -d, --deleted
           Show files with an unstaged deletion

       -m, --modified
           Show files with an unstaged modification (note that an
           unstaged deletion also counts as an unstaged modification)

       -o, --others
           Show other (i.e. untracked) files in the output

       -i, --ignored
           Show only ignored files in the output. Must be used with
           either an explicit -c or -o. When showing files in the index
           (i.e. when used with -c), print only those files matching an
           exclude pattern. When showing "other" files (i.e. when used
           with -o), show only those matched by an exclude pattern.
           Standard ignore rules are not automatically activated;
           therefore, at least one of the --exclude* options is
           required.

       -s, --stage
           Show staged contents' mode bits, object name and stage number
           in the output.

       --directory
           If a whole directory is classified as "other", show just its
           name (with a trailing slash) and not its whole contents. Has
           no effect without -o/--others.

       --no-empty-directory
           Do not list empty directories. Has no effect without
           --directory.

       -u, --unmerged
           Show information about unmerged files in the output, but do
           not show any other tracked files (forces --stage, overrides
           --cached).

       -k, --killed
           Show untracked files on the filesystem that need to be
           removed due to file/directory conflicts for tracked files to
           be able to be written to the filesystem.

       --resolve-undo
           Show files having resolve-undo information in the index
           together with their resolve-undo information. (resolve-undo
           information is what is used to implement "git checkout -m
           $PATH", i.e. to recreate merge conflicts that were
           accidentally resolved)

       -z
           \0 line termination on output and do not quote filenames. See
           OUTPUT below for more information.

       --deduplicate
           When only filenames are shown, suppress duplicates that may
           come from having multiple stages during a merge, or giving
           --deleted and --modified option at the same time. When any of
           the -t, --unmerged, or --stage option is in use, this option
           has no effect.

       -x <pattern>, --exclude=<pattern>
           Skip untracked files matching pattern. Note that pattern is a
           shell wildcard pattern. See EXCLUDE PATTERNS below for more
           information.

       -X <file>, --exclude-from=<file>
           Read exclude patterns from <file>; 1 per line.

       --exclude-per-directory=<file>
           Read additional exclude patterns that apply only to the
           directory and its subdirectories in <file>. If you are trying
           to emulate the way Porcelain commands work, using the
           --exclude-standard option instead is easier and more
           thorough.

       --exclude-standard
           Add the standard Git exclusions: .git/info/exclude,
           .gitignore in each directory, and the user’s global exclusion
           file.

       --error-unmatch
           If any <file> does not appear in the index, treat this as an
           error (return 1).

       --with-tree=<tree-ish>
           When using --error-unmatch to expand the user supplied <file>
           (i.e. path pattern) arguments to paths, pretend that paths
           which were removed in the index since the named <tree-ish>
           are still present. Using this option with -s or -u options
           does not make any sense.

       -t
           Show status tags together with filenames. Note that for
           scripting purposes, git-status(1) --porcelain and
           git-diff-files(1) --name-status are almost always superior
           alternatives; users should look at git-status(1) --short or
           git-diff(1) --name-status for more user-friendly
           alternatives.

           This option provides a reason for showing each filename, in
           the form of a status tag (which is followed by a space and
           then the filename). The status tags are all single characters
           from the following list:

           H
               tracked file that is not either unmerged or skip-worktree

           S
               tracked file that is skip-worktree

           M
               tracked file that is unmerged

           R
               tracked file with unstaged removal/deletion

           C
               tracked file with unstaged modification/change

           K
               untracked paths which are part of file/directory
               conflicts which prevent checking out tracked files

           ?
               untracked file

           U
               file with resolve-undo information

       -v
           Similar to -t, but use lowercase letters for files that are
           marked as assume unchanged (see git-update-index(1)).

       -f
           Similar to -t, but use lowercase letters for files that are
           marked as fsmonitor valid (see git-update-index(1)).

       --full-name
           When run from a subdirectory, the command usually outputs
           paths relative to the current directory. This option forces
           paths to be output relative to the project top directory.

       --recurse-submodules
           Recursively calls ls-files on each active submodule in the
           repository. Currently there is only support for the --cached
           and --stage modes.

       --abbrev[=<n>]
           Instead of showing the full 40-byte hexadecimal object lines,
           show the shortest prefix that is at least <n> hexdigits long
           that uniquely refers the object. Non default number of digits
           can be specified with --abbrev=<n>.

       --debug
           After each line that describes a file, add more data about
           its cache entry. This is intended to show as much information
           as possible for manual inspection; the exact format may
           change at any time.

       --eol
           Show <eolinfo> and <eolattr> of files. <eolinfo> is the file
           content identification used by Git when the "text" attribute
           is "auto" (or not set and core.autocrlf is not false).
           <eolinfo> is either "-text", "none", "lf", "crlf", "mixed" or
           "".

           "" means the file is not a regular file, it is not in the
           index or not accessible in the working tree.

           <eolattr> is the attribute that is used when checking out or
           committing, it is either "", "-text", "text", "text=auto",
           "text eol=lf", "text eol=crlf". Since Git 2.10 "text=auto
           eol=lf" and "text=auto eol=crlf" are supported.

           Both the <eolinfo> in the index ("i/<eolinfo>") and in the
           working tree ("w/<eolinfo>") are shown for regular files,
           followed by the ("attr/<eolattr>").

       --sparse
           If the index is sparse, show the sparse directories without
           expanding to the contained files. Sparse directories will be
           shown with a trailing slash, such as "x/" for a sparse
           directory "x".

       --format=<format>
           A string that interpolates %(fieldname) from the result being
           shown. It also interpolates %% to %, and %xx where xx are hex
           digits interpolates to character with hex code xx; for
           example %00 interpolates to \0 (NUL), %09 to \t (TAB) and %0a
           to \n (LF). --format cannot be combined with -s, -o, -k, -t,
           --resolve-undo and --eol.

       --
           Do not interpret any more arguments as options.

       <file>
           Files to show. If no files are given all files which match
           the other specified criteria are shown.

OUTPUT         top

       git ls-files just outputs the filenames unless --stage is
       specified in which case it outputs:

           [<tag> ]<mode> <object> <stage> <file>

       git ls-files --eol will show
       i/<eolinfo><SPACES>w/<eolinfo><SPACES>attr/<eolattr><SPACE*><TAB><file>

       git ls-files --unmerged and git ls-files --stage can be used to
       examine detailed information on unmerged paths.

       For an unmerged path, instead of recording a single mode/SHA-1
       pair, the index records up to three such pairs; one from tree O
       in stage 1, A in stage 2, and B in stage 3. This information can
       be used by the user (or the porcelain) to see what should
       eventually be recorded at the path. (see git-read-tree(1) for
       more information on state)

       Without the -z option, pathnames with "unusual" characters are
       quoted as explained for the configuration variable core.quotePath
       (see git-config(1)). Using -z the filename is output verbatim and
       the line is terminated by a NUL byte.

       It is possible to print in a custom format by using the --format
       option, which is able to interpolate different fields using a
       %(fieldname) notation. For example, if you only care about the
       "objectname" and "path" fields, you can execute with a specific
       "--format" like

           git ls-files --format='%(objectname) %(path)'

FIELD NAMES         top

       The way each path is shown can be customized by using the
       --format=<format> option, where the %(fieldname) in the <format>
       string for various aspects of the index entry are interpolated.
       The following "fieldname" are understood:

       objectmode
           The mode of the file which is recorded in the index.

       objecttype
           The object type of the file which is recorded in the index.

       objectname
           The name of the file which is recorded in the index.

       objectsize[:padded]
           The object size of the file which is recorded in the index
           ("-" if the object is a commit or tree). It also supports a
           padded format of size with "%(objectsize:padded)".

       stage
           The stage of the file which is recorded in the index.

       eolinfo:index, eolinfo:worktree
           The <eolinfo> (see the description of the --eol option) of
           the contents in the index or in the worktree for the path.

       eolattr
           The <eolattr> (see the description of the --eol option) that
           applies to the path.

       path
           The pathname of the file which is recorded in the index.

EXCLUDE PATTERNS         top

       git ls-files can use a list of "exclude patterns" when traversing
       the directory tree and finding files to show when the flags
       --others or --ignored are specified. gitignore(5) specifies the
       format of exclude patterns.

       These exclude patterns can be specified from the following
       places, in order:

        1. The command-line flag --exclude=<pattern> specifies a single
           pattern. Patterns are ordered in the same order they appear
           in the command line.

        2. The command-line flag --exclude-from=<file> specifies a file
           containing a list of patterns. Patterns are ordered in the
           same order they appear in the file.

        3. The command-line flag --exclude-per-directory=<name>
           specifies a name of the file in each directory git ls-files
           examines, normally .gitignore. Files in deeper directories
           take precedence. Patterns are ordered in the same order they
           appear in the files.

       A pattern specified on the command line with --exclude or read
       from the file specified with --exclude-from is relative to the
       top of the directory tree. A pattern read from a file specified
       by --exclude-per-directory is relative to the directory that the
       pattern file appears in.

       Generally, you should be able to use --exclude-standard when you
       want the exclude rules applied the same way as what Porcelain
       commands do. To emulate what --exclude-standard specifies, you
       can give --exclude-per-directory=.gitignore, and then specify:

        1. The file specified by the core.excludesfile configuration
           variable, if exists, or the $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/ignore file.

        2. The $GIT_DIR/info/exclude file.

       via the --exclude-from= option.

SEE ALSO         top

       git-read-tree(1), gitignore(5)

GIT         top

       Part of the git(1) suite

COLOPHON         top

       This page is part of the git (Git distributed version control
       system) project.  Information about the project can be found at
       ⟨http://git-scm.com/⟩.  If you have a bug report for this manual
       page, see ⟨http://git-scm.com/community⟩.  This page was obtained
       from the project's upstream Git repository
       ⟨https://github.com/git/git.git⟩ on 2024-06-14.  (At that time,
       the date of the most recent commit that was found in the
       repository was 2024-06-12.)  If you discover any rendering
       problems in this HTML version of the page, or you believe there
       is a better or more up-to-date source for the page, or you have
       corrections or improvements to the information in this COLOPHON
       (which is not part of the original manual page), send a mail to
       [email protected]

Git 2.45.2.492.gd63586         2024-06-12                GIT-LS-FILES(1)

Pages that refer to this page: git(1)git-check-ignore(1)git-merge(1)git-read-tree(1)git-update-index(1)