Git Branches

git(1) has a concept of branches, which are concurrent versions of a repository. Each branch is an independent collection of commits, can diverge, and can be systemically reconciled as needed.

Usage

Branch

Use the git branch command to interact with branches in a repository.

To list available branches, try:

# local branches only
git branch

# remote branches only
git branch --remotes

# all branches
git branch --all

To create a new branch, try:

git branch feature-branch

Checkout and Switch

The traditional command for changing branches is git checkout. This command actually has multiple unrelated functionalities, including restoring files.

The new, recommended command is git switch. To demonstrate:

# change branch
git switch main

# create branch and change to it
git switch --create feature-branch

# change to previous branch
git switch -

Renaming Branches

A local branch can be renamed easily.

git branch --move master dev

To rename a remote branch, first follow the above process. Then try:

git push --set-upstream origin dev
git push origin --delete master

If an error like  ! [remote rejected] master (deletion of the current branch prohibited) is thrown, then the remote HEAD needs manual intervention. Edit the remote bare repository's example.git/HEAD file like:

ref: refs/heads/dev

To be clear, valid values for the example.git/HEAD file are the branch references found in example.git/refs/heads/.

Rebasing Forks

Best practice is to manage local changes in a separate branch. This will make it easier to merge upstream commits while maintaining your own.

After fetching or pulling updates, you will be some number of commits behind or ahead (respectively). To throw out local commits, use git reset --hard origin/master.

Then switch to your local branch and begin rebasing it.

          A---B---C feature-branch
         /
    D---E---F---G dev

...to...

                  A'--B'--C' feature-branch
                 /
    D---E---F---G dev

To execute a rebase, try:

git switch feature-branch
git rebase dev

With any luck, there will have been no conflicts and you will be all set.

If there is an issue with a rebase, try:

git reset --hard $COMMIT_PRIOR_TO_REBASE

For example, if the commit prior to a rebase was HEAD@{2}, the correction for a bad rebase would be git reset --hard HEAD@{2}.

See also

git-branch(1)

git-checkout(1)

git-push(1)

git-rebase(1)

git-reset(1)

git-switch(1)

CategoryRicottone