| '\" t |
| .\" Title: git-symbolic-ref |
| .\" Author: [FIXME: author] [see http://www.docbook.org/tdg5/en/html/author] |
| .\" Generator: DocBook XSL Stylesheets vsnapshot <http://docbook.sf.net/> |
| .\" Date: 2024-04-23 |
| .\" Manual: Git Manual |
| .\" Source: Git 2.45.0.rc0.48.g10f1281498 |
| .\" Language: English |
| .\" |
| .TH "GIT\-SYMBOLIC\-REF" "1" "2024\-04\-23" "Git 2\&.45\&.0\&.rc0\&.48\&.g1" "Git Manual" |
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| .\" * MAIN CONTENT STARTS HERE * |
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| .SH "NAME" |
| git-symbolic-ref \- Read, modify and delete symbolic refs |
| .SH "SYNOPSIS" |
| .sp |
| .nf |
| \fIgit symbolic\-ref\fR [\-m <reason>] <name> <ref> |
| \fIgit symbolic\-ref\fR [\-q] [\-\-short] [\-\-no\-recurse] <name> |
| \fIgit symbolic\-ref\fR \-\-delete [\-q] <name> |
| .fi |
| .sp |
| .SH "DESCRIPTION" |
| .sp |
| Given one argument, reads which branch head the given symbolic ref refers to and outputs its path, relative to the \fB\&.git/\fR directory\&. Typically you would give \fBHEAD\fR as the <name> argument to see which branch your working tree is on\&. |
| .sp |
| Given two arguments, creates or updates a symbolic ref <name> to point at the given branch <ref>\&. |
| .sp |
| Given \fB\-\-delete\fR and an additional argument, deletes the given symbolic ref\&. |
| .sp |
| A symbolic ref is a regular file that stores a string that begins with \fBref: refs/\fR\&. For example, your \fB\&.git/HEAD\fR is a regular file whose content is \fBref: refs/heads/master\fR\&. |
| .SH "OPTIONS" |
| .PP |
| \-d, \-\-delete |
| .RS 4 |
| Delete the symbolic ref <name>\&. |
| .RE |
| .PP |
| \-q, \-\-quiet |
| .RS 4 |
| Do not issue an error message if the <name> is not a symbolic ref but a detached HEAD; instead exit with non\-zero status silently\&. |
| .RE |
| .PP |
| \-\-short |
| .RS 4 |
| When showing the value of <name> as a symbolic ref, try to shorten the value, e\&.g\&. from |
| \fBrefs/heads/master\fR |
| to |
| \fBmaster\fR\&. |
| .RE |
| .PP |
| \-\-recurse, \-\-no\-recurse |
| .RS 4 |
| When showing the value of <name> as a symbolic ref, if <name> refers to another symbolic ref, follow such a chain of symbolic refs until the result no longer points at a symbolic ref (\fB\-\-recurse\fR, which is the default)\&. |
| \fB\-\-no\-recurse\fR |
| stops after dereferencing only a single level of symbolic ref\&. |
| .RE |
| .PP |
| \-m |
| .RS 4 |
| Update the reflog for <name> with <reason>\&. This is valid only when creating or updating a symbolic ref\&. |
| .RE |
| .SH "NOTES" |
| .sp |
| In the past, \fB\&.git/HEAD\fR was a symbolic link pointing at \fBrefs/heads/master\fR\&. When we wanted to switch to another branch, we did \fBln \-sf refs/heads/newbranch \&.git/HEAD\fR, and when we wanted to find out which branch we are on, we did \fBreadlink \&.git/HEAD\fR\&. But symbolic links are not entirely portable, so they are now deprecated and symbolic refs (as described above) are used by default\&. |
| .sp |
| \fIgit symbolic\-ref\fR will exit with status 0 if the contents of the symbolic ref were printed correctly, with status 1 if the requested name is not a symbolic ref, or 128 if another error occurs\&. |
| .SH "GIT" |
| .sp |
| Part of the \fBgit\fR(1) suite |