NAME
git-stash - Stash the changes in a dirty working directory away
SYNOPSIS
git stash list [<options>]
git stash show [<stash>]
git stash drop [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]
git stash ( pop | apply ) [--index] [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]
git stash branch <branchname> [<stash>]
git stash [save [--patch] [-k|--[no-]keep-index] [-q|--quiet] [<message>]]
git stash clear
git stash create
DESCRIPTION
Use git stash when you want to record the current state of the working
directory and the index, but want to go back to a clean working
directory. The command saves your local modifications away and reverts
the working directory to match the HEAD commit.
The modifications stashed away by this command can be listed with git
stash list, inspected with git stash show, and restored (potentially on
top of a different commit) with git stash apply. Calling git stash
without any arguments is equivalent to git stash save. A stash is by
default listed as "WIP on branchname ...", but you can give a more
descriptive message on the command line when you create one.
The latest stash you created is stored in refs/stash; older stashes are
found in the reflog of this reference and can be named using the usual
reflog syntax (e.g. stash@{0} is the most recently created stash,
stash@{1} is the one before it, stash@{2.hours.ago} is also possible).
OPTIONS
save [--patch] [--[no-]keep-index] [-q|--quiet] [<message>]
Save your local modifications to a new stash, and run git reset
--hard to revert them. The <message> part is optional and gives the
description along with the stashed state. For quickly making a
snapshot, you can omit both "save" and <message>, but giving only
<message> does not trigger this action to prevent a misspelled
subcommand from making an unwanted stash.
If the --keep-index option is used, all changes already added to
the index are left intact.
With --patch, you can interactively select hunks from in the diff
between HEAD and the working tree to be stashed. The stash entry is
constructed such that its index state is the same as the index
state of your repository, and its worktree contains only the
changes you selected interactively. The selected changes are then
rolled back from your worktree.
The --patch option implies --keep-index. You can use
--no-keep-index to override this.
list [<options>]
List the stashes that you currently have. Each stash is listed with
its name (e.g. stash@{0} is the latest stash, stash@{1} is the one
before, etc.), the name of the branch that was current when the
stash was made, and a short description of the commit the stash was
based on.
stash@{0}: WIP on submit: 6ebd0e2... Update git-stash documentation
stash@{1}: On master: 9cc0589... Add git-stash
The command takes options applicable to the git log command to
control what is shown and how. See git-log(1).
show [<stash>]
Show the changes recorded in the stash as a diff between the
stashed state and its original parent. When no <stash> is given,
shows the latest one. By default, the command shows the diffstat,
but it will accept any format known to git diff (e.g., git stash
show -p stash@{1} to view the second most recent stash in patch
form).
pop [--index] [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]
Remove a single stashed state from the stash list and apply it on
top of the current working tree state, i.e., do the inverse
operation of git stash save. The working directory must match the
index.
Applying the state can fail with conflicts; in this case, it is not
removed from the stash list. You need to resolve the conflicts by
hand and call git stash drop manually afterwards.
If the --index option is used, then tries to reinstate not only the
working tree's changes, but also the index's ones. However, this
can fail, when you have conflicts (which are stored in the index,
where you therefore can no longer apply the changes as they were
originally).
When no <stash> is given, stash@{0} is assumed.
apply [--index] [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]
Like pop, but do not remove the state from the stash list.
branch <branchname> [<stash>]
Creates and checks out a new branch named <branchname> starting
from the commit at which the <stash> was originally created,
applies the changes recorded in <stash> to the new working tree and
index, then drops the <stash> if that completes successfully. When
no <stash> is given, applies the latest one.
This is useful if the branch on which you ran git stash save has
changed enough that git stash apply fails due to conflicts. Since
the stash is applied on top of the commit that was HEAD at the time
git stash was run, it restores the originally stashed state with no
conflicts.
clear
Remove all the stashed states. Note that those states will then be
subject to pruning, and may be impossible to recover (see Examples
below for a possible strategy).
drop [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]
Remove a single stashed state from the stash list. When no <stash>
is given, it removes the latest one. i.e. stash@{0}
create
Create a stash (which is a regular commit object) and return its
object name, without storing it anywhere in the ref namespace.
DISCUSSION
A stash is represented as a commit whose tree records the state of the
working directory, and its first parent is the commit at HEAD when the
stash was created. The tree of the second parent records the state of
the index when the stash is made, and it is made a child of the HEAD
commit. The ancestry graph looks like this:
.----W
/ /
-----H----I
where H is the HEAD commit, I is a commit that records the state of the
index, and W is a commit that records the state of the working tree.
EXAMPLES
Pulling into a dirty tree
When you are in the middle of something, you learn that there are
upstream changes that are possibly relevant to what you are doing.
When your local changes do not conflict with the changes in the
upstream, a simple git pull will let you move forward.
However, there are cases in which your local changes do conflict
with the upstream changes, and git pull refuses to overwrite your
changes. In such a case, you can stash your changes away, perform a
pull, and then unstash, like this:
$ git pull
...
file foobar not up to date, cannot merge.
$ git stash
$ git pull
$ git stash pop
Interrupted workflow
When you are in the middle of something, your boss comes in and
demands that you fix something immediately. Traditionally, you
would make a commit to a temporary branch to store your changes
away, and return to your original branch to make the emergency fix,
like this:
# ... hack hack hack ...
$ git checkout -b my_wip
$ git commit -a -m "WIP"
$ git checkout master
$ edit emergency fix
$ git commit -a -m "Fix in a hurry"
$ git checkout my_wip
$ git reset --soft HEAD^
# ... continue hacking ...
You can use git stash to simplify the above, like this:
# ... hack hack hack ...
$ git stash
$ edit emergency fix
$ git commit -a -m "Fix in a hurry"
$ git stash pop
# ... continue hacking ...
Testing partial commits
You can use git stash save --keep-index when you want to make two
or more commits out of the changes in the work tree, and you want
to test each change before committing:
# ... hack hack hack ...
$ git add --patch foo # add just first part to the index
$ git stash save --keep-index # save all other changes to the stash
$ edit/build/test first part
$ git commit -m 'First part' # commit fully tested change
$ git stash pop # prepare to work on all other changes
# ... repeat above five steps until one commit remains ...
$ edit/build/test remaining parts
$ git commit foo -m 'Remaining parts'
Recovering stashes that were cleared/dropped erroneously
If you mistakenly drop or clear stashes, they cannot be recovered
through the normal safety mechanisms. However, you can try the
following incantation to get a list of stashes that are still in
your repository, but not reachable any more:
git fsck --unreachable |
grep commit | cut -d\ -f3 |
xargs git log --merges --no-walk --grep=WIP
SEE ALSO
git-checkout(1), git-commit(1), git-reflog(1), git-reset(1)
AUTHOR
Written by Nanako Shiraishi <nanako3@bluebottle.com[1]>
GIT
Part of the git(1) suite
NOTES
1. nanako3@bluebottle.com
mailto:nanako3@bluebottle.com