GIT-REMOTE-HELPERS(1) Git Manual GIT-REMOTE-HELPERS(1)NAMEgit-remote-helpers - Helper programs for interoperation with remote git
SYNOPSIS
git remote-<transport> <remote>
DESCRIPTION
These programs are normally not used directly by end users, but are
invoked by various git programs that interact with remote repositories
when the repository they would operate on will be accessed using
transport code not linked into the main git binary. Various particular
helper programs will behave as documented here.
COMMANDS
Commands are given by the caller on the helper’s standard input, one
per line.
capabilities
Lists the capabilities of the helper, one per line, ending with a
blank line. Each capability may be preceded with *. This marks them
mandatory for git version using the remote helper to understand
(unknown mandatory capability is fatal error).
list
Lists the refs, one per line, in the format "<value> <name> [<attr>
...]". The value may be a hex sha1 hash, "@<dest>" for a symref, or
"?" to indicate that the helper could not get the value of the ref.
A space-separated list of attributes follows the name; unrecognized
attributes are ignored. After the complete list, outputs a blank
line.
If push is supported this may be called as list for-push to obtain
the current refs prior to sending one or more push commands to the
helper.
option <name> <value>
Set the transport helper option <name> to <value>. Outputs a single
line containing one of ok (option successfully set), unsupported
(option not recognized) or error <msg> (option <name> is supported
but <value> is not correct for it). Options should be set before
other commands, and may how those commands behave.
Supported if the helper has the "option" capability.
fetch <sha1> <name>
Fetches the given object, writing the necessary objects to the
database. Fetch commands are sent in a batch, one per line, and the
batch is terminated with a blank line. Outputs a single blank line
when all fetch commands in the same batch are complete. Only
objects which were reported in the ref list with a sha1 may be
fetched this way.
Optionally may output a lock <file> line indicating a file under
GIT_DIR/objects/pack which is keeping a pack until refs can be
suitably updated.
Supported if the helper has the "fetch" capability.
push +<src>:<dst>
Pushes the given <src> commit or branch locally to the remote
branch described by <dst>. A batch sequence of one or more push
commands is terminated with a blank line.
Zero or more protocol options may be entered after the last push
command, before the batch’s terminating blank line.
When the push is complete, outputs one or more ok <dst> or error
<dst> <why>? lines to indicate success or failure of each pushed
ref. The status report output is terminated by a blank line. The
option field <why> may be quoted in a C style string if it contains
an LF.
Supported if the helper has the "push" capability.
import <name>
Produces a fast-import stream which imports the current value of
the named ref. It may additionally import other refs as needed to
construct the history efficiently. The script writes to a
helper-specific private namespace. The value of the named ref
should be written to a location in this namespace derived by
applying the refspecs from the "refspec" capability to the name of
the ref.
Supported if the helper has the "import" capability.
connect <service>
Connects to given service. Standard input and standard output of
helper are connected to specified service (git prefix is included
in service name so e.g. fetching uses git-upload-pack as service)
on remote side. Valid replies to this command are empty line
(connection established), fallback (no smart transport support,
fall back to dumb transports) and just exiting with error message
printed (can’t connect, don’t bother trying to fall back). After
line feed terminating the positive (empty) response, the output of
service starts. After the connection ends, the remote helper exits.
Supported if the helper has the "connect" capability.
If a fatal error occurs, the program writes the error message to stderr
and exits. The caller should expect that a suitable error message has
been printed if the child closes the connection without completing a
valid response for the current command.
Additional commands may be supported, as may be determined from
capabilities reported by the helper.
CAPABILITIES
fetch
This helper supports the fetch command.
option
This helper supports the option command.
push
This helper supports the push command.
import
This helper supports the import command.
refspec spec
When using the import command, expect the source ref to have been
written to the destination ref. The earliest applicable refspec
takes precedence. For example
"refs/heads/:refs/svn/origin/branches/" means that, after an
"import refs/heads/name", the script has written to
refs/svn/origin/branches/name. If this capability is used at all,
it must cover all refs reported by the list command; if it is not
used, it is effectively ":"
connect
This helper supports the connect command.
REF LIST ATTRIBUTES
for-push
The caller wants to use the ref list to prepare push commands. A
helper might chose to acquire the ref list by opening a different
type of connection to the destination.
unchanged
This ref is unchanged since the last import or fetch, although the
helper cannot necessarily determine what value that produced.
OPTIONS
option verbosity <N>
Change the level of messages displayed by the helper. When N is 0
the end-user has asked the process to be quiet, and the helper
should produce only error output. N of 1 is the default level of
verbosity, higher values of N correspond to the number of -v flags
passed on the command line.
option progress {true|false}
Enable (or disable) progress messages displayed by the transport
helper during a command.
option depth <depth>
Deepen the history of a shallow repository.
option followtags {true|false}
If enabled the helper should automatically fetch annotated tag
objects if the object the tag points at was transferred during the
fetch command. If the tag is not fetched by the helper a second
fetch command will usually be sent to ask for the tag specifically.
Some helpers may be able to use this option to avoid a second
network connection.
option dry-run {true|false}: If true, pretend the operation completed
successfully, but don’t actually change any repository data. For most
helpers this only applies to the push, if supported.
option servpath <c-style-quoted-path>
Set service path (--upload-pack, --receive-pack etc.) for next
connect. Remote helper MAY support this option. Remote helper MUST
NOT rely on this option being set before connect request occurs.
DOCUMENTATION
Documentation by Daniel Barkalow and Ilari Liusvaara
GIT
Part of the git(1) suite
Git 1.7.0.4 12/18/2010 GIT-REMOTE-HELPERS(1)
