GIT-STASH(1) Git Manual GIT-STASH(1)
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]
[-u|--include-untracked] [-a|--all] [<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 [-p|--patch] [--[no-]keep-index] [-u|--include-untracked] [-a|--all] [-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.
If the --include-untracked option is used, all untracked files are also stashed and then cleaned up with
git clean, leaving the working directory in a very clean state. If the --all option is used instead then
the ignored files are stashed and cleaned in addition to the untracked files.
With --patch, you can interactively select hunks from 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. See the “Interactive Mode” section of git-add(1) to learn how to
operate the --patch mode.
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
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, otherwise <stash> must be a reference of the form
stash@{<revision>}.
apply [--index] [-q|--quiet] [<stash>]
Like pop, but do not remove the state from the stash list. Unlike pop, <stash> may be any commit that
looks like a commit created by stash save or stash create.
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. If that
succeeds, and <stash> is a reference of the form stash@{<revision>}, it then drops the <stash>. 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}, otherwise <stash> must be a valid stash log reference of the form stash@{<revision>}.
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
$ 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
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