# git-show-ref

## NAME



           git-show-ref - List references in a local repository
    


## SYNOPSIS



           _git show-ref_ [--head] [-d | --dereference]
                        [-s | --hash[=<n>]] [--abbrev[=<n>]] [--branches] [--tags]
                        [--] [<pattern>...]
           _git show-ref_ --verify [-q | --quiet] [-d | --dereference]
                        [-s | --hash[=<n>]] [--abbrev[=<n>]]
                        [--] [<ref>...]
           _git show-ref_ --exclude-existing[=<pattern>]
           _git show-ref_ --exists <ref>
    


## DESCRIPTION



           Displays references available in a local repository along with the
           associated commit IDs. Results can be filtered using a pattern and
           tags can be dereferenced into object IDs. Additionally, it can be
           used to test whether a particular ref exists.
    
           By default, shows the tags, heads, and remote refs.
    
           The **--exclude-existing** form is a filter that does the inverse. It
           reads refs from stdin, one ref per line, and shows those that
           don’t exist in the local repository.
    
           The **--exists** form can be used to check for the existence of a
           single references. This form does not verify whether the reference
           resolves to an actual object.
    
           Use of this utility is encouraged in favor of directly accessing
           files under the **.git** directory.
    


## OPTIONS



           --head
               Show the HEAD reference, even if it would normally be filtered
               out.
    
           --branches, --tags
               Limit to local branches and local tags, respectively. These
               options are not mutually exclusive; when given both,
               references stored in "refs/heads" and "refs/tags" are
               displayed. Note that **--heads** is a deprecated synonym for
               **--branches** and may be removed in the future.
    
           -d, --dereference
               Dereference tags into object IDs as well. They will be shown
               with **^**{} appended.
    
           -s, --hash[=<n>]
               Only show the OID, not the reference name. When combined with
               **--dereference** , the dereferenced tag will still be shown after
               the OID.
    
           --verify
               Enable stricter reference checking by requiring an exact ref
               path. Aside from returning an error code of 1, it will also
               print an error message if **--quiet** was not specified.
    
           --exists
               Check whether the given reference exists. Returns an exit code
               of 0 if it does, 2 if it is missing, and 1 in case looking up
               the reference failed with an error other than the reference
               being missing.
    
           --abbrev[=<n>]
               Abbreviate the object name. When using **--hash** , you do not have
               to say **--hash --abbrev** ; **--hash=n** would do.
    
           -q, --quiet
               Do not print any results to stdout. Can be used with **--verify**
               to silently check if a reference exists.
    
           --exclude-existing[=<pattern>]
               Make **git show-ref** act as a filter that reads refs from stdin
               of the form **^**(?:_< anything>_**\s**)?_< refname>_(?:\^{})?$ and performs
               the following actions on each: (1) strip **^**{} at the end of
               line if any; (2) ignore if pattern is provided and does not
               head-match refname; (3) warn if refname is not a well-formed
               refname and skip; (4) ignore if refname is a ref that exists
               in the local repository; (5) otherwise output the line.
    
           <pattern>...
               Show references matching one or more patterns. Patterns are
               matched from the end of the full name, and only complete parts
               are matched, e.g.  _master_ matches _refs/heads/master_ ,
               _refs/remotes/origin/master_ , _refs/tags/jedi/master_ but not
               _refs/heads/mymaster_ or _refs/remotes/master/jedi_.
    


## OUTPUT



           The output is in the format:
    
               <oid> SP <ref> LF
    
           For example,
    
               $ git show-ref --head --dereference
               832e76a9899f560a90ffd62ae2ce83bbeff58f54 HEAD
               832e76a9899f560a90ffd62ae2ce83bbeff58f54 refs/heads/master
               832e76a9899f560a90ffd62ae2ce83bbeff58f54 refs/heads/origin
               3521017556c5de4159da4615a39fa4d5d2c279b5 refs/tags/v0.99.9c
               6ddc0964034342519a87fe013781abf31c6db6ad refs/tags/v0.99.9c^{}
               055e4ae3ae6eb344cbabf2a5256a49ea66040131 refs/tags/v1.0rc4
               423325a2d24638ddcc82ce47be5e40be550f4507 refs/tags/v1.0rc4^{}
               ...
    
           When using **--hash**(and not **--dereference**), the output is in the
           format:
    
               <oid> LF
    
           For example,
    
               $ git show-ref --branches --hash
               2e3ba0114a1f52b47df29743d6915d056be13278
               185008ae97960c8d551adcd9e23565194651b5d1
               03adf42c988195b50e1a1935ba5fcbc39b2b029b
               ...
    


## EXAMPLES



           To show all references called "master", whether tags or heads or
           anything else, and regardless of how deep in the reference naming
           hierarchy they are, use:
    
                       git show-ref master
    
           This will show "refs/heads/master" but also
           "refs/remote/other-repo/master", if such references exist.
    
           When using the **--verify** flag, the command requires an exact path:
    
                       git show-ref --verify refs/heads/master
    
           will only match the exact branch called "master".
    
           If nothing matches, **git show-ref** will return an error code of 1,
           and in the case of verification, it will show an error message.
    
           For scripting, you can ask it to be quiet with the **--quiet** flag,
           which allows you to do things like
    
                       git show-ref --quiet --verify -- "refs/heads/$headname" ||
                               echo "$headname is not a valid branch"
    
           to check whether a particular branch exists or not (notice how we
           don’t actually want to show any results, and we want to use the
           full refname for it in order to not trigger the problem with
           ambiguous partial matches).
    
           To show only tags, or only proper branch heads, use **--tags** and/or
           **--branches** respectively (using both means that it shows tags and
           branches, but not other random references under the refs/
           subdirectory).
    
           To do automatic tag object dereferencing, use the **-d** or
           **--dereference** flag, so you can do
    
                       git show-ref --tags --dereference
    
           to get a listing of all tags together with what they dereference.
    


## FILES



           **.git/refs/*** , **.git/packed-refs**
    


## GIT



           Part of the git(1) suite
    


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