# git-grep

## NAME



           git-grep - Print lines matching a pattern
    


## SYNOPSIS



           _git grep_ [-a | --text] [-I] [--textconv] [-i | --ignore-case] [-w | --word-regexp]
                      [-v | --invert-match] [-h|-H] [--full-name]
                      [-E | --extended-regexp] [-G | --basic-regexp]
                      [-P | --perl-regexp]
                      [-F | --fixed-strings] [-n | --line-number] [--column]
                      [-l | --files-with-matches] [-L | --files-without-match]
                      [(-O | --open-files-in-pager) [<pager>]]
                      [-z | --null]
                      [ -o | --only-matching ] [-c | --count] [--all-match] [-q | --quiet]
                      [--max-depth <depth>] [--[no-]recursive]
                      [--color[=<when>] | --no-color]
                      [--break] [--heading] [-p | --show-function]
                      [-A <post-context>] [-B <pre-context>] [-C <context>]
                      [-W | --function-context]
                      [(-m | --max-count) <num>]
                      [--threads <num>]
                      [-f <file>] [-e] <pattern>
                      [--and|--or|--not|(|)|-e <pattern>...]
                      [--recurse-submodules] [--parent-basename <basename>]
                      [ [--[no-]exclude-standard] [--cached | --untracked | --no-index] | <tree>...]
                      [--] [<pathspec>...]
    


## DESCRIPTION



           Look for specified patterns in the tracked files in the work tree,
           blobs registered in the index file, or blobs in given tree
           objects. Patterns are lists of one or more search expressions
           separated by newline characters. An empty string as search
           expression matches all lines.
    


## OPTIONS



           --cached
               Instead of searching tracked files in the working tree, search
               blobs registered in the index file.
    
           --untracked
               In addition to searching in the tracked files in the working
               tree, search also in untracked files.
    
           --no-index
               Search files in the current directory that is not managed by
               Git, or by ignoring that the current directory is managed by
               Git. This is rather similar to running the regular **grep**(**1**)
               utility with its **-r** option specified, but with some additional
               benefits, such as using pathspec patterns to limit paths; see
               the _pathspec_ entry in gitglossary(7) for more information.
    
               This option cannot be used together with **--cached** or
               **--untracked**. See also **grep.fallbackToNoIndex** in _CONFIGURATION_
               below.
    
           --no-exclude-standard
               Also search in ignored files by not honoring the **.gitignore**
               mechanism. Only useful with **--untracked**.
    
           --exclude-standard
               Do not pay attention to ignored files specified via the
               **.gitignore** mechanism. Only useful when searching files in the
               current directory with **--no-index**.
    
           --recurse-submodules
               Recursively search in each submodule that is active and
               checked out in the repository. When used in combination with
               the _< tree>_ option the prefix of all submodule output will be
               the name of the parent project’s _< tree>_ object. This option
               cannot be used together with **--untracked** , and it has no effect
               if **--no-index** is specified.
    
           -a, --text
               Process binary files as if they were text.
    
           --textconv
               Honor textconv filter settings.
    
           --no-textconv
               Do not honor textconv filter settings. This is the default.
    
           -i, --ignore-case
               Ignore case differences between the patterns and the files.
    
           -I
               Don’t match the pattern in binary files.
    
           --max-depth <depth>
               For each <pathspec> given on command line, descend at most
               <depth> levels of directories. A value of -1 means no limit.
               This option is ignored if <pathspec> contains active
               wildcards. In other words if "a*" matches a directory named
               "a*", "*" is matched literally so --max-depth is still
               effective.
    
           -r, --recursive
               Same as **--max-depth=-1** ; this is the default.
    
           --no-recursive
               Same as **--max-depth=0**.
    
           -w, --word-regexp
               Match the pattern only at word boundary (either begin at the
               beginning of a line, or preceded by a non-word character; end
               at the end of a line or followed by a non-word character).
    
           -v, --invert-match
               Select non-matching lines.
    
           -h, -H
               By default, the command shows the filename for each match.  **-h**
               option is used to suppress this output.  **-H** is there for
               completeness and does not do anything except it overrides **-h**
               given earlier on the command line.
    
           --full-name
               When run from a subdirectory, the command usually outputs
               paths relative to the current directory. This option forces
               paths to be output relative to the project top directory.
    
           -E, --extended-regexp, -G, --basic-regexp
               Use POSIX extended/basic regexp for patterns. Default is to
               use basic regexp.
    
           -P, --perl-regexp
               Use Perl-compatible regular expressions for patterns.
    
               Support for these types of regular expressions is an optional
               compile-time dependency. If Git wasn’t compiled with support
               for them providing this option will cause it to die.
    
           -F, --fixed-strings
               Use fixed strings for patterns (don’t interpret pattern as a
               regex).
    
           -n, --line-number
               Prefix the line number to matching lines.
    
           --column
               Prefix the 1-indexed byte-offset of the first match from the
               start of the matching line.
    
           -l, --files-with-matches, --name-only, -L, --files-without-match
               Instead of showing every matched line, show only the names of
               files that contain (or do not contain) matches. For better
               compatibility with _git diff_ , **--name-only** is a synonym for
               **--files-with-matches**.
    
           -O[<pager>], --open-files-in-pager[=<pager>]
               Open the matching files in the pager (not the output of _grep_).
               If the pager happens to be "less" or "vi", and the user
               specified only one pattern, the first file is positioned at
               the first match automatically. The **pager** argument is optional;
               if specified, it must be stuck to the option without a space.
               If **pager** is unspecified, the default pager will be used (see
               **core.pager** in git-config(1)).
    
           -z, --null
               Use \0 as the delimiter for pathnames in the output, and print
               them verbatim. Without this option, pathnames with "unusual"
               characters are quoted as explained for the configuration
               variable **core.quotePath**(see git-config(1)).
    
           -o, --only-matching
               Print only the matched (non-empty) parts of a matching line,
               with each such part on a separate output line.
    
           -c, --count
               Instead of showing every matched line, show the number of
               lines that match.
    
           --color[=<when>]
               Show colored matches. The value must be always (the default),
               never, or auto.
    
           --no-color
               Turn off match highlighting, even when the configuration file
               gives the default to color output. Same as **--color=never**.
    
           --break
               Print an empty line between matches from different files.
    
           --heading
               Show the filename above the matches in that file instead of at
               the start of each shown line.
    
           -p, --show-function
               Show the preceding line that contains the function name of the
               match, unless the matching line is a function name itself. The
               name is determined in the same way as **git diff** works out patch
               hunk headers (see _Defining a custom hunk-header_ in
               gitattributes(5)).
    
           -<num>, -C <num>, --context <num>
               Show <num> leading and trailing lines, and place a line
               containing **--** between contiguous groups of matches.
    
           -A <num>, --after-context <num>
               Show <num> trailing lines, and place a line containing **--**
               between contiguous groups of matches.
    
           -B <num>, --before-context <num>
               Show <num> leading lines, and place a line containing **--**
               between contiguous groups of matches.
    
           -W, --function-context
               Show the surrounding text from the previous line containing a
               function name up to the one before the next function name,
               effectively showing the whole function in which the match was
               found. The function names are determined in the same way as
               **git diff** works out patch hunk headers (see _Defining a custom_
               _hunk-header_ in gitattributes(5)).
    
           -m <num>, --max-count <num>
               Limit the amount of matches per file. When using the **-v** or
               **--invert-match** option, the search stops after the specified
               number of non-matches. A value of -1 will return unlimited
               results (the default). A value of 0 will exit immediately with
               a non-zero status.
    
           --threads <num>
               Number of **grep** worker threads to use. See _NOTES ON THREADS_ and
               **grep.threads** in _CONFIGURATION_ for more information.
    
           -f <file>
               Read patterns from <file>, one per line.
    
               Passing the pattern via <file> allows for providing a search
               pattern containing a \0.
    
               Not all pattern types support patterns containing \0. Git will
               error out if a given pattern type can’t support such a
               pattern. The **--perl-regexp** pattern type when compiled against
               the PCRE v2 backend has the widest support for these types of
               patterns.
    
               In versions of Git before 2.23.0 patterns containing \0 would
               be silently considered fixed. This was never documented, there
               were also odd and undocumented interactions between e.g.
               non-ASCII patterns containing \0 and **--ignore-case**.
    
               In future versions we may learn to support patterns containing
               \0 for more search backends, until then we’ll die when the
               pattern type in question doesn’t support them.
    
           -e
               The next parameter is the pattern. This option has to be used
               for patterns starting with **-** and should be used in scripts
               passing user input to grep. Multiple patterns are combined by
               _or_.
    
           --and, --or, --not, ( ... )
               Specify how multiple patterns are combined using Boolean
               expressions.  **--or** is the default operator.  **--and** has higher
               precedence than **--or**.  **-e** has to be used for all patterns.
    
           --all-match
               When giving multiple pattern expressions combined with **--or** ,
               this flag is specified to limit the match to files that have
               lines to match all of them.
    
           -q, --quiet
               Do not output matched lines; instead, exit with status 0 when
               there is a match and with non-zero status when there isn’t.
    
           <tree>...
               Instead of searching tracked files in the working tree, search
               blobs in the given trees.
    
           --
               Signals the end of options; the rest of the parameters are
               <pathspec> limiters.
    
           <pathspec>...
               If given, limit the search to paths matching at least one
               pattern. Both leading paths match and glob(7) patterns are
               supported.
    
               For more details about the <pathspec> syntax, see the _pathspec_
               entry in gitglossary(7).
    


## EXAMPLES



           **git grep** 'time_t' **--** '*.[**ch**]'
               Looks for **time_t** in all tracked .c and .h files in the working
               directory and its subdirectories.
    
           **git grep -e** '#define' **--and \**( **-e MAX_PATH -e PATH_MAX \**)
               Looks for a line that has #define and either **MAX_PATH** or
               **PATH_MAX**.
    
           **git grep --all-match -e NODE -e Unexpected**
               Looks for a line that has **NODE** or **Unexpected** in files that
               have lines that match both.
    
           **git grep solution -- :^Documentation**
               Looks for **solution** , excluding files in **Documentation**.
    


## NOTES ON THREADS



           The **--threads** option (and the **grep.threads** configuration) will be
           ignored when **--open-files-in-pager** is used, forcing a
           single-threaded execution.
    
           When grepping the object store (with **--cached** or giving tree
           objects), running with multiple threads might perform slower than
           single-threaded if **--textconv** is given and there are too many text
           conversions. Thus, if low performance is experienced in this case,
           it might be desirable to use **--threads=1**.
    


## CONFIGURATION



           Everything below this line in this section is selectively included
           from the git-config(1) documentation. The content is the same as
           what’s found there:
    
           grep.lineNumber
               If set to true, enable **-n** option by default.
    
           grep.column
               If set to true, enable the **--column** option by default.
    
           grep.patternType
               Set the default matching behavior. Using a value of _basic_ ,
               _extended_ , _fixed_ , or _perl_ will enable the **--basic-regexp** ,
               **--extended-regexp** , **--fixed-strings** , or **--perl-regexp** option
               accordingly, while the value _default_ will use the
               **grep.extendedRegexp** option to choose between _basic_ and
               _extended_.
    
           grep.extendedRegexp
               If set to true, enable **--extended-regexp** option by default.
               This option is ignored when the **grep.patternType** option is set
               to a value other than _default_.
    
           grep.threads
               Number of grep worker threads to use. If unset (or set to 0),
               Git will use as many threads as the number of logical cores
               available.
    
           grep.fullName
               If set to true, enable **--full-name** option by default.
    
           grep.fallbackToNoIndex
               If set to true, fall back to **git grep --no-index** if **git grep**
               is executed outside of a git repository. Defaults to false.
    


## GIT



           Part of the git(1) suite
    


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