Configuration

Before you commit anything, git needs to know who you are. Your name and email are embedded in every commit you create. Git reads configuration from three scopes, applying the most specific scope last:

Repository settings override user settings, and user settings override system settings.

Install git

On Debian and Ubuntu systems, install git with the following command:

sudo apt install git-all

Set your identity

Set your name and email address globally so every repository on your machine uses them:

git config --global user.name "John Doe"
git config --global user.email johndoe@example.com

To override your identity for a single repository, run the same commands without the --global flag from inside the repository directory:

git config user.name "John Doe"
git config user.email johndoe@example.com

Set your editor

Git opens a text editor when you write a commit message or resolve a conflict. Set your preferred editor with the following command:

git config --global core.editor emacs

Set the default branch name

By default, git names the first branch master. Change it to main with the following command:

git config --global init.defaultBranch main

Common settings

Line endings

On Linux and macOS, set core.autocrlf to input so git converts Windows-style CRLF line endings to LF when you commit, but does not convert on checkout:

git config --global core.autocrlf input

On Windows, set it to true so git converts LF to CRLF on checkout and back to LF on commit:

git config --global core.autocrlf true

Color output

Git disables color when it detects that output is not going to a terminal. Force color on with the following command:

git config --global color.ui auto

Credential caching

When you connect over HTTPS, git asks for your username and password on every push. Cache credentials in memory for 15 minutes with the following command:

git config --global credential.helper cache

To keep credentials cached for longer, pass a timeout in seconds:

git config --global credential.helper 'cache --timeout=3600'

On macOS, osxkeychain stores credentials permanently in the system keychain:

git config --global credential.helper osxkeychain

View your configuration

List all configuration values currently in effect:

$ git config --list
user.name=linuxuser
user.email=linuxuser@example.com
core.repositoryformatversion=0
core.filemode=true
core.bare=false
core.logallrefupdates=true

To see each value alongside the file that set it, add --show-origin:

$ git config --list --show-origin
file:/etc/gitconfig   diff.astextplain.textconv=astextplain
file:~/.gitconfig     user.name=John Doe
file:~/.gitconfig     user.email=johndoe@example.com

To check a single value, pass the key name:

$ git config user.name
John Doe

Inspect config files directly

You can read the raw config files with cat. The global config stores user-level settings:

$ cat ~/.gitconfig
[user]
    name = linuxuser
    email = linuxuser@example.com

The local config stores repository-level settings:

$ cat .git/config
[core]
    repositoryformatversion = 0
    filemode = true
    bare = false
    logallrefupdates = true

Removing a configuration value

Pass --unset to remove a specific key from a config file:

git config --global --unset core.editor

Get help

View the full manual for any git command with any of the following:

git help <verb>
git <verb> --help
man git-<verb>

For example, to open the git config manual page:

git help config

Aliases

Aliases let you create short names for long or frequently typed git commands. Define them with git config --global alias.<name> <command>:

git config --global alias.br branch
git config --global alias.ci commit
git config --global alias.st status
git config --global alias.co checkout

You can also alias multi-word commands. This example creates a last alias that shows the most recent commit:

git config --global alias.last 'log -1 HEAD'

Running git last is then equivalent to running git log -1 HEAD:

$ git last
commit 871eb64b61414d9633b8056ddb3d66e77609f8a6 (HEAD, tag: v1.0.2.1)
Author: Jeff Welling <jeff.welling@gmail.com>
Date:   Sun Apr 3 16:50:10 2011 -0400

    Bumped version to 1.0.2.1

A widely used alias combines --oneline, --graph, --all, and --decorate into a single lg command for a readable branch overview:

git config --global alias.lg \
  'log --oneline --graph --all --decorate'