git-lock
Exclude a tracked file from further local changes
TLDR
SYNOPSIS
git lock filename
DESCRIPTION
git lock, a git-extras command, marks a single tracked file with Git's skip-worktree bit via `git update-index --skip-worktree`. Once locked, Git stops reporting local modifications to that file in `git status`/`git diff`, so edits you make won't accidentally get staged or committed.This is meant for files that need machine-specific local changes, such as `config/database.yml`, not for coordinating edits between teammates: it has no effect on the remote or on other clones, and it does not stop anyone else from committing changes to the same file. Use `git locked` to list currently locked files and `git unlock` to restore normal tracking.
PARAMETERS
FILENAME
Tracked file to lock.
INSTALL
CAVEATS
Part of git-extras (a thin wrapper around `git update-index --skip-worktree`), not core Git. This is a local, per-clone setting, not a shared or enforced lock. For real cross-team file locking, see `git lfs lock`.
HISTORY
git lock is part of git-extras, a community collection of Git utility scripts. It predates and is unrelated to Git LFS's server-enforced file locking.
SEE ALSO
git-locked(1), git-unlock(1), git-lfs(1), git-update-index(1)
