git-show-ref

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 --exists refgit show-ref --exclude-existing[=pattern]

git show-ref lists references in the local repository, showing SHA-1 hashes and ref names for branches, tags, and other refs. It is a plumbing command commonly used in scripts.The verify mode checks whether a specific ref exists without listing all refs, returning an appropriate exit code.

PATTERN

Match refs whose end matches the pattern (matched in complete parts).

Include the HEAD reference, which is filtered out by default.

Limit to local branches (refs/heads). Replaces the older --heads, which still works as an alias.

Limit to local tags (refs/tags).

Require the argument to be an exact ref path (e.g. refs/heads/main). Errors if the ref does not exist.

Check whether a ref exists. Exit code 0 = exists, 2 = missing, 1 = error.

Filter mode. Reads refs from stdin and prints those that do not exist locally, optionally limited to refs matching the pattern suffix.

Suppress output. Use the exit code only.

Print only the object name (optionally abbreviated to N hex digits), not the ref name.

Abbreviate the printed object name to N hex digits (default uses core.abbrev).

For tag objects, also print the dereferenced commit, suffixed with ^{}.

Plumbing command. Shows local refs only. Use git ls-remote for remote refs.

git show-ref is a core Git plumbing command for reference inspection, commonly used in scripts.

git-ls-remote(1), git-for-each-ref(1)