git-stash

Stash the changes in a dirty working directory away

TLDR

Stash current changes, except new (untracked) files

$ git stash [push -m [optional_stash_message]]

Stash current changes, including new (untracked) files

$ git stash -u

Interactively select parts of changed files for stashing

$ git stash -p

List all stashes (shows stash name, related branch and message)

$ git stash list

Apply a stash (default is the latest, named stash@{0})

$ git stash apply [optional_stash_name_or_commit]

Apply a stash (default is stash@{0}), and remove it from the stash list if applying doesn't cause conflicts

$ git stash pop [optional_stash_name]

Drop a stash (default is stash@{0})

$ git stash drop [optional_stash_name]

DESCRIPTION

Use gitstash when you want to record the current state of the working directory and the index, but want to go back to a clean working directory . The command saves your local modifications away and reverts the working directory to match the HEAD commit .

The modifications stashed away by this command can be listed with gitstash list ,inspected with gitstash show ,and restored (potentially on top of a different commit) with gitstash apply . Calling gitstash without any arguments is equivalent to gitstash push . A stash is by default listed as "WIP on branchname ...", but you can give a more descriptive message on the command line when you create one .

The latest stash you created is stored in refs/stash ;older stashes are found in the reflog of this reference and can be named using the usual reflog syntax (e .g . stash@{0} is the most recently created stash, stash@{1} is the one before it, stash@{2.hours .ago} is also possible) . Stashes may also be referenced by specifying just the stash index (e .g . the integer n is equivalent to stash@{n} ).

OPTIONS

push [ -p| --patch] [ -k| --[no -]keep -index] [ -u| --include -untracked] [ -a| --all] [ -q| --quiet] [ -m| --message <message>] [ --] [<pathspec> ...] Save your local modifications to a new stashentry and roll them back to HEAD (in the working tree and in the index) . The <message> part is optional and gives the description along with the stashed state .

For quickly making a snapshot, you can omit "push" . In this mode, non -option arguments are not allowed to prevent a misspelled subcommand from making an unwanted stash entry . The two exceptions to this are stash-p which acts as alias for stashpush -p and pathspecs, which are allowed after a double hyphen -- for disambiguation .

When pathspec is given to gitstash push ,the new stash entry records the modified states only for the files that match the pathspec . The index entries and working tree files are then rolled back to the state in HEAD only for these files, too, leaving files that do not match the pathspec intact .

If the --keep -index option is used, all changes already added to the index are left intact .

If the --include -untracked option is used, all untracked files are also stashed and then cleaned up with gitclean ,leaving the working directory in a very clean state . If the --all option is used instead then the ignored files are stashed and cleaned in addition to the untracked files .

With --patch ,you can interactively select hunks from the diff between HEAD and the working tree to be stashed . The stash entry is constructed such that its index state is the same as the index state of your repository, and its worktree contains only the changes you selected interactively . The selected changes are then rolled back from your worktree . See the Mode section of git-add (1) to learn how to operate the --patch mode .

The --patch option implies --keep -index . You can use --no -keep -index to override this .

save [ -p| --patch] [ -k| --[no -]keep -index] [ -u| --include -untracked] [ -a| --all] [ -q| --quiet] [<message>] This option is deprecated in favour of gitstash push . It differs from "stash push" in that it cannot take pathspecs, and any non -option arguments form the message .

list [<options>] List the stash entries that you currently have . Each stashentry is listed with its name (e .g . stash@{0} is the latest entry, stash@{1} is the one before, etc .), the name of the branch that was current when the entry was made, and a short description of the commit the entry was based on .

.RS 4
stash@{0}: WIP on submit: 6ebd0e2 . . . Update git -stash documentation stash@{1}: On master: 9cc0589 . . . Add git -stash .RE

The command takes options applicable to the gitlog command to control what is shown and how . See git-log (1).

show [<options>] [<stash>] Show the changes recorded in the stash entry as a diff between the stashed contents and the commit back when the stash entry was first created . When no <stash> is given, it shows the latest one . By default, the command shows the diffstat, but it will accept any format known to gitdiff (e .g ., gitstash show -p stash@{1} to view the second most recent entry in patch form) . You can use stash .showStat and/or stash .showPatch config variables to change the default behavior .

pop [ --index] [ -q| --quiet] [<stash>] Remove a single stashed state from the stash list and apply it on top of the current working tree state, i .e ., do the inverse operation of gitstash push . The working directory must match the index .

Applying the state can fail with conflicts; in this case, it is not removed from the stash list . You need to resolve the conflicts by hand and call gitstash drop manually afterwards .

If the --index option is used, then tries to reinstate not only the working tree changes, but also the index ones . However, this can fail, when you have conflicts (which are stored in the index, where you therefore can no longer apply the changes as they were originally) .

When no <stash> is given, stash@{0} is assumed, otherwise <stash> must be a reference of the form stash@{<revision>} .

apply [ --index] [ -q| --quiet] [<stash>] Like pop ,but do not remove the state from the stash list . Unlike pop , <stash> may be any commit that looks like a commit created by stashpush or stashcreate .

branch <branchname> [<stash>] Creates and checks out a new branch named <branchname> starting from the commit at which the <stash> was originally created, applies the changes recorded in <stash> to the new working tree and index . If that succeeds, and <stash> is a reference of the form stash@{<revision>} ,it then drops the <stash> . When no <stash> is given, applies the latest one .

This is useful if the branch on which you ran gitstash push has changed enough that gitstash apply fails due to conflicts . Since the stash entry is applied on top of the commit that was HEAD at the time gitstash was run, it restores the originally stashed state with no conflicts .

clear Remove all the stash entries . Note that those entries will then be subject to pruning, and may be impossible to recover (see Examples below for a possible strategy) .

drop [ -q| --quiet] [<stash>] Remove a single stash entry from the list of stash entries . When no <stash> is given, it removes the latest one . i .e . stash@{0} ,otherwise <stash> must be a valid stash log reference of the form stash@{<revision>} .

create Create a stash entry (which is a regular commit object) and return its object name, without storing it anywhere in the ref namespace . This is intended to be useful for scripts . It is probably not the command you want to use; see "push" above .

store Store a given stash created via gitstash create (which is a dangling merge commit) in the stash ref, updating the stash reflog . This is intended to be useful for scripts . It is probably not the command you want to use; see "push" above .

DISCUSSION

A stash entry is represented as a commit whose tree records the state of the working directory, and its first parent is the commit at HEAD when the entry was created . The tree of the second parent records the state of the index when the entry is made, and it is made a child of the HEAD commit . The ancestry graph looks like this:

.RS 4
. ----W / / -----H ----I .RE

where H is the HEAD commit, I is a commit that records the state of the index, and W is a commit that records the state of the working tree .

EXAMPLES

Pulling into a dirty tree When you are in the middle of something, you learn that there are upstream changes that are possibly relevant to what you are doing . When your local changes do not conflict with the changes in the upstream, a simple gitpull will let you move forward .

However, there are cases in which your local changes do conflict with the upstream changes, and gitpull refuses to overwrite your changes . In such a case, you can stash your changes away, perform a pull, and then unstash, like this:

.RS 4
$ git pull . . . file foobar not up to date, cannot merge . $ git stash $ git pull $ git stash pop .RE

Interrupted workflow When you are in the middle of something, your boss comes in and demands that you fix something immediately . Traditionally, you would make a commit to a temporary branch to store your changes away, and return to your original branch to make the emergency fix, like this:

.RS 4
# . . . hack hack hack . . . $ git switch -c my_wip $ git commit -a -m "WIP" $ git switch master $ edit emergency fix $ git commit -a -m "Fix in a hurry" $ git switch my_wip $ git reset --soft HEAD^ # . . . continue hacking . . . .RE

You can use gitstash to simplify the above, like this:

.RS 4
# . . . hack hack hack . . . $ git stash $ edit emergency fix $ git commit -a -m "Fix in a hurry" $ git stash pop # . . . continue hacking . . . .RE

Testing partial commits You can use gitstash push --keep -index when you want to make two or more commits out of the changes in the work tree, and you want to test each change before committing:

.RS 4
# . . . hack hack hack . . . $ git add --patch foo # add just first part to the index $ git stash push --keep -index # save all other changes to the stash $ edit/build/test first part $ git commit -m (AqFirst part (Aq # commit fully tested change $ git stash pop # prepare to work on all other changes # . . . repeat above five steps until one commit remains . . . $ edit/build/test remaining parts $ git commit foo -m (AqRemaining parts (Aq .RE

Recovering stash entries that were cleared/dropped erroneously If you mistakenly drop or clear stash entries, they cannot be recovered through the normal safety mechanisms . However, you can try the following incantation to get a list of stash entries that are still in your repository, but not reachable any more:

.RS 4
git fsck --unreachable | grep commit | cut -d \ -f3 | xargs git log --merges --no -walk --grep=WIP .RE

GIT

Part of the git (1)suite