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+git-gc(1)
+=========
+
+NAME
+----
+git-gc - Cleanup unnecessary files and optimize the local repository
+
+
+SYNOPSIS
+--------
+'git gc' [--aggressive] [--auto] [--quiet]
+
+DESCRIPTION
+-----------
+Runs a number of housekeeping tasks within the current repository,
+such as compressing file revisions (to reduce disk space and increase
+performance) and removing unreachable objects which may have been
+created from prior invocations of 'git-add'.
+
+Users are encouraged to run this task on a regular basis within
+each repository to maintain good disk space utilization and good
+operating performance.
+
+Some git commands may automatically run 'git-gc'; see the `--auto` flag
+below for details. If you know what you're doing and all you want is to
+disable this behavior permanently without further considerations, just do:
+
+----------------------
+$ git config --global gc.auto 0
+----------------------
+
+OPTIONS
+-------
+
+--aggressive::
+ Usually 'git-gc' runs very quickly while providing good disk
+ space utilization and performance. This option will cause
+ 'git-gc' to more aggressively optimize the repository at the expense
+ of taking much more time. The effects of this optimization are
+ persistent, so this option only needs to be used occasionally; every
+ few hundred changesets or so.
+
+--auto::
+ With this option, 'git-gc' checks whether any housekeeping is
+ required; if not, it exits without performing any work.
+ Some git commands run `git gc --auto` after performing
+ operations that could create many loose objects.
++
+Housekeeping is required if there are too many loose objects or
+too many packs in the repository. If the number of loose objects
+exceeds the value of the `gc.auto` configuration variable, then
+all loose objects are combined into a single pack using
+'git-repack -d -l'. Setting the value of `gc.auto` to 0
+disables automatic packing of loose objects.
++
+If the number of packs exceeds the value of `gc.autopacklimit`,
+then existing packs (except those marked with a `.keep` file)
+are consolidated into a single pack by using the `-A` option of
+'git-repack'. Setting `gc.autopacklimit` to 0 disables
+automatic consolidation of packs.
+
+--quiet::
+ Suppress all progress reports.
+
+Configuration
+-------------
+
+The optional configuration variable 'gc.reflogExpire' can be
+set to indicate how long historical entries within each branch's
+reflog should remain available in this repository. The setting is
+expressed as a length of time, for example '90 days' or '3 months'.
+It defaults to '90 days'.
+
+The optional configuration variable 'gc.reflogExpireUnreachable'
+can be set to indicate how long historical reflog entries which
+are not part of the current branch should remain available in
+this repository. These types of entries are generally created as
+a result of using `git commit \--amend` or `git rebase` and are the
+commits prior to the amend or rebase occurring. Since these changes
+are not part of the current project most users will want to expire
+them sooner. This option defaults to '30 days'.
+
+The optional configuration variable 'gc.rerereresolved' indicates
+how long records of conflicted merge you resolved earlier are
+kept. This defaults to 60 days.
+
+The optional configuration variable 'gc.rerereunresolved' indicates
+how long records of conflicted merge you have not resolved are
+kept. This defaults to 15 days.
+
+The optional configuration variable 'gc.packrefs' determines if
+'git-gc' runs 'git-pack-refs'. This can be set to "nobare" to enable
+it within all non-bare repos or it can be set to a boolean value.
+This defaults to true.
+
+The optional configuration variable 'gc.aggressiveWindow' controls how
+much time is spent optimizing the delta compression of the objects in
+the repository when the --aggressive option is specified. The larger
+the value, the more time is spent optimizing the delta compression. See
+the documentation for the --window' option in linkgit:git-repack[1] for
+more details. This defaults to 10.
+
+The optional configuration variable 'gc.pruneExpire' controls how old
+the unreferenced loose objects have to be before they are pruned. The
+default is "2 weeks ago".
+
+
+Notes
+-----
+
+'git-gc' tries very hard to be safe about the garbage it collects. In
+particular, it will keep not only objects referenced by your current set
+of branches and tags, but also objects referenced by the index, remote
+tracking branches, refs saved by 'git-filter-branch' in
+refs/original/, or reflogs (which may references commits in branches
+that were later amended or rewound).
+
+If you are expecting some objects to be collected and they aren't, check
+all of those locations and decide whether it makes sense in your case to
+remove those references.
+
+SEE ALSO
+--------
+linkgit:git-prune[1]
+linkgit:git-reflog[1]
+linkgit:git-repack[1]
+linkgit:git-rerere[1]
+
+Author
+------
+Written by Shawn O. Pearce <spearce@spearce.org>
+
+GIT
+---
+Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite