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Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/git-remote-helpers.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/git-remote-helpers.txt | 118 |
1 files changed, 83 insertions, 35 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/git-remote-helpers.txt b/Documentation/git-remote-helpers.txt index 1b5f61aa0b..3a23477ce7 100644 --- a/Documentation/git-remote-helpers.txt +++ b/Documentation/git-remote-helpers.txt @@ -3,20 +3,69 @@ git-remote-helpers(1) NAME ---- -git-remote-helpers - Helper programs for interoperation with remote git +git-remote-helpers - Helper programs to interact with remote repositories SYNOPSIS -------- -'git remote-<transport>' <remote> +'git remote-<transport>' <repository> [<URL>] DESCRIPTION ----------- -These programs are normally not used directly by end users, but are -invoked by various git programs that interact with remote repositories -when the repository they would operate on will be accessed using -transport code not linked into the main git binary. Various particular -helper programs will behave as documented here. +Remote helper programs are normally not used directly by end users, +but they are invoked by git when it needs to interact with remote +repositories git does not support natively. A given helper will +implement a subset of the capabilities documented here. When git +needs to interact with a repository using a remote helper, it spawns +the helper as an independent process, sends commands to the helper's +standard input, and expects results from the helper's standard +output. Because a remote helper runs as an independent process from +git, there is no need to re-link git to add a new helper, nor any +need to link the helper with the implementation of git. + +Every helper must support the "capabilities" command, which git will +use to determine what other commands the helper will accept. Other +commands generally concern facilities like discovering and updating +remote refs, transporting objects between the object database and +the remote repository, and updating the local object store. + +Helpers supporting the 'fetch' capability can discover refs from the +remote repository and transfer objects reachable from those refs to +the local object store. Helpers supporting the 'push' capability can +transfer local objects to the remote repository and update remote refs. + +Git comes with a "curl" family of remote helpers, that handle various +transport protocols, such as 'git-remote-http', 'git-remote-https', +'git-remote-ftp' and 'git-remote-ftps'. They implement the capabilities +'fetch', 'option', and 'push'. + +INVOCATION +---------- + +Remote helper programs are invoked with one or (optionally) two +arguments. The first argument specifies a remote repository as in git; +it is either the name of a configured remote or a URL. The second +argument specifies a URL; it is usually of the form +'<transport>://<address>', but any arbitrary string is possible. + +When git encounters a URL of the form '<transport>://<address>', where +'<transport>' is a protocol that it cannot handle natively, it +automatically invokes 'git remote-<transport>' with the full URL as +the second argument. If such a URL is encountered directly on the +command line, the first argument is the same as the second, and if it +is encountered in a configured remote, the first argument is the name +of that remote. + +A URL of the form '<transport>::<address>' explicitly instructs git to +invoke 'git remote-<transport>' with '<address>' as the second +argument. If such a URL is encountered directly on the command line, +the first argument is '<address>', and if it is encountered in a +configured remote, the first argument is the name of that remote. + +Additionally, when a configured remote has 'remote.<name>.vcs' set to +'<transport>', git explicitly invokes 'git remote-<transport>' with +'<name>' as the first argument. If set, the second argument is +'remote.<name>.url'; otherwise, the second argument is omitted. COMMANDS -------- @@ -25,8 +74,8 @@ Commands are given by the caller on the helper's standard input, one per line. 'capabilities':: Lists the capabilities of the helper, one per line, ending - with a blank line. Each capability may be preceded with '*'. - This marks them mandatory for git version using the remote + with a blank line. Each capability may be preceded with '*', + which marks them mandatory for git version using the remote helper to understand (unknown mandatory capability is fatal error). @@ -35,27 +84,27 @@ Commands are given by the caller on the helper's standard input, one per line. [<attr> ...]". The value may be a hex sha1 hash, "@<dest>" for a symref, or "?" to indicate that the helper could not get the value of the ref. A space-separated list of attributes follows - the name; unrecognized attributes are ignored. After the - complete list, outputs a blank line. + the name; unrecognized attributes are ignored. The list ends + with a blank line. + If 'push' is supported this may be called as 'list for-push' to obtain the current refs prior to sending one or more 'push' commands to the helper. 'option' <name> <value>:: - Set the transport helper option <name> to <value>. Outputs a + Sets the transport helper option <name> to <value>. Outputs a single line containing one of 'ok' (option successfully set), 'unsupported' (option not recognized) or 'error <msg>' - (option <name> is supported but <value> is not correct + (option <name> is supported but <value> is not valid for it). Options should be set before other commands, - and may how those commands behave. + and may influence the behavior of those commands. + Supported if the helper has the "option" capability. 'fetch' <sha1> <name>:: Fetches the given object, writing the necessary objects to the database. Fetch commands are sent in a batch, one - per line, and the batch is terminated with a blank line. + per line, terminated with a blank line. Outputs a single blank line when all fetch commands in the same batch are complete. Only objects which were reported in the ref list with a sha1 may be fetched this way. @@ -67,7 +116,7 @@ suitably updated. Supported if the helper has the "fetch" capability. 'push' +<src>:<dst>:: - Pushes the given <src> commit or branch locally to the + Pushes the given local <src> commit or branch to the remote branch described by <dst>. A batch sequence of one or more push commands is terminated with a blank line. + @@ -91,6 +140,9 @@ Supported if the helper has the "push" capability. by applying the refspecs from the "refspec" capability to the name of the ref. + +Especially useful for interoperability with a foreign versioning +system. ++ Supported if the helper has the "import" capability. 'connect' <service>:: @@ -119,16 +171,11 @@ CAPABILITIES ------------ 'fetch':: - This helper supports the 'fetch' command. - 'option':: - This helper supports the option command. - 'push':: - This helper supports the 'push' command. - 'import':: - This helper supports the 'import' command. +'connect':: + This helper supports the corresponding command with the same name. 'refspec' 'spec':: When using the import command, expect the source ref to have @@ -140,9 +187,6 @@ CAPABILITIES all, it must cover all refs reported by the list command; if it is not used, it is effectively "*:*" -'connect':: - This helper supports the 'connect' command. - REF LIST ATTRIBUTES ------------------- @@ -158,19 +202,19 @@ REF LIST ATTRIBUTES OPTIONS ------- 'option verbosity' <N>:: - Change the level of messages displayed by the helper. - When N is 0 the end-user has asked the process to be - quiet, and the helper should produce only error output. - N of 1 is the default level of verbosity, higher values + Changes the verbosity of messages displayed by the helper. + A value of 0 for N means that processes operate + quietly, and the helper produces only error output. + 1 is the default level of verbosity, and higher values of N correspond to the number of -v flags passed on the command line. 'option progress' \{'true'|'false'\}:: - Enable (or disable) progress messages displayed by the + Enables (or disables) progress messages displayed by the transport helper during a command. 'option depth' <depth>:: - Deepen the history of a shallow repository. + Deepens the history of a shallow repository. 'option followtags' \{'true'|'false'\}:: If enabled the helper should automatically fetch annotated @@ -186,11 +230,15 @@ OPTIONS helpers this only applies to the 'push', if supported. 'option servpath <c-style-quoted-path>':: - Set service path (--upload-pack, --receive-pack etc.) for - next connect. Remote helper MAY support this option. Remote - helper MUST NOT rely on this option being set before + Sets service path (--upload-pack, --receive-pack etc.) for + next connect. Remote helper may support this option, but + must not rely on this option being set before connect request occurs. +SEE ALSO +-------- +linkgit:git-remote[1] + Documentation ------------- Documentation by Daniel Barkalow and Ilari Liusvaara |