If one or more patterns are given, only refs are shown that match against at least one pattern, either using fnmatch(3) or literally, in the latter case matching completely or from the beginning up to a slash.

If --stdin is supplied, then the list of patterns is read from standard input instead of from the argument list.

By default the command shows all refs that match <pattern>. This option makes it stop after showing that many refs.

A field name to sort on. Prefix - to sort in descending order of the value. When unspecified, refname is used. You may use the --sort=<key> option multiple times, in which case the last key becomes the primary key.

A string that interpolates %(fieldname) from a ref being shown and the object it points at. In addition, the string literal %% renders as % and %xx - where xx are hex digits - renders as the character with hex code xx. For example, %00 interpolates to \0 (NUL), %09 to \t (TAB), and %0a to \n (LF).

Respect any colors specified in the --format option. The <when> field must be one of always, never, or auto (if <when> is absent, behave as if always was given).

If given, strings that substitute %(fieldname) placeholders are quoted as string literals suitable for the specified host language. This is meant to produce a scriptlet that can directly be `eval`ed.

Only list refs which points at the given object.

Only list refs whose tips are reachable from the specified commit (HEAD if not specified).

Only list refs whose tips are not reachable from the specified commit (HEAD if not specified).

Only list refs which contain the specified commit (HEAD if not specified).

Only list refs which don’t contain the specified commit (HEAD if not specified).

Sorting and filtering refs are case insensitive.

Do not print a newline after formatted refs where the format expands to the empty string.

If one or more patterns are given, only refs which do not match any excluded pattern(s) are shown. Matching is done using the same rules as <pattern> above.

The name of the ref (the part after $GIT_DIR/). For a non-ambiguous short name of the ref append :short. The option core.warnAmbiguousRefs is used to select the strict abbreviation mode. If lstrip=<N> (rstrip=<N>) is appended, strips <N> slash-separated path components from the front (back) of the refname (e.g. %(refname:lstrip=2) turns refs/tags/foo into foo and %(refname:rstrip=2) turns refs/tags/foo into refs). If <N> is a negative number, strip as many path components as necessary from the specified end to leave -<N> path components (e.g. %(refname:lstrip=-2) turns refs/tags/foo into tags/foo and %(refname:rstrip=-1) turns refs/tags/foo into refs). When the ref does not have enough components, the result becomes an empty string if stripping with positive <N>, or it becomes the full refname if stripping with negative <N>. Neither is an error.

The type of the object (blob, tree, commit, tag).

The size of the object (the same as git cat-file -s reports). Append :disk to get the size, in bytes, that the object takes up on disk. See the note about on-disk sizes in the CAVEATS section below.

The object name (aka SHA-1). For a non-ambiguous abbreviation of the object name append :short. For an abbreviation of the object name with desired length append :short=<length>, where the minimum length is MINIMUM_ABBREV. The length may be exceeded to ensure unique object names.

This expands to the object name of the delta base for the given object, if it is stored as a delta. Otherwise it expands to the null object name (all zeroes).

The name of a local ref which can be considered “upstream” from the displayed ref. Respects :short, :lstrip and :rstrip in the same way as refname above. Additionally respects :track to show "[ahead N, behind M]" and :trackshort to show the terse version: ">" (ahead), "<" (behind), "<>" (ahead and behind), or "=" (in sync). :track also prints "[gone]" whenever unknown upstream ref is encountered. Append :track,nobracket to show tracking information without brackets (i.e "ahead N, behind M").

The name of a local ref which represents the @{push} location for the displayed ref. Respects :short, :lstrip, :rstrip, :track, :trackshort, :remotename, and :remoteref options as upstream does. Produces an empty string if no @{push} ref is configured.

* if HEAD matches current ref (the checked out branch), ' ' otherwise.

Change output color. Followed by :<colorname>, where color names are described under Values in the "CONFIGURATION FILE" section of git-config[1]. For example, %(color:bold red).