gc.adoc

gc.aggressiveDepth

The depth parameter used in the delta compression algorithm used by 'git gc --aggressive'. This defaults to 50, which is the default for the --depth option when --aggressive isn’t in use.

See the documentation for the --depth option in linkgit:git-repack[1] for more details.

gc.aggressiveWindow

The window size parameter used in the delta compression algorithm used by 'git gc --aggressive'. This defaults to 250, which is a much more aggressive window size than the default --window of 10.

See the documentation for the --window option in linkgit:git-repack[1] for more details.

gc.auto

When there are approximately more than this many loose objects in the repository, git gc --auto will pack them. Some Porcelain commands use this command to perform a light-weight garbage collection from time to time. The default value is 6700.

Setting this to 0 disables not only automatic packing based on the number of loose objects, but also any other heuristic git gc --auto will otherwise use to determine if there’s work to do, such as gc.autoPackLimit.

gc.autoPackLimit

When there are more than this many packs that are not marked with *.keep file in the repository, git gc --auto consolidates them into one larger pack. The default value is 50. Setting this to 0 disables it. Setting gc.auto to 0 will also disable this.

See the gc.bigPackThreshold configuration variable below. When in use, it’ll affect how the auto pack limit works.

gc.autoDetach

Make git gc --auto return immediately and run in the background if the system supports it. Default is true. This config variable acts as a fallback in case maintenance.autoDetach is not set.

gc.bigPackThreshold

If non-zero, all non-cruft packs larger than this limit are kept when git gc is run. This is very similar to --keep-largest-pack except that all non-cruft packs that meet the threshold are kept, not just the largest pack. Defaults to zero. Common unit suffixes of 'k', 'm', or 'g' are supported.

Note that if the number of kept packs is more than gc.autoPackLimit, this configuration variable is ignored, all packs except the base pack will be repacked. After this the number of packs should go below gc.autoPackLimit and gc.bigPackThreshold should be respected again.

If the amount of memory estimated for git repack to run smoothly is not available and gc.bigPackThreshold is not set, the largest pack will also be excluded (this is the equivalent of running git gc with --keep-largest-pack).

gc.writeCommitGraph

If true, then gc will rewrite the commit-graph file when linkgit:git-gc[1] is run. When using git gc --auto the commit-graph will be updated if housekeeping is required. Default is true. See linkgit:git-commit-graph[1] for details.

gc.logExpiry

If the file gc.log exists, then git gc --auto will print its content and exit with status zero instead of running unless that file is more than 'gc.logExpiry' old. Default is "1.day". See gc.pruneExpire for more ways to specify its value.

gc.packRefs

Running git pack-refs in a repository renders it unclonable by Git versions prior to 1.5.1.2 over dumb transports such as HTTP. This variable determines whether 'git gc' runs git pack-refs. This can be set to notbare to enable it within all non-bare repos or it can be set to a boolean value. The default is true.

gc.cruftPacks

Store unreachable objects in a cruft pack (see linkgit:git-repack[1]) instead of as loose objects. The default is true.

gc.maxCruftSize

Limit the size of new cruft packs when repacking. When specified in addition to --max-cruft-size, the command line option takes priority. See the --max-cruft-size option of linkgit:git-repack[1].

gc.pruneExpire

When 'git gc' is run, it will call 'prune --expire 2.weeks.ago' (and 'repack --cruft --cruft-expiration 2.weeks.ago' if using cruft packs via gc.cruftPacks or --cruft). Override the grace period with this config variable. The value "now" may be used to disable this grace period and always prune unreachable objects immediately, or "never" may be used to suppress pruning. This feature helps prevent corruption when 'git gc' runs concurrently with another process writing to the repository; see the "NOTES" section of linkgit:git-gc[1].

gc.worktreePruneExpire

When 'git gc' is run, it calls 'git worktree prune --expire 3.months.ago'. This config variable can be used to set a different grace period. The value "now" may be used to disable the grace period and prune $GIT_DIR/worktrees immediately, or "never" may be used to suppress pruning.

gc.reflogExpire

gc.<pattern>.reflogExpire

'git reflog expire' removes reflog entries older than this time; defaults to 90 days. The value "now" expires all entries immediately, and "never" suppresses expiration altogether. With "<pattern>" (e.g. "refs/stash") in the middle the setting applies only to the refs that match the <pattern>.

gc.reflogExpireUnreachable

gc.<pattern>.reflogExpireUnreachable

'git reflog expire' removes reflog entries older than this time and are not reachable from the current tip; defaults to 30 days. The value "now" expires all entries immediately, and "never" suppresses expiration altogether. With "<pattern>" (e.g. "refs/stash") in the middle, the setting applies only to the refs that match the <pattern>.

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, which is why the default is more aggressive than gc.reflogExpire.

gc.recentObjectsHook

When considering whether or not to remove an object (either when generating a cruft pack or storing unreachable objects as loose), use the shell to execute the specified command(s). Interpret their output as object IDs which Git will consider as "recent", regardless of their age. By treating their mtimes as "now", any objects (and their descendants) mentioned in the output will be kept regardless of their true age.

Output must contain exactly one hex object ID per line, and nothing else. Objects which cannot be found in the repository are ignored. Multiple hooks are supported, but all must exit successfully, else the operation (either generating a cruft pack or unpacking unreachable objects) will be halted.

gc.repackFilter

When repacking, use the specified filter to move certain objects into a separate packfile. See the --filter=<filter-spec> option of linkgit:git-repack[1].

gc.repackFilterTo

When repacking and using a filter, see gc.repackFilter, the specified location will be used to create the packfile containing the filtered out objects. WARNING: The specified location should be accessible, using for example the Git alternates mechanism, otherwise the repo could be considered corrupt by Git as it might not be able to access the objects in that packfile. See the --filter-to=<dir> option of linkgit:git-repack[1] and the objects/info/alternates section of linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5].

gc.rerereResolved

Records of conflicted merge you resolved earlier are kept for this many days when 'git rerere gc' is run. You can also use more human-readable "1.month.ago", etc. The default is 60 days. See linkgit:git-rerere[1].

gc.rerereUnresolved

Records of conflicted merge you have not resolved are kept for this many days when 'git rerere gc' is run. You can also use more human-readable "1.month.ago", etc. The default is 15 days. See linkgit:git-rerere[1].