git-fast-import.txt

git-fast-import(1)
==================

NAME
----
git-fast-import - Backend for fast Git data importers


SYNOPSIS
--------
[verse]
frontend | 'git fast-import' [<options>]

DESCRIPTION
-----------
This program is usually not what the end user wants to run directly.
Most end users want to use one of the existing frontend programs,
which parses a specific type of foreign source and feeds the contents
stored there to 'git fast-import'.

fast-import reads a mixed command/data stream from standard input and
writes one or more packfiles directly into the current repository.
When EOF is received on standard input, fast import writes out
updated branch and tag refs, fully updating the current repository
with the newly imported data.

The fast-import backend itself can import into an empty repository (one that
has already been initialized by 'git init') or incrementally
update an existing populated repository.  Whether or not incremental
imports are supported from a particular foreign source depends on
the frontend program in use.


OPTIONS
-------

--force::
	Force updating modified existing branches, even if doing
	so would cause commits to be lost (as the new commit does
	not contain the old commit).

--quiet::
	Disable the output shown by --stats, making fast-import usually
	be silent when it is successful.  However, if the import stream
	has directives intended to show user output (e.g. `progress`
	directives), the corresponding messages will still be shown.

--stats::
	Display some basic statistics about the objects fast-import has
	created, the packfiles they were stored into, and the
	memory used by fast-import during this run.  Showing this output
	is currently the default, but can be disabled with --quiet.

--allow-unsafe-features::
	Many command-line options can be provided as part of the
	fast-import stream itself by using the `feature` or `option`
	commands. However, some of these options are unsafe (e.g.,
	allowing fast-import to access the filesystem outside of the
	repository). These options are disabled by default, but can be
	allowed by providing this option on the command line.  This
	currently impacts only the `export-marks`, `import-marks`, and
	`import-marks-if-exists` feature commands.
+
	Only enable this option if you trust the program generating the
	fast-import stream! This option is enabled automatically for
	remote-helpers that use the `import` capability, as they are
	already trusted to run their own code.

Options for Frontends
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~