How can I set up autocompletion for Git commands?

Question

I have Git (version 1.7.2.5) bash compeletion working on my Debian squeeze (6.0). Git was installed with aptitude and I am using standard debian's bash, which supports command line autocompletion.

Now, I just installed Git (1.5.6.5) on an other machine (Lenny/Debian 5.0) and the there is no autocompletion.

Why is Git autocomplete not working on the second machine? How do I diagnose this?
What is making completion work on my machine? I have looked for the file git-completion.bash but it doesn't seem to be on my machine. How does Git complete ever work?
How can I bring git complete to the other machine?

This *may* be more suitable question for either [serverfault.com](http://serverfault.com) or [unix.stackexchange.com](http://unix.stackexchange.com) — poncha, Jun 23 '12 at 22:25
Please make sure that you compiled git with auto-completion if you compiled from source. Also make sure that you are using the same shell as on your old machine and that it supports auto-completion. As you can see, I'm not sure what is causing it so leaving it as a comment. It's probably either your shell not providing completion for it or git not installing completion properly. Good luck. — Mateusz Kowalczyk, Jun 23 '12 at 22:26
@MateuszKowalczyk thanks. I installed git with aptitude. I'm using standard debian's bash which supports completion. Both machines have the same Debian version. — redochka, Jun 23 '12 at 22:28
Do you have bash-completion installed? How about git-completion (although this should come in with git by default). Good luck on stackexchange — Mateusz Kowalczyk, Jun 23 '12 at 22:33
Try `source /etc/bash_completion.d/git` it should enable it in the current shell. If it does, check your bash init scripts. — Piotr Praszmo, Jun 23 '12 at 22:35
https://superuser.com/questions/1310317/why-does-debian-not-autocomplete-all-git-commands — Gerold Meisinger, Mar 11 '22 at 16:38

score 64 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 23 '12 at 22:41

64

You need to source /etc/bash_completion.d/git to enable git auto-completion.

In my .bashrc it's done with:

for file in /etc/bash_completion.d/* ; do
    source "$file"
done

answered Jun 23 '12 at 22:41

Piotr Praszmo

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This did not work for me, since some of the completion scripts inside `/etc/bash_completion.d/` used helper functions defined in `bash_completion`. – joelpet Aug 28 '14 at 20:05
This works for CentOS 7 as there is no `/etc/bash_completion` file. – Walf May 19 '17 at 04:47

Rudger · Answer 2 · 2022-09-27T11:08:24.073

62

For Debian Squeeze (6.x):

Put the following lines in your ~/.bashrc

if [ -f /etc/bash_completion ]; then
    . /etc/bash_completion
fi

The script/program /etc/bash_completion already includes the scripts in /etc/bash_completion.d and also defines some functions needed by the included scripts.

For Ubuntu Bionic and up (^18.04):

Put the following lines in your ~/.bashrc

if [ -f /usr/share/bash-completion/bash_completion ]; then
    . /usr/share/bash-completion/bash_completion
fi

For Fedora 20 & macOS High Sierra

See comments

edited Sep 27 '22 at 11:08

answered Jul 01 '12 at 15:38

Rudger

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In my Fedora 20 system `bash_completion` is located in `/usr/share/bash-completion/`. Running `updatedb && locate bash_completion` should help you find it. – joelpet Aug 28 '14 at 20:01
1

This also solved my "no command 'have' found" issue. The "have" function is defined in /etc/bash_completion, and many scripts in /etc/bash_completion.d/ depend on it. – jdunk Jan 20 '15 at 00:11
i know it's not a mac question, but I'd note I don't think this file (`/etc/bash_completion`) exists high sierra. Also, my `bash_completion.d` is at `/usr/local/etc/bash_completion.d`. @Piotr's answer with the above directory the trick though. – Sammaron Oct 04 '18 at 14:13
1

**/etc/bash_completion.d** is a legacy directory, where bash completions were loaded **eagerly** to your shell, whereas **/usr/share/bash-completion/completions/** is a new location for completion files, and completion files in this directory loaded **on-demand**, i.e. only if they needed, [check doc](https://github.com/scop/bash-completion/blob/master/README.md#installation) – Mikhail2048 Sep 23 '22 at 10:15

score 41 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 10 '16 at 19:55

41

You need to install this package if missing. And then logout and login.

apt-get install bash-completion

answered Nov 10 '16 at 19:55

Qi Luo

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after installation execute `source /etc/bash_completion` – palik Jul 24 '18 at 08:41
1

worked on Arch Linux. I had to restart my terminals after the installation. – bkupfer Aug 30 '21 at 08:06
It also worked on Android Termux. – DmitryDzz Oct 30 '21 at 21:46
Works for distrobox emulation of Ubuntu 22.04 too! – moy2010 Mar 11 '23 at 21:37

automatix · Answer 4 · 2013-04-08T17:57:02.430

15

The shortest way to activate the bash auto-completion for Git on Debian is to add

source /etc/bash_completion.d/git

to the ~/.bashrc (and restart the terminal).

See also here: "Pro Git" -> 2.7 Git Basics - Tips and Tricks -> Auto-Completion.

edited Apr 08 '13 at 17:57

answered Jan 31 '13 at 20:56

automatix

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score 5 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 19 '21 at 07:53

Get the git autocompletion script:

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/git/git/master/contrib/completion/git-completion.bash -o ~/.git-completion.bash

Add to your .bash_profile in home directory:

if [ -f ~/.git-completion.bash ]; then
  . ~/.git-completion.bash
fi

Source your .bash_profile after this like:

. ~/.bash_profile

score 3 · Answer 6 · answered Nov 27 '19 at 12:59

3

For Manjaro and other Arch-based distros. I know it's about debian, but most things are the same but sometimes not. Whatever OS you use you'll end up here.

In your ~/.bashrc add:

source /usr/share/git/completion/git-completion.bash

And then in terminal

$ source ~/.bashrc

answered Nov 27 '19 at 12:59

lava-lava

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Finally a solution that works for Arch-based distros (which are becoming increasingly more popular these days). Cheers! \o – Waldir Leoncio Nov 06 '20 at 09:13

score 3 · Answer 7 · edited Jan 04 '20 at 16:41

3

For Ubuntu/Debian

Install Git and bash-completion by the following command:

sudo apt-get install git bash-completion

I don't think you need to do anything else.

edited Jan 04 '20 at 16:41

mahyard

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answered Dec 25 '19 at 17:31

nkalra0123

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Make sure you try to autocomplete a common git command like "git clone" because it's just that SOME commands don't autocomplete like "git update-index" – Gerold Meisinger Mar 11 '22 at 16:43
1

Also works for some RPM-based distributions, with `yum install bash-completion` – einpoklum Apr 10 '22 at 12:05

score 2 · Answer 8 · answered Nov 20 '20 at 19:49

Recent versions of Ubuntu (observed on 20.04) seem to have split completions into multiple paths. For Ubuntu 20.04, I had to add the following to my .bashrc (taken from the default bashrc found in /etc/bash.bashrc):

if ! shopt -oq posix; then
  if [ -f /usr/share/bash-completion/bash_completion ]; then
    . /usr/share/bash-completion/bash_completion
  elif [ -f /etc/bash_completion ]; then
    . /etc/bash_completion
  fi
fi

score 1 · Answer 9 · answered May 21 '16 at 08:49

Use Notepad++ to edit your ~/.bashrc file. Put the line at the bottom of the script with a # at the beginning of the line. Save the file. For example: # source C:\cygwin64/etc/bash_completion.d/git

Don't forget to put the entire file path after 'source' and in front of '/etc/' For example, my cygwin64 folder which contains the 'etc' folder is in my c drive so my file path is c:\cygwin64/etc therefore the line I included in my bashrc file is:

# source c:\cygwin64/etc/bash_completion.d/git

Save bashrc file. Open Cygwin Terminal ... Boom! It's go time. I then entered the following command and it worked. git clone git:\/\/github.com/magnumripper/JohnTheRipper -b bleeding-jumbo JtR-Bleeding

the question is about debian, not windows – oromoiluig Oct 07 '16 at 01:54 — oromoiluig, Oct 07 '16 at 01:54

score 0 · Answer 10 · answered May 09 '17 at 07:18

0

At times git auto-complete disappears because you accidentally deleted your ~/.bashrc file. Check if the bashrc file is there in your home directory. If not, you can always copy it from:

/etc/skel/.bashrc

answered May 09 '17 at 07:18

hlosukwakha

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12

How can I set up autocompletion for Git commands?

10 Answers10

For Debian Squeeze (6.x):

For Ubuntu Bionic and up (^18.04):

For Fedora 20 & macOS High Sierra

Linked