Use git "log" from another folder

Question

I am in directory A. How do I execute git log for the git repository in directory B?

With git 1.8.5 (Q4 2013), you will have another choice, instead of setting `--git-dir`: see [my answer below](http://stackoverflow.com/a/20115753/6309) — VonC, Nov 21 '13 at 08:24
Possible duplicate of [git pull while not in a git directory](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5083224/git-pull-while-not-in-a-git-directory) — Code-Apprentice, Dec 30 '16 at 21:27
`(cd ../other/dir && git log)` - just enclosed in round brackets, this runs a new subshell so after returning you end up in the original location. — bloody, Dec 04 '20 at 12:53
Does this answer your question? [How do I execute a Git command without being in the repository?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7149984/how-do-i-execute-a-git-command-without-being-in-the-repository) — Top-Master, Aug 20 '22 at 07:16

score 253 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 11 '18 at 21:38

253

From, man git:

You can do this with the --git-dir parameter, before passing any commands.

git --git-dir /foo/bar/.git log

(Specifying the .git directory is necessary.) From the documentation:

--git-dir=<path>

Set the path to the repository. This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_DIR environment variable. It can be an absolute path or relative path to current working directory.

edited Jan 11 '18 at 21:38

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answered Sep 22 '10 at 12:26

rgngl

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You have to reference the `.git` directory. Try `git --git-dir=/foo/bar/.git log`. – mipadi Sep 22 '10 at 18:29
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sorry, my wrong you don't put the = between --git-dir and directory name. so it becomes git --git-dir /foo/bar log – rgngl Sep 23 '10 at 06:39
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Warning! This approach is broken for operations other than `log`. Try `git --git-dir /foo/someclone/.git status` - git gets totally confused. I recommend `-C` as noted below. – Air Sep 25 '14 at 22:25
I have yet to come across a git help page that includes the string "--git-dir" :'( – thinsoldier Mar 31 '15 at 22:26
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@thinsoldier `man git` does on my system (2.3.5). But @VonC answer works much better. – Calimo Apr 17 '15 at 12:25

VonC · Answer 2 · 2016-08-23T10:56:03.827

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With git 1.8.5 (Q4 2013), you will have another choice, instead of setting --git-dir.
If you want to execute git log in folder B, type:

git -C B log

Just like "make -C <directory>", "git -C <directory> ..." tells Git to go there before doing anything else.

See commit 44e1e4 by Nazri Ramliy:

It takes more keypresses to invoke git command in a different directory without leaving the current directory:

(cd ~/foo && git status) git --git-dir=~/foo/.git --work-tree=~/foo status GIT_DIR=~/foo/.git GIT_WORK_TREE=~/foo git status

(cd ../..; git grep foo)

for d in d1 d2 d3; do (cd $d && git svn rebase); done

The methods shown above are acceptable for scripting but are too cumbersome for quick command line invocations.

With this new option, the above can be done with fewer keystrokes:

git -C ~/foo status

git -C ../.. grep foo

for d in d1 d2 d3; do git -C $d svn rebase; done

edited Aug 23 '16 at 10:56

answered Nov 21 '13 at 08:24

VonC

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This is a much more reliable approach and works for commands other than `log`. – Air Sep 25 '14 at 22:25
wow, and nothing in the man page! What a shame. (ok, now I see it added in 2.7 man page) – akostadinov Feb 05 '16 at 09:34
Sadly, this is still not quite as nice as Mercurial's `-R` option, since it messes up relative paths. For instance, if I type `git -C subdir log subdir/myfile` it gives an error (since it looks for the file `subdir/subdir/myfile`). – jwd Mar 20 '17 at 23:16
--git-dir is handier when you do something like this: `for p in (find . -type d -name ".git"); do git --git-dir $p ...; done` – shabunc Dec 03 '17 at 21:13
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@jwd: I'm not sure how that's a problem? What you quoted is the precise behaviour I would expect, and I wouldn't want `git` to think it was cleverer than me and what I typed. If I say 'run this in directory X', I don't mean 'except sometimes, do something else'. – underscore_d Jan 27 '18 at 18:29
@underscore_d: It's just a bit of inconvenience, IMO. I don't think it's a particularly clever or unexpected idea: If I give a command the path to a file (perhaps using tab-completion to get the name easily), I would expect that command to know what file I'm talking about, even if it might have a different name relative to its enclosing repo. – jwd Mar 23 '18 at 23:08
I tried this using for-each-ref and it failed on me :/ standard commands seem to work find tho. Command: `git -c ~/projects/my-project for-each-ref --format='%(refname:short)' refs/heads/` Error: `error: key does not contain a section: ~/projects/my-project` – Jackson Blankenship Sep 16 '21 at 20:21
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@JacksonBlankenship `-c` would not be right (it is for setting config); `-C` would (it it to change path) – VonC Sep 16 '21 at 20:41
@VonC wow that worked, thanks for the quick response! – Jackson Blankenship Sep 16 '21 at 21:35

score 7 · Answer 3 · answered May 30 '22 at 06:13

All possible options:

-C <path>: Runs command as if git were started in <path>.
--git-dir=<path>: Sets the path to the ".git" directory.
--work-tree=<path>: Sets path to the working tree.

Usually, -C is what most people want. For other uses, consider combining the above.

Use git "log" from another folder

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