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Porcelain vs Plumbing in Git
May 24, 2025
🪞 Porcelain vs 🧰 Plumbing in Git
Category Porcelain Commands Plumbing Commands
Level High-level (user-friendly) Low-level (internal, script-friendly)
Audience End users Tools, scripts, Git internals
Output Readable, formatted Raw, structured (for parsing)
Stability Stable, meant for users May change, not always user-friendly
🪞 Git Porcelain Commands (high-level user tools)
These are what you typically use on a daily basis:
git init
git clone
git add
git commit
git status
git push
git pull
git checkout
git branch
git merge
git log
git diff
git reset
git stash
🧰 Git Plumbing Commands (low-level tools)
These are used by Git internally or in scripts for fine-grained control:
git hash-object
git cat-file
git rev-parse
git update-index
git write-tree
git read-tree
git commit-tree
git unpack-objects
git ls-tree
git for-each-ref
git show-ref
git update-ref
git check-ref-format
🧠 Tip to Remember
Porcelain = Pretty (what users interact with)
Plumbing = Pipes (what Git is built on)
🧠 Tip to Remember
Porcelain = Pretty (what users interact with)
Plumbing = Pipes (what Git is built on)
Let me know if you want to see examples of how plumbing commands work under the hood (like building a commit manually).
You said:
list me all porcelain commands
ChatGPT said:
Here’s a comprehensive list of Git porcelain commands — these are the high-level, user-facing commands meant for daily use. They're designed to be human-friendly and stable.
🪞 Git Porcelain Commands (User Commands)
📁 Repository Setup & Configuration
git init — Create a new Git repository
git clone — Clone an existing repository
git config — Configure user settings
🔄 Working with Changes
git status — Show the working directory and staging area status
git add — Add files to the staging area
git restore — Restore files in the working directory
git rm — Remove files from working directory and staging area
git mv — Move or rename a file
🧱 Committing Changes
git commit — Record changes to the repository
git reset — Undo commits or reset the staging area
git revert — Create a new commit that undoes previous changes
🌿 Branching and Merging
git branch — List, create, or delete branches
git checkout — Switch branches or restore files (older usage)
git switch — Modern way to switch branches
git merge — Join two or more development histories
git rebase — Reapply commits on top of another base tip
📤 Sharing and Updating
git fetch — Download objects and refs from another repo
git pull — Fetch and integrate changes
git push — Upload local changes to a remote repo
git remote — Manage remote repositories
🔍 Inspecting History and Changes
git log — Show commit logs
git show — Show various types of objects (e.g., commits)
git diff — Show changes between commits, working directory, etc.
🧰 Temporary Changes
git stash — Save and restore uncommitted changes
git clean — Remove untracked files from the working directory
🧠 Notes
These commands are user-facing and are considered stable.
They often have simpler, cleaner outputs compared to plumbing commands.
🪞 Git Porcelain Commands Table
Category Command Description
🛠️ Setup & Config git init Create a new Git repository
git clone Clone an existing repository
git config Configure Git settings
🔄 Working with Changes git status Show status of working directory and staging area
git add Add file contents to the staging area
git restore Restore working directory files
git rm Remove files from working directory and index
git mv Move or rename a file
🧱 Committing Changes git commit Record changes to the repository
git reset Reset current HEAD to a specified state
git revert Revert a previous commit by creating a new one
🌿 Branching & Merging git branch Create, list, rename, or delete branches
git checkout Switch branches or restore files (older syntax)
git switch Switch branches (modern syntax)
git merge Join two or more development histories
git rebase Reapply commits on top of another base tip
📤 Sharing & Updating git fetch Download objects and refs from another repository
git pull Fetch and integrate changes from a remote repo
git push Upload local changes to a remote repository
git remote Manage set of tracked repositories
🔍 Inspecting History git log Show commit logs
git show Show details of a specific object (e.g., commit)
git diff Show changes between commits, or working tree
🧰 Temporary Changes git stash Stash the current working directory state
git clean Remove untracked files or directories
Let me know if you'd like a similar table for plumbing commands or
Porcelain
44 main commands (git help -a)
11 manipulators
17 interrogators
10 interactors
| # | Command | Description |
| ----: | --------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- |
| 1 | git add | Add file contents to the index |
| 2 | git am | Apply a series of patches from a mailbox |
| 3 | git archive | Create an archive of files from a named tree |
| 4 | git bisect | Use binary search to find the commit that introduced a bug |
| 5 | git branch | List, create, or delete branches |
| 6 | git bundle | Move objects and refs by archive |
| 7 | git checkout | Switch branches or restore working tree files |
| 8 | git cherry-pick | Apply the changes from a specific commit |
| 9 | git citool | Graphical alternative to git commit |
| 10 | git clean | Remove untracked files from the working tree |
| 11 | git clone | Clone a repository into a new directory |
| 12 | git commit | Record changes to the repository |
| 13 | git describe | Describe a commit using the most recent tag |
| 14 | git diff | Show changes between commits, working tree, etc. |
| 15 | git fetch | Download objects and refs from another repository |
| 16 | git format-patch | Prepare patches for e-mail submission |
| 17 | git gc | Optimize the local repository |
| 18 | git grep | Search for patterns in files tracked by Git |
| 19 | git gui | Launch Git’s graphical interface |
| 20 | git init | Create an empty Git repository |
| 21 | git log | Show commit logs |
| 22 | git merge | Join two or more development histories |
| 23 | git mv | Move or rename a file |
| 24 | git notes | Add or inspect object notes |
| 25 | git pull | Fetch from and integrate with another repository |
| 26 | git push | Update remote refs and objects |
| 27 | git rebase | Reapply commits on top of another base tip |
| 28 | git reflog | Show history of HEAD or other references |
| 29 | git remote | Manage set of tracked repositories |
| 30 | git reset | Reset current HEAD |
| 31 | git restore | Restore working tree files |
| 32 | git revert | Create a new commit to undo previous commits |
| 33 | git rm | Remove files from the working tree and index |
| 34 | git shortlog | Summarize git log output |
| 35 | git show | Show various types of objects |
| 36 | git sparse-checkout | Manage sparse-checkout of the working directory |
| 37 | git stash | Stash the current state of the working directory |
| 38 | git status | Show the working tree status |
| 39 | git submodule | Initialize, update, or inspect submodules |
| 40 | git switch | Switch branches |
| 41 | git tag | Create, list, delete, or verify tags |
| 42 | git worktree | Manage multiple working trees |
| 43 | git config | Get and set repository or global options |
| 44 | git help | Get help for a git command |
🛠️ Git’s 11 Manipulators (Porcelain Commands)
1 git config
2 git reflog
3 git replace
---- unknow/not sure
4 git commit Record changes to the repository
5 git revert Revert a previous commit by creating a new commit
6 git reset Reset current HEAD and optionally index/working directory
7 git merge Merge another branch into the current branch
8 git rebase Reapply commits on top of another base tip
9 git cherry-pick Apply changes introduced by existing commits
10 git stash Temporarily save changes that are not ready to commit
11 git apply Apply a patch to files and/or the index
🕵️ Git's 17 Interrogators (Porcelain Commands)
1 git blame Show who last modified each line of a file
---- unknow/not sure
2 git diff Show changes between commits, the working directory, etc.
3 git log Show the commit history
4 git show Show information about a commit or object
5 git reflog Show history of changes to references like HEAD
6 git status Show the working tree and staging area status
7 git shortlog Summarize git log by author
8 git describe Describe a commit using the nearest tag
9 git grep Search through tracked files for a pattern
10 git config View (or set) Git configuration values
11 git remote View remote connections
12 git branch List branches (can also create/delete with flags)
13 git tag List tags (or create/delete with options)
14 git rev-parse Convert human-readable refs to SHA-1 hashes (plumbing-ish)
15 git cat-file View object contents (plumbing, often used in scripts)
16 git ls-files Show files in the index (staging area)
17 git ls-tree List contents of a tree object
🤝 Git's 10 Interactors (Porcelain Commands)
1 git send-email Send patches as emails (used in some workflows)
2 git p4
3 git svn
---- unknow/not sure
4 git clone Clone a remote repository into a new local directory
5 git remote Manage and interact with remote repositories
6 git submodule Initialize, update, or sync submodules
7 git fetch Download commits, refs, and objects from a remote repository
8 git request-pull Generate a summary of changes for a pull request via email
9 git archive Create an archive (tar/zip) of files from the repository
10 git bundle Create or fetch from a self-contained bundle of Git objects
🛠️ Git Plumbing Commands Categorized
🔧 10 Manipulators
These commands modify Git's internal objects and structures.
Command Description
git hash-object Compute object ID and optionally create a blob from a file
git update-index Register file contents in the working directory to the index
git write-tree Create a tree object from the current index
git commit-tree Create a new commit object
git update-ref Update the object name stored in a ref safely
git symbolic-ref Read, modify, and delete symbolic refs
git mktree Build a tree object from stdin
git read-tree Read tree information into the index
git checkout-index Copy files from the index to the working directory
git prune Remove unreachable objects from the object database
🔍 21 Interrogators
These commands retrieve information from the repository without modifying it.
Command Description
git cat-file Provide content or type and size information for repository objects
git check-ignore Determine whether a path is ignored by .gitignore
git count-objects Count unpacked objects and display repository statistics
git diff-files Compare files in the working directory and the index
git diff-index Compare content and mode of blobs between the index and a tree
git diff-tree Show differences between two tree objects
git for-each-ref Output information on each ref
git ls-files Show information about files in the index and the working tree
git ls-tree List the contents of a tree object
git merge-base Find common ancestors between two commits
git name-rev Find symbolic names for given revisions
git rev-list List commit objects in reverse chronological order
git rev-parse Parse revision (branch, tag, etc.) identifiers
git show-ref List references in a local repository
git verify-pack Validate packed Git archive files
git show-index Show packed archive index
git fsck Verify the connectivity and validity of the objects in the database
git describe Describe a commit using the nearest tag
git log Show commit logs
git blame Show what revision and author last modified each line of a file
git shortlog Summarize git log output
🔄 5 Syncing Commands
These commands handle the transfer of data between repositories.
Command Description
git fetch-pack Receive a packfile from a remote repository
git send-pack Push objects over Git protocol to another repository
git receive-pack Receive what is pushed into the repository
git upload-pack Send objects packed back to git-fetch-pack
git pack-objects Create a packed archive of objects
⚙️ 18 Internal Helper Commands
These are low-level commands primarily used internally by other Git commands.
Medium
Command Description
git unpack-objects Unpack objects from a packed archive
git index-pack Build pack index file for an existing packed archive
git unpack-file Create a temporary file with the contents of a blob
git apply Apply a patch to files and/or the index
git mailinfo Extracts patch and authorship from a single e-mail message
git mailsplit Simple UNIX mbox splitter program
git read-tree Read tree information into the index
git write-tree Create a tree object from the current index
git update-index Register file contents in the working directory to the index
git update-ref Update the object name stored in a ref safely
git symbolic-ref Read, modify, and delete symbolic refs
git pack-refs Pack all refs into a single file
git prune-packed Remove extra objects that are already in pack files
git rerere Reuse recorded resolution of conflicted merges
git check-attr Display gitattributes information
git check-ignore Determine whether a path is ignored by .gitignore
git fast-import Backend for fast Git data importers
git fast-export Git data exporter for fast importers