Porcelain vs Plumbing in Git

Git commands are divided into two categories: porcelain and plumbing. Understanding this distinction helps you know when to use a high-level shortcut versus when you need precise, low-level control.

Porcelain vs Plumbing

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, designed for daily use	May change, not always user-friendly

Tip: Porcelain = Pretty (what users interact with). Plumbing = Pipes (what Git is built on).

Porcelain Commands

Porcelain commands are what you use every day. Git officially lists 44 main commands, split into three functional groups.

44 Main Commands

#	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

11 Manipulators

Commands that modify repository state.

#	Command	Description
1	`git commit`	Record changes to the repository
2	`git revert`	Revert a previous commit by creating a new commit
3	`git reset`	Reset current HEAD and optionally index/working tree
4	`git merge`	Merge another branch into the current branch
5	`git rebase`	Reapply commits on top of another base tip
6	`git cherry-pick`	Apply changes introduced by existing commits
7	`git stash`	Temporarily save changes not ready to commit
8	`git apply`	Apply a patch to files and/or the index
9	`git config`	Set repository or global options
10	`git reflog`	Manage the reflog (can be used to recover commits)
11	`git replace`	Create, list, delete object replacement refs

17 Interrogators

Commands that read repository state without modifying it.

#	Command	Description
1	`git blame`	Show who last modified each line of a file
2	`git diff`	Show changes between commits, working directory
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 Git configuration values
11	`git remote`	View remote connections
12	`git branch`	List branches
13	`git tag`	List tags
14	`git rev-parse`	Convert human-readable refs to SHA-1 hashes
15	`git cat-file`	View object contents
16	`git ls-files`	Show files in the index (staging area)
17	`git ls-tree`	List contents of a tree object

10 Interactors

Commands that communicate with remote repositories or external systems.

#	Command	Description
1	`git clone`	Clone a remote repository into a new local directory
2	`git remote`	Manage and interact with remote repositories
3	`git fetch`	Download commits, refs, and objects from a remote repository
4	`git submodule`	Initialize, update, or sync submodules
5	`git request-pull`	Generate a summary of changes for a pull request via email
6	`git archive`	Create an archive (tar/zip) of files from the repository
7	`git bundle`	Create or fetch from a self-contained bundle of Git objects
8	`git send-email`	Send patches as emails
9	`git p4`	Import from and submit to Perforce repositories
10	`git svn`	Bidirectional operation between Subversion and Git

Plumbing Commands

Plumbing commands are used by Git internally and in automation scripts. They provide fine-grained, predictable control over Git's object model.

10 Manipulators

Commands that 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

Commands that retrieve information without modifying anything.

Command	Description
`git cat-file`	Provide content, type, or 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 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

Commands that handle data transfer 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 Helpers

Low-level commands primarily used internally by other Git commands.

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`	Extract patch and authorship from a single email 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 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 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