GIT-INIT(1)			  Git Manual			   GIT-INIT(1)

NAME
       git-init - Create an empty Git repository or reinitialize an existing
       one

SYNOPSIS
       git init [-q | --quiet] [--bare] [--template=<template-directory>]
		[--separate-git-dir <git-dir>] [--object-format=<format>]
		[--ref-format=<format>]
		[-b <branch-name> | --initial-branch=<branch-name>]
		[--shared[=<permissions>]] [<directory>]


DESCRIPTION
       This command creates an empty Git repository - basically a .git
       directory with subdirectories for objects, refs/heads, refs/tags, and
       template files. An initial branch without any commits will be created
       (see the --initial-branch option below for its name).

       If the GIT_DIR environment variable is set then it specifies a path to
       use instead of ./.git for the base of the repository.

       If the object storage directory is specified via the
       GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY environment variable then the sha1 directories are
       created underneath; otherwise, the default $GIT_DIR/objects directory
       is used.

       Running git init in an existing repository is safe. It will not
       overwrite things that are already there. The primary reason for
       rerunning git init is to pick up newly added templates (or to move the
       repository to another place if --separate-git-dir is given).

OPTIONS
       -q, --quiet
	   Only print error and warning messages; all other output will be
	   suppressed.

       --bare
	   Create a bare repository. If GIT_DIR environment is not set, it is
	   set to the current working directory.

       --object-format=<format>
	   Specify the given object <format> (hash algorithm) for the
	   repository. The valid values are sha1 and (if enabled) sha256.
	   sha1 is the default.

	   Note: At present, there is no interoperability between SHA-256
	   repositories and SHA-1 repositories.

       Historically, we warned that SHA-256 repositories may later need
       backward incompatible changes when we introduce such interoperability
       features. Today, we only expect compatible changes. Furthermore, if
       such changes prove to be necessary, it can be expected that SHA-256
       repositories created with today’s Git will be usable by future versions
       of Git without data loss.

       --ref-format=<format>
	   Specify the given ref storage <format> for the repository. The
	   valid values are:

	   •   files for loose files with packed-refs. This is the default.

	   •   reftable for the reftable format. This format is experimental
	       and its internals are subject to change.

       --template=<template-directory>
	   Specify the directory from which templates will be used. (See the
	   "TEMPLATE DIRECTORY" section below.)

       --separate-git-dir=<git-dir>
	   Instead of initializing the repository as a directory to either
	   $GIT_DIR or ./.git/, create a text file there containing the path
	   to the actual repository. This file acts as a filesystem-agnostic
	   Git symbolic link to the repository.

	   If this is a reinitialization, the repository will be moved to the
	   specified path.

       -b <branch-name>, --initial-branch=<branch-name>
	   Use <branch-name> for the initial branch in the newly created
	   repository. If not specified, fall back to the default name
	   (currently master, but this is subject to change in the future; the
	   name can be customized via the init.defaultBranch configuration
	   variable).

       --shared[=(false|true|umask|group|all|world|everybody|<perm>)]
	   Specify that the Git repository is to be shared amongst several
	   users. This allows users belonging to the same group to push into
	   that repository. When specified, the config variable
	   core.sharedRepository is set so that files and directories under
	   $GIT_DIR are created with the requested permissions. When not
	   specified, Git will use permissions reported by umask(2).

	   The option can have the following values, defaulting to group if no
	   value is given:

	   umask, false
	       Use permissions reported by umask(2). The default, when
	       --shared is not specified.

	   group, true
	       Make the repository group-writable, (and g+sx, since the git
	       group may not be the primary group of all users). This is used
	       to loosen the permissions of an otherwise safe umask(2) value.
	       Note that the umask still applies to the other permission bits
	       (e.g. if umask is 0022, using group will not remove read
	       privileges from other (non-group) users). See 0xxx for how to
	       exactly specify the repository permissions.

	   all, world, everybody
	       Same as group, but make the repository readable by all users.

	   <perm>
	       <perm> is a 3-digit octal number prefixed with ‘0` and each
	       file will have mode <perm>.  <perm> will override users’
	       umask(2) value (and not only loosen permissions as group and
	       all do).	 0640 will create a repository which is
	       group-readable, but not group-writable or accessible to others.
	       0660 will create a repo that is readable and writable to the
	       current user and group, but inaccessible to others (directories
	       and executable files get their x bit from the r bit for
	       corresponding classes of users).

       By default, the configuration flag receive.denyNonFastForwards is
       enabled in shared repositories, so that you cannot force a non
       fast-forwarding push into it.

       If you provide a <directory>, the command is run inside it. If this
       directory does not exist, it will be created.

TEMPLATE DIRECTORY
       Files and directories in the template directory whose name do not start
       with a dot will be copied to the $GIT_DIR after it is created.

       The template directory will be one of the following (in order):

       •   the argument given with the --template option;

       •   the contents of the $GIT_TEMPLATE_DIR environment variable;

       •   the init.templateDir configuration variable; or

       •   the default template directory: /usr/share/git-core/templates.

       The default template directory includes some directory structure,
       suggested "exclude patterns" (see gitignore(5)), and sample hook files.

       The sample hooks are all disabled by default. To enable one of the
       sample hooks rename it by removing its .sample suffix.

       See githooks(5) for more general info on hook execution.

EXAMPLES
       Start a new Git repository for an existing code base

	       $ cd /path/to/my/codebase
	       $ git init      (1)
	       $ git add .     (2)
	       $ git commit    (3)


	   1.	Create a
		/path/to/my/codebase/.git
		directory.
	   2.	Add all existing files to
		the index.
	   3.	Record the pristine state
		as the first commit in the
		history.

CONFIGURATION
       Everything below this line in this section is selectively included from
       the git-config(1) documentation. The content is the same as what’s
       found there:

       init.templateDir
	   Specify the directory from which templates will be copied.

       init.defaultBranch
	   Allows overriding the default branch name e.g. when initializing a
	   new repository.

       init.defaultObjectFormat
	   Allows overriding the default object format for new repositories.
	   See --object-format= in git-init(1). Both the command line option
	   and the GIT_DEFAULT_HASH environment variable take precedence over
	   this config.

       init.defaultRefFormat
	   Allows overriding the default ref storage format for new
	   repositories. See --ref-format= in git-init(1). Both the command
	   line option and the GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT environment variable
	   take precedence over this config.

GIT
       Part of the git(1) suite

Git 2.51.0			  2025-08-17			   GIT-INIT(1)