{"id":651,"date":"2013-09-27T08:55:51","date_gmt":"2013-09-27T04:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prgmr.io\/?p=651"},"modified":"2013-09-30T11:43:42","modified_gmt":"2013-09-30T07:43:42","slug":"list-remote-branches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rakhesh.com\/coding\/list-remote-branches\/","title":{"rendered":"List remote Git branches"},"content":{"rendered":"

I used to think git branch -r<\/code> was the way to go for finding remote branches. <\/p>\n

Until today, when I was working on repository I hadn’t updated locally for a while and doing git branch -r<\/code> gave me some older branch names that I was pretty sure I had deleted (and double checking GitHub confirmed that too). <\/p>\n

\r\nPS> git branch -r\r\n  origin\/0.1\r\n  origin\/master\r\n  origin\/testing\r\n  origin\/testing2\r\n<\/pre>\n
Moreover shouldn’t git branch -r<\/code> prompt for my SSH key when connecting to the repository? It doesn’t, so maybe the command’s just returning some cached info? <\/p>\n
Turns out the accurate way of querying a remote repository is to use the git ls-remote<\/code> command:<\/p>\n
\r\nPS> git ls-remote\r\nEnter passphrase for key '\/c\/.ssh\/id_rsa':\r\nFrom git@github.com:rakheshster\/PS-AppMgmt.git\r\n974390363db7e110deff9a84a774b363714ffe6e        HEAD\r\n974390363db7e110deff9a84a774b363714ffe6e        refs\/heads\/0.1\r\n974390363db7e110deff9a84a774b363714ffe6e        refs\/heads\/master\r\n974390363db7e110deff9a84a774b363714ffe6e        refs\/heads\/testing\r\n<\/pre>\n
This does show the correct branches. <\/p>\n
A better way to do this is to use the git remote<\/code> command. This is easier to remember too and the output is more informative:<\/p>\n
\r\nPS> git remote show origin\r\nEnter passphrase for key '\/c\/.ssh\/id_rsa':\r\n* remote origin\r\n  Fetch URL: git@github.com:rakheshster\/PS-AppMgmt.git\r\n  Push  URL: git@github.com:rakheshster\/PS-AppMgmt.git\r\n  HEAD branch (remote HEAD is ambiguous, may be one of the following):\r\n    0.1\r\n    master\r\n    testing\r\n  Remote branches:\r\n    0.1                          tracked\r\n    master                       tracked\r\n    refs\/remotes\/origin\/testing2 stale (use 'git remote prune' to remove)\r\n    testing                      tracked\r\n  Local branch configured for 'git pull':\r\n    master merges with remote master\r\n  Local refs configured for 'git push':\r\n    master  pushes to master  (local out of date)\r\n    testing pushes to testing (up to date)\r\n<\/pre>\n
This command actually runs the git ls-remote<\/code> command behind the scenes. If you want to see the cached information instead (what git branch -r<\/code> was looking at) use the -n<\/code> switch:<\/p>\n
\r\nPS> git remote show origin -n\r\nEnter passphrase for key '\/c\/.ssh\/id_rsa':\r\n* remote origin\r\n  Fetch URL: git@github.com:rakheshster\/PS-AppMgmt.git\r\n  Push  URL: git@github.com:rakheshster\/PS-AppMgmt.git\r\n  HEAD branch: (not queried)\r\n  Remote branches: (status not queried)\r\n    0.1\r\n    master\r\n    testing\r\n    testing2\r\n  Local branch configured for 'git pull':\r\n    master merges with remote master\r\n  Local ref configured for 'git push' (status not queried):\r\n    (matching) pushes to (matching)\r\n<\/pre>\n
To remove the branches that are no longer present locally (stale branches) use the git remote prune<\/code> command:<\/p>\n
\r\nPS> git remote prune origin\r\nEnter passphrase for key '\/c\/.ssh\/id_rsa':\r\nPruning origin\r\nURL: git@github.com:rakheshster\/PS-AppMgmt.git\r\n * [pruned] origin\/testing2\r\n<\/pre>\n
To summarize:<\/p>\n