105

Is there a config way to set this up without having to specify which branch?

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7 Answers 7

Reset to default
105

Git already only pulls the current branch. If you have branch set up as a tracking branch, you do not need to specify the remote branch. git branch --set-upstream-to=reponame/remotebranch localbranch will set up the tracking relationship. You then issue git pull [--rebase] and only that branch will be updated.

Of course, all remote tracking branches and all refs for the remote will be updated, but only your local tracking branch will be modified.

Useful Bash alias to cut down on typing of this common operation:

# Add an alias to pulling latest git changes into your same branch
alias pullhead='git pull origin $(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)'

Powershell function that does the same:

Function pullhead {
    $cur_head="$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)"
    & git pull origin ${cur_head}
}
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9 Comments

@AlessandroDs Well, I set push.default to upstream for just that reason. The new default for push.default is "simple" which again only updates the current branch, so is far more parallel to what pull does.
@Danjah: All changes get pulled from the remote repo (into remote tracking branches, eg origin/master origin/foo, etc). If you are checked out into a local branch with an upstream defined, only that local branch will be updated. If you are checked out into a local branch without an upstream, then you must specify more information or set the upstream. Do not attempt to modify a non-local checkout, create a local branch and proceed. If you want to reduce what you transfer, you can update your remote's refspec in your local git config.
Is there a built-in way to not update all refs only fetch the current branch?
@aditya menon: Not easily. You would need to update the refspec (eg git config remote.origin.fetch) to only fetch the specific refs (branches, tags, etc) that you want. See stackoverflow.com/questions/15507264/… for more specific examples.
why then on this page: git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Internals-The-Refspec it specifies that in the "default case, it pulls all branches", and if you need to pull only master, you need to specify it in the refspecs.. ?
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82

I just did it this way:

git pull origin "$(git branch | grep -E '^\* ' | sed 's/^\* //g')"

or

git pull origin $(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)

This extracts the current branch from git branch, and pulls that branch from remote origin.

Note, that like Seth Robertson said, when no arguments are given only the current branch is modified but all remote branches are fetched. I don't want to fetch all remote branches, so I did it this way.

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6 Comments

git branch shouldn't really be parsed for branch information. That information is available with git rev-parse making the command: git pull origin $(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
@ayke I added Paul DelRe answer into yours as it also worked, I hope you both don't mind
Just curious: What is the difference between a simple "git pull" (having checked out the branch I want to pull) and your suggestion? Your command substitution results in git pull origin <current-branch> which is the default anyway, isn't it? Are you implying that the other remote branches (e.g. origin/other-branch etc.) aren't updated, so that traffic is reduced?
I answered this ages ago, I don't really know anymore. You should probably go with the accepted answer...
@PeterA.Schneider If you just type git pull you might end up with a message like There is no tracking information for the current branch. Please specify which branch you want to merge with.. Then you always end up typing git pull origin my-feature-branch. I'd really like to know how this situation arrives that there is no tracking information.
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13

UPDATE

The old answer i've add does not work any more :/. But after receive some upvotes about the PUSH version I've placed, to me means this answer is actually helping someone that ending coming here from search engines, so I'll keep this answer.

Try this for the new version of git:

$ git config --global push.default current
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4 Comments

I do not believe pull.default exists. See git-scm or kernel.org .
Yes. git 2.3.4 on linux fetches all branches even with with the above pull.default=current. I see that my git clone by default also added remote.origin.fetch=+refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/* but that's pretty standard.
There is no pull.default config variable. Putting that in your git config won't do anything.
Question is about git pull, and the answer contains git push with many upvotes. This is misleading @BrunoCasali Why did you edit your answer and removed it if it worked for you? If you realize the answer is wrong please delete it instead of keeping it with irrelevant information to keep the upvotes.
1

The --set-upstream flag is deprecated and will be removed. Hence, use --track or --set-upstream-to

Example: If you wish to set tracking information for this branch you can do so with:

git branch --set-upstream-to=<remote>/<branch> develop
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2 Comments

It might be deprecated (source?) but --set-upstream-to= keeps being mentioning by git when it does not know about your tracking information. With no mention of deprecation.
@AdrienGiboire Here is some info about the deprecation: jira.atlassian.com/browse/SRCTREEWIN-588
1

Here's a git alias that doesn't assume the remote is origin and handles if the branch isn't tracking a remote.

pullh = "!f() { set -e; set -o pipefail; arr=($(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref @{u} | sed 's/\\//\\n/')); git pull ${arr[0]} ${arr[1]}; }; f"

(Disclaimer: I'm very much a bash novice and the above could probably be simplified a lot.)

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0

Can try this

git config --global alias.pl '!git pull  `git rev-parse --abbrev-ref --symbolic-full-name @{u} | sed "s/\// /"`'

then use git pl to fetch only tracking branch

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Comments

-3

Yes, there is a config which can be changed in .gitconfig, for example:

[push]
  default = current

which would push the current branch to update a branch with the same name on the receiving end.

Check by:

git config --global --get push.default

See: git-config.

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1 Comment

The question was regarding git pull not git push so I downvoted your answer to prevent people thinking this is the solution

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