GIT-LS-TREE(1) Git Manual GIT-LS-TREE(1) # [NAME](#NAME) git-ls-tree - List the contents of a tree object # [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS) ``` git ls-tree [-d] [-r] [-t] [-l] [-z] [--name-only] [--name-status] [--object-only] [--full-name] [--full-tree] [--abbrev[=]] [--format=] [...] ``` # [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION) Lists the contents of a given tree object, like what "/bin/ls -a" does in the current working directory. Note that: • the behaviour is slightly different from that of "/bin/ls" in that the *<path>* denotes just a list of patterns to match, e.g. so specifying directory name (without **-r**) will behave differently, and order of the arguments does not matter. • the behaviour is similar to that of "/bin/ls" in that the *<path>* is taken as relative to the current working directory. E.g. when you are in a directory *sub* that has a directory *dir*, you can run *git ls-tree -r HEAD dir* to list the contents of the tree (that is **sub/dir** in **HEAD**). You don’t want to give a tree that is not at the root level (e.g. **git** **ls-tree** **-r** **HEAD:sub** **dir**) in this case, as that would result in asking for **sub/sub/dir** in the **HEAD** commit. However, the current working directory can be ignored by passing --full-tree option. # [OPTIONS](#OPTIONS) <tree-ish> Id of a tree-ish. -d Show only the named tree entry itself, not its children. -r Recurse into sub-trees. -t Show tree entries even when going to recurse them. Has no effect if **-r** was not passed. **-d** implies **-t**. -l, --long Show object size of blob (file) entries. -z \\0 line termination on output and do not quote filenames. See OUTPUT FORMAT below for more information. --name-only, --name-status List only filenames (instead of the "long" output), one per line. Cannot be combined with **--object-only**. --object-only List only names of the objects, one per line. Cannot be combined with **--name-only** or **--name-status**. This is equivalent to specifying **--format=**'%(**objectname**)', but for both this option and that exact format the command takes a hand-optimized codepath instead of going through the generic formatting mechanism. --abbrev\[=<n>] Instead of showing the full 40-byte hexadecimal object lines, show the shortest prefix that is at least *<n>* hexdigits long that uniquely refers the object. Non default number of digits can be specified with --abbrev=<n>. --full-name Instead of showing the path names relative to the current working directory, show the full path names. --full-tree Do not limit the listing to the current working directory. Implies --full-name. --format=<format> A string that interpolates **%**(**fieldname**) from the result being shown. It also interpolates **%%** to **%**, and **%xNN** where **NN** are hex digits interpolates to character with hex code **NN**; for example **%x00** interpolates to **\\0** (NUL), **%x09** to **\\t** (TAB) and **%x0a** to **\\n** (LF). When specified, **--format** cannot be combined with other format-altering options, including **--long**, **--name-only** and **--object-only**. \[<path>...] When paths are given, show them (note that this isn’t really raw pathnames, but rather a list of patterns to match). Otherwise implicitly uses the root level of the tree as the sole path argument. # [OUTPUT FORMAT](#OUTPUT_FORMAT) The output format of **ls-tree** is determined by either the **--format** option, or other format-altering options such as **--name-only** etc. (see **--format** above). The use of certain **--format** directives is equivalent to using those options, but invoking the full formatting machinery can be slower than using an appropriate formatting option. In cases where the **--format** would exactly map to an existing option **ls-tree** will use the appropriate faster path. Thus the default format is equivalent to: ``` %(objectmode) %(objecttype) %(objectname)%x09%(path) ``` This output format is compatible with what **--index-info** **--stdin** of *git update-index* expects. When the **-l** option is used, format changes to ``` %(objectmode) %(objecttype) %(objectname) %(objectsize:padded)%x09%(path) ``` Object size identified by <objectname> is given in bytes, and right-justified with minimum width of 7 characters. Object size is given only for blobs (file) entries; for other entries **-** character is used in place of size. Without the **-z** option, pathnames with "unusual" characters are quoted as explained for the configuration variable **core.quotePath** (see [**git-config**(1)](/man/os/git/git-config.1)). Using **-z** the filename is output verbatim and the line is terminated by a NUL byte. Customized format: It is possible to print in a custom format by using the **--format** option, which is able to interpolate different fields using a **%**(**fieldname**) notation. For example, if you only care about the "objectname" and "path" fields, you can execute with a specific "--format" like ``` git ls-tree --format='%(objectname) %(path)' ``` # [FIELD NAMES](#FIELD_NAMES) Various values from structured fields can be used to interpolate into the resulting output. For each outputting line, the following names can be used: objectmode The mode of the object. objecttype The type of the object (**commit**, **blob** or **tree**). objectname The name of the object. objectsize\[:padded] The size of a **blob** object ("-" if it’s a **commit** or **tree**). It also supports a padded format of size with "%(objectsize:padded)". path The pathname of the object. # [GIT](#GIT) Part of the [**git**(1)](/man/os/git/git.1) suite 2026-06-29 Git 2.55.0 --- Document: git-ls-tree(1) from git 2.55.0-r10 (Chainguard OS) Source: https://kernel.googlesource.com/pub/scm/git/git.git