1 libgit2 - the Git linkable library
2 ==================================
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8 `libgit2` is a portable, pure C implementation of the Git core methods
9 provided as a re-entrant linkable library with a solid API, allowing you to
10 write native speed custom Git applications in any language with bindings.
12 `libgit2` is licensed under a **very permissive license** (GPLv2 with a special
13 Linking Exception). This basically means that you can link it (unmodified)
14 with any kind of software without having to release its source code.
15 Additionally, the example code has been released to the public domain (see the
16 [separate license](examples/COPYING) for more information).
18 * Website: [libgit2.github.com](http://libgit2.github.com)
19 * StackOverflow Tag: [libgit2](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/libgit2)
20 * Issues: [GitHub Issues](https://github.com/libgit2/libgit2/issues) (Right here!)
21 * API documentation: <http://libgit2.github.com/libgit2/>
22 * IRC: [#libgit2](irc://irc.freenode.net/libgit2) on irc.freenode.net.
23 * Mailing list: The libgit2 mailing list was
24 traditionally hosted in Librelist but has been deprecated. We encourage you to
25 [use StackOverflow](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/libgit2) instead for any questions regarding
26 the library, or [open an issue](https://github.com/libgit2/libgit2/issues)
27 on GitHub for bug reports. The mailing list archives are still available at
28 <http://librelist.com/browser/libgit2/>.
34 `libgit2` is already very usable and is being used in production for many
35 applications including the GitHub.com site, in Plastic SCM and also powering
36 Microsoft's Visual Studio tools for Git. The library provides:
38 * SHA conversions, formatting and shortening
39 * abstracted ODB backend system
40 * commit, tag, tree and blob parsing, editing, and write-back
43 * index file (staging area) manipulation
44 * reference management (including packed references)
45 * config file management
46 * high level repository management
47 * thread safety and reentrancy
48 * descriptive and detailed error messages
49 * ...and more (over 175 different API calls)
54 While the library provides git functionality without the need for
55 dependencies, it can make use of a few libraries to add to it:
57 - pthreads (non-Windows) to enable threadsafe access as well as multi-threaded pack generation
58 - OpenSSL (non-Windows) to talk over HTTPS and provide the SHA-1 functions
59 - LibSSH2 to enable the SSH transport
60 - iconv (OSX) to handle the HFS+ path encoding peculiarities
65 The library needs to keep track of some global state. Call
69 before calling any other libgit2 functions. You can call this function many times. A matching number of calls to
71 git_libgit2_shutdown();
73 will free the resources. Note that if you have worker threads, you should
74 call `git_libgit2_shutdown` *after* those threads have exited. If you
75 require assistance coordinating this, simply have the worker threads call
76 `git_libgit2_init` at startup and `git_libgit2_shutdown` at shutdown.
81 See [THREADING](THREADING.md) for information
86 See [CONVENTIONS](CONVENTIONS.md) for an overview of the external
87 and internal API/coding conventions we use.
89 Building libgit2 - Using CMake
90 ==============================
92 `libgit2` builds cleanly on most platforms without any external dependencies.
93 Under Unix-like systems, like Linux, \*BSD and Mac OS X, libgit2 expects `pthreads` to be available;
94 they should be installed by default on all systems. Under Windows, libgit2 uses the native Windows API
97 The `libgit2` library is built using [CMake](<https://cmake.org/>) (version 2.8 or newer) on all platforms.
99 On most systems you can build the library using the following commands
101 $ mkdir build && cd build
105 Alternatively you can point the CMake GUI tool to the CMakeLists.txt file and generate platform specific build project or IDE workspace.
107 To install the library you can specify the install prefix by setting:
109 $ cmake .. -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/install/prefix
110 $ cmake --build . --target install
112 For more advanced use or questions about CMake please read <https://cmake.org/Wiki/CMake_FAQ>.
114 The following CMake variables are declared:
116 - `BIN_INSTALL_DIR`: Where to install binaries to.
117 - `LIB_INSTALL_DIR`: Where to install libraries to.
118 - `INCLUDE_INSTALL_DIR`: Where to install headers to.
119 - `BUILD_SHARED_LIBS`: Build libgit2 as a Shared Library (defaults to ON)
120 - `BUILD_CLAR`: Build [Clar](https://github.com/vmg/clar)-based test suite (defaults to ON)
121 - `THREADSAFE`: Build libgit2 with threading support (defaults to ON)
122 - `STDCALL`: Build libgit2 as `stdcall`. Turn off for `cdecl` (Windows; defaults to ON)
124 Compiler and linker options
125 ---------------------------
127 CMake lets you specify a few variables to control the behavior of the
128 compiler and linker. These flags are rarely used but can be useful for
129 64-bit to 32-bit cross-compilation.
131 - `CMAKE_C_FLAGS`: Set your own compiler flags
132 - `CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH`: Override the search path for libraries
133 - `ZLIB_LIBRARY`, `OPENSSL_SSL_LIBRARY` AND `OPENSSL_CRYPTO_LIBRARY`:
134 Tell CMake where to find those specific libraries
139 If you want to build a universal binary for Mac OS X, CMake sets it
140 all up for you if you use `-DCMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES="i386;x86_64"`
146 You need to run the CMake commands from the Visual Studio command
147 prompt, not the regular or Windows SDK one. Select the right generator
148 for your version with the `-G "Visual Studio X" option.
150 See [the website](http://libgit2.github.com/docs/guides/build-and-link/)
151 for more detailed instructions.
156 Extract toolchain from NDK using, `make-standalone-toolchain.sh` script.
157 Optionally, crosscompile and install OpenSSL inside of it. Then create CMake
158 toolchain file that configures paths to your crosscompiler (substitute `{PATH}`
159 with full path to the toolchain):
161 SET(CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME Linux)
162 SET(CMAKE_SYSTEM_VERSION Android)
164 SET(CMAKE_C_COMPILER {PATH}/bin/arm-linux-androideabi-gcc)
165 SET(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER {PATH}/bin/arm-linux-androideabi-g++)
166 SET(CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH {PATH}/sysroot/)
168 SET(CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH_MODE_PROGRAM NEVER)
169 SET(CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH_MODE_LIBRARY ONLY)
170 SET(CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH_MODE_INCLUDE ONLY)
172 Add `-DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE={pathToToolchainFile}` to cmake command
176 ==================================
178 Here are the bindings to libgit2 that are currently available:
181 * libqgit2, Qt bindings <https://projects.kde.org/projects/playground/libs/libqgit2/>
183 * chicken-git <https://wiki.call-cc.org/egg/git>
185 * dlibgit <https://github.com/s-ludwig/dlibgit>
187 * GitForDelphi <https://github.com/libgit2/GitForDelphi>
189 * Geef <https://github.com/carlosmn/geef>
191 * git2go <https://github.com/libgit2/git2go>
193 * libgit2-glib <https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/Libgit2-glib>
195 * hgit2 <https://github.com/jwiegley/gitlib>
197 * Jagged <https://github.com/ethomson/jagged>
199 * LibGit2.jl <https://github.com/jakebolewski/LibGit2.jl>
201 * luagit2 <https://github.com/libgit2/luagit2>
203 * libgit2sharp <https://github.com/libgit2/libgit2sharp>
205 * node-gitteh <https://github.com/libgit2/node-gitteh>
206 * nodegit <https://github.com/nodegit/nodegit>
208 * objective-git <https://github.com/libgit2/objective-git>
210 * ocaml-libgit2 <https://github.com/fxfactorial/ocaml-libgit2>
211 * Parrot Virtual Machine
212 * parrot-libgit2 <https://github.com/letolabs/parrot-libgit2>
214 * Git-Raw <https://github.com/jacquesg/p5-Git-Raw>
216 * php-git <https://github.com/libgit2/php-git>
218 * GitPowerShell <https://github.com/ethomson/gitpowershell>
220 * pygit2 <https://github.com/libgit2/pygit2>
222 * git2r <https://github.com/ropensci/git2r>
224 * Rugged <https://github.com/libgit2/rugged>
226 * git2-rs <https://github.com/alexcrichton/git2-rs>
228 * Gift <https://github.com/modocache/Gift>
230 * libgit2.vapi <https://github.com/apmasell/vapis/blob/master/libgit2.vapi>
232 If you start another language binding to libgit2, please let us know so
233 we can add it to the list.
235 How Can I Contribute?
236 ==================================
238 Check the [contribution guidelines](CONTRIBUTING.md) to understand our
239 workflow, the libgit2 [coding conventions](CONVENTIONS.md), and our list of
240 [good starting projects](PROJECTS.md).
243 ==================================
245 `libgit2` is under GPL2 **with linking exception**. This means you can link to
246 and use the library from any program, proprietary or open source; paid or
247 gratis. However, you cannot modify libgit2 and distribute it without
248 supplying the source.
250 See the [COPYING file](COPYING) for the full license text.