CODEWITHSUNDEEP
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Maic López Sáenz
Maic López Sáenz

Reputation: 10901

Git fetch a specific commit by hash

Git allows to fetch from any given remote and reference, for example

git fetch <remote-url> <reference>

So that those given commits are available without having to add remotes or creating branches.

This however only works for references, like branch names or tags, but not for specific hashes and thus commits that are not referenced directly anywhere.

Is there a way to fetch a specific commit from a remote?

Upvotes: 52

Views: 32747

Answers (4)

VonC
VonC

Reputation: 1323045

See "Pull a specific commit from a remote git repository":
With Git 2.5 (July 2015), you will be able to do:

git fetch --depth=1 <a/remote/repo.git> <full-length SHA1>
git cat-file commit $SHA1

If the SHA1 is "reachable" from one of the branch tips of the remote repo, then you can fetch it.

Caveats:

  • you need a Git 2.5 remote repo server though, which will handle the uploadpack.allowReachableSHA1InWant config (and you need that config to be set to true, in order to allow a single commit fetch).
  • As illustrated in crgarridos's answer, you need the full SHA1, and you cannot use git rev-parse, since you don't have all the commits, as noted by Jim Hurne in the comments.
  • And, as noted by golvok in the comments: "'reachable' does not include stash commits, as I had to make a branch at a stash commit to fetch it."

Upvotes: 19

Jacob Moldrup
Jacob Moldrup

Reputation: 109

git fetch [remote] [sha] && git checkout FETCH_HEAD will allow you to checkout a commit that is on the remote; even if that sha is not yet merged (like in a Gerrit environment).

or... git fetch [remote] [sha] && git cherry-pick FETCH_HEAD if you wish to cherry-pick it instead.

Examples:

  • git fetch origin d8a9a9395bb0532a0498f800e38ef5e60dfb173f && git checkout FETCH_HEAD
  • git fetch origin d8a9a9395bb0532a0498f800e38ef5e60dfb173f && git cherry-pick FETCH_HEAD

Upvotes: 2

crgarridos
crgarridos

Reputation: 9263

As today I tried:

git fetch origin <commit-hash>

And it works like a charm! (git version 2.20.1)

Just be sure the <commit-hash> is the full length reference

Upvotes: 62

Fred Foo
Fred Foo

Reputation: 363467

No. According to the manual, git fetch wants a refspec, the simplest form of which is a ref, and a bare SHA-1 isn't a ref. I.e., the commit has to have a name (branch, tag) on the remote for you to be able to fetch it.

Upvotes: 10

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