How can I tell which remote "parent" branch my branch is based on?

Question

I have a scenario in which there a several remote tracking branches within my local repository that I must sync up to. Our workflow model is:

make a branch locally, based off of the desired remote tracking branch
make our changes
build/test/fix
commit
push back to the remote server

I've noticed that "git status" doesn't show me what branch my local branch is based on unless something has changed; i.e. uncommitted local changes or a recent fetch puts my local branch behind the times. Is there some way of knowing what branch my local branch is based on without having to change things? Something like, "git status -showparentbranch" or some other command that would show this. Occasionally I run into this need but don't know yet how to satisfy it.

score 51 · Answer 1 · edited Nov 25 '15 at 10:32

51

try this:

git log --graph --decorate

edited Nov 25 '15 at 10:32

Eliran Malka

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answered Oct 15 '15 at 09:09

elrrrrrrr

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You should also add the `--oneline` flag to make the best use of your screen real estate. – cmaster - reinstate monica Oct 15 '15 at 09:16
1

It's giving the head, author and name of the person who created this branch, but how do we know the branch name which it is created from? – Shailendra Madda Aug 02 '19 at 07:49

score 17 · Answer 2 · edited Sep 08 '16 at 21:33

17

Git does not track what branches a commit was put through. There is no way to tell. If the commits happened on your repo, then you can inspect the reflog, but that's about it. Take a look at the explanation of the DAG in the Pro Git book - also read up on reflog in there.

You can also visualize history better with gitk --all or git log --graph --decorate

Hope this helps.

edited Sep 08 '16 at 21:33

Elias Zamaria

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answered Jun 23 '11 at 18:05

Adam Dymitruk

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yup. Good catch. You can also add `--oneline` to the log command to fit more commits on the screen. – Adam Dymitruk Jun 23 '11 at 19:05
1

Many apologies. I forgot to comment about whether or not this answered my question. I'm not sure that it does. From your response, I'm wondering if I asked the question correctly. I wasn't trying to find out what branches were affected by my commit. Rather, I was wondering if there was a way knowing what remote branch, my local branch was based on. – Andrew Falanga Jul 08 '11 at 15:47
Beware: `git show-branch` does the job, but spams the screen with pages and pages of changes from the branch. `git log --graph --decorate --oneline` is a great clean option. – thehelix Oct 27 '17 at 15:41

score 13 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 25 '13 at 11:02

git branch -vv will:

list all your local branches
display the name of the remote branch next to each local branch
highlight the active local branch

...from this you will be able to determine the remote branch of the current active branch, and more besides.

If you have a lot of local branches, the list may be very long. Use git branch -vv | grep SOMEWORD to limit the output to only branches containing SOMEWORD. If you can think of a word unique to your branch you'll get the best filter (one result only).

You will also get some additional data in the output, namely the number (SHA1) and message of the last commit. The grep filter will apply to these to. I couldn't find a way to exclude it.

From the Git branch documentation:

-v

-vv

--verbose

When in list mode, show sha1 and commit subject line for each head, along with relationship to upstream branch (if any). If given twice, print the name of the upstream branch, as well (see also git remote show ).

(Based on your comment, yes, it seems that the 'correct' question would ask about the "remote" branch rather than the "parent" branch. But that's what I searched for too! :) )

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 01 '20 at 10:27

there are multiple ways to check that. i have endup with Free way to get this result.

use gitkraken(paid for private repository!), it provide you wonderfull way to see Tree of your branchs and commits. by scolling down you will reach root of your parent branch.
if you use bitbucket, then they provide view in web to see all your commits for all branchs(By selecting all branch from dropdown).
Free way, via git commnad.
```
git log  --graph --decorate --oneline --all
```
Commnad Expaination

git log view log.

--graph view log as graph.

--decorate view log in colorfull mode.

--oneline view log, row only one line not full detail in commits.

--all view log, all branchs. (important to solve this thread)

How can I tell which remote "parent" branch my branch is based on?

4 Answers4

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