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Making git grep ignore binary the default

From
El_Hoy <eloyesp@gmail.com>
Date
Oct 17, 2025, 15:00 UTC
Message-ID
<CAPapNH0C3+bU-RUO6oFHUKLjKuNdm-aXgsFTHFobYVrJXWzr=g@mail.gmail.com>

I've found that there is a flag (`git grep -I`) to ignore binary files, it works great, but I've found no way to make it the default.

It would be great to have a config for this. This way a possible implementation implies:

- Adding a config `grep.ignoreBinary` that defaults to false, keeping
the current default.
- Adding a flag `git grep --include-binary` to revert the default. But
maybe the `-a, --text` flag already does that.

Also, maybe the next git version (3.0) can default to ignore-binary as a better default.

Finally, if this makes sense, I can do my best to implement the change in the code.

Regards.
- Eloy
Next: Junio C Hamano
Message 1 of 10 in “Making git grep ignore binary the default”
  1. El_HoyOct 17, 2025
  2. Junio C HamanoOct 17, 2025
  3. Thomas BraunOct 17, 2025
  4. brian m. carlsonOct 18, 2025
  5. rsbecker@nexbridge.comOct 18, 2025
  6. Thomas BraunOct 20, 2025
  7. El_HoyOct 20, 2025
  8. Jeff KingOct 21, 2025
  9. Jeff KingOct 18, 2025
  10. Junio C HamanoOct 18, 2025

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