[PATCH v4 5/7] doc: git-checkout: deduplicate --detach explanation
- From
Julia Evans via GitGitGadget <gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
- Date
- Sep 10, 2025, 19:14 UTC
- Message-ID
- <e7d9641125c78924aa7eb8d0534d361d760ea534.1757531669.git.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
- In-Reply-To
- <pull.1962.v4.git.1757531669.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
From: Julia Evans <julia@jvns.ca>
From user feedback: several users say they don't understand the use case for `--detach`. It's probably not realistic to explain the use case for detached HEAD state here, but we can improve the situation.
Explain how `git checkout --detach` is different from `git checkout <branch>` instead of copying over the description from `git checkout <branch>`, since `git checkout <branch>` will be a familiar command to many readers.
Signed-off-by: Julia Evans <julia@jvns.ca> --- Documentation/git-checkout.adoc | 13 +++---------- 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)
diff --git a/Documentation/git-checkout.adoc b/Documentation/git-checkout.adoc index 7ae2ae9483..dd3cbb210d 100644 --- a/Documentation/git-checkout.adoc +++ b/Documentation/git-checkout.adoc @@ -66,16 +66,9 @@ uncommitted changes. `git checkout --detach [<branch>]`:: `git checkout [--detach] <commit>`:: - Prepare to work on top of _<commit>_, by detaching `HEAD` at it - (see "DETACHED HEAD" section), and updating the index and the - files in the working tree. Local modifications to the files - in the working tree are kept, so that the resulting working - tree will be the state recorded in the commit plus the local - modifications. -+ -When the _<commit>_ argument is a branch name, the `--detach` option can -be used to detach `HEAD` at the tip of the branch (`git checkout -<branch>` would check out that branch without detaching `HEAD`). + The same as `git checkout <branch>`, except that instead of pointing + `HEAD` at the branch, it points `HEAD` at the commit ID. + See the "DETACHED HEAD" section below for more. + Omitting _<branch>_ detaches `HEAD` at the tip of the current branch.
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