Git - Browse remote repository

Question

I have a small problem at work.

We commit all the different projects to different remote repositories and sometimes people get confused by the names they create at 4 in the morning high on caffeine.

So my question is:

Is there a way to browse remote repositories to list all the branches?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

git branch -a will list all branches, local and remote tracking.

Answer 2

To list only remote branches, first fetch (to ensure you have a local reference to them all), then list them:

git fetch
git branch -r

You may wish to, after fetching, do a git remote prune <remotename> (where <remotename> is the name of your remote—usually origin) to remove obsolete local references to remote branches that have been deleted.

The only way to directly “browse” a remote repository is to log into the server it resides on and do so (or setup gitweb or similar). Git is centered around the idea that your local copy has everything the remote does.

Answer 3

If you fetch all branches using git fetch --all then you can view all remote branches using:

git branch -a | grep remote