List Git branches and their remote tracking branches side by side
#################################################################

:date: 2014-07-18T21:46:45Z
:category: blog
:tags: git
:url: blog/2014/7/18/list-git-branches-and-their-remote-tracking-branches-side-by-side.html
:save_as: blog/2014/7/18/list-git-branches-and-their-remote-tracking-branches-side-by-side.html
:status: published
:author: Gergely Polonkai

I had a hard time following my own branches in a project.  They got pretty numerous, and I wasn’t
sure if I pushed them to ``origin`` at all.  ``git branch -a`` can list all the branches,
including remote ones, but, as my list grew too big, it was impossible to follow it any more.

Thus, I have created a small script called ``git-branches-with-remotes``, which does the work for
me.  Its only requirements are git (of course), and the ``column`` command, which is pretty
obviously present on every POSIX compliant systems (even OSX).

.. code-block:: shell

   #! /bin/sh

   COLUMN=`which column 2> /dev/null`
   if test -z $COLUMN
   then
       echo "\`column' is not found in PATH. Cannot continue."
       exit 1
   fi

   current_branch=`git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD`

   for branch in $(git for-each-ref --shell --format='%(refname)' refs/heads | sed -e s/^\'refs\\/heads\\/// -e s/\'$//)
   do
       remote=`git config branch.$branch.remote`
       merge=`git config branch.$branch.merge | sed -e 's/^refs\/heads\///'`

       [ x"$current_branch" == x"$branch" ] && echo -n '*'

       echo -n "$branch"

       if ! test -z $merge
       then
           echo -en "\t"
           echo -n $remote
           echo -n /
           echo -n $merge
       fi

       echo
   done | $COLUMN -t

I just put it in my path, and ``git branches-with-remotes`` does the work!

Edit (16 August): I have added some code to mark the current branch (if any) with an asterisk.
Also, I have put this script `in a gist
<https://gist.github.com/gergelypolonkai/8af6a3e86b57dd4c250e>`_.

Edit (26 February, 2015): It turns out that ``git branch -vv`` shows the same information and some
more: it also shows if the branches are diverged, and the first line of the last commit’s message.