How to find the nearest parent of a Git branch?

Question

Let\'s say I have the following local repository with a commit tree like this:

master --> a
            \\
             \\
      develop c --> d
               


        

Answer 1

git parent

You can just run the command

git parent

to find the parent of the branch, if you add the @Joe Chrysler's answer as a git alias. It will simplify the usage.

Open gitconfig file located at "~/.gitconfig" by using any text editor. ( For linux). And for Windows the ".gitconfig" path is generally located at c:\users\your-user\.gitconfig

vim  ~/.gitconfig

Add the following alias command in the file:

[alias]
            parent = "!git show-branch | grep '*' | grep -v \"$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)\" | head -n1 | sed 's/.*\\[\\(.*\\)\\].*/\\1/' | sed 's/[\\^~].*//' #"

Save and exit the editor.

Run the command git parent

That's it!