Is there a way to get the git root directory in one command?

Question

Mercurial has a way of printing the root directory (that contains .hg) via

hg root

Is there something equivalent in git to get the director

Answer 1

$ git config alias.root '!pwd'
# then you have:
$ git root

Answer 2

Here is a script that I've written that handles both cases: 1) repository with a workspace, 2) bare repository.

https://gist.github.com/jdsumsion/6282953

git-root (executable file in your path):

#!/bin/bash
GIT_DIR=`git rev-parse --git-dir` &&
(
  if [ `basename $GIT_DIR` = ".git" ]; then
    # handle normal git repos (with a .git dir)
    cd $GIT_DIR/..
  else
    # handle bare git repos (the repo IS a xxx.git dir)
    cd $GIT_DIR
  fi
  pwd
)

Hopefully this is helpful.

Answer 3

Since Git 2.13.0, it supports a new option to show the path of the root project, which works even when being used from inside a submodule:

git rev-parse --show-superproject-working-tree

Answer 4

Pre-Configured Shell Aliases in Shell Frameworks

If you use a shell framework, there might already be a shell alias available:

• $ grt in oh-my-zsh (68k) (cd $(git rev-parse --show-toplevel || echo "."))
• $ git-root in prezto (8.8k) (displays the path to the working tree root)
• $ g.. zimfw (1k) (changes the current directory to the top level of the working tree.)