Remove only a named untracked scratch file.
Git: Use a narrow pathspec after reviewing the dry run; clean cannot recover untracked content.
set -euo pipefail
git clean -f -- scratch.txt
test ! -e scratch.txt
test -f keep.txtExpected output EXAMPLE
Removing scratch.txt
Details
Requires Git and Bash. Run in a disposable practice repository. The test setup below creates the starting files and commits. Use a narrow pathspec after reviewing the dry run; clean cannot recover untracked content. The input setup creates a disposable practice repository with a fictional local author identity. Run these examples only in that repository.
This permanently removes the named untracked practice file.
Tested on Ubuntu 24.04.5 LTS · · git version 2.43.0 · git 1:2.43.0-1ubuntu7.3
Test inputs, results and environment
The exact published code ran in a dedicated Linux test container with prepared inputs. Snippet process uid 65534 with a read-only root filesystem and temporary working files. Networking disabled. Fixtures and output records are isolated from the application database. Testing covers this example and its stated checks, not every input, operating system, or runtime version. The Linux container shares its host's kernel; this is not a native Windows test.
- Architecture / host kernel
- x86_64 / 6.18.54.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2
- Snippet identity / locale
- uid=65534, gid=65534 (unprivileged process) / C.UTF-8
- Interpreter invocation
bash -euo pipefail -c <published code>- Container image ID
sha256:ec91410a8f6ec3e985830b5e3a0560306d36f8c1c5ccd91a6699abe707123fa3- Code SHA-256
b452b997b3c403e9ca71b9c742f1b118547fc3b0909dcea18086f80a3ce57e37- Dependencies
- git 1:2.43.0-1ubuntu7.3
Test input setup
These are the prepared inputs used by the test harness. See Details above for the prerequisites and how to run this example.
git init -q -b main git config user.name 'Example Developer' git config user.email 'developer@example.invalid' git config commit.gpgsign false git config tag.gpgsign false git config color.ui false printf 'first ' > note.txt git add note.txt git commit -qm 'Initial notes' touch scratch.txt keep.txt
Observed standard output
Removing scratch.txt
Exit code: 0. Standard error: empty. Validation: Exact stdout comparison. System-dependent values above are one recorded run.