Read the current branch name.

Git: show-current returns an empty string when HEAD is detached.

set -euo pipefail
git branch --show-current

Expected output EXAMPLE

main

Details

Requires Git and Bash. Run in a disposable practice repository. The test setup below creates the starting files and commits. show-current returns an empty string when HEAD is detached. The input setup creates a disposable practice repository with a fictional local author identity. Run these examples only in that repository.

✓ Verified

Tested on Ubuntu 24.04.5 LTS · 2026-11-02 18:26:47 UTC · 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: e739bea1a662f8eeceda2f3971fdc6b5216fb3e555115a95b6d4fb55af07357c
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'

Observed standard output

main

Exit code: 0. Standard error: empty. Validation: Exact stdout comparison. System-dependent values above are one recorded run.