checkout-index Git Command Guide

The git checkout-index command is used to copy files from the index to the working tree. By default it doesn’t overwrite existing files and is primarily used in scripts for fine-grained control over index-to-worktree operations.

git checkout-index Syntax:

git checkout-index [-u] [-q] [-a] [-f] [-n] [--prefix=<string>]
                   [--stage=<number>|all] [--temp] [--ignore-skip-worktree-bits]
                   [-z] [--stdin] [--] [<file>...]

Options:

Option	Description
-u, —index	Update stat information in index
-q, —quiet	Suppress output for missing/overlapping files
-a, —all	Checkout all files in index (except skip-worktree)
-f, —force	Force overwrite of existing files
-n, —no-create	Refresh existing files, don’t create new
—prefix=	Prepend path when creating files
—stage=	all
—temp	Write to temporary files instead of working directory
—ignore-skip-worktree-bits	Include files with skip-worktree bit
-z	Use NUL-separated input (with —stdin)
—stdin	Read file list from standard input
—	Stop interpreting arguments as options

Parameters:

Parameter	Description
[…]	Specific files to checkout (default: none)

Caution

By default doesn’t overwrite existing files. Use -f to force overwrite. During merges, —stage can access different sides of conflicts. This is a low-level plumbing command.

git checkout-index Command Samples:

Checkout all files from index

git checkout-index -a

Checkout all files from the index to the working directory.

Force checkout, overwrite existing

git checkout-index -f -a

Force checkout of all files, overwriting existing ones.

Refresh stat information only

git checkout-index -u -a -n

Update index stat info for all existing files without creating/updating content.

Checkout specific files

git checkout-index README.md script.sh

Checkout only the specified files from the index.

Checkout merge conflict resolutions (our side)

git checkout-index --stage=2 conflicted-file.txt

Checkout stage 2 (our side) of conflicted-file.txt.

Read file list from another command

find . -name "*.txt" -print0 | git checkout-index -z --stdin

Checkout all .txt files found by find command.

Export files with prefix

git checkout-index --prefix=export/ -a

Checkout all files to export/ subdirectory.

Create temporary files

git checkout-index --temp --stage=all conflicted-file.txt

Create temporary files for all stages of conflicted-file.txt.

Tip

Use with find | xargs for batch file operations. Prefer -a for complete index checkout rather than individual files for performance.

How do I checkout all files from the index?

To checkout all files from the index, run:

git checkout-index -a

How can I force overwrite existing files?

To force overwrite of existing files, use the -f option:

git checkout-index -f -a

How do I access different sides of merge conflicts?

To access specific sides of merge conflicts, use —stage:

git checkout-index --stage=2 conflicted-file.txt  # our version
git checkout-index --stage=3 conflicted-file.txt  # their version

How can I read file list from standard input?

To read file list from standard input, use —stdin:

echo -e "file1.txt\nfile2.txt" | git checkout-index --stdin

How do I prepend a path to checked-out files?

To prepend a path to checked-out files, use —prefix:

git checkout-index --prefix=backup/ file.txt

What’s the difference between checkout-index and checkout?

git checkout works on commits/trees, while checkout-index works only on the index. checkout-index is lower-level and doesn’t modify HEAD or branch state.

How do I update index stat information?

To update stat information without changing file contents, use -u -n:

git checkout-index -u -n file.txt

Applications of the git checkout-index command

1. Scripting automated file extraction from index
2. Batch operations on tracked files
3. Resolving merge conflicts by accessing specific stages
4. Creating backups of indexed file states
5. Integration with external diff tools and workflows
6. Selective file operations in build scripts