How to List All Git Tags

Git is a popular version control system that helps developers track and manage changes to their code.

One of the key features of Git is the ability to create tags, which are essentially snapshots of the code at a specific point in time.

In this tutorial, we’ll go over how to list all of the tags in a Git repository.


What are Git Tags?

Git tags are a way to mark specific points in Git history.

Unlike branches, tags are meant to be immutable, meaning that once a tag is created, it shouldn’t change.

This makes tags ideal for marking release versions of your code or other important milestones.

Listing All Git Tags

To list all of the tags in your Git repository, you can use the git tag command.

Running this command by itself will list all of the tags in your current repository:

$ git tag
v1.0
v2.0
v2.1

Listing Git Tags with Descriptions

If you want to see a description of each tag along with its name, you can use the -l (or --list) option:

$ git tag -l
v1.0           First stable release
v2.0           Second stable release
v2.1           Third stable release

Filtering Git Tags

If you have a large number of tags and only want to see a subset of them, you can use the --contains option to list only the tags that contain a specific commit:

$ git tag --contains HEAD
v2.1

You can also use wildcards to filter the tags based on their names:

$ git tag -l "v2.*"
v2.0           Second stable release
v2.1           Third stable release

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we’ve covered how to list all of the tags in a Git repository.

Whether you’re just getting started with Git or you’re a seasoned user, knowing how to list and filter tags is a valuable tool to have in your Git toolkit.

By using the techniques covered in this tutorial, you’ll be able to quickly and easily list all of the tags in your Git repository and filter them based on your needs.