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Git Hooks

Git hooks are like doorbells that run a little helper when something happens, such as checking your homework just before you turn it in.

In this page:

  1. Locating Git Hooks Directory
  2. Setting Up a Pre-commit Hook
  3. Bypassing Active Hooks
  4. Configuring Global Hooks
  5. Creating Post-merge Hooks
Syntax
bash 
#!/bin/sh
# .git/hooks/hook_name
commands
# then: chmod +x .git/hooks/hook_name

Locating Git Hooks Directory

Git hooks are shell scripts Git runs automatically at specific points in its workflow — before a commit, after a merge, before a push, and so on. They live in the .git/hooks/ directory of a repository as plain executable files (e.g. pre-commit), and Git ignores any file there that isn't named exactly right or isn't executable.

Example: Locating Git Hooks Directory

bash 
ls .git/hooks/

Setting Up a Pre-commit Hook

A pre-commit hook runs right before Git opens the commit message editor, and if the script exits with a non-zero status, the commit is aborted — making it the natural place to enforce a linter, run a quick test suite, or block commits containing debug statements.

Example: Setting Up a Pre-commit Hook

bash 
echo '#!/bin/sh\nnpm run lint' > .git/hooks/pre-commit
chmod +x .git/hooks/pre-commit

Bypassing Active Hooks

git commit --no-verify (or -n) skips both the pre-commit and commit-msg hooks for that one commit, letting you push through in a genuine emergency — but relying on it routinely defeats the point of having the hook at all.

Example: Bypassing Active Hooks

bash 
git commit --no-verify -m "Emergency fix"

Configuring Global Hooks

Because .git/hooks/ isn't tracked by Git and doesn't get cloned with the repo, hooks you write are local-only by default. Setting core.hooksPath to a shared, version-controlled directory (via git config core.hooksPath .githooks) is how teams distribute the same hooks to everyone.

Example: Configuring Global Hooks

bash 
git config core.hooksPath .githooks

Creating Post-merge Hooks

A post-merge hook fires right after git merge or git pull completes, which makes it a good place to automatically reinstall dependencies or clear a stale build cache if the merge changed a lockfile — catching a class of "works on my machine" bugs caused by an out-of-date environment.

Example: Creating Post-merge Hooks

bash 
echo '#!/bin/sh\nnpm install' > .git/hooks/post-merge
chmod +x .git/hooks/post-merge
Related Topics

Git Submodules · Git Workflows (GitFlow) · Git bisect Command · Git blame Command

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Common Mistakes
  1. Creating the hook but forgetting chmod +x, so Git ignores it silently.
  2. Naming the hook incorrectly, such as pre-commit.sh, when the file must be named exactly pre-commit.
  3. Expecting hooks in .git/hooks to be shared with the team, when they are not committed and everyone must install them.
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