Check if pull needed in Git

Question

How do I check whether the remote repository has changed and I need to pull?

Now I use this simple script:

git pull --dry-run | grep -q -v \'Already          


        

Answer 1

git ls-remote | cut -f1 | git cat-file --batch-check >&-

will list everything referenced in any remote that isn't in your repo. To catch remote ref changes to things you already had (e.g. resets to previous commits) takes a little more:

git pack-refs --all
mine=`mktemp`
sed '/^#/d;/^^/{G;s/.\(.*\)\n.* \(.*\)/\1 \2^{}/;};h' .git/packed-refs | sort -k2 >$mine
for r in `git remote`; do 
    echo Checking $r ...
    git ls-remote $r | sort -k2 | diff -b - $mine | grep ^\<
done