How can I use git list branches to view all branches, including master, in my repository?

General Discussions
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1

I’m working with a Git repository and trying to understand how to git list branches specifically, I want to see all branches, including master, if it exists.

When I run:

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git branch -a
It only shows:

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  mongodbutils
Even git show-branch gives:

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[mongodbutils] mongodbutils
But then, this command gives a surprising result:

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git show
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fatal: your current branch 'master' does not have any commits yet
Also, ls .git/refs/heads/ only lists mongodbutils.

So if I try to git list branches, how do I ensure I see all branches, including master, even if it’s uncommitted or empty?

This is important because I initially assumed master didn’t exist, until I saw that error.

I created the repo using git init and pushed only the mongodbutils branch from another repo.

Would love to know how to correctly list all branches, especially those without any commits.

2

The key thing to know is that Git only “remembers” branches that have commits.

If your master branch was created during git init but never had a commit, it technically exists, but doesn’t show up in git branch or ls .git/refs/heads/ because there’s no object for it to point to yet.

In this case, try:

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git symbolic-ref refs/remotes/origin/HEAD

or

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cat .git/HEAD

This will show you where HEAD is pointing, even if that branch doesn’t have commits.

It’s how I confirmed a “phantom” master existed in one of my repos after an empty init + remote push.

3

If you’ve pushed only mongodbutils from another repo and never committed anything to master, Git won’t list master because it’s just a symbolic ref without an actual commit.

It won’t appear in git branch -a or show-branch.

You can verify orphan branches (i.e., those that exist logically but aren’t initialized) by trying:

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git rev-parse --verify master

If it returns an error, it means the branch name exists (maybe in HEAD), but there’s no commit history tied to it.

It’s Git’s way of saying “this branch is on paper but not in practice.”

4

@MattD_Burch This happens more often than you’d think, especially when creating a repo locally, then pushing only one branch (mongodbutils) from elsewhere.

If master has never been committed to, Git doesn’t treat it like a “real” branch.

One trick that’s worked for me: just create an empty commit on master so it becomes a full-fledged branch:

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git checkout --orphan master
git commit --allow-empty -m "Initialize master"

Now run git branch -a and you’ll see it show up.

It’s a clean way to make the master branch visible without needing to stage files or modify history.