How line ending conversions work with git core.autocrlf between different operating systems

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The best explanation of how core.autocrlf works is found on the gitattributes man page, in the text attribute section.

This is how core.autocrlf appears to work currently (or at least since v1.7.2 from what I am aware):

  • core.autocrlf = true
  1. Text files checked-out from the repository that have only LF characters are normalized to CRLF in your working tree; files that contain CRLF in the repository will not be touched
  2. Text files that have only LF characters in the repository, are normalized from CRLF to LF when committed back to the repository. Files that contain CRLF in the repository will be committed untouched.
  • core.autocrlf = input
  1. Text files checked-out from the repository will keep original EOL characters in your working tree.
  2. Text files in your working tree with CRLF characters are normalized to LF when committed back to the repository.
  • core.autocrlf = false
  1. core.eol dictates EOL characters in the text files of your working tree.
  2. core.eol = native by default, which means working tree EOLs will depend on where git is running: CRLF on a Windows machine, or LF in *nix.
  3. Repository gitattributes settings determines EOL character normalization for commits to the repository (default is normalization to LF characters).

I’ve only just recently researched this issue and I also find the situation to be very convoluted. The core.eol setting definitely helped clarify how EOL characters are handled by git.

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