How to Use Per-Directory Git Configs with `includeIf`

June 15, 2024

Sometimes you need different Git configurations for different repositories.

Real-Life Case: On your company laptop, you have your personal dotfiles repository where you use your personal email. However, for all company repositories, you want to use your work email or other corporate-specific configurations.

Solution

The includeIf directive in your global Git configuration file ~/.gitconfig allows you to specify a path prefix condition. When the condition is met, Git loads a separate configuration file.

~/.gitconfig

[user]
  name = John Smith
  email = john@smith.com

[includeIf "gitdir:~/git/work/projects/"]
  path = ~/.gitconfig-for-work

~/.gitconfig-for-work

[user]
  name = jsmith
  email = jsmith@acme.com

How it works:

1. The main .gitconfig file sets your personal name and email
2. The includeIf directive checks if the Git directory (gitdir) starts with the specified path (~/git/work/projects/)
3. If the condition is true, Git also loads the configurations from ~/.gitconfig-work, overriding the user name and email with your work-specific values

More info

Git docs on includeIf