# git-lfs-pointer(1)

## NAME

git-lfs-pointer - Build, compare, and check pointers

## SYNOPSIS

`git lfs pointer --file=path/to/file`
`git lfs pointer --file=path/to/file --pointer=path/to/pointer`
`git lfs pointer --file=path/to/file --stdin`
`git lfs pointer --check --file=path/to/file`

## Description

Builds and optionally compares generated pointer files to ensure consistency between different Git LFS implementations.

## OPTIONS

`--file`

  A local file to build the pointer from.

`--pointer`

  A local file including the contents of a pointer generated from another implementation. This is compared to the pointer generated from `--file`.

`--stdin`

  Reads the pointer from STDIN to compare with the pointer generated from `--file`.

`--check`

  Reads the pointer from STDIN (if `--stdin` is given) or the filepath (if `--file`) is given. If neither or both of `--stdin` and `--file` are given, the invocation is invalid. Exits 0 if the data read is a valid Git LFS pointer. Exits 1 otherwise.

`--strict`
`--no-strict`

  In conjunction with `--check`, `--strict` verifies that the pointer is canonical; that is, it would be the one created by Git LFS. If it is not, exits 2. The default, for backwards compatibility, is `--no-strict`, but this may change in a future version.

## SEE ALSO

Part of the git-lfs(1) suite.