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+git-symbolic-ref(1)
+===================
+
+NAME
+----
+git-symbolic-ref - Read and modify symbolic refs
+
+SYNOPSIS
+--------
+'git symbolic-ref' [-q] [-m <reason>] <name> [<ref>]
+
+DESCRIPTION
+-----------
+Given one argument, reads which branch head the given symbolic
+ref refers to and outputs its path, relative to the `.git/`
+directory.  Typically you would give `HEAD` as the <name>
+argument to see which branch your working tree is on.
+
+Given two arguments, creates or updates a symbolic ref <name> to
+point at the given branch <ref>.
+
+A symbolic ref is a regular file that stores a string that
+begins with `ref: refs/`.  For example, your `.git/HEAD` is
+a regular file whose contents is `ref: refs/heads/master`.
+
+OPTIONS
+-------
+
+-q::
+--quiet::
+	Do not issue an error message if the <name> is not a
+	symbolic ref but a detached HEAD; instead exit with
+	non-zero status silently.
+
+-m::
+	Update the reflog for <name> with <reason>.  This is valid only
+	when creating or updating a symbolic ref.
+
+NOTES
+-----
+In the past, `.git/HEAD` was a symbolic link pointing at
+`refs/heads/master`.  When we wanted to switch to another branch,
+we did `ln -sf refs/heads/newbranch .git/HEAD`, and when we wanted
+to find out which branch we are on, we did `readlink .git/HEAD`.
+This was fine, and internally that is what still happens by
+default, but on platforms that do not have working symlinks,
+or that do not have the `readlink(1)` command, this was a bit
+cumbersome.  On some platforms, `ln -sf` does not even work as
+advertised (horrors).  Therefore symbolic links are now deprecated
+and symbolic refs are used by default.
+
+'git symbolic-ref' will exit with status 0 if the contents of the
+symbolic ref were printed correctly, with status 1 if the requested
+name is not a symbolic ref, or 128 if another error occurs.
+
+Author
+------
+Written by Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
+
+GIT
+---
+Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite