Git configuration cascading and conditional includes quick reference

Configuration hierarchy

Scope	Location	Flag	Priority
Command	-c key=value	N/A	1 (Highest)
Worktree	.git/worktrees/<name>/config.worktree	--worktree	2
Local	.git/config	--local	3
Global	~/.gitconfig	--global	4
System	/etc/gitconfig	--system	5 (Lowest)

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Conditional include directives (includeIf)

1. Match repository directory (gitdir)

# ~/.gitconfig
[includeIf "gitdir:~/work/"]
    path = ~/.gitconfig-work

[includeIf "gitdir:~/personal/"]
    path = ~/.gitconfig-personal

• Use trailing slash ~/work/ to match all subdirectories.
• Use gitdir/i:~/work/ on macOS and Windows to prevent case-sensitivity mismatches.

2. Match active branch (onbranch)

# ~/.gitconfig
[includeIf "onbranch:main"]
    path = ~/.gitconfig-production

[includeIf "onbranch:release/*"]
    path = ~/.gitconfig-release

3. Match remote URL (hasconfig:remote.*.url)

# ~/.gitconfig
[includeIf "hasconfig:remote.*.url:https://git.local.sneakysquid.xyz/**"]
    path = ~/.gitconfig-corp

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Essential recipes

Multi-profile identity template

# ~/.gitconfig-work
[user]
    name = Alex Mercer
    email = alex.mercer@enterprise.corp
    signingkey = ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIG...
[gpg]
    format = ssh
[commit]
    gpgsign = true
[core]
    sshCommand = ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_work -o IdentitiesOnly=yes

URL rewrites (insteadOf)

# Force SSH for all GitHub URLs
git config --global url."git@github.com:".insteadOf "https://github.com/"

# Redirect dependency clones to internal mirror
git config --global url."https://git.local.sneakysquid.xyz/mirror/".insteadOf "https://github.com/vendor/"

Containerized CI safe directory

# Whitelist all directories in container
git config --global --add safe.directory "*"

# Whitelist workspace path
git config --global --add safe.directory "$CI_PROJECT_DIR"

Enable per-worktree configuration

git config extensions.worktreeConfig true
git config --worktree user.email worktree-agent@corp.internal

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Diagnostic commands

# Show origin file and scope for all configuration values
git config --list --show-origin --show-scope

# Inspect origin of a specific key
git config --show-origin user.email

# Show all values set across scopes for a key
git config --get-all --show-origin user.name