branch¶

vb branch SUBCOMMAND [OPTIONS]

Description¶

Run various subcommands to manage branches of the open repository or of the repository identified by the -R or --repository option.

Options¶

-R, --repository REPO¶: Run commands on repository REPO

Subcommands¶

vb branch close (reopen)¶

vb branch close|reopen [OPTIONS] BRANCH-NAME ...

Description¶

Adds or cancels the closed tag to one or more branches. It accepts arbitrary unambiguous symbolic names but will only resolve check-in names and skips any which resolve to non-leaf check-ins.

Options¶

-n, --dry-run¶: Do not commit changes, but dump artifact to stdout

-v, --verbose¶: Output more information

--date-override DATE¶: DATE to use instead of now

--user-override USER¶: USER to use instead of the current default

vb branch current¶

vb branch current

Description¶

Print the name of the branch for the current check-out

vb branch hide (unhide)¶

vb branch hide|unhide [OPTIONS] BRANCH-NAME ...

Description¶

Adds or cancels the hidden tag for the specified branches or check-in IDs. Accepts the same options as the close subcommand.

vb branch info¶

vb branch info BRANCH-NAME

Description¶

Print information about a branch

vb branch list (ls)¶

vb branch list|ls [OPTIONS] [GLOB]

Description¶

List all branches.

The current branch is marked with an asterisk. Private branches are marked with a hash sign. If GLOB is given, show only branches matching the pattern.

Options¶

-a, --all¶: List all branches. Default show only open branches

-c, --closed¶: List closed branches

-m, --merged¶: List branches merged into the current branch

-M, --unmerged¶: List branches not merged into the current branch

-p¶: List only private branches

-r¶: Reverse the sort order

-t¶: Show recently changed branches first

--self¶: List only branches where you participate

--username USER¶: List only branches where USER participates

--users N¶: List up to N users participating

vb branch lsh¶

vb branch lsh [OPTIONS] [LIMIT]

Description¶

The current branch is marked with an asterisk. Private branches are marked with a hash sign.

The lsh variant of this subcommand shows recently changed branches, and accepts an optional LIMIT argument (defaults to 5) to cap output.

Options¶

-a, --all¶: List all branches. Default show only open branches

-c, --closed¶: List closed branches

-m, --merged¶: List branches merged into the current branch

-M, --unmerged¶: List branches not merged into the current branch

-p¶: List only private branches

-r¶: Reverse the sort order

--self¶: List only branches where you participate

--username USER¶: List only branches where USER participates

--users N¶: List up to N users participating

vb branch new¶

vb branch new BRANCH-NAME BASIS [OPTIONS]

Description¶

Create a new branch BRANCH-NAME off of check-in BASIS.

This command is available for people who want to create a branch in advance. But the use of this command is discouraged. The preferred idiom in VisionByte is to create new branches at the point of need, using the --branch NAME option to the vb commit command.

Options¶

--private¶: Branch is private (i.e., remains local)

--bgcolor COLOR¶: Use COLOR instead of automatic background

--nosign¶: Do not sign the manifest for the check-in that creates this branch

--nosync¶: Do not auto-sync prior to creating the branch

--date-override DATE¶: DATE to use instead of now

--user-override USER¶: USER to use instead of the current default

Examples¶

Init and open a repository

$ vb init branch_repo.vbyte
project-id: c964c095f8526a0203558b9cc2b7141053d10427
server-id:  697fea956acc58949b991d372782a8b36fb7da7b
admin-user: ubuntu (initial remote-access password is "JrDfMPbFHB")
$ vb open -f branch_repo.vbyte
project-name: <unnamed>
repository:   /tmp/sphinx_tests/44c3167a/branch_repo/branch_repo.vbyte
local-root:   /tmp/sphinx_tests/44c3167a/branch_repo/
config-db:    /tmp/sphinx_tests/44c3167a/.visionbyte
project-code: c964c095f8526a0203558b9cc2b7141053d10427
checkout:     dbd9e1dbbf3a82c8b1c22ec2d78e5b04d446a506 2026-03-31 13:00:05 UTC
tags:         trunk
comment:      initial empty check-in (user: ubuntu)
check-ins:    1

Create first commit on default branch

$ vb sys echo "v1" > app.txt
$ vb add app.txt
ADDED  app.txt
$ vb ci -m "Initial on default"
Committed version: 6a72bc7be9f66fce4ff096724434d36254243a9e949d4623f81c96156abb5824

Create a new branch via commit

$ vb sys echo "feature work" >> app.txt
$ vb ci -m "Work on feature" --branch feature/x
Committed version: 374518977a6b493bd0065f197cf060abcb93041a6d1ff768b96e0143aac2a8f9

Create a new branch from existing branch

$ vb branch new feature/y trunk
New branch: 2a4441eac45460ea74f74a7b202a91462d095956392df4c07e31a944fbe8a95c

List branches show current and branch info

$ vb branch list
 * feature/x
   feature/y
   trunk

$ vb branch current
feature/x

$ vb branch info feature/x
feature/x: open as of 2026-03-31 13:00:06 on 374518977a6b493b

Close the branch

$ vb branch close feature/x
Saved new control artifact 73828d9a1632a9651b18d9845d01cef552a7198f3b1e1eae963a47535c762e95 (RID 7).