The name of one of the following can be used instead of a URL as
<repository> argument:
• a remote in the Git configuration file: $GIT_DIR/config,
• a file in the $GIT_DIR/remotes directory, or
• a file in the $GIT_DIR/branches directory.
All of these also allow you to omit the refspec from the command
line because they each contain a refspec which git will use by
default.
Named remote in configuration file
You can choose to provide the name of a remote which you had
previously configured using git-remote(1), git-config(1) or even
by a manual edit to the $GIT_DIR/config file. The URL of this
remote will be used to access the repository. The refspec of this
remote will be used by default when you do not provide a refspec
on the command line. The entry in the config file would appear
like this:
[remote "<name>"]
url = <url>
pushurl = <pushurl>
push = <refspec>
fetch = <refspec>
The <pushurl> is used for pushes only. It is optional and
defaults to <url>.
Named file in $GIT_DIR/remotes
You can choose to provide the name of a file in $GIT_DIR/remotes.
The URL in this file will be used to access the repository. The
refspec in this file will be used as default when you do not
provide a refspec on the command line. This file should have the
following format:
URL: one of the above URL format
Push: <refspec>
Pull: <refspec>
Push: lines are used by git push and Pull: lines are used by git
pull and git fetch. Multiple Push: and Pull: lines may be
specified for additional branch mappings.
Named file in $GIT_DIR/branches
You can choose to provide the name of a file in
$GIT_DIR/branches. The URL in this file will be used to access
the repository. This file should have the following format:
<url>#<head>
<url> is required; #<head> is optional.
Depending on the operation, git will use one of the following
refspecs, if you don't provide one on the command line. <branch>
is the name of this file in $GIT_DIR/branches and <head> defaults
to master.
git fetch uses:
refs/heads/<head>:refs/heads/<branch>
git push uses:
HEAD:refs/heads/<head>