GitPython get current active branch

git_python_current_branch.py

"""
Gets the name of the active Git branch as a string.
Depends on GitPython

pip install GitPython
"""
from git import Repo

repo = Repo('/path/to/your/repo')
branch = repo.active_branch
print branch.name

"""
Example usage from my local Django settings:

try:
    # use the develop database if we are using develop
    import os
    from git import Repo

    repo = Repo(os.getcwd())
    branch = repo.active_branch
    branch = branch.name
    if branch == 'develop':
        DATABASES['default']['NAME'] = 'myproject__develop'
except ImportError:
    pass
"""

Any standard way to retrieve the default branch of the repository instead of current active branch?

Any standard way to retrieve the default branch of the repository instead of current active branch?

AFAK, no off-the-shelf API in GitPython 3.1.17, here is a workaround:

    def get_default_branch(self):
        print("Fetching remote for default branch...")
        lines = self.repo.git.remote('show', self.git_url)
        print(lines)
        lines = lines.split("\n")
        default_branch = ''
        for line in lines:
            if "HEAD branch" in line:
                default_branch = line.split(":")[1].strip()
                break
        if default_branch == "":
            default_branch = "master"
        print("Default branch: " + default_branch)
        return default_branch