---
name: "git-lfs-pointer"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "git-lfs"
version: "3.8.1-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/git-lfs-pointer"
---

# git-lfs-pointer(1)

Build, compare, and check pointers

## NAME

git-lfs-pointer - Build, compare, and check pointers

## SYNOPSIS

```
git lfs pointer --file=path/to/file
git lfs pointer --file=path/to/file --pointer=path/to/pointer
git lfs pointer --file=path/to/file --stdin
git lfs pointer --check --file=path/to/file
```

## DESCRIPTION

Builds and optionally compares generated pointer files to ensure consistency between different Git LFS implementations.

## OPTIONS

- `-f`, `--file`

  A local file to build the pointer from.

- `-p`, `--pointer`

  A local file including the contents of a pointer generated from another implementation. This is compared to the pointer generated from `--file`.

- `--stdin`

  Reads the pointer from STDIN to compare with the pointer generated from `--file`.

- `--check`

  Reads the pointer from STDIN (if `--stdin` is given) or the filepath (if `--file`) is given. If neither or both of `--stdin` and `--file` are given, the invocation is invalid. Exits 0 if the data read is a valid Git LFS pointer. Exits 1 otherwise.

- `--strict`, `--no-strict`

  In conjunction with `--check`, `--strict` verifies that the pointer is canonical; that is, it would be the one created by Git LFS. If it is not, exits 2. The default, for backwards compatibility, is `--no-strict`, but this may change in a future version.

- `--no-extensions`

  Don’t print the extensions of the pointer.

## SEE ALSO

Part of the [git-lfs(1)](/git-lfs/1.md) suite.