Question

[root@ test]$ git branch -a
* master
  origin
  remotes/origin/master
[root@ test]$ git branch
* master
  origin

IMO origin is remote and master is local, what’s remotes/origin/master there for?

Answer 1

git branch shows only local branches, git branch -a shows all branches, including remote-tracking branches.

You’ve got local branches named master and origin.

remotes/origin/master is a remote-tracking branch for the master branch in the remote repository named origin.

Your local master probably tracks remotes/origin/master. From that output, you can’t tell what’s up with origin, but it’s likely either a product of a mistaken command or simply a poorly-chosen branch name. (You can do git branch -va to get some more helpful information.)