Can git automatically switch between spaces and tabs?

Question

I use tabs for indentation in my python programs, but I would like to collaborate (using git) with people who use spaces instead.

Is there a way for git to automatically convert between spaces and tabs (say, 4 spaces = 1 tab) on pushing/fetching? (similar to the CR/LF conversion)

Answer 1

Here is the complete solution:

In your repository, add a file .git/info/attributes which contains:

*.py  filter=tabspace

Linux/Unix

Now run the commands:

git config --global filter.tabspace.smudge 'unexpand --tabs=4 --first-only'
git config --global filter.tabspace.clean 'expand --tabs=4 --initial'

OS X

First install coreutils with brew:

brew install coreutils

Now run the commands:

git config --global filter.tabspace.smudge 'gunexpand --tabs=4 --first-only'
git config --global filter.tabspace.clean 'gexpand --tabs=4 --initial'

All systems

You may now check out all the files of your project. You can do that with:

git checkout HEAD -- **

and all the python files will now have tabs instead of spaces.

Edit: changed the forced checkout command. You should commit your work first, of course.