$ git ls-tree fb3a8bdd0ce
100644 blob 63c918c667fa005ff12ad89437f2fdc80926e21c .gitignore
100644 blob 5529b198e8d14decbe4ad99db3f7fb632de0439d .mailmap
100644 blob 6ff87c4664981e4397625791c8ea3bbb5f2279a3 COPYING
040000 tree 2fb783e477100ce076f6bf57e4a6f026013dc745 Documentation
100755 blob 3c0032cec592a765692234f1cba47dfdcc3a9200 GIT-VERSION-GEN
100644 blob 289b046a443c0647624607d471289b2c7dcd470b INSTALL
100644 blob 4eb463797adc693dc168b926b6932ff53f17d0b1 Makefile
100644 blob 548142c327a6790ff8821d67c2ee1eff7a656b52 README
...
I know the last 3 oct digits are file mode, but what are the first 3 digits for? I can't find it out in git user's manual.
The 6 digits show the file mode using the classical UNIX notations. First two digits show file type, the third one is about set-uid/set-gid/sticky bits, and you know the last three.
Here is how man 2 stat documents it on my GNU/Linux system:
The following flags are defined for the st_mode field:
S_IFMT 0170000 bit mask for the file type bit fields
S_IFSOCK 0140000 socket
S_IFLNK 0120000 symbolic link
S_IFREG 0100000 regular file
S_IFBLK 0060000 block device
S_IFDIR 0040000 directory
S_IFCHR 0020000 character device
S_IFIFO 0010000 FIFO
S_ISUID 0004000 set UID bit
S_ISGID 0002000 set-group-ID bit (see below)
S_ISVTX 0001000 sticky bit (see below)
S_IRWXU 00700 mask for file owner permissions
S_IRUSR 00400 owner has read permission
S_IWUSR 00200 owner has write permission
S_IXUSR 00100 owner has execute permission
S_IRWXG 00070 mask for group permissions
S_IRGRP 00040 group has read permission
S_IWGRP 00020 group has write permission
S_IXGRP 00010 group has execute permission
S_IRWXO 00007 mask for permissions for others (not in group)
S_IROTH 00004 others have read permission
S_IWOTH 00002 others have write permission
S_IXOTH 00001 others have execute permission