]> git.ipfire.org Git - thirdparty/git.git/blob - Documentation/git-commit.txt
diffcore-rename: avoid doing basename comparisons for irrelevant sources
[thirdparty/git.git] / Documentation / git-commit.txt
1 git-commit(1)
2 =============
3
4 NAME
5 ----
6 git-commit - Record changes to the repository
7
8 SYNOPSIS
9 --------
10 [verse]
11 'git commit' [-a | --interactive | --patch] [-s] [-v] [-u<mode>] [--amend]
12 [--dry-run] [(-c | -C | --fixup | --squash) <commit>]
13 [-F <file> | -m <msg>] [--reset-author] [--allow-empty]
14 [--allow-empty-message] [--no-verify] [-e] [--author=<author>]
15 [--date=<date>] [--cleanup=<mode>] [--[no-]status]
16 [-i | -o] [--pathspec-from-file=<file> [--pathspec-file-nul]]
17 [-S[<keyid>]] [--] [<pathspec>...]
18
19 DESCRIPTION
20 -----------
21 Create a new commit containing the current contents of the index and
22 the given log message describing the changes. The new commit is a
23 direct child of HEAD, usually the tip of the current branch, and the
24 branch is updated to point to it (unless no branch is associated with
25 the working tree, in which case HEAD is "detached" as described in
26 linkgit:git-checkout[1]).
27
28 The content to be committed can be specified in several ways:
29
30 1. by using linkgit:git-add[1] to incrementally "add" changes to the
31 index before using the 'commit' command (Note: even modified files
32 must be "added");
33
34 2. by using linkgit:git-rm[1] to remove files from the working tree
35 and the index, again before using the 'commit' command;
36
37 3. by listing files as arguments to the 'commit' command
38 (without --interactive or --patch switch), in which
39 case the commit will ignore changes staged in the index, and instead
40 record the current content of the listed files (which must already
41 be known to Git);
42
43 4. by using the -a switch with the 'commit' command to automatically
44 "add" changes from all known files (i.e. all files that are already
45 listed in the index) and to automatically "rm" files in the index
46 that have been removed from the working tree, and then perform the
47 actual commit;
48
49 5. by using the --interactive or --patch switches with the 'commit' command
50 to decide one by one which files or hunks should be part of the commit
51 in addition to contents in the index,
52 before finalizing the operation. See the ``Interactive Mode'' section of
53 linkgit:git-add[1] to learn how to operate these modes.
54
55 The `--dry-run` option can be used to obtain a
56 summary of what is included by any of the above for the next
57 commit by giving the same set of parameters (options and paths).
58
59 If you make a commit and then find a mistake immediately after
60 that, you can recover from it with 'git reset'.
61
62 :git-commit: 1
63
64 OPTIONS
65 -------
66 -a::
67 --all::
68 Tell the command to automatically stage files that have
69 been modified and deleted, but new files you have not
70 told Git about are not affected.
71
72 -p::
73 --patch::
74 Use the interactive patch selection interface to chose
75 which changes to commit. See linkgit:git-add[1] for
76 details.
77
78 -C <commit>::
79 --reuse-message=<commit>::
80 Take an existing commit object, and reuse the log message
81 and the authorship information (including the timestamp)
82 when creating the commit.
83
84 -c <commit>::
85 --reedit-message=<commit>::
86 Like '-C', but with `-c` the editor is invoked, so that
87 the user can further edit the commit message.
88
89 --fixup=<commit>::
90 Construct a commit message for use with `rebase --autosquash`.
91 The commit message will be the subject line from the specified
92 commit with a prefix of "fixup! ". See linkgit:git-rebase[1]
93 for details.
94
95 --squash=<commit>::
96 Construct a commit message for use with `rebase --autosquash`.
97 The commit message subject line is taken from the specified
98 commit with a prefix of "squash! ". Can be used with additional
99 commit message options (`-m`/`-c`/`-C`/`-F`). See
100 linkgit:git-rebase[1] for details.
101
102 --reset-author::
103 When used with -C/-c/--amend options, or when committing after a
104 conflicting cherry-pick, declare that the authorship of the
105 resulting commit now belongs to the committer. This also renews
106 the author timestamp.
107
108 --short::
109 When doing a dry-run, give the output in the short-format. See
110 linkgit:git-status[1] for details. Implies `--dry-run`.
111
112 --branch::
113 Show the branch and tracking info even in short-format.
114
115 --porcelain::
116 When doing a dry-run, give the output in a porcelain-ready
117 format. See linkgit:git-status[1] for details. Implies
118 `--dry-run`.
119
120 --long::
121 When doing a dry-run, give the output in the long-format.
122 Implies `--dry-run`.
123
124 -z::
125 --null::
126 When showing `short` or `porcelain` status output, print the
127 filename verbatim and terminate the entries with NUL, instead of LF.
128 If no format is given, implies the `--porcelain` output format.
129 Without the `-z` option, filenames with "unusual" characters are
130 quoted as explained for the configuration variable `core.quotePath`
131 (see linkgit:git-config[1]).
132
133 -F <file>::
134 --file=<file>::
135 Take the commit message from the given file. Use '-' to
136 read the message from the standard input.
137
138 --author=<author>::
139 Override the commit author. Specify an explicit author using the
140 standard `A U Thor <author@example.com>` format. Otherwise <author>
141 is assumed to be a pattern and is used to search for an existing
142 commit by that author (i.e. rev-list --all -i --author=<author>);
143 the commit author is then copied from the first such commit found.
144
145 --date=<date>::
146 Override the author date used in the commit.
147
148 -m <msg>::
149 --message=<msg>::
150 Use the given <msg> as the commit message.
151 If multiple `-m` options are given, their values are
152 concatenated as separate paragraphs.
153 +
154 The `-m` option is mutually exclusive with `-c`, `-C`, and `-F`.
155
156 -t <file>::
157 --template=<file>::
158 When editing the commit message, start the editor with the
159 contents in the given file. The `commit.template` configuration
160 variable is often used to give this option implicitly to the
161 command. This mechanism can be used by projects that want to
162 guide participants with some hints on what to write in the message
163 in what order. If the user exits the editor without editing the
164 message, the commit is aborted. This has no effect when a message
165 is given by other means, e.g. with the `-m` or `-F` options.
166
167 include::signoff-option.txt[]
168
169 -n::
170 --no-verify::
171 This option bypasses the pre-commit and commit-msg hooks.
172 See also linkgit:githooks[5].
173
174 --allow-empty::
175 Usually recording a commit that has the exact same tree as its
176 sole parent commit is a mistake, and the command prevents you
177 from making such a commit. This option bypasses the safety, and
178 is primarily for use by foreign SCM interface scripts.
179
180 --allow-empty-message::
181 Like --allow-empty this command is primarily for use by foreign
182 SCM interface scripts. It allows you to create a commit with an
183 empty commit message without using plumbing commands like
184 linkgit:git-commit-tree[1].
185
186 --cleanup=<mode>::
187 This option determines how the supplied commit message should be
188 cleaned up before committing. The '<mode>' can be `strip`,
189 `whitespace`, `verbatim`, `scissors` or `default`.
190 +
191 --
192 strip::
193 Strip leading and trailing empty lines, trailing whitespace,
194 commentary and collapse consecutive empty lines.
195 whitespace::
196 Same as `strip` except #commentary is not removed.
197 verbatim::
198 Do not change the message at all.
199 scissors::
200 Same as `whitespace` except that everything from (and including)
201 the line found below is truncated, if the message is to be edited.
202 "`#`" can be customized with core.commentChar.
203
204 # ------------------------ >8 ------------------------
205
206 default::
207 Same as `strip` if the message is to be edited.
208 Otherwise `whitespace`.
209 --
210 +
211 The default can be changed by the `commit.cleanup` configuration
212 variable (see linkgit:git-config[1]).
213
214 -e::
215 --edit::
216 The message taken from file with `-F`, command line with
217 `-m`, and from commit object with `-C` are usually used as
218 the commit log message unmodified. This option lets you
219 further edit the message taken from these sources.
220
221 --no-edit::
222 Use the selected commit message without launching an editor.
223 For example, `git commit --amend --no-edit` amends a commit
224 without changing its commit message.
225
226 --amend::
227 Replace the tip of the current branch by creating a new
228 commit. The recorded tree is prepared as usual (including
229 the effect of the `-i` and `-o` options and explicit
230 pathspec), and the message from the original commit is used
231 as the starting point, instead of an empty message, when no
232 other message is specified from the command line via options
233 such as `-m`, `-F`, `-c`, etc. The new commit has the same
234 parents and author as the current one (the `--reset-author`
235 option can countermand this).
236 +
237 --
238 It is a rough equivalent for:
239 ------
240 $ git reset --soft HEAD^
241 $ ... do something else to come up with the right tree ...
242 $ git commit -c ORIG_HEAD
243
244 ------
245 but can be used to amend a merge commit.
246 --
247 +
248 You should understand the implications of rewriting history if you
249 amend a commit that has already been published. (See the "RECOVERING
250 FROM UPSTREAM REBASE" section in linkgit:git-rebase[1].)
251
252 --no-post-rewrite::
253 Bypass the post-rewrite hook.
254
255 -i::
256 --include::
257 Before making a commit out of staged contents so far,
258 stage the contents of paths given on the command line
259 as well. This is usually not what you want unless you
260 are concluding a conflicted merge.
261
262 -o::
263 --only::
264 Make a commit by taking the updated working tree contents
265 of the paths specified on the
266 command line, disregarding any contents that have been
267 staged for other paths. This is the default mode of operation of
268 'git commit' if any paths are given on the command line,
269 in which case this option can be omitted.
270 If this option is specified together with `--amend`, then
271 no paths need to be specified, which can be used to amend
272 the last commit without committing changes that have
273 already been staged. If used together with `--allow-empty`
274 paths are also not required, and an empty commit will be created.
275
276 --pathspec-from-file=<file>::
277 Pathspec is passed in `<file>` instead of commandline args. If
278 `<file>` is exactly `-` then standard input is used. Pathspec
279 elements are separated by LF or CR/LF. Pathspec elements can be
280 quoted as explained for the configuration variable `core.quotePath`
281 (see linkgit:git-config[1]). See also `--pathspec-file-nul` and
282 global `--literal-pathspecs`.
283
284 --pathspec-file-nul::
285 Only meaningful with `--pathspec-from-file`. Pathspec elements are
286 separated with NUL character and all other characters are taken
287 literally (including newlines and quotes).
288
289 -u[<mode>]::
290 --untracked-files[=<mode>]::
291 Show untracked files.
292 +
293 --
294 The mode parameter is optional (defaults to 'all'), and is used to
295 specify the handling of untracked files; when -u is not used, the
296 default is 'normal', i.e. show untracked files and directories.
297
298 The possible options are:
299
300 - 'no' - Show no untracked files
301 - 'normal' - Shows untracked files and directories
302 - 'all' - Also shows individual files in untracked directories.
303
304 The default can be changed using the status.showUntrackedFiles
305 configuration variable documented in linkgit:git-config[1].
306 --
307
308 -v::
309 --verbose::
310 Show unified diff between the HEAD commit and what
311 would be committed at the bottom of the commit message
312 template to help the user describe the commit by reminding
313 what changes the commit has.
314 Note that this diff output doesn't have its
315 lines prefixed with '#'. This diff will not be a part
316 of the commit message. See the `commit.verbose` configuration
317 variable in linkgit:git-config[1].
318 +
319 If specified twice, show in addition the unified diff between
320 what would be committed and the worktree files, i.e. the unstaged
321 changes to tracked files.
322
323 -q::
324 --quiet::
325 Suppress commit summary message.
326
327 --dry-run::
328 Do not create a commit, but show a list of paths that are
329 to be committed, paths with local changes that will be left
330 uncommitted and paths that are untracked.
331
332 --status::
333 Include the output of linkgit:git-status[1] in the commit
334 message template when using an editor to prepare the commit
335 message. Defaults to on, but can be used to override
336 configuration variable commit.status.
337
338 --no-status::
339 Do not include the output of linkgit:git-status[1] in the
340 commit message template when using an editor to prepare the
341 default commit message.
342
343 -S[<keyid>]::
344 --gpg-sign[=<keyid>]::
345 --no-gpg-sign::
346 GPG-sign commits. The `keyid` argument is optional and
347 defaults to the committer identity; if specified, it must be
348 stuck to the option without a space. `--no-gpg-sign` is useful to
349 countermand both `commit.gpgSign` configuration variable, and
350 earlier `--gpg-sign`.
351
352 \--::
353 Do not interpret any more arguments as options.
354
355 <pathspec>...::
356 When pathspec is given on the command line, commit the contents of
357 the files that match the pathspec without recording the changes
358 already added to the index. The contents of these files are also
359 staged for the next commit on top of what have been staged before.
360 +
361 For more details, see the 'pathspec' entry in linkgit:gitglossary[7].
362
363 EXAMPLES
364 --------
365 When recording your own work, the contents of modified files in
366 your working tree are temporarily stored to a staging area
367 called the "index" with 'git add'. A file can be
368 reverted back, only in the index but not in the working tree,
369 to that of the last commit with `git restore --staged <file>`,
370 which effectively reverts 'git add' and prevents the changes to
371 this file from participating in the next commit. After building
372 the state to be committed incrementally with these commands,
373 `git commit` (without any pathname parameter) is used to record what
374 has been staged so far. This is the most basic form of the
375 command. An example:
376
377 ------------
378 $ edit hello.c
379 $ git rm goodbye.c
380 $ git add hello.c
381 $ git commit
382 ------------
383
384 Instead of staging files after each individual change, you can
385 tell `git commit` to notice the changes to the files whose
386 contents are tracked in
387 your working tree and do corresponding `git add` and `git rm`
388 for you. That is, this example does the same as the earlier
389 example if there is no other change in your working tree:
390
391 ------------
392 $ edit hello.c
393 $ rm goodbye.c
394 $ git commit -a
395 ------------
396
397 The command `git commit -a` first looks at your working tree,
398 notices that you have modified hello.c and removed goodbye.c,
399 and performs necessary `git add` and `git rm` for you.
400
401 After staging changes to many files, you can alter the order the
402 changes are recorded in, by giving pathnames to `git commit`.
403 When pathnames are given, the command makes a commit that
404 only records the changes made to the named paths:
405
406 ------------
407 $ edit hello.c hello.h
408 $ git add hello.c hello.h
409 $ edit Makefile
410 $ git commit Makefile
411 ------------
412
413 This makes a commit that records the modification to `Makefile`.
414 The changes staged for `hello.c` and `hello.h` are not included
415 in the resulting commit. However, their changes are not lost --
416 they are still staged and merely held back. After the above
417 sequence, if you do:
418
419 ------------
420 $ git commit
421 ------------
422
423 this second commit would record the changes to `hello.c` and
424 `hello.h` as expected.
425
426 After a merge (initiated by 'git merge' or 'git pull') stops
427 because of conflicts, cleanly merged
428 paths are already staged to be committed for you, and paths that
429 conflicted are left in unmerged state. You would have to first
430 check which paths are conflicting with 'git status'
431 and after fixing them manually in your working tree, you would
432 stage the result as usual with 'git add':
433
434 ------------
435 $ git status | grep unmerged
436 unmerged: hello.c
437 $ edit hello.c
438 $ git add hello.c
439 ------------
440
441 After resolving conflicts and staging the result, `git ls-files -u`
442 would stop mentioning the conflicted path. When you are done,
443 run `git commit` to finally record the merge:
444
445 ------------
446 $ git commit
447 ------------
448
449 As with the case to record your own changes, you can use `-a`
450 option to save typing. One difference is that during a merge
451 resolution, you cannot use `git commit` with pathnames to
452 alter the order the changes are committed, because the merge
453 should be recorded as a single commit. In fact, the command
454 refuses to run when given pathnames (but see `-i` option).
455
456 COMMIT INFORMATION
457 ------------------
458
459 Author and committer information is taken from the following environment
460 variables, if set:
461
462 GIT_AUTHOR_NAME
463 GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL
464 GIT_AUTHOR_DATE
465 GIT_COMMITTER_NAME
466 GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL
467 GIT_COMMITTER_DATE
468
469 (nb "<", ">" and "\n"s are stripped)
470
471 The author and committer names are by convention some form of a personal name
472 (that is, the name by which other humans refer to you), although Git does not
473 enforce or require any particular form. Arbitrary Unicode may be used, subject
474 to the constraints listed above. This name has no effect on authentication; for
475 that, see the `credential.username` variable in linkgit:git-config[1].
476
477 In case (some of) these environment variables are not set, the information
478 is taken from the configuration items `user.name` and `user.email`, or, if not
479 present, the environment variable EMAIL, or, if that is not set,
480 system user name and the hostname used for outgoing mail (taken
481 from `/etc/mailname` and falling back to the fully qualified hostname when
482 that file does not exist).
483
484 The `author.name` and `committer.name` and their corresponding email options
485 override `user.name` and `user.email` if set and are overridden themselves by
486 the environment variables.
487
488 The typical usage is to set just the `user.name` and `user.email` variables;
489 the other options are provided for more complex use cases.
490
491 :git-commit: 1
492 include::date-formats.txt[]
493
494 DISCUSSION
495 ----------
496
497 Though not required, it's a good idea to begin the commit message
498 with a single short (less than 50 character) line summarizing the
499 change, followed by a blank line and then a more thorough description.
500 The text up to the first blank line in a commit message is treated
501 as the commit title, and that title is used throughout Git.
502 For example, linkgit:git-format-patch[1] turns a commit into email, and it uses
503 the title on the Subject line and the rest of the commit in the body.
504
505 include::i18n.txt[]
506
507 ENVIRONMENT AND CONFIGURATION VARIABLES
508 ---------------------------------------
509 The editor used to edit the commit log message will be chosen from the
510 `GIT_EDITOR` environment variable, the core.editor configuration variable, the
511 `VISUAL` environment variable, or the `EDITOR` environment variable (in that
512 order). See linkgit:git-var[1] for details.
513
514 HOOKS
515 -----
516 This command can run `commit-msg`, `prepare-commit-msg`, `pre-commit`,
517 `post-commit` and `post-rewrite` hooks. See linkgit:githooks[5] for more
518 information.
519
520 FILES
521 -----
522
523 `$GIT_DIR/COMMIT_EDITMSG`::
524 This file contains the commit message of a commit in progress.
525 If `git commit` exits due to an error before creating a commit,
526 any commit message that has been provided by the user (e.g., in
527 an editor session) will be available in this file, but will be
528 overwritten by the next invocation of `git commit`.
529
530 SEE ALSO
531 --------
532 linkgit:git-add[1],
533 linkgit:git-rm[1],
534 linkgit:git-mv[1],
535 linkgit:git-merge[1],
536 linkgit:git-commit-tree[1]
537
538 GIT
539 ---
540 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite