Documentation/git-format-patch.txt

   1 git-format-patch(1)
   2 ===================
   3
   4 NAME
   5 ----
   6 git-format-patch - Prepare patches for e-mail submission
   7
   8
   9 SYNOPSIS
  10 --------
  11 [verse]
  12 'git-format-patch' [-k] [-o <dir> | --stdout] [--thread]
  13                    [--attach[=<boundary>] | --inline[=<boundary>]]
  14                    [-s | --signoff] [<common diff options>]
  15                    [-n | --numbered | -N | --no-numbered]
  16                    [--start-number <n>] [--numbered-files]
  17                    [--in-reply-to=Message-Id] [--suffix=.<sfx>]
  18                    [--ignore-if-in-upstream]
  19                    [--subject-prefix=Subject-Prefix]
  20                    [--cc=<email>]
  21                    [--cover-letter]
  22                    [ <since> | <revision range> ]
  23
  24 DESCRIPTION
  25 -----------
  26
  27 Prepare each commit with its patch in
  28 one file per commit, formatted to resemble UNIX mailbox format.
  29 The output of this command is convenient for e-mail submission or
  30 for use with linkgit:git-am[1].
  31
  32 There are two ways to specify which commits to operate on.
  33
  34 1. A single commit, <since>, specifies that the commits leading
  35    to the tip of the current branch that are not in the history
  36    that leads to the <since> to be output.
  37
  38 2. Generic <revision range> expression (see "SPECIFYING
  39    REVISIONS" section in linkgit:git-rev-parse[1]) means the
  40    commits in the specified range.
  41
  42 A single commit, when interpreted as a <revision range>
  43 expression, means "everything that leads to that commit", but
  44 if you write 'git format-patch <commit>', the previous rule
  45 applies to that command line and you do not get "everything
  46 since the beginning of the time".  If you want to format
  47 everything since project inception to one commit, say "git
  48 format-patch \--root <commit>" to make it clear that it is the
  49 latter case.
  50
  51 By default, each output file is numbered sequentially from 1, and uses the
  52 first line of the commit message (massaged for pathname safety) as
  53 the filename. With the --numbered-files option, the output file names
  54 will only be numbers, without the first line of the commit appended.
  55 The names of the output files are printed to standard
  56 output, unless the --stdout option is specified.
  57
  58 If -o is specified, output files are created in <dir>.  Otherwise
  59 they are created in the current working directory.
  60
  61 If -n is specified, instead of "[PATCH] Subject", the first line
  62 is formatted as "[PATCH n/m] Subject".
  63
  64 If given --thread, git-format-patch will generate In-Reply-To and
  65 References headers to make the second and subsequent patch mails appear
  66 as replies to the first mail; this also generates a Message-Id header to
  67 reference.
  68
  69 OPTIONS
  70 -------
  71 :git-format-patch: 1
  72 include::diff-options.txt[]
  73
  74 -<n>::
  75         Limits the number of patches to prepare.
  76
  77 -o|--output-directory <dir>::
  78         Use <dir> to store the resulting files, instead of the
  79         current working directory.
  80
  81 -n|--numbered::
  82         Name output in '[PATCH n/m]' format.
  83
  84 -N|--no-numbered::
  85         Name output in '[PATCH]' format.
  86
  87 --start-number <n>::
  88         Start numbering the patches at <n> instead of 1.
  89
  90 --numbered-files::
  91         Output file names will be a simple number sequence
  92         without the default first line of the commit appended.
  93         Mutually exclusive with the --stdout option.
  94
  95 -k|--keep-subject::
  96         Do not strip/add '[PATCH]' from the first line of the
  97         commit log message.
  98
  99 -s|--signoff::
 100         Add `Signed-off-by:` line to the commit message, using
 101         the committer identity of yourself.
 102
 103 --stdout::
 104         Print all commits to the standard output in mbox format,
 105         instead of creating a file for each one.
 106
 107 --attach[=<boundary>]::
 108         Create multipart/mixed attachment, the first part of
 109         which is the commit message and the patch itself in the
 110         second part, with "Content-Disposition: attachment".
 111
 112 --inline[=<boundary>]::
 113         Create multipart/mixed attachment, the first part of
 114         which is the commit message and the patch itself in the
 115         second part, with "Content-Disposition: inline".
 116
 117 --thread::
 118         Add In-Reply-To and References headers to make the second and
 119         subsequent mails appear as replies to the first.  Also generates
 120         the Message-Id header to reference.
 121
 122 --in-reply-to=Message-Id::
 123         Make the first mail (or all the mails with --no-thread) appear as a
 124         reply to the given Message-Id, which avoids breaking threads to
 125         provide a new patch series.
 126
 127 --ignore-if-in-upstream::
 128         Do not include a patch that matches a commit in
 129         <until>..<since>.  This will examine all patches reachable
 130         from <since> but not from <until> and compare them with the
 131         patches being generated, and any patch that matches is
 132         ignored.
 133
 134 --subject-prefix=<Subject-Prefix>::
 135         Instead of the standard '[PATCH]' prefix in the subject
 136         line, instead use '[<Subject-Prefix>]'. This
 137         allows for useful naming of a patch series, and can be
 138         combined with the --numbered option.
 139
 140 --cc=<email>::
 141         Add a "Cc:" header to the email headers. This is in addition
 142         to any configured headers, and may be used multiple times.
 143
 144 --cover-letter::
 145         Generate a cover letter template.  You still have to fill in
 146         a description, but the shortlog and the diffstat will be
 147         generated for you.
 148
 149 --suffix=.<sfx>::
 150         Instead of using `.patch` as the suffix for generated
 151         filenames, use specified suffix.  A common alternative is
 152         `--suffix=.txt`.
 153 +
 154 Note that you would need to include the leading dot `.` if you
 155 want a filename like `0001-description-of-my-change.patch`, and
 156 the first letter does not have to be a dot.  Leaving it empty would
 157 not add any suffix.
 158
 159 --no-binary::
 160         Don't output contents of changes in binary files, just take note
 161         that they differ.  Note that this disable the patch to be properly
 162         applied.  By default the contents of changes in those files are
 163         encoded in the patch.
 164
 165 CONFIGURATION
 166 -------------
 167 You can specify extra mail header lines to be added to each message
 168 in the repository configuration, new defaults for the subject prefix
 169 and file suffix, and number patches when outputting more than one.
 170
 171 ------------
 172 [format]
 173         headers = "Organization: git-foo\n"
 174         subjectprefix = CHANGE
 175         suffix = .txt
 176         numbered = auto
 177         cc = <email>
 178 ------------
 179
 180
 181 EXAMPLES
 182 --------
 183
 184 * Extract commits between revisions R1 and R2, and apply them on top of
 185 the current branch using `git-am` to cherry-pick them:
 186 +
 187 ------------
 188 $ git format-patch -k --stdout R1..R2 | git-am -3 -k
 189 ------------
 190
 191 * Extract all commits which are in the current branch but not in the
 192 origin branch:
 193 +
 194 ------------
 195 $ git format-patch origin
 196 ------------
 197 +
 198 For each commit a separate file is created in the current directory.
 199
 200 * Extract all commits that lead to 'origin' since the inception of the
 201 project:
 202 +
 203 ------------
 204 $ git format-patch \--root origin
 205 ------------
 206
 207 * The same as the previous one:
 208 +
 209 ------------
 210 $ git format-patch -M -B origin
 211 ------------
 212 +
 213 Additionally, it detects and handles renames and complete rewrites
 214 intelligently to produce a renaming patch.  A renaming patch reduces
 215 the amount of text output, and generally makes it easier to review it.
 216 Note that the "patch" program does not understand renaming patches, so
 217 use it only when you know the recipient uses git to apply your patch.
 218
 219 * Extract three topmost commits from the current branch and format them
 220 as e-mailable patches:
 221 +
 222 ------------
 223 $ git format-patch -3
 224 ------------
 225
 226 SEE ALSO
 227 --------
 228 linkgit:git-am[1], linkgit:git-send-email[1]
 229
 230
 231 Author
 232 ------
 233 Written by Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net>
 234
 235 Documentation
 236 --------------
 237 Documentation by Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 238
 239 GIT
 240 ---
 241 Part of the linkgit:git[7] suite