Documentation/git-send-email.txt

   1 git-send-email(1)
   2 =================
   3
   4 NAME
   5 ----
   6 git-send-email - Send a collection of patches as emails
   7
   8
   9 SYNOPSIS
  10 --------
  11 'git send-email' [options] <file|directory|rev-list options>...
  12
  13
  14 DESCRIPTION
  15 -----------
  16 Takes the patches given on the command line and emails them out.
  17 Patches can be specified as files, directories (which will send all
  18 files in the directory), or directly as a revision list.  In the
  19 last case, any format accepted by linkgit:git-format-patch[1] can
  20 be passed to git send-email.
  21
  22 The header of the email is configurable by command line options.  If not
  23 specified on the command line, the user will be prompted with a ReadLine
  24 enabled interface to provide the necessary information.
  25
  26 There are two formats accepted for patch files:
  27
  28 1. mbox format files
  29 +
  30 This is what linkgit:git-format-patch[1] generates.  Most headers and MIME
  31 formatting are ignored.
  32
  33 2. The original format used by Greg Kroah-Hartman's 'send_lots_of_email.pl'
  34 script
  35 +
  36 This format expects the first line of the file to contain the "Cc:" value
  37 and the "Subject:" of the message as the second line.
  38
  39
  40 OPTIONS
  41 -------
  42
  43 Composing
  44 ~~~~~~~~~
  45
  46 --annotate::
  47         Review and edit each patch you're about to send. See the
  48         CONFIGURATION section for 'sendemail.multiedit'.
  49
  50 --bcc=<address>::
  51         Specify a "Bcc:" value for each email. Default is the value of
  52         'sendemail.bcc'.
  53 +
  54 The --bcc option must be repeated for each user you want on the bcc list.
  55
  56 --cc=<address>::
  57         Specify a starting "Cc:" value for each email.
  58         Default is the value of 'sendemail.cc'.
  59 +
  60 The --cc option must be repeated for each user you want on the cc list.
  61
  62 --compose::
  63         Use $GIT_EDITOR, core.editor, $VISUAL, or $EDITOR to edit an
  64         introductory message for the patch series.
  65 +
  66 When '--compose' is used, git send-email will use the From, Subject, and
  67 In-Reply-To headers specified in the message. If the body of the message
  68 (what you type after the headers and a blank line) only contains blank
  69 (or GIT: prefixed) lines the summary won't be sent, but From, Subject,
  70 and In-Reply-To headers will be used unless they are removed.
  71 +
  72 Missing From or In-Reply-To headers will be prompted for.
  73 +
  74 See the CONFIGURATION section for 'sendemail.multiedit'.
  75
  76 --from=<address>::
  77         Specify the sender of the emails.  If not specified on the command line,
  78         the value of the 'sendemail.from' configuration option is used.  If
  79         neither the command line option nor 'sendemail.from' are set, then the
  80         user will be prompted for the value.  The default for the prompt will be
  81         the value of GIT_AUTHOR_IDENT, or GIT_COMMITTER_IDENT if that is not
  82         set, as returned by "git var -l".
  83
  84 --in-reply-to=<identifier>::
  85         Specify the contents of the first In-Reply-To header.
  86         Subsequent emails will refer to the previous email
  87         instead of this if --chain-reply-to is set (the default)
  88         Only necessary if --compose is also set.  If --compose
  89         is not set, this will be prompted for.
  90
  91 --subject=<string>::
  92         Specify the initial subject of the email thread.
  93         Only necessary if --compose is also set.  If --compose
  94         is not set, this will be prompted for.
  95
  96 --to=<address>::
  97         Specify the primary recipient of the emails generated. Generally, this
  98         will be the upstream maintainer of the project involved. Default is the
  99         value of the 'sendemail.to' configuration value; if that is unspecified,
 100         this will be prompted for.
 101 +
 102 The --to option must be repeated for each user you want on the to list.
 103
 104
 105 Sending
 106 ~~~~~~~
 107
 108 --envelope-sender=<address>::
 109         Specify the envelope sender used to send the emails.
 110         This is useful if your default address is not the address that is
 111         subscribed to a list. If you use the sendmail binary, you must have
 112         suitable privileges for the -f parameter. Default is the value of
 113         the 'sendemail.envelopesender' configuration variable; if that is
 114         unspecified, choosing the envelope sender is left to your MTA.
 115
 116 --smtp-encryption=<encryption>::
 117         Specify the encryption to use, either 'ssl' or 'tls'.  Any other
 118         value reverts to plain SMTP.  Default is the value of
 119         'sendemail.smtpencryption'.
 120
 121 --smtp-pass[=<password>]::
 122         Password for SMTP-AUTH. The argument is optional: If no
 123         argument is specified, then the empty string is used as
 124         the password. Default is the value of 'sendemail.smtppass',
 125         however '--smtp-pass' always overrides this value.
 126 +
 127 Furthermore, passwords need not be specified in configuration files
 128 or on the command line. If a username has been specified (with
 129 '--smtp-user' or a 'sendemail.smtpuser'), but no password has been
 130 specified (with '--smtp-pass' or 'sendemail.smtppass'), then the
 131 user is prompted for a password while the input is masked for privacy.
 132
 133 --smtp-server=<host>::
 134         If set, specifies the outgoing SMTP server to use (e.g.
 135         `smtp.example.com` or a raw IP address).  Alternatively it can
 136         specify a full pathname of a sendmail-like program instead;
 137         the program must support the `-i` option.  Default value can
 138         be specified by the 'sendemail.smtpserver' configuration
 139         option; the built-in default is `/usr/sbin/sendmail` or
 140         `/usr/lib/sendmail` if such program is available, or
 141         `localhost` otherwise.
 142
 143 --smtp-server-port=<port>::
 144         Specifies a port different from the default port (SMTP
 145         servers typically listen to smtp port 25 and ssmtp port
 146         465); symbolic port names (e.g. "submission" instead of 465)
 147         are also accepted. The port can also be set with the
 148         'sendemail.smtpserverport' configuration variable.
 149
 150 --smtp-ssl::
 151         Legacy alias for '--smtp-encryption ssl'.
 152
 153 --smtp-user=<user>::
 154         Username for SMTP-AUTH. Default is the value of 'sendemail.smtpuser';
 155         if a username is not specified (with '--smtp-user' or 'sendemail.smtpuser'),
 156         then authentication is not attempted.
 157
 158
 159 Automating
 160 ~~~~~~~~~~
 161
 162 --cc-cmd=<command>::
 163         Specify a command to execute once per patch file which
 164         should generate patch file specific "Cc:" entries.
 165         Output of this command must be single email address per line.
 166         Default is the value of 'sendemail.cccmd' configuration value.
 167
 168 --[no-]chain-reply-to::
 169         If this is set, each email will be sent as a reply to the previous
 170         email sent.  If disabled with "--no-chain-reply-to", all emails after
 171         the first will be sent as replies to the first email sent.  When using
 172         this, it is recommended that the first file given be an overview of the
 173         entire patch series. Default is the value of the 'sendemail.chainreplyto'
 174         configuration value; if that is unspecified, default to --chain-reply-to.
 175
 176 --identity=<identity>::
 177         A configuration identity. When given, causes values in the
 178         'sendemail.<identity>' subsection to take precedence over
 179         values in the 'sendemail' section. The default identity is
 180         the value of 'sendemail.identity'.
 181
 182 --[no-]signed-off-by-cc::
 183         If this is set, add emails found in Signed-off-by: or Cc: lines to the
 184         cc list. Default is the value of 'sendemail.signedoffbycc' configuration
 185         value; if that is unspecified, default to --signed-off-by-cc.
 186
 187 --suppress-cc=<category>::
 188         Specify an additional category of recipients to suppress the
 189         auto-cc of:
 190 +
 191 --
 192 - 'author' will avoid including the patch author
 193 - 'self' will avoid including the sender
 194 - 'cc' will avoid including anyone mentioned in Cc lines in the patch header
 195   except for self (use 'self' for that).
 196 - 'bodycc' will avoid including anyone mentioned in Cc lines in the
 197   patch body (commit message) except for self (use 'self' for that).
 198 - 'sob' will avoid including anyone mentioned in Signed-off-by lines except
 199    for self (use 'self' for that).
 200 - 'cccmd' will avoid running the --cc-cmd.
 201 - 'body' is equivalent to 'sob' + 'bodycc'
 202 - 'all' will suppress all auto cc values.
 203 --
 204 +
 205 Default is the value of 'sendemail.suppresscc' configuration value; if
 206 that is unspecified, default to 'self' if --suppress-from is
 207 specified, as well as 'body' if --no-signed-off-cc is specified.
 208
 209 --[no-]suppress-from::
 210         If this is set, do not add the From: address to the cc: list.
 211         Default is the value of 'sendemail.suppressfrom' configuration
 212         value; if that is unspecified, default to --no-suppress-from.
 213
 214 --[no-]thread::
 215         If this is set, the In-Reply-To and References headers will be
 216         added to each email sent.  Whether each mail refers to the
 217         previous email (`deep` threading per 'git format-patch'
 218         wording) or to the first email (`shallow` threading) is
 219         governed by "--[no-]chain-reply-to".
 220 +
 221 If disabled with "--no-thread", those headers will not be added
 222 (unless specified with --in-reply-to).  Default is the value of the
 223 'sendemail.thread' configuration value; if that is unspecified,
 224 default to --thread.
 225 +
 226 It is up to the user to ensure that no In-Reply-To header already
 227 exists when 'git send-email' is asked to add it (especially note that
 228 'git format-patch' can be configured to do the threading itself).
 229 Failure to do so may not produce the expected result in the
 230 recipient's MUA.
 231
 232
 233 Administering
 234 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 235
 236 --confirm=<mode>::
 237         Confirm just before sending:
 238 +
 239 --
 240 - 'always' will always confirm before sending
 241 - 'never' will never confirm before sending
 242 - 'cc' will confirm before sending when send-email has automatically
 243   added addresses from the patch to the Cc list
 244 - 'compose' will confirm before sending the first message when using --compose.
 245 - 'auto' is equivalent to 'cc' + 'compose'
 246 --
 247 +
 248 Default is the value of 'sendemail.confirm' configuration value; if that
 249 is unspecified, default to 'auto' unless any of the suppress options
 250 have been specified, in which case default to 'compose'.
 251
 252 --dry-run::
 253         Do everything except actually send the emails.
 254
 255 --[no-]format-patch::
 256         When an argument may be understood either as a reference or as a file name,
 257         choose to understand it as a format-patch argument ('--format-patch')
 258         or as a file name ('--no-format-patch'). By default, when such a conflict
 259         occurs, git send-email will fail.
 260
 261 --quiet::
 262         Make git-send-email less verbose.  One line per email should be
 263         all that is output.
 264
 265 --[no-]validate::
 266         Perform sanity checks on patches.
 267         Currently, validation means the following:
 268 +
 269 --
 270                 *       Warn of patches that contain lines longer than 998 characters; this
 271                         is due to SMTP limits as described by http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2821.txt.
 272 --
 273 +
 274 Default is the value of 'sendemail.validate'; if this is not set,
 275 default to '--validate'.
 276
 277
 278 CONFIGURATION
 279 -------------
 280
 281 sendemail.aliasesfile::
 282         To avoid typing long email addresses, point this to one or more
 283         email aliases files.  You must also supply 'sendemail.aliasfiletype'.
 284
 285 sendemail.aliasfiletype::
 286         Format of the file(s) specified in sendemail.aliasesfile. Must be
 287         one of 'mutt', 'mailrc', 'pine', 'elm', or 'gnus'.
 288
 289 sendemail.multiedit::
 290         If true (default), a single editor instance will be spawned to edit
 291         files you have to edit (patches when '--annotate' is used, and the
 292         summary when '--compose' is used). If false, files will be edited one
 293         after the other, spawning a new editor each time.
 294
 295 sendemail.confirm::
 296         Sets the default for whether to confirm before sending. Must be
 297         one of 'always', 'never', 'cc', 'compose', or 'auto'. See '--confirm'
 298         in the previous section for the meaning of these values.
 299
 300
 301 Author
 302 ------
 303 Written by Ryan Anderson <ryan@michonline.com>
 304
 305 git-send-email is originally based upon
 306 send_lots_of_email.pl by Greg Kroah-Hartman.
 307
 308
 309 Documentation
 310 --------------
 311 Documentation by Ryan Anderson
 312
 313
 314 GIT
 315 ---
 316 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite