Documentation/git-tag.txt

   1 git-tag(1)
   2 ==========
   3
   4 NAME
   5 ----
   6 git-tag - Create, list, delete or verify a tag object signed with GPG
   7
   8
   9 SYNOPSIS
  10 --------
  11 [verse]
  12 'git tag' [-a | -s | -u <keyid>] [-f] [-m <msg> | -F <file>]
  13         <tagname> [<commit> | <object>]
  14 'git tag' -d <tagname>...
  15 'git tag' [-n[<num>]] -l [--contains <commit>] [--points-at <object>]
  16         [--column[=<options>] | --no-column] [--create-reflog] [--sort=<key>]
  17         [--format=<format>] [--[no-]merged [<commit>]] [<pattern>...]
  18 'git tag' -v <tagname>...
  19
  20 DESCRIPTION
  21 -----------
  22
  23 Add a tag reference in `refs/tags/`, unless `-d/-l/-v` is given
  24 to delete, list or verify tags.
  25
  26 Unless `-f` is given, the named tag must not yet exist.
  27
  28 If one of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <keyid>` is passed, the command
  29 creates a 'tag' object, and requires a tag message.  Unless
  30 `-m <msg>` or `-F <file>` is given, an editor is started for the user to type
  31 in the tag message.
  32
  33 If `-m <msg>` or `-F <file>` is given and `-a`, `-s`, and `-u <keyid>`
  34 are absent, `-a` is implied.
  35
  36 Otherwise just a tag reference for the SHA-1 object name of the commit object is
  37 created (i.e. a lightweight tag).
  38
  39 A GnuPG signed tag object will be created when `-s` or `-u
  40 <keyid>` is used.  When `-u <keyid>` is not used, the
  41 committer identity for the current user is used to find the
  42 GnuPG key for signing.  The configuration variable `gpg.program`
  43 is used to specify custom GnuPG binary.
  44
  45 Tag objects (created with `-a`, `-s`, or `-u`) are called "annotated"
  46 tags; they contain a creation date, the tagger name and e-mail, a
  47 tagging message, and an optional GnuPG signature. Whereas a
  48 "lightweight" tag is simply a name for an object (usually a commit
  49 object).
  50
  51 Annotated tags are meant for release while lightweight tags are meant
  52 for private or temporary object labels. For this reason, some git
  53 commands for naming objects (like `git describe`) will ignore
  54 lightweight tags by default.
  55
  56
  57 OPTIONS
  58 -------
  59 -a::
  60 --annotate::
  61         Make an unsigned, annotated tag object
  62
  63 -s::
  64 --sign::
  65         Make a GPG-signed tag, using the default e-mail address's key.
  66
  67 -u <keyid>::
  68 --local-user=<keyid>::
  69         Make a GPG-signed tag, using the given key.
  70
  71 -f::
  72 --force::
  73         Replace an existing tag with the given name (instead of failing)
  74
  75 -d::
  76 --delete::
  77         Delete existing tags with the given names.
  78
  79 -v::
  80 --verify::
  81         Verify the gpg signature of the given tag names.
  82
  83 -n<num>::
  84         <num> specifies how many lines from the annotation, if any,
  85         are printed when using -l.
  86         The default is not to print any annotation lines.
  87         If no number is given to `-n`, only the first line is printed.
  88         If the tag is not annotated, the commit message is displayed instead.
  89
  90 -l <pattern>::
  91 --list <pattern>::
  92         List tags with names that match the given pattern (or all if no
  93         pattern is given).  Running "git tag" without arguments also
  94         lists all tags. The pattern is a shell wildcard (i.e., matched
  95         using fnmatch(3)).  Multiple patterns may be given; if any of
  96         them matches, the tag is shown.
  97
  98 --sort=<key>::
  99         Sort based on the key given.  Prefix `-` to sort in
 100         descending order of the value. You may use the --sort=<key> option
 101         multiple times, in which case the last key becomes the primary
 102         key. Also supports "version:refname" or "v:refname" (tag
 103         names are treated as versions). The "version:refname" sort
 104         order can also be affected by the
 105         "versionsort.prereleaseSuffix" configuration variable.
 106         The keys supported are the same as those in `git for-each-ref`.
 107         Sort order defaults to the value configured for the `tag.sort`
 108         variable if it exists, or lexicographic order otherwise. See
 109         linkgit:git-config[1].
 110
 111 --column[=<options>]::
 112 --no-column::
 113         Display tag listing in columns. See configuration variable
 114         column.tag for option syntax.`--column` and `--no-column`
 115         without options are equivalent to 'always' and 'never' respectively.
 116 +
 117 This option is only applicable when listing tags without annotation lines.
 118
 119 --contains [<commit>]::
 120         Only list tags which contain the specified commit (HEAD if not
 121         specified).
 122
 123 --points-at <object>::
 124         Only list tags of the given object.
 125
 126 -m <msg>::
 127 --message=<msg>::
 128         Use the given tag message (instead of prompting).
 129         If multiple `-m` options are given, their values are
 130         concatenated as separate paragraphs.
 131         Implies `-a` if none of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <keyid>`
 132         is given.
 133
 134 -F <file>::
 135 --file=<file>::
 136         Take the tag message from the given file.  Use '-' to
 137         read the message from the standard input.
 138         Implies `-a` if none of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <keyid>`
 139         is given.
 140
 141 --cleanup=<mode>::
 142         This option sets how the tag message is cleaned up.
 143         The  '<mode>' can be one of 'verbatim', 'whitespace' and 'strip'.  The
 144         'strip' mode is default. The 'verbatim' mode does not change message at
 145         all, 'whitespace' removes just leading/trailing whitespace lines and
 146         'strip' removes both whitespace and commentary.
 147
 148 --create-reflog::
 149         Create a reflog for the tag.
 150
 151 <tagname>::
 152         The name of the tag to create, delete, or describe.
 153         The new tag name must pass all checks defined by
 154         linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1].  Some of these checks
 155         may restrict the characters allowed in a tag name.
 156
 157 <commit>::
 158 <object>::
 159         The object that the new tag will refer to, usually a commit.
 160         Defaults to HEAD.
 161
 162 <format>::
 163         A string that interpolates `%(fieldname)` from the object
 164         pointed at by a ref being shown.  The format is the same as
 165         that of linkgit:git-for-each-ref[1].  When unspecified,
 166         defaults to `%(refname:strip=2)`.
 167
 168 --[no-]merged [<commit>]::
 169         Only list tags whose tips are reachable, or not reachable
 170         if '--no-merged' is used, from the specified commit ('HEAD'
 171         if not specified).
 172
 173 CONFIGURATION
 174 -------------
 175 By default, 'git tag' in sign-with-default mode (-s) will use your
 176 committer identity (of the form `Your Name <your@email.address>`) to
 177 find a key.  If you want to use a different default key, you can specify
 178 it in the repository configuration as follows:
 179
 180 -------------------------------------
 181 [user]
 182     signingKey = <gpg-keyid>
 183 -------------------------------------
 184
 185
 186 DISCUSSION
 187 ----------
 188
 189 On Re-tagging
 190 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 191
 192 What should you do when you tag a wrong commit and you would
 193 want to re-tag?
 194
 195 If you never pushed anything out, just re-tag it. Use "-f" to
 196 replace the old one. And you're done.
 197
 198 But if you have pushed things out (or others could just read
 199 your repository directly), then others will have already seen
 200 the old tag. In that case you can do one of two things:
 201
 202 . The sane thing.
 203 Just admit you screwed up, and use a different name. Others have
 204 already seen one tag-name, and if you keep the same name, you
 205 may be in the situation that two people both have "version X",
 206 but they actually have 'different' "X"'s.  So just call it "X.1"
 207 and be done with it.
 208
 209 . The insane thing.
 210 You really want to call the new version "X" too, 'even though'
 211 others have already seen the old one. So just use 'git tag -f'
 212 again, as if you hadn't already published the old one.
 213
 214 However, Git does *not* (and it should not) change tags behind
 215 users back. So if somebody already got the old tag, doing a
 216 'git pull' on your tree shouldn't just make them overwrite the old
 217 one.
 218
 219 If somebody got a release tag from you, you cannot just change
 220 the tag for them by updating your own one. This is a big
 221 security issue, in that people MUST be able to trust their
 222 tag-names.  If you really want to do the insane thing, you need
 223 to just fess up to it, and tell people that you messed up. You
 224 can do that by making a very public announcement saying:
 225
 226 ------------
 227 Ok, I messed up, and I pushed out an earlier version tagged as X. I
 228 then fixed something, and retagged the *fixed* tree as X again.
 229
 230 If you got the wrong tag, and want the new one, please delete
 231 the old one and fetch the new one by doing:
 232
 233         git tag -d X
 234         git fetch origin tag X
 235
 236 to get my updated tag.
 237
 238 You can test which tag you have by doing
 239
 240         git rev-parse X
 241
 242 which should return 0123456789abcdef.. if you have the new version.
 243
 244 Sorry for the inconvenience.
 245 ------------
 246
 247 Does this seem a bit complicated?  It *should* be. There is no
 248 way that it would be correct to just "fix" it automatically.
 249 People need to know that their tags might have been changed.
 250
 251
 252 On Automatic following
 253 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 254
 255 If you are following somebody else's tree, you are most likely
 256 using remote-tracking branches (`refs/heads/origin` in traditional
 257 layout, or `refs/remotes/origin/master` in the separate-remote
 258 layout).  You usually want the tags from the other end.
 259
 260 On the other hand, if you are fetching because you would want a
 261 one-shot merge from somebody else, you typically do not want to
 262 get tags from there.  This happens more often for people near
 263 the toplevel but not limited to them.  Mere mortals when pulling
 264 from each other do not necessarily want to automatically get
 265 private anchor point tags from the other person.
 266
 267 Often, "please pull" messages on the mailing list just provide
 268 two pieces of information: a repo URL and a branch name; this
 269 is designed to be easily cut&pasted at the end of a 'git fetch'
 270 command line:
 271
 272 ------------
 273 Linus, please pull from
 274
 275         git://git..../proj.git master
 276
 277 to get the following updates...
 278 ------------
 279
 280 becomes:
 281
 282 ------------
 283 $ git pull git://git..../proj.git master
 284 ------------
 285
 286 In such a case, you do not want to automatically follow the other
 287 person's tags.
 288
 289 One important aspect of Git is its distributed nature, which
 290 largely means there is no inherent "upstream" or
 291 "downstream" in the system.  On the face of it, the above
 292 example might seem to indicate that the tag namespace is owned
 293 by the upper echelon of people and that tags only flow downwards, but
 294 that is not the case.  It only shows that the usage pattern
 295 determines who are interested in whose tags.
 296
 297 A one-shot pull is a sign that a commit history is now crossing
 298 the boundary between one circle of people (e.g. "people who are
 299 primarily interested in the networking part of the kernel") who may
 300 have their own set of tags (e.g. "this is the third release
 301 candidate from the networking group to be proposed for general
 302 consumption with 2.6.21 release") to another circle of people
 303 (e.g. "people who integrate various subsystem improvements").
 304 The latter are usually not interested in the detailed tags used
 305 internally in the former group (that is what "internal" means).
 306 That is why it is desirable not to follow tags automatically in
 307 this case.
 308
 309 It may well be that among networking people, they may want to
 310 exchange the tags internal to their group, but in that workflow
 311 they are most likely tracking each other's progress by
 312 having remote-tracking branches.  Again, the heuristic to automatically
 313 follow such tags is a good thing.
 314
 315
 316 On Backdating Tags
 317 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 318
 319 If you have imported some changes from another VCS and would like
 320 to add tags for major releases of your work, it is useful to be able
 321 to specify the date to embed inside of the tag object; such data in
 322 the tag object affects, for example, the ordering of tags in the
 323 gitweb interface.
 324
 325 To set the date used in future tag objects, set the environment
 326 variable GIT_COMMITTER_DATE (see the later discussion of possible
 327 values; the most common form is "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM").
 328
 329 For example:
 330
 331 ------------
 332 $ GIT_COMMITTER_DATE="2006-10-02 10:31" git tag -s v1.0.1
 333 ------------
 334
 335 include::date-formats.txt[]
 336
 337 SEE ALSO
 338 --------
 339 linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1].
 340 linkgit:git-config[1].
 341
 342 GIT
 343 ---
 344 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite