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 <dir>::
  78 --output-directory <dir>::
  79         Use <dir> to store the resulting files, instead of the
  80         current working directory.
  81
  82 -n::
  83 --numbered::
  84         Name output in '[PATCH n/m]' format.
  85
  86 -N::
  87 --no-numbered::
  88         Name output in '[PATCH]' format.
  89
  90 --start-number <n>::
  91         Start numbering the patches at <n> instead of 1.
  92
  93 --numbered-files::
  94         Output file names will be a simple number sequence
  95         without the default first line of the commit appended.
  96         Mutually exclusive with the --stdout option.
  97
  98 -k::
  99 --keep-subject::
 100         Do not strip/add '[PATCH]' from the first line of the
 101         commit log message.
 102
 103 -s::
 104 --signoff::
 105         Add `Signed-off-by:` line to the commit message, using
 106         the committer identity of yourself.
 107
 108 --stdout::
 109         Print all commits to the standard output in mbox format,
 110         instead of creating a file for each one.
 111
 112 --attach[=<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: attachment".
 116
 117 --inline[=<boundary>]::
 118         Create multipart/mixed attachment, the first part of
 119         which is the commit message and the patch itself in the
 120         second part, with "Content-Disposition: inline".
 121
 122 --thread::
 123         Add In-Reply-To and References headers to make the second and
 124         subsequent mails appear as replies to the first.  Also generates
 125         the Message-Id header to reference.
 126
 127 --in-reply-to=Message-Id::
 128         Make the first mail (or all the mails with --no-thread) appear as a
 129         reply to the given Message-Id, which avoids breaking threads to
 130         provide a new patch series.
 131
 132 --ignore-if-in-upstream::
 133         Do not include a patch that matches a commit in
 134         <until>..<since>.  This will examine all patches reachable
 135         from <since> but not from <until> and compare them with the
 136         patches being generated, and any patch that matches is
 137         ignored.
 138
 139 --subject-prefix=<Subject-Prefix>::
 140         Instead of the standard '[PATCH]' prefix in the subject
 141         line, instead use '[<Subject-Prefix>]'. This
 142         allows for useful naming of a patch series, and can be
 143         combined with the --numbered option.
 144
 145 --cc=<email>::
 146         Add a "Cc:" header to the email headers. This is in addition
 147         to any configured headers, and may be used multiple times.
 148
 149 --cover-letter::
 150         Generate a cover letter template.  You still have to fill in
 151         a description, but the shortlog and the diffstat will be
 152         generated for you.
 153
 154 --suffix=.<sfx>::
 155         Instead of using `.patch` as the suffix for generated
 156         filenames, use specified suffix.  A common alternative is
 157         `--suffix=.txt`.
 158 +
 159 Note that you would need to include the leading dot `.` if you
 160 want a filename like `0001-description-of-my-change.patch`, and
 161 the first letter does not have to be a dot.  Leaving it empty would
 162 not add any suffix.
 163
 164 --no-binary::
 165         Don't output contents of changes in binary files, just take note
 166         that they differ.  Note that this disable the patch to be properly
 167         applied.  By default the contents of changes in those files are
 168         encoded in the patch.
 169
 170 CONFIGURATION
 171 -------------
 172 You can specify extra mail header lines to be added to each message
 173 in the repository configuration, new defaults for the subject prefix
 174 and file suffix, and number patches when outputting more than one.
 175
 176 ------------
 177 [format]
 178         headers = "Organization: git-foo\n"
 179         subjectprefix = CHANGE
 180         suffix = .txt
 181         numbered = auto
 182         cc = <email>
 183 ------------
 184
 185
 186 EXAMPLES
 187 --------
 188
 189 * Extract commits between revisions R1 and R2, and apply them on top of
 190 the current branch using `git-am` to cherry-pick them:
 191 +
 192 ------------
 193 $ git format-patch -k --stdout R1..R2 | git-am -3 -k
 194 ------------
 195
 196 * Extract all commits which are in the current branch but not in the
 197 origin branch:
 198 +
 199 ------------
 200 $ git format-patch origin
 201 ------------
 202 +
 203 For each commit a separate file is created in the current directory.
 204
 205 * Extract all commits that lead to 'origin' since the inception of the
 206 project:
 207 +
 208 ------------
 209 $ git format-patch \--root origin
 210 ------------
 211
 212 * The same as the previous one:
 213 +
 214 ------------
 215 $ git format-patch -M -B origin
 216 ------------
 217 +
 218 Additionally, it detects and handles renames and complete rewrites
 219 intelligently to produce a renaming patch.  A renaming patch reduces
 220 the amount of text output, and generally makes it easier to review it.
 221 Note that the "patch" program does not understand renaming patches, so
 222 use it only when you know the recipient uses git to apply your patch.
 223
 224 * Extract three topmost commits from the current branch and format them
 225 as e-mailable patches:
 226 +
 227 ------------
 228 $ git format-patch -3
 229 ------------
 230
 231 SEE ALSO
 232 --------
 233 linkgit:git-am[1], linkgit:git-send-email[1]
 234
 235
 236 Author
 237 ------
 238 Written by Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net>
 239
 240 Documentation
 241 --------------
 242 Documentation by Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 243
 244 GIT
 245 ---
 246 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite