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                      [--no-attach]]
  15                    [-s | --signoff] [<common diff options>]
  16                    [-n | --numbered | -N | --no-numbered]
  17                    [--start-number <n>] [--numbered-files]
  18                    [--in-reply-to=Message-Id] [--suffix=.<sfx>]
  19                    [--ignore-if-in-upstream]
  20                    [--subject-prefix=Subject-Prefix]
  21                    [--cc=<email>]
  22                    [--cover-letter]
  23                    [ <since> | <revision range> ]
  24
  25 DESCRIPTION
  26 -----------
  27
  28 Prepare each commit with its patch in
  29 one file per commit, formatted to resemble UNIX mailbox format.
  30 The output of this command is convenient for e-mail submission or
  31 for use with 'git-am'.
  32
  33 There are two ways to specify which commits to operate on.
  34
  35 1. A single commit, <since>, specifies that the commits leading
  36    to the tip of the current branch that are not in the history
  37    that leads to the <since> to be output.
  38
  39 2. Generic <revision range> expression (see "SPECIFYING
  40    REVISIONS" section in linkgit:git-rev-parse[1]) means the
  41    commits in the specified range.
  42
  43 A single commit, when interpreted as a <revision range>
  44 expression, means "everything that leads to that commit", but
  45 if you write 'git format-patch <commit>', the previous rule
  46 applies to that command line and you do not get "everything
  47 since the beginning of the time".  If you want to format
  48 everything since project inception to one commit, say "git
  49 format-patch \--root <commit>" to make it clear that it is the
  50 latter case.  If you want to format a single commit, you can do
  51 this with "git format-patch -1 <commit>".
  52
  53 By default, each output file is numbered sequentially from 1, and uses the
  54 first line of the commit message (massaged for pathname safety) as
  55 the filename. With the --numbered-files option, the output file names
  56 will only be numbers, without the first line of the commit appended.
  57 The names of the output files are printed to standard
  58 output, unless the --stdout option is specified.
  59
  60 If -o is specified, output files are created in <dir>.  Otherwise
  61 they are created in the current working directory.
  62
  63 By default, the subject of a single patch is "[PATCH] First Line" and
  64 the subject when multiple patches are output is "[PATCH n/m] First
  65 Line". To force 1/1 to be added for a single patch, use -n.  To omit
  66 patch numbers from the subject, use -N
  67
  68 If given --thread, 'git-format-patch' will generate In-Reply-To and
  69 References headers to make the second and subsequent patch mails appear
  70 as replies to the first mail; this also generates a Message-Id header to
  71 reference.
  72
  73 OPTIONS
  74 -------
  75 :git-format-patch: 1
  76 include::diff-options.txt[]
  77
  78 -<n>::
  79         Limits the number of patches to prepare.
  80
  81 -o <dir>::
  82 --output-directory <dir>::
  83         Use <dir> to store the resulting files, instead of the
  84         current working directory.
  85
  86 -n::
  87 --numbered::
  88         Name output in '[PATCH n/m]' format, even with a single patch.
  89
  90 -N::
  91 --no-numbered::
  92         Name output in '[PATCH]' format.
  93
  94 --start-number <n>::
  95         Start numbering the patches at <n> instead of 1.
  96
  97 --numbered-files::
  98         Output file names will be a simple number sequence
  99         without the default first line of the commit appended.
 100         Mutually exclusive with the --stdout option.
 101
 102 -k::
 103 --keep-subject::
 104         Do not strip/add '[PATCH]' from the first line of the
 105         commit log message.
 106
 107 -s::
 108 --signoff::
 109         Add `Signed-off-by:` line to the commit message, using
 110         the committer identity of yourself.
 111
 112 --stdout::
 113         Print all commits to the standard output in mbox format,
 114         instead of creating a file for each one.
 115
 116 --attach[=<boundary>]::
 117         Create multipart/mixed attachment, the first part of
 118         which is the commit message and the patch itself in the
 119         second part, with "Content-Disposition: attachment".
 120
 121 --no-attach::
 122         Disable the creation of an attachment, overriding the
 123         configuration setting.
 124
 125 --inline[=<boundary>]::
 126         Create multipart/mixed attachment, the first part of
 127         which is the commit message and the patch itself in the
 128         second part, with "Content-Disposition: inline".
 129
 130 --thread::
 131         Add In-Reply-To and References headers to make the second and
 132         subsequent mails appear as replies to the first.  Also generates
 133         the Message-Id header to reference.
 134
 135 --in-reply-to=Message-Id::
 136         Make the first mail (or all the mails with --no-thread) appear as a
 137         reply to the given Message-Id, which avoids breaking threads to
 138         provide a new patch series.
 139
 140 --ignore-if-in-upstream::
 141         Do not include a patch that matches a commit in
 142         <until>..<since>.  This will examine all patches reachable
 143         from <since> but not from <until> and compare them with the
 144         patches being generated, and any patch that matches is
 145         ignored.
 146
 147 --subject-prefix=<Subject-Prefix>::
 148         Instead of the standard '[PATCH]' prefix in the subject
 149         line, instead use '[<Subject-Prefix>]'. This
 150         allows for useful naming of a patch series, and can be
 151         combined with the --numbered option.
 152
 153 --cc=<email>::
 154         Add a "Cc:" header to the email headers. This is in addition
 155         to any configured headers, and may be used multiple times.
 156
 157 --cover-letter::
 158         In addition to the patches, generate a cover letter file
 159         containing the shortlog and the overall diffstat.  You can
 160         fill in a description in the file before sending it out.
 161
 162 --suffix=.<sfx>::
 163         Instead of using `.patch` as the suffix for generated
 164         filenames, use specified suffix.  A common alternative is
 165         `--suffix=.txt`.
 166 +
 167 Note that you would need to include the leading dot `.` if you
 168 want a filename like `0001-description-of-my-change.patch`, and
 169 the first letter does not have to be a dot.  Leaving it empty would
 170 not add any suffix.
 171
 172 --no-binary::
 173         Don't output contents of changes in binary files, just take note
 174         that they differ.  Note that this disable the patch to be properly
 175         applied.  By default the contents of changes in those files are
 176         encoded in the patch.
 177
 178 CONFIGURATION
 179 -------------
 180 You can specify extra mail header lines to be added to each message
 181 in the repository configuration, new defaults for the subject prefix
 182 and file suffix, control attachements, and number patches when outputting
 183 more than one.
 184
 185 ------------
 186 [format]
 187         headers = "Organization: git-foo\n"
 188         subjectprefix = CHANGE
 189         suffix = .txt
 190         numbered = auto
 191         cc = <email>
 192         attach [ = mime-boundary-string ]
 193 ------------
 194
 195
 196 EXAMPLES
 197 --------
 198
 199 * Extract commits between revisions R1 and R2, and apply them on top of
 200 the current branch using 'git-am' to cherry-pick them:
 201 +
 202 ------------
 203 $ git format-patch -k --stdout R1..R2 | git am -3 -k
 204 ------------
 205
 206 * Extract all commits which are in the current branch but not in the
 207 origin branch:
 208 +
 209 ------------
 210 $ git format-patch origin
 211 ------------
 212 +
 213 For each commit a separate file is created in the current directory.
 214
 215 * Extract all commits that lead to 'origin' since the inception of the
 216 project:
 217 +
 218 ------------
 219 $ git format-patch --root origin
 220 ------------
 221
 222 * The same as the previous one:
 223 +
 224 ------------
 225 $ git format-patch -M -B origin
 226 ------------
 227 +
 228 Additionally, it detects and handles renames and complete rewrites
 229 intelligently to produce a renaming patch.  A renaming patch reduces
 230 the amount of text output, and generally makes it easier to review it.
 231 Note that the "patch" program does not understand renaming patches, so
 232 use it only when you know the recipient uses git to apply your patch.
 233
 234 * Extract three topmost commits from the current branch and format them
 235 as e-mailable patches:
 236 +
 237 ------------
 238 $ git format-patch -3
 239 ------------
 240
 241 SEE ALSO
 242 --------
 243 linkgit:git-am[1], linkgit:git-send-email[1]
 244
 245
 246 Author
 247 ------
 248 Written by Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
 249
 250 Documentation
 251 --------------
 252 Documentation by Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 253
 254 GIT
 255 ---
 256 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite