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' [-n | -k] [-o <dir> | --stdout] [--attach] [--thread]
  13                    [-s | --signoff] [--diff-options] [--start-number <n>]
  14                    [--in-reply-to=Message-Id] [--suffix=.<sfx>]
  15                    [--ignore-if-in-upstream]
  16                    <since>[..<until>]
  17
  18 DESCRIPTION
  19 -----------
  20
  21 Prepare each commit between <since> and <until> with its patch in
  22 one file per commit, formatted to resemble UNIX mailbox format.
  23 If ..<until> is not specified, the head of the current working
  24 tree is implied.  For a more complete list of ways to spell
  25 <since> and <until>, see "SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in
  26 gitlink:git-rev-parse[1].
  27
  28 The output of this command is convenient for e-mail submission or
  29 for use with gitlink:git-am[1].
  30
  31 Each output file is numbered sequentially from 1, and uses the
  32 first line of the commit message (massaged for pathname safety) as
  33 the filename. The names of the output files are printed to standard
  34 output, unless the --stdout option is specified.
  35
  36 If -o is specified, output files are created in <dir>.  Otherwise
  37 they are created in the current working directory.
  38
  39 If -n is specified, instead of "[PATCH] Subject", the first line
  40 is formatted as "[PATCH n/m] Subject".
  41
  42 If given --thread, git-format-patch will generate In-Reply-To and
  43 References headers to make the second and subsequent patch mails appear
  44 as replies to the first mail; this also generates a Message-Id header to
  45 reference.
  46
  47 OPTIONS
  48 -------
  49 -o|--output-directory <dir>::
  50         Use <dir> to store the resulting files, instead of the
  51         current working directory.
  52
  53 -n|--numbered::
  54         Name output in '[PATCH n/m]' format.
  55
  56 --start-number <n>::
  57         Start numbering the patches at <n> instead of 1.
  58
  59 -k|--keep-subject::
  60         Do not strip/add '[PATCH]' from the first line of the
  61         commit log message.
  62
  63 -s|--signoff::
  64         Add `Signed-off-by:` line to the commit message, using
  65         the committer identity of yourself.
  66
  67 --stdout::
  68         Print all commits to the standard output in mbox format,
  69         instead of creating a file for each one.
  70
  71 --attach::
  72         Create attachments instead of inlining patches.
  73
  74 --thread::
  75         Add In-Reply-To and References headers to make the second and
  76         subsequent mails appear as replies to the first.  Also generates
  77         the Message-Id header to reference.
  78
  79 --in-reply-to=Message-Id::
  80         Make the first mail (or all the mails with --no-thread) appear as a
  81         reply to the given Message-Id, which avoids breaking threads to
  82         provide a new patch series.
  83
  84 --ignore-if-in-upstream::
  85         Do not include a patch that matches a commit in
  86         <until>..<since>.  This will examine all patches reachable
  87         from <since> but not from <until> and compare them with the
  88         patches being generated, and any patch that matches is
  89         ignored.
  90
  91 --suffix=.<sfx>::
  92         Instead of using `.patch` as the suffix for generated
  93         filenames, use specifed suffix.  A common alternative is
  94         `--suffix=.txt`.
  95 +
  96 Note that you would need to include the leading dot `.` if you
  97 want a filename like `0001-description-of-my-change.patch`, and
  98 the first letter does not have to be a dot.  Leaving it empty would
  99 not add any suffix.
 100
 101 CONFIGURATION
 102 -------------
 103 You can specify extra mail header lines to be added to each
 104 message in the repository configuration.  Also you can specify
 105 the default suffix different from the built-in one:
 106
 107 ------------
 108 [format]
 109         headers = "Organization: git-foo\n"
 110         suffix = .txt
 111 ------------
 112
 113
 114 EXAMPLES
 115 --------
 116
 117 git-format-patch -k --stdout R1..R2 | git-am -3 -k::
 118         Extract commits between revisions R1 and R2, and apply
 119         them on top of the current branch using `git-am` to
 120         cherry-pick them.
 121
 122 git-format-patch origin::
 123         Extract all commits which are in the current branch but
 124         not in the origin branch.  For each commit a separate file
 125         is created in the current directory.
 126
 127 git-format-patch -M -B origin::
 128         The same as the previous one.  Additionally, it detects
 129         and handles renames and complete rewrites intelligently to
 130         produce a renaming patch.  A renaming patch reduces the
 131         amount of text output, and generally makes it easier to
 132         review it.  Note that the "patch" program does not
 133         understand renaming patches, so use it only when you know
 134         the recipient uses git to apply your patch.
 135
 136 git-format-patch -3::
 137         Extract three topmost commits from the current branch
 138         and format them as e-mailable patches.
 139
 140 See Also
 141 --------
 142 gitlink:git-am[1], gitlink:git-send-email[1]
 143
 144
 145 Author
 146 ------
 147 Written by Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net>
 148
 149 Documentation
 150 --------------
 151 Documentation by Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 152
 153 GIT
 154 ---
 155 Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite
 156