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1 git-commit(1)
2 =============
3
4 NAME
5 ----
6 git-commit - Record changes to the repository
7
8 SYNOPSIS
9 --------
10 [verse]
11 'git commit' [-a | --interactive | --patch] [-s] [-v] [-u<mode>] [--amend]
12 [--dry-run] [(-c | -C | --fixup | --squash) <commit>]
13 [-F <file> | -m <msg>] [--reset-author] [--allow-empty]
14 [--allow-empty-message] [--no-verify] [-e] [--author=<author>]
15 [--date=<date>] [--cleanup=<mode>] [--[no-]status]
16 [-i | -o] [-S[<keyid>]] [--] [<file>...]
17
18 DESCRIPTION
19 -----------
20 Stores the current contents of the index in a new commit along
21 with a log message from the user describing the changes.
22
23 The content to be added can be specified in several ways:
24
25 1. by using 'git add' to incrementally "add" changes to the
26 index before using the 'commit' command (Note: even modified
27 files must be "added");
28
29 2. by using 'git rm' to remove files from the working tree
30 and the index, again before using the 'commit' command;
31
32 3. by listing files as arguments to the 'commit' command
33 (without --interactive or --patch switch), in which
34 case the commit will ignore changes staged in the index, and instead
35 record the current content of the listed files (which must already
36 be known to Git);
37
38 4. by using the -a switch with the 'commit' command to automatically
39 "add" changes from all known files (i.e. all files that are already
40 listed in the index) and to automatically "rm" files in the index
41 that have been removed from the working tree, and then perform the
42 actual commit;
43
44 5. by using the --interactive or --patch switches with the 'commit' command
45 to decide one by one which files or hunks should be part of the commit
46 in addition to contents in the index,
47 before finalizing the operation. See the ``Interactive Mode'' section of
48 linkgit:git-add[1] to learn how to operate these modes.
49
50 The `--dry-run` option can be used to obtain a
51 summary of what is included by any of the above for the next
52 commit by giving the same set of parameters (options and paths).
53
54 If you make a commit and then find a mistake immediately after
55 that, you can recover from it with 'git reset'.
56
57
58 OPTIONS
59 -------
60 -a::
61 --all::
62 Tell the command to automatically stage files that have
63 been modified and deleted, but new files you have not
64 told Git about are not affected.
65
66 -p::
67 --patch::
68 Use the interactive patch selection interface to chose
69 which changes to commit. See linkgit:git-add[1] for
70 details.
71
72 -C <commit>::
73 --reuse-message=<commit>::
74 Take an existing commit object, and reuse the log message
75 and the authorship information (including the timestamp)
76 when creating the commit.
77
78 -c <commit>::
79 --reedit-message=<commit>::
80 Like '-C', but with `-c` the editor is invoked, so that
81 the user can further edit the commit message.
82
83 --fixup=<commit>::
84 Construct a commit message for use with `rebase --autosquash`.
85 The commit message will be the subject line from the specified
86 commit with a prefix of "fixup! ". See linkgit:git-rebase[1]
87 for details.
88
89 --squash=<commit>::
90 Construct a commit message for use with `rebase --autosquash`.
91 The commit message subject line is taken from the specified
92 commit with a prefix of "squash! ". Can be used with additional
93 commit message options (`-m`/`-c`/`-C`/`-F`). See
94 linkgit:git-rebase[1] for details.
95
96 --reset-author::
97 When used with -C/-c/--amend options, or when committing after a
98 conflicting cherry-pick, declare that the authorship of the
99 resulting commit now belongs to the committer. This also renews
100 the author timestamp.
101
102 --short::
103 When doing a dry-run, give the output in the short-format. See
104 linkgit:git-status[1] for details. Implies `--dry-run`.
105
106 --branch::
107 Show the branch and tracking info even in short-format.
108
109 --porcelain::
110 When doing a dry-run, give the output in a porcelain-ready
111 format. See linkgit:git-status[1] for details. Implies
112 `--dry-run`.
113
114 --long::
115 When doing a dry-run, give the output in the long-format.
116 Implies `--dry-run`.
117
118 -z::
119 --null::
120 When showing `short` or `porcelain` status output, print the
121 filename verbatim and terminate the entries with NUL, instead of LF.
122 If no format is given, implies the `--porcelain` output format.
123 Without the `-z` option, filenames with "unusual" characters are
124 quoted as explained for the configuration variable `core.quotePath`
125 (see linkgit:git-config[1]).
126
127 -F <file>::
128 --file=<file>::
129 Take the commit message from the given file. Use '-' to
130 read the message from the standard input.
131
132 --author=<author>::
133 Override the commit author. Specify an explicit author using the
134 standard `A U Thor <author@example.com>` format. Otherwise <author>
135 is assumed to be a pattern and is used to search for an existing
136 commit by that author (i.e. rev-list --all -i --author=<author>);
137 the commit author is then copied from the first such commit found.
138
139 --date=<date>::
140 Override the author date used in the commit.
141
142 -m <msg>::
143 --message=<msg>::
144 Use the given <msg> as the commit message.
145 If multiple `-m` options are given, their values are
146 concatenated as separate paragraphs.
147
148 -t <file>::
149 --template=<file>::
150 When editing the commit message, start the editor with the
151 contents in the given file. The `commit.template` configuration
152 variable is often used to give this option implicitly to the
153 command. This mechanism can be used by projects that want to
154 guide participants with some hints on what to write in the message
155 in what order. If the user exits the editor without editing the
156 message, the commit is aborted. This has no effect when a message
157 is given by other means, e.g. with the `-m` or `-F` options.
158
159 -s::
160 --signoff::
161 Add Signed-off-by line by the committer at the end of the commit
162 log message. The meaning of a signoff depends on the project,
163 but it typically certifies that committer has
164 the rights to submit this work under the same license and
165 agrees to a Developer Certificate of Origin
166 (see http://developercertificate.org/ for more information).
167
168 -n::
169 --no-verify::
170 This option bypasses the pre-commit and commit-msg hooks.
171 See also linkgit:githooks[5].
172
173 --allow-empty::
174 Usually recording a commit that has the exact same tree as its
175 sole parent commit is a mistake, and the command prevents you
176 from making such a commit. This option bypasses the safety, and
177 is primarily for use by foreign SCM interface scripts.
178
179 --allow-empty-message::
180 Like --allow-empty this command is primarily for use by foreign
181 SCM interface scripts. It allows you to create a commit with an
182 empty commit message without using plumbing commands like
183 linkgit:git-commit-tree[1].
184
185 --cleanup=<mode>::
186 This option determines how the supplied commit message should be
187 cleaned up before committing. The '<mode>' can be `strip`,
188 `whitespace`, `verbatim`, `scissors` or `default`.
189 +
190 --
191 strip::
192 Strip leading and trailing empty lines, trailing whitespace,
193 commentary and collapse consecutive empty lines.
194 whitespace::
195 Same as `strip` except #commentary is not removed.
196 verbatim::
197 Do not change the message at all.
198 scissors::
199 Same as `whitespace` except that everything from (and including)
200 the line found below is truncated, if the message is to be edited.
201 "`#`" can be customized with core.commentChar.
202
203 # ------------------------ >8 ------------------------
204
205 default::
206 Same as `strip` if the message is to be edited.
207 Otherwise `whitespace`.
208 --
209 +
210 The default can be changed by the `commit.cleanup` configuration
211 variable (see linkgit:git-config[1]).
212
213 -e::
214 --edit::
215 The message taken from file with `-F`, command line with
216 `-m`, and from commit object with `-C` are usually used as
217 the commit log message unmodified. This option lets you
218 further edit the message taken from these sources.
219
220 --no-edit::
221 Use the selected commit message without launching an editor.
222 For example, `git commit --amend --no-edit` amends a commit
223 without changing its commit message.
224
225 --amend::
226 Replace the tip of the current branch by creating a new
227 commit. The recorded tree is prepared as usual (including
228 the effect of the `-i` and `-o` options and explicit
229 pathspec), and the message from the original commit is used
230 as the starting point, instead of an empty message, when no
231 other message is specified from the command line via options
232 such as `-m`, `-F`, `-c`, etc. The new commit has the same
233 parents and author as the current one (the `--reset-author`
234 option can countermand this).
235 +
236 --
237 It is a rough equivalent for:
238 ------
239 $ git reset --soft HEAD^
240 $ ... do something else to come up with the right tree ...
241 $ git commit -c ORIG_HEAD
242
243 ------
244 but can be used to amend a merge commit.
245 --
246 +
247 You should understand the implications of rewriting history if you
248 amend a commit that has already been published. (See the "RECOVERING
249 FROM UPSTREAM REBASE" section in linkgit:git-rebase[1].)
250
251 --no-post-rewrite::
252 Bypass the post-rewrite hook.
253
254 -i::
255 --include::
256 Before making a commit out of staged contents so far,
257 stage the contents of paths given on the command line
258 as well. This is usually not what you want unless you
259 are concluding a conflicted merge.
260
261 -o::
262 --only::
263 Make a commit by taking the updated working tree contents
264 of the paths specified on the
265 command line, disregarding any contents that have been
266 staged for other paths. This is the default mode of operation of
267 'git commit' if any paths are given on the command line,
268 in which case this option can be omitted.
269 If this option is specified together with `--amend`, then
270 no paths need to be specified, which can be used to amend
271 the last commit without committing changes that have
272 already been staged. If used together with `--allow-empty`
273 paths are also not required, and an empty commit will be created.
274
275 -u[<mode>]::
276 --untracked-files[=<mode>]::
277 Show untracked files.
278 +
279 The mode parameter is optional (defaults to 'all'), and is used to
280 specify the handling of untracked files; when -u is not used, the
281 default is 'normal', i.e. show untracked files and directories.
282 +
283 The possible options are:
284 +
285 - 'no' - Show no untracked files
286 - 'normal' - Shows untracked files and directories
287 - 'all' - Also shows individual files in untracked directories.
288 +
289 The default can be changed using the status.showUntrackedFiles
290 configuration variable documented in linkgit:git-config[1].
291
292 -v::
293 --verbose::
294 Show unified diff between the HEAD commit and what
295 would be committed at the bottom of the commit message
296 template to help the user describe the commit by reminding
297 what changes the commit has.
298 Note that this diff output doesn't have its
299 lines prefixed with '#'. This diff will not be a part
300 of the commit message. See the `commit.verbose` configuration
301 variable in linkgit:git-config[1].
302 +
303 If specified twice, show in addition the unified diff between
304 what would be committed and the worktree files, i.e. the unstaged
305 changes to tracked files.
306
307 -q::
308 --quiet::
309 Suppress commit summary message.
310
311 --dry-run::
312 Do not create a commit, but show a list of paths that are
313 to be committed, paths with local changes that will be left
314 uncommitted and paths that are untracked.
315
316 --status::
317 Include the output of linkgit:git-status[1] in the commit
318 message template when using an editor to prepare the commit
319 message. Defaults to on, but can be used to override
320 configuration variable commit.status.
321
322 --no-status::
323 Do not include the output of linkgit:git-status[1] in the
324 commit message template when using an editor to prepare the
325 default commit message.
326
327 -S[<keyid>]::
328 --gpg-sign[=<keyid>]::
329 GPG-sign commits. The `keyid` argument is optional and
330 defaults to the committer identity; if specified, it must be
331 stuck to the option without a space.
332
333 --no-gpg-sign::
334 Countermand `commit.gpgSign` configuration variable that is
335 set to force each and every commit to be signed.
336
337 \--::
338 Do not interpret any more arguments as options.
339
340 <file>...::
341 When files are given on the command line, the command
342 commits the contents of the named files, without
343 recording the changes already staged. The contents of
344 these files are also staged for the next commit on top
345 of what have been staged before.
346
347 :git-commit: 1
348 include::date-formats.txt[]
349
350 EXAMPLES
351 --------
352 When recording your own work, the contents of modified files in
353 your working tree are temporarily stored to a staging area
354 called the "index" with 'git add'. A file can be
355 reverted back, only in the index but not in the working tree,
356 to that of the last commit with `git reset HEAD -- <file>`,
357 which effectively reverts 'git add' and prevents the changes to
358 this file from participating in the next commit. After building
359 the state to be committed incrementally with these commands,
360 `git commit` (without any pathname parameter) is used to record what
361 has been staged so far. This is the most basic form of the
362 command. An example:
363
364 ------------
365 $ edit hello.c
366 $ git rm goodbye.c
367 $ git add hello.c
368 $ git commit
369 ------------
370
371 Instead of staging files after each individual change, you can
372 tell `git commit` to notice the changes to the files whose
373 contents are tracked in
374 your working tree and do corresponding `git add` and `git rm`
375 for you. That is, this example does the same as the earlier
376 example if there is no other change in your working tree:
377
378 ------------
379 $ edit hello.c
380 $ rm goodbye.c
381 $ git commit -a
382 ------------
383
384 The command `git commit -a` first looks at your working tree,
385 notices that you have modified hello.c and removed goodbye.c,
386 and performs necessary `git add` and `git rm` for you.
387
388 After staging changes to many files, you can alter the order the
389 changes are recorded in, by giving pathnames to `git commit`.
390 When pathnames are given, the command makes a commit that
391 only records the changes made to the named paths:
392
393 ------------
394 $ edit hello.c hello.h
395 $ git add hello.c hello.h
396 $ edit Makefile
397 $ git commit Makefile
398 ------------
399
400 This makes a commit that records the modification to `Makefile`.
401 The changes staged for `hello.c` and `hello.h` are not included
402 in the resulting commit. However, their changes are not lost --
403 they are still staged and merely held back. After the above
404 sequence, if you do:
405
406 ------------
407 $ git commit
408 ------------
409
410 this second commit would record the changes to `hello.c` and
411 `hello.h` as expected.
412
413 After a merge (initiated by 'git merge' or 'git pull') stops
414 because of conflicts, cleanly merged
415 paths are already staged to be committed for you, and paths that
416 conflicted are left in unmerged state. You would have to first
417 check which paths are conflicting with 'git status'
418 and after fixing them manually in your working tree, you would
419 stage the result as usual with 'git add':
420
421 ------------
422 $ git status | grep unmerged
423 unmerged: hello.c
424 $ edit hello.c
425 $ git add hello.c
426 ------------
427
428 After resolving conflicts and staging the result, `git ls-files -u`
429 would stop mentioning the conflicted path. When you are done,
430 run `git commit` to finally record the merge:
431
432 ------------
433 $ git commit
434 ------------
435
436 As with the case to record your own changes, you can use `-a`
437 option to save typing. One difference is that during a merge
438 resolution, you cannot use `git commit` with pathnames to
439 alter the order the changes are committed, because the merge
440 should be recorded as a single commit. In fact, the command
441 refuses to run when given pathnames (but see `-i` option).
442
443
444 DISCUSSION
445 ----------
446
447 Though not required, it's a good idea to begin the commit message
448 with a single short (less than 50 character) line summarizing the
449 change, followed by a blank line and then a more thorough description.
450 The text up to the first blank line in a commit message is treated
451 as the commit title, and that title is used throughout Git.
452 For example, linkgit:git-format-patch[1] turns a commit into email, and it uses
453 the title on the Subject line and the rest of the commit in the body.
454
455 include::i18n.txt[]
456
457 ENVIRONMENT AND CONFIGURATION VARIABLES
458 ---------------------------------------
459 The editor used to edit the commit log message will be chosen from the
460 `GIT_EDITOR` environment variable, the core.editor configuration variable, the
461 `VISUAL` environment variable, or the `EDITOR` environment variable (in that
462 order). See linkgit:git-var[1] for details.
463
464 HOOKS
465 -----
466 This command can run `commit-msg`, `prepare-commit-msg`, `pre-commit`,
467 `post-commit` and `post-rewrite` hooks. See linkgit:githooks[5] for more
468 information.
469
470 FILES
471 -----
472
473 `$GIT_DIR/COMMIT_EDITMSG`::
474 This file contains the commit message of a commit in progress.
475 If `git commit` exits due to an error before creating a commit,
476 any commit message that has been provided by the user (e.g., in
477 an editor session) will be available in this file, but will be
478 overwritten by the next invocation of `git commit`.
479
480 SEE ALSO
481 --------
482 linkgit:git-add[1],
483 linkgit:git-rm[1],
484 linkgit:git-mv[1],
485 linkgit:git-merge[1],
486 linkgit:git-commit-tree[1]
487
488 GIT
489 ---
490 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite