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