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] [--thread]
  13                    [--attach[=<boundary>] | --inline[=<boundary>]]
  14                    [-s | --signoff] [<common diff options>] [--start-number <n>]
  15                    [--in-reply-to=Message-Id] [--suffix=.<sfx>]
  16                    [--ignore-if-in-upstream]
  17                    <since>[..<until>]
  18
  19 DESCRIPTION
  20 -----------
  21
  22 Prepare each commit between <since> and <until> with its patch in
  23 one file per commit, formatted to resemble UNIX mailbox format.
  24 If ..<until> is not specified, the head of the current working
  25 tree is implied.  For a more complete list of ways to spell
  26 <since> and <until>, see "SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in
  27 gitlink:git-rev-parse[1].
  28
  29 The output of this command is convenient for e-mail submission or
  30 for use with gitlink:git-am[1].
  31
  32 Each output file is numbered sequentially from 1, and uses the
  33 first line of the commit message (massaged for pathname safety) as
  34 the filename. The names of the output files are printed to standard
  35 output, unless the --stdout option is specified.
  36
  37 If -o is specified, output files are created in <dir>.  Otherwise
  38 they are created in the current working directory.
  39
  40 If -n is specified, instead of "[PATCH] Subject", the first line
  41 is formatted as "[PATCH n/m] Subject".
  42
  43 If given --thread, git-format-patch will generate In-Reply-To and
  44 References headers to make the second and subsequent patch mails appear
  45 as replies to the first mail; this also generates a Message-Id header to
  46 reference.
  47
  48 OPTIONS
  49 -------
  50 include::diff-options.txt[]
  51
  52 -o|--output-directory <dir>::
  53         Use <dir> to store the resulting files, instead of the
  54         current working directory.
  55
  56 -n|--numbered::
  57         Name output in '[PATCH n/m]' format.
  58
  59 --start-number <n>::
  60         Start numbering the patches at <n> instead of 1.
  61
  62 -k|--keep-subject::
  63         Do not strip/add '[PATCH]' from the first line of the
  64         commit log message.
  65
  66 -s|--signoff::
  67         Add `Signed-off-by:` line to the commit message, using
  68         the committer identity of yourself.
  69
  70 --stdout::
  71         Print all commits to the standard output in mbox format,
  72         instead of creating a file for each one.
  73
  74 --attach[=<boundary>]::
  75         Create multipart/mixed attachment, the first part of
  76         which is the commit message and the patch itself in the
  77         second part, with "Content-Disposition: attachment".
  78
  79 --inline[=<boundary>]::
  80         Create multipart/mixed attachment, the first part of
  81         which is the commit message and the patch itself in the
  82         second part, with "Content-Disposition: inline".
  83
  84 --thread::
  85         Add In-Reply-To and References headers to make the second and
  86         subsequent mails appear as replies to the first.  Also generates
  87         the Message-Id header to reference.
  88
  89 --in-reply-to=Message-Id::
  90         Make the first mail (or all the mails with --no-thread) appear as a
  91         reply to the given Message-Id, which avoids breaking threads to
  92         provide a new patch series.
  93
  94 --ignore-if-in-upstream::
  95         Do not include a patch that matches a commit in
  96         <until>..<since>.  This will examine all patches reachable
  97         from <since> but not from <until> and compare them with the
  98         patches being generated, and any patch that matches is
  99         ignored.
 100
 101 --suffix=.<sfx>::
 102         Instead of using `.patch` as the suffix for generated
 103         filenames, use specifed suffix.  A common alternative is
 104         `--suffix=.txt`.
 105 +
 106 Note that you would need to include the leading dot `.` if you
 107 want a filename like `0001-description-of-my-change.patch`, and
 108 the first letter does not have to be a dot.  Leaving it empty would
 109 not add any suffix.
 110
 111 CONFIGURATION
 112 -------------
 113 You can specify extra mail header lines to be added to each
 114 message in the repository configuration.  Also you can specify
 115 the default suffix different from the built-in one:
 116
 117 ------------
 118 [format]
 119         headers = "Organization: git-foo\n"
 120         suffix = .txt
 121 ------------
 122
 123
 124 EXAMPLES
 125 --------
 126
 127 git-format-patch -k --stdout R1..R2 | git-am -3 -k::
 128         Extract commits between revisions R1 and R2, and apply
 129         them on top of the current branch using `git-am` to
 130         cherry-pick them.
 131
 132 git-format-patch origin::
 133         Extract all commits which are in the current branch but
 134         not in the origin branch.  For each commit a separate file
 135         is created in the current directory.
 136
 137 git-format-patch -M -B origin::
 138         The same as the previous one.  Additionally, it detects
 139         and handles renames and complete rewrites intelligently to
 140         produce a renaming patch.  A renaming patch reduces the
 141         amount of text output, and generally makes it easier to
 142         review it.  Note that the "patch" program does not
 143         understand renaming patches, so use it only when you know
 144         the recipient uses git to apply your patch.
 145
 146 git-format-patch -3::
 147         Extract three topmost commits from the current branch
 148         and format them as e-mailable patches.
 149
 150 See Also
 151 --------
 152 gitlink:git-am[1], gitlink:git-send-email[1]
 153
 154
 155 Author
 156 ------
 157 Written by Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net>
 158
 159 Documentation
 160 --------------
 161 Documentation by Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 162
 163 GIT
 164 ---
 165 Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite
 166