Documentation/git-notes.txt

   1 git-notes(1)
   2 ============
   3
   4 NAME
   5 ----
   6 git-notes - Add or inspect object notes
   7
   8 SYNOPSIS
   9 --------
  10 [verse]
  11 'git notes' [list [<object>]]
  12 'git notes' add [-f] [-F <file> | -m <msg> | (-c | -C) <object>] [<object>]
  13 'git notes' copy [-f] ( --stdin | <from-object> <to-object> )
  14 'git notes' append [-F <file> | -m <msg> | (-c | -C) <object>] [<object>]
  15 'git notes' edit [<object>]
  16 'git notes' show [<object>]
  17 'git notes' merge [-v | -q] [-s <strategy> ] <notes_ref>
  18 'git notes' merge --commit [-v | -q]
  19 'git notes' merge --abort [-v | -q]
  20 'git notes' remove [<object>]
  21 'git notes' prune [-n | -v]
  22 'git notes' get-ref
  23
  24
  25 DESCRIPTION
  26 -----------
  27 Adds, removes, or reads notes attached to objects, without touching
  28 the objects themselves.
  29
  30 By default, notes are saved to and read from `refs/notes/commits`, but
  31 this default can be overridden.  See the OPTIONS, CONFIGURATION, and
  32 ENVIRONMENT sections below.  If this ref does not exist, it will be
  33 quietly created when it is first needed to store a note.
  34
  35 A typical use of notes is to supplement a commit message without
  36 changing the commit itself. Notes can be shown by 'git log' along with
  37 the original commit message. To distinguish these notes from the
  38 message stored in the commit object, the notes are indented like the
  39 message, after an unindented line saying "Notes (<refname>):" (or
  40 "Notes:" for `refs/notes/commits`).
  41
  42 To change which notes are shown by 'git log', see the
  43 "notes.displayRef" configuration in linkgit:git-log[1].
  44
  45 See the "notes.rewrite.<command>" configuration for a way to carry
  46 notes across commands that rewrite commits.
  47
  48
  49 SUBCOMMANDS
  50 -----------
  51
  52 list::
  53         List the notes object for a given object. If no object is
  54         given, show a list of all note objects and the objects they
  55         annotate (in the format "<note object> <annotated object>").
  56         This is the default subcommand if no subcommand is given.
  57
  58 add::
  59         Add notes for a given object (defaults to HEAD). Abort if the
  60         object already has notes (use `-f` to overwrite an
  61         existing note).
  62
  63 copy::
  64         Copy the notes for the first object onto the second object.
  65         Abort if the second object already has notes, or if the first
  66         object has none (use -f to overwrite existing notes to the
  67         second object). This subcommand is equivalent to:
  68         `git notes add [-f] -C $(git notes list <from-object>) <to-object>`
  69 +
  70 In `\--stdin` mode, take lines in the format
  71 +
  72 ----------
  73 <from-object> SP <to-object> [ SP <rest> ] LF
  74 ----------
  75 +
  76 on standard input, and copy the notes from each <from-object> to its
  77 corresponding <to-object>.  (The optional `<rest>` is ignored so that
  78 the command can read the input given to the `post-rewrite` hook.)
  79
  80 append::
  81         Append to the notes of an existing object (defaults to HEAD).
  82         Creates a new notes object if needed.
  83
  84 edit::
  85         Edit the notes for a given object (defaults to HEAD).
  86
  87 show::
  88         Show the notes for a given object (defaults to HEAD).
  89
  90 merge::
  91         Merge the given notes ref into the current notes ref.
  92         This will try to merge the changes made by the given
  93         notes ref (called "remote") since the merge-base (if
  94         any) into the current notes ref (called "local").
  95 +
  96 If conflicts arise and a strategy for automatically resolving
  97 conflicting notes (see the -s/--strategy option) is not given,
  98 the "manual" resolver is used. This resolver checks out the
  99 conflicting notes in a special worktree (`.git/NOTES_MERGE_WORKTREE`),
 100 and instructs the user to manually resolve the conflicts there.
 101 When done, the user can either finalize the merge with
 102 'git notes merge --commit', or abort the merge with
 103 'git notes merge --abort'.
 104
 105 remove::
 106         Remove the notes for a given object (defaults to HEAD).
 107         This is equivalent to specifying an empty note message to
 108         the `edit` subcommand.
 109
 110 prune::
 111         Remove all notes for non-existing/unreachable objects.
 112
 113 get-ref::
 114         Print the current notes ref. This provides an easy way to
 115         retrieve the current notes ref (e.g. from scripts).
 116
 117 OPTIONS
 118 -------
 119 -f::
 120 --force::
 121         When adding notes to an object that already has notes,
 122         overwrite the existing notes (instead of aborting).
 123
 124 -m <msg>::
 125 --message=<msg>::
 126         Use the given note message (instead of prompting).
 127         If multiple `-m` options are given, their values
 128         are concatenated as separate paragraphs.
 129         Lines starting with `#` and empty lines other than a
 130         single line between paragraphs will be stripped out.
 131
 132 -F <file>::
 133 --file=<file>::
 134         Take the note message from the given file.  Use '-' to
 135         read the note message from the standard input.
 136         Lines starting with `#` and empty lines other than a
 137         single line between paragraphs will be stripped out.
 138
 139 -C <object>::
 140 --reuse-message=<object>::
 141         Take the note message from the given blob object (for
 142         example, another note).
 143
 144 -c <object>::
 145 --reedit-message=<object>::
 146         Like '-C', but with '-c' the editor is invoked, so that
 147         the user can further edit the note message.
 148
 149 --ref <ref>::
 150         Manipulate the notes tree in <ref>.  This overrides
 151         'GIT_NOTES_REF' and the "core.notesRef" configuration.  The ref
 152         is taken to be in `refs/notes/` if it is not qualified.
 153
 154 -n::
 155 --dry-run::
 156         Do not remove anything; just report the object names whose notes
 157         would be removed.
 158
 159 -s <strategy>::
 160 --strategy=<strategy>::
 161         When merging notes, resolve notes conflicts using the given
 162         strategy. The following strategies are recognized: "manual"
 163         (default), "ours", "theirs", "union" and "cat_sort_uniq".
 164         See the "NOTES MERGE STRATEGIES" section below for more
 165         information on each notes merge strategy.
 166
 167 --commit::
 168         Finalize an in-progress 'git notes merge'. Use this option
 169         when you have resolved the conflicts that 'git notes merge'
 170         stored in .git/NOTES_MERGE_WORKTREE. This amends the partial
 171         merge commit created by 'git notes merge' (stored in
 172         .git/NOTES_MERGE_PARTIAL) by adding the notes in
 173         .git/NOTES_MERGE_WORKTREE. The notes ref stored in the
 174         .git/NOTES_MERGE_REF symref is updated to the resulting commit.
 175
 176 --abort::
 177         Abort/reset a in-progress 'git notes merge', i.e. a notes merge
 178         with conflicts. This simply removes all files related to the
 179         notes merge.
 180
 181 -q::
 182 --quiet::
 183         When merging notes, operate quietly.
 184
 185 -v::
 186 --verbose::
 187         When merging notes, be more verbose.
 188         When pruning notes, report all object names whose notes are
 189         removed.
 190
 191
 192 DISCUSSION
 193 ----------
 194
 195 Commit notes are blobs containing extra information about an object
 196 (usually information to supplement a commit's message).  These blobs
 197 are taken from notes refs.  A notes ref is usually a branch which
 198 contains "files" whose paths are the object names for the objects
 199 they describe, with some directory separators included for performance
 200 reasons footnote:[Permitted pathnames have the form
 201 'ab'`/`'cd'`/`'ef'`/`'...'`/`'abcdef...': a sequence of directory
 202 names of two hexadecimal digits each followed by a filename with the
 203 rest of the object ID.].
 204
 205 Every notes change creates a new commit at the specified notes ref.
 206 You can therefore inspect the history of the notes by invoking, e.g.,
 207 `git log -p notes/commits`.  Currently the commit message only records
 208 which operation triggered the update, and the commit authorship is
 209 determined according to the usual rules (see linkgit:git-commit[1]).
 210 These details may change in the future.
 211
 212 It is also permitted for a notes ref to point directly to a tree
 213 object, in which case the history of the notes can be read with
 214 `git log -p -g <refname>`.
 215
 216
 217 NOTES MERGE STRATEGIES
 218 ----------------------
 219
 220 The default notes merge strategy is "manual", which checks out
 221 conflicting notes in a special work tree for resolving notes conflicts
 222 (`.git/NOTES_MERGE_WORKTREE`), and instructs the user to resolve the
 223 conflicts in that work tree.
 224 When done, the user can either finalize the merge with
 225 'git notes merge --commit', or abort the merge with
 226 'git notes merge --abort'.
 227
 228 "ours" automatically resolves conflicting notes in favor of the local
 229 version (i.e. the current notes ref).
 230
 231 "theirs" automatically resolves notes conflicts in favor of the remote
 232 version (i.e. the given notes ref being merged into the current notes
 233 ref).
 234
 235 "union" automatically resolves notes conflicts by concatenating the
 236 local and remote versions.
 237
 238 "cat_sort_uniq" is similar to "union", but in addition to concatenating
 239 the local and remote versions, this strategy also sorts the resulting
 240 lines, and removes duplicate lines from the result. This is equivalent
 241 to applying the "cat | sort | uniq" shell pipeline to the local and
 242 remote versions. This strategy is useful if the notes follow a line-based
 243 format where one wants to avoid duplicated lines in the merge result.
 244 Note that if either the local or remote version contain duplicate lines
 245 prior to the merge, these will also be removed by this notes merge
 246 strategy.
 247
 248
 249 EXAMPLES
 250 --------
 251
 252 You can use notes to add annotations with information that was not
 253 available at the time a commit was written.
 254
 255 ------------
 256 $ git notes add -m 'Tested-by: Johannes Sixt <j6t@kdbg.org>' 72a144e2
 257 $ git show -s 72a144e
 258 [...]
 259     Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
 260
 261 Notes:
 262     Tested-by: Johannes Sixt <j6t@kdbg.org>
 263 ------------
 264
 265 In principle, a note is a regular Git blob, and any kind of
 266 (non-)format is accepted.  You can binary-safely create notes from
 267 arbitrary files using 'git hash-object':
 268
 269 ------------
 270 $ cc *.c
 271 $ blob=$(git hash-object -w a.out)
 272 $ git notes --ref=built add -C "$blob" HEAD
 273 ------------
 274
 275 Of course, it doesn't make much sense to display non-text-format notes
 276 with 'git log', so if you use such notes, you'll probably need to write
 277 some special-purpose tools to do something useful with them.
 278
 279
 280 CONFIGURATION
 281 -------------
 282
 283 core.notesRef::
 284         Notes ref to read and manipulate instead of
 285         `refs/notes/commits`.  Must be an unabbreviated ref name.
 286         This setting can be overridden through the environment and
 287         command line.
 288
 289 notes.displayRef::
 290         Which ref (or refs, if a glob or specified more than once), in
 291         addition to the default set by `core.notesRef` or
 292         'GIT_NOTES_REF', to read notes from when showing commit
 293         messages with the 'git log' family of commands.
 294         This setting can be overridden on the command line or by the
 295         'GIT_NOTES_DISPLAY_REF' environment variable.
 296         See linkgit:git-log[1].
 297
 298 notes.rewrite.<command>::
 299         When rewriting commits with <command> (currently `amend` or
 300         `rebase`), if this variable is `false`, git will not copy
 301         notes from the original to the rewritten commit.  Defaults to
 302         `true`.  See also "`notes.rewriteRef`" below.
 303 +
 304 This setting can be overridden by the 'GIT_NOTES_REWRITE_REF'
 305 environment variable.
 306
 307 notes.rewriteMode::
 308         When copying notes during a rewrite, what to do if the target
 309         commit already has a note.  Must be one of `overwrite`,
 310         `concatenate`, and `ignore`.  Defaults to `concatenate`.
 311 +
 312 This setting can be overridden with the `GIT_NOTES_REWRITE_MODE`
 313 environment variable.
 314
 315 notes.rewriteRef::
 316         When copying notes during a rewrite, specifies the (fully
 317         qualified) ref whose notes should be copied.  May be a glob,
 318         in which case notes in all matching refs will be copied.  You
 319         may also specify this configuration several times.
 320 +
 321 Does not have a default value; you must configure this variable to
 322 enable note rewriting.
 323 +
 324 Can be overridden with the 'GIT_NOTES_REWRITE_REF' environment variable.
 325
 326
 327 ENVIRONMENT
 328 -----------
 329
 330 'GIT_NOTES_REF'::
 331         Which ref to manipulate notes from, instead of `refs/notes/commits`.
 332         This overrides the `core.notesRef` setting.
 333
 334 'GIT_NOTES_DISPLAY_REF'::
 335         Colon-delimited list of refs or globs indicating which refs,
 336         in addition to the default from `core.notesRef` or
 337         'GIT_NOTES_REF', to read notes from when showing commit
 338         messages.
 339         This overrides the `notes.displayRef` setting.
 340 +
 341 A warning will be issued for refs that do not exist, but a glob that
 342 does not match any refs is silently ignored.
 343
 344 'GIT_NOTES_REWRITE_MODE'::
 345         When copying notes during a rewrite, what to do if the target
 346         commit already has a note.
 347         Must be one of `overwrite`, `concatenate`, and `ignore`.
 348         This overrides the `core.rewriteMode` setting.
 349
 350 'GIT_NOTES_REWRITE_REF'::
 351         When rewriting commits, which notes to copy from the original
 352         to the rewritten commit.  Must be a colon-delimited list of
 353         refs or globs.
 354 +
 355 If not set in the environment, the list of notes to copy depends
 356 on the `notes.rewrite.<command>` and `notes.rewriteRef` settings.
 357
 358
 359 Author
 360 ------
 361 Written by Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de> and
 362 Johan Herland <johan@herland.net>
 363
 364 Documentation
 365 -------------
 366 Documentation by Johannes Schindelin and Johan Herland
 367
 368 GIT
 369 ---
 370 Part of the linkgit:git[7] suite