Documentation/git-send-email.txt

   1 git-send-email(1)
   2 =================
   3
   4 NAME
   5 ----
   6 git-send-email - Send a collection of patches as emails
   7
   8
   9 SYNOPSIS
  10 --------
  11 [verse]
  12 'git send-email' [<options>] <file|directory>...
  13 'git send-email' [<options>] <format-patch options>
  14 'git send-email' --dump-aliases
  15
  16
  17 DESCRIPTION
  18 -----------
  19 Takes the patches given on the command line and emails them out.
  20 Patches can be specified as files, directories (which will send all
  21 files in the directory), or directly as a revision list.  In the
  22 last case, any format accepted by linkgit:git-format-patch[1] can
  23 be passed to git send-email, as well as options understood by
  24 linkgit:git-format-patch[1].
  25
  26 The header of the email is configurable via command-line options.  If not
  27 specified on the command line, the user will be prompted with a ReadLine
  28 enabled interface to provide the necessary information.
  29
  30 There are two formats accepted for patch files:
  31
  32 1. mbox format files
  33 +
  34 This is what linkgit:git-format-patch[1] generates.  Most headers and MIME
  35 formatting are ignored.
  36
  37 2. The original format used by Greg Kroah-Hartman's 'send_lots_of_email.pl'
  38    script
  39 +
  40 This format expects the first line of the file to contain the "Cc:" value
  41 and the "Subject:" of the message as the second line.
  42
  43
  44 OPTIONS
  45 -------
  46
  47 Composing
  48 ~~~~~~~~~
  49
  50 --annotate::
  51         Review and edit each patch you're about to send. Default is the value
  52         of `sendemail.annotate`. See the CONFIGURATION section for
  53         `sendemail.multiEdit`.
  54
  55 --bcc=<address>,...::
  56         Specify a "Bcc:" value for each email. Default is the value of
  57         `sendemail.bcc`.
  58 +
  59 This option may be specified multiple times.
  60
  61 --cc=<address>,...::
  62         Specify a starting "Cc:" value for each email.
  63         Default is the value of `sendemail.cc`.
  64 +
  65 This option may be specified multiple times.
  66
  67 --compose::
  68         Invoke a text editor (see GIT_EDITOR in linkgit:git-var[1])
  69         to edit an introductory message for the patch series.
  70 +
  71 When `--compose` is used, git send-email will use the From, Subject, and
  72 In-Reply-To headers specified in the message. If the body of the message
  73 (what you type after the headers and a blank line) only contains blank
  74 (or Git: prefixed) lines, the summary won't be sent, but From, Subject,
  75 and In-Reply-To headers will be used unless they are removed.
  76 +
  77 Missing From or In-Reply-To headers will be prompted for.
  78 +
  79 See the CONFIGURATION section for `sendemail.multiEdit`.
  80
  81 --from=<address>::
  82         Specify the sender of the emails.  If not specified on the command line,
  83         the value of the `sendemail.from` configuration option is used.  If
  84         neither the command-line option nor `sendemail.from` are set, then the
  85         user will be prompted for the value.  The default for the prompt will be
  86         the value of GIT_AUTHOR_IDENT, or GIT_COMMITTER_IDENT if that is not
  87         set, as returned by "git var -l".
  88
  89 --reply-to=<address>::
  90         Specify the address where replies from recipients should go to.
  91         Use this if replies to messages should go to another address than what
  92         is specified with the --from parameter.
  93
  94 --in-reply-to=<identifier>::
  95         Make the first mail (or all the mails with `--no-thread`) appear as a
  96         reply to the given Message-Id, which avoids breaking threads to
  97         provide a new patch series.
  98         The second and subsequent emails will be sent as replies according to
  99         the `--[no-]chain-reply-to` setting.
 100 +
 101 So for example when `--thread` and `--no-chain-reply-to` are specified, the
 102 second and subsequent patches will be replies to the first one like in the
 103 illustration below where `[PATCH v2 0/3]` is in reply to `[PATCH 0/2]`:
 104 +
 105   [PATCH 0/2] Here is what I did...
 106     [PATCH 1/2] Clean up and tests
 107     [PATCH 2/2] Implementation
 108     [PATCH v2 0/3] Here is a reroll
 109       [PATCH v2 1/3] Clean up
 110       [PATCH v2 2/3] New tests
 111       [PATCH v2 3/3] Implementation
 112 +
 113 Only necessary if --compose is also set.  If --compose
 114 is not set, this will be prompted for.
 115
 116 --subject=<string>::
 117         Specify the initial subject of the email thread.
 118         Only necessary if --compose is also set.  If --compose
 119         is not set, this will be prompted for.
 120
 121 --to=<address>,...::
 122         Specify the primary recipient of the emails generated. Generally, this
 123         will be the upstream maintainer of the project involved. Default is the
 124         value of the `sendemail.to` configuration value; if that is unspecified,
 125         and --to-cmd is not specified, this will be prompted for.
 126 +
 127 This option may be specified multiple times.
 128
 129 --8bit-encoding=<encoding>::
 130         When encountering a non-ASCII message or subject that does not
 131         declare its encoding, add headers/quoting to indicate it is
 132         encoded in <encoding>.  Default is the value of the
 133         'sendemail.assume8bitEncoding'; if that is unspecified, this
 134         will be prompted for if any non-ASCII files are encountered.
 135 +
 136 Note that no attempts whatsoever are made to validate the encoding.
 137
 138 --compose-encoding=<encoding>::
 139         Specify encoding of compose message. Default is the value of the
 140         'sendemail.composeencoding'; if that is unspecified, UTF-8 is assumed.
 141
 142 --transfer-encoding=(7bit|8bit|quoted-printable|base64|auto)::
 143         Specify the transfer encoding to be used to send the message over SMTP.
 144         7bit will fail upon encountering a non-ASCII message.  quoted-printable
 145         can be useful when the repository contains files that contain carriage
 146         returns, but makes the raw patch email file (as saved from a MUA) much
 147         harder to inspect manually.  base64 is even more fool proof, but also
 148         even more opaque.  auto will use 8bit when possible, and quoted-printable
 149         otherwise.
 150 +
 151 Default is the value of the `sendemail.transferEncoding` configuration
 152 value; if that is unspecified, default to `auto`.
 153
 154 --xmailer::
 155 --no-xmailer::
 156         Add (or prevent adding) the "X-Mailer:" header.  By default,
 157         the header is added, but it can be turned off by setting the
 158         `sendemail.xmailer` configuration variable to `false`.
 159
 160 Sending
 161 ~~~~~~~
 162
 163 --envelope-sender=<address>::
 164         Specify the envelope sender used to send the emails.
 165         This is useful if your default address is not the address that is
 166         subscribed to a list. In order to use the 'From' address, set the
 167         value to "auto". If you use the sendmail binary, you must have
 168         suitable privileges for the -f parameter.  Default is the value of the
 169         `sendemail.envelopeSender` configuration variable; if that is
 170         unspecified, choosing the envelope sender is left to your MTA.
 171
 172 --sendmail-cmd=<command>::
 173         Specify a command to run to send the email. The command should
 174         be sendmail-like; specifically, it must support the `-i` option.
 175         The command will be executed in the shell if necessary.  Default
 176         is the value of `sendemail.sendmailcmd`.  If unspecified, and if
 177         --smtp-server is also unspecified, git-send-email will search
 178         for `sendmail` in `/usr/sbin`, `/usr/lib` and $PATH.
 179
 180 --smtp-encryption=<encryption>::
 181         Specify the encryption to use, either 'ssl' or 'tls'.  Any other
 182         value reverts to plain SMTP.  Default is the value of
 183         `sendemail.smtpEncryption`.
 184
 185 --smtp-domain=<FQDN>::
 186         Specifies the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) used in the
 187         HELO/EHLO command to the SMTP server.  Some servers require the
 188         FQDN to match your IP address.  If not set, git send-email attempts
 189         to determine your FQDN automatically.  Default is the value of
 190         `sendemail.smtpDomain`.
 191
 192 --smtp-auth=<mechanisms>::
 193         Whitespace-separated list of allowed SMTP-AUTH mechanisms. This setting
 194         forces using only the listed mechanisms. Example:
 195 +
 196 ------
 197 $ git send-email --smtp-auth="PLAIN LOGIN GSSAPI" ...
 198 ------
 199 +
 200 If at least one of the specified mechanisms matches the ones advertised by the
 201 SMTP server and if it is supported by the utilized SASL library, the mechanism
 202 is used for authentication. If neither 'sendemail.smtpAuth' nor `--smtp-auth`
 203 is specified, all mechanisms supported by the SASL library can be used. The
 204 special value 'none' maybe specified to completely disable authentication
 205 independently of `--smtp-user`
 206
 207 --smtp-pass[=<password>]::
 208         Password for SMTP-AUTH. The argument is optional: If no
 209         argument is specified, then the empty string is used as
 210         the password. Default is the value of `sendemail.smtpPass`,
 211         however `--smtp-pass` always overrides this value.
 212 +
 213 Furthermore, passwords need not be specified in configuration files
 214 or on the command line. If a username has been specified (with
 215 `--smtp-user` or a `sendemail.smtpUser`), but no password has been
 216 specified (with `--smtp-pass` or `sendemail.smtpPass`), then
 217 a password is obtained using 'git-credential'.
 218
 219 --no-smtp-auth::
 220         Disable SMTP authentication. Short hand for `--smtp-auth=none`
 221
 222 --smtp-server=<host>::
 223         If set, specifies the outgoing SMTP server to use (e.g.
 224         `smtp.example.com` or a raw IP address).  If unspecified, and if
 225         `--sendmail-cmd` is also unspecified, the default is to search
 226         for `sendmail` in `/usr/sbin`, `/usr/lib` and $PATH if such a
 227         program is available, falling back to `localhost` otherwise.
 228 +
 229 For backward compatibility, this option can also specify a full pathname
 230 of a sendmail-like program instead; the program must support the `-i`
 231 option.  This method does not support passing arguments or using plain
 232 command names.  For those use cases, consider using `--sendmail-cmd`
 233 instead.
 234
 235 --smtp-server-port=<port>::
 236         Specifies a port different from the default port (SMTP
 237         servers typically listen to smtp port 25, but may also listen to
 238         submission port 587, or the common SSL smtp port 465);
 239         symbolic port names (e.g. "submission" instead of 587)
 240         are also accepted. The port can also be set with the
 241         `sendemail.smtpServerPort` configuration variable.
 242
 243 --smtp-server-option=<option>::
 244         If set, specifies the outgoing SMTP server option to use.
 245         Default value can be specified by the `sendemail.smtpServerOption`
 246         configuration option.
 247 +
 248 The --smtp-server-option option must be repeated for each option you want
 249 to pass to the server. Likewise, different lines in the configuration files
 250 must be used for each option.
 251
 252 --smtp-ssl::
 253         Legacy alias for '--smtp-encryption ssl'.
 254
 255 --smtp-ssl-cert-path::
 256         Path to a store of trusted CA certificates for SMTP SSL/TLS
 257         certificate validation (either a directory that has been processed
 258         by 'c_rehash', or a single file containing one or more PEM format
 259         certificates concatenated together: see verify(1) -CAfile and
 260         -CApath for more information on these). Set it to an empty string
 261         to disable certificate verification. Defaults to the value of the
 262         `sendemail.smtpsslcertpath` configuration variable, if set, or the
 263         backing SSL library's compiled-in default otherwise (which should
 264         be the best choice on most platforms).
 265
 266 --smtp-user=<user>::
 267         Username for SMTP-AUTH. Default is the value of `sendemail.smtpUser`;
 268         if a username is not specified (with `--smtp-user` or `sendemail.smtpUser`),
 269         then authentication is not attempted.
 270
 271 --smtp-debug=0|1::
 272         Enable (1) or disable (0) debug output. If enabled, SMTP
 273         commands and replies will be printed. Useful to debug TLS
 274         connection and authentication problems.
 275
 276 --batch-size=<num>::
 277         Some email servers (e.g. smtp.163.com) limit the number emails to be
 278         sent per session (connection) and this will lead to a failure when
 279         sending many messages.  With this option, send-email will disconnect after
 280         sending $<num> messages and wait for a few seconds (see --relogin-delay)
 281         and reconnect, to work around such a limit.  You may want to
 282         use some form of credential helper to avoid having to retype
 283         your password every time this happens.  Defaults to the
 284         `sendemail.smtpBatchSize` configuration variable.
 285
 286 --relogin-delay=<int>::
 287         Waiting $<int> seconds before reconnecting to SMTP server. Used together
 288         with --batch-size option.  Defaults to the `sendemail.smtpReloginDelay`
 289         configuration variable.
 290
 291 Automating
 292 ~~~~~~~~~~
 293
 294 --no-[to|cc|bcc]::
 295         Clears any list of "To:", "Cc:", "Bcc:" addresses previously
 296         set via config.
 297
 298 --no-identity::
 299         Clears the previously read value of `sendemail.identity` set
 300         via config, if any.
 301
 302 --to-cmd=<command>::
 303         Specify a command to execute once per patch file which
 304         should generate patch file specific "To:" entries.
 305         Output of this command must be single email address per line.
 306         Default is the value of 'sendemail.tocmd' configuration value.
 307
 308 --cc-cmd=<command>::
 309         Specify a command to execute once per patch file which
 310         should generate patch file specific "Cc:" entries.
 311         Output of this command must be single email address per line.
 312         Default is the value of `sendemail.ccCmd` configuration value.
 313
 314 --[no-]chain-reply-to::
 315         If this is set, each email will be sent as a reply to the previous
 316         email sent.  If disabled with "--no-chain-reply-to", all emails after
 317         the first will be sent as replies to the first email sent.  When using
 318         this, it is recommended that the first file given be an overview of the
 319         entire patch series. Disabled by default, but the `sendemail.chainReplyTo`
 320         configuration variable can be used to enable it.
 321
 322 --identity=<identity>::
 323         A configuration identity. When given, causes values in the
 324         'sendemail.<identity>' subsection to take precedence over
 325         values in the 'sendemail' section. The default identity is
 326         the value of `sendemail.identity`.
 327
 328 --[no-]signed-off-by-cc::
 329         If this is set, add emails found in the `Signed-off-by` trailer or Cc: lines to the
 330         cc list. Default is the value of `sendemail.signedoffbycc` configuration
 331         value; if that is unspecified, default to --signed-off-by-cc.
 332
 333 --[no-]cc-cover::
 334         If this is set, emails found in Cc: headers in the first patch of
 335         the series (typically the cover letter) are added to the cc list
 336         for each email set. Default is the value of 'sendemail.cccover'
 337         configuration value; if that is unspecified, default to --no-cc-cover.
 338
 339 --[no-]to-cover::
 340         If this is set, emails found in To: headers in the first patch of
 341         the series (typically the cover letter) are added to the to list
 342         for each email set. Default is the value of 'sendemail.tocover'
 343         configuration value; if that is unspecified, default to --no-to-cover.
 344
 345 --suppress-cc=<category>::
 346         Specify an additional category of recipients to suppress the
 347         auto-cc of:
 348 +
 349 --
 350 - 'author' will avoid including the patch author.
 351 - 'self' will avoid including the sender.
 352 - 'cc' will avoid including anyone mentioned in Cc lines in the patch header
 353   except for self (use 'self' for that).
 354 - 'bodycc' will avoid including anyone mentioned in Cc lines in the
 355   patch body (commit message) except for self (use 'self' for that).
 356 - 'sob' will avoid including anyone mentioned in the Signed-off-by trailers except
 357   for self (use 'self' for that).
 358 - 'misc-by' will avoid including anyone mentioned in Acked-by,
 359   Reviewed-by, Tested-by and other "-by" lines in the patch body,
 360   except Signed-off-by (use 'sob' for that).
 361 - 'cccmd' will avoid running the --cc-cmd.
 362 - 'body' is equivalent to 'sob' + 'bodycc' + 'misc-by'.
 363 - 'all' will suppress all auto cc values.
 364 --
 365 +
 366 Default is the value of `sendemail.suppresscc` configuration value; if
 367 that is unspecified, default to 'self' if --suppress-from is
 368 specified, as well as 'body' if --no-signed-off-cc is specified.
 369
 370 --[no-]suppress-from::
 371         If this is set, do not add the From: address to the cc: list.
 372         Default is the value of `sendemail.suppressFrom` configuration
 373         value; if that is unspecified, default to --no-suppress-from.
 374
 375 --[no-]thread::
 376         If this is set, the In-Reply-To and References headers will be
 377         added to each email sent.  Whether each mail refers to the
 378         previous email (`deep` threading per 'git format-patch'
 379         wording) or to the first email (`shallow` threading) is
 380         governed by "--[no-]chain-reply-to".
 381 +
 382 If disabled with "--no-thread", those headers will not be added
 383 (unless specified with --in-reply-to).  Default is the value of the
 384 `sendemail.thread` configuration value; if that is unspecified,
 385 default to --thread.
 386 +
 387 It is up to the user to ensure that no In-Reply-To header already
 388 exists when 'git send-email' is asked to add it (especially note that
 389 'git format-patch' can be configured to do the threading itself).
 390 Failure to do so may not produce the expected result in the
 391 recipient's MUA.
 392
 393
 394 Administering
 395 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 396
 397 --confirm=<mode>::
 398         Confirm just before sending:
 399 +
 400 --
 401 - 'always' will always confirm before sending
 402 - 'never' will never confirm before sending
 403 - 'cc' will confirm before sending when send-email has automatically
 404   added addresses from the patch to the Cc list
 405 - 'compose' will confirm before sending the first message when using --compose.
 406 - 'auto' is equivalent to 'cc' + 'compose'
 407 --
 408 +
 409 Default is the value of `sendemail.confirm` configuration value; if that
 410 is unspecified, default to 'auto' unless any of the suppress options
 411 have been specified, in which case default to 'compose'.
 412
 413 --dry-run::
 414         Do everything except actually send the emails.
 415
 416 --[no-]format-patch::
 417         When an argument may be understood either as a reference or as a file name,
 418         choose to understand it as a format-patch argument (`--format-patch`)
 419         or as a file name (`--no-format-patch`). By default, when such a conflict
 420         occurs, git send-email will fail.
 421
 422 --quiet::
 423         Make git-send-email less verbose.  One line per email should be
 424         all that is output.
 425
 426 --[no-]validate::
 427         Perform sanity checks on patches.
 428         Currently, validation means the following:
 429 +
 430 --
 431                 *       Invoke the sendemail-validate hook if present (see linkgit:githooks[5]).
 432                 *       Warn of patches that contain lines longer than
 433                         998 characters unless a suitable transfer encoding
 434                         ('auto', 'base64', or 'quoted-printable') is used;
 435                         this is due to SMTP limits as described by
 436                         http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc5322.txt.
 437 --
 438 +
 439 Default is the value of `sendemail.validate`; if this is not set,
 440 default to `--validate`.
 441
 442 --force::
 443         Send emails even if safety checks would prevent it.
 444
 445
 446 Information
 447 ~~~~~~~~~~~
 448
 449 --dump-aliases::
 450         Instead of the normal operation, dump the shorthand alias names from
 451         the configured alias file(s), one per line in alphabetical order. Note,
 452         this only includes the alias name and not its expanded email addresses.
 453         See 'sendemail.aliasesfile' for more information about aliases.
 454
 455
 456 CONFIGURATION
 457 -------------
 458
 459 include::includes/cmd-config-section-all.txt[]
 460
 461 include::config/sendemail.txt[]
 462
 463 EXAMPLES
 464 --------
 465 Use gmail as the smtp server
 466 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 467 To use 'git send-email' to send your patches through the GMail SMTP server,
 468 edit ~/.gitconfig to specify your account settings:
 469
 470 ----
 471 [sendemail]
 472         smtpEncryption = tls
 473         smtpServer = smtp.gmail.com
 474         smtpUser = yourname@gmail.com
 475         smtpServerPort = 587
 476 ----
 477
 478 If you have multi-factor authentication set up on your Gmail account, you will
 479 need to generate an app-specific password for use with 'git send-email'. Visit
 480 https://security.google.com/settings/security/apppasswords to create it.
 481
 482 If you do not have multi-factor authentication set up on your Gmail account,
 483 you will need to allow less secure app access. Visit
 484 https://myaccount.google.com/lesssecureapps to enable it.
 485
 486 Once your commits are ready to be sent to the mailing list, run the
 487 following commands:
 488
 489         $ git format-patch --cover-letter -M origin/master -o outgoing/
 490         $ edit outgoing/0000-*
 491         $ git send-email outgoing/*
 492
 493 The first time you run it, you will be prompted for your credentials.  Enter the
 494 app-specific or your regular password as appropriate.  If you have credential
 495 helper configured (see linkgit:git-credential[1]), the password will be saved in
 496 the credential store so you won't have to type it the next time.
 497
 498 Note: the following core Perl modules that may be installed with your
 499 distribution of Perl are required:
 500 MIME::Base64, MIME::QuotedPrint, Net::Domain and Net::SMTP.
 501 These additional Perl modules are also required:
 502 Authen::SASL and Mail::Address.
 503
 504
 505 SEE ALSO
 506 --------
 507 linkgit:git-format-patch[1], linkgit:git-imap-send[1], mbox(5)
 508
 509 GIT
 510 ---
 511 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite