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1 Commit Limiting
2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3
4 Besides specifying a range of commits that should be listed using the
5 special notations explained in the description, additional commit
6 limiting may be applied.
7
8 Using more options generally further limits the output (e.g.
9 `--since=<date1>` limits to commits newer than `<date1>`, and using it
10 with `--grep=<pattern>` further limits to commits whose log message
11 has a line that matches `<pattern>`), unless otherwise noted.
12
13 Note that these are applied before commit
14 ordering and formatting options, such as `--reverse`.
15
16 -<number>::
17 -n <number>::
18 --max-count=<number>::
19 Limit the number of commits to output.
20
21 --skip=<number>::
22 Skip 'number' commits before starting to show the commit output.
23
24 --since=<date>::
25 --after=<date>::
26 Show commits more recent than a specific date.
27
28 --since-as-filter=<date>::
29 Show all commits more recent than a specific date. This visits
30 all commits in the range, rather than stopping at the first commit which
31 is older than a specific date.
32
33 --until=<date>::
34 --before=<date>::
35 Show commits older than a specific date.
36
37 ifdef::git-rev-list[]
38 --max-age=<timestamp>::
39 --min-age=<timestamp>::
40 Limit the commits output to specified time range.
41 endif::git-rev-list[]
42
43 --author=<pattern>::
44 --committer=<pattern>::
45 Limit the commits output to ones with author/committer
46 header lines that match the specified pattern (regular
47 expression). With more than one `--author=<pattern>`,
48 commits whose author matches any of the given patterns are
49 chosen (similarly for multiple `--committer=<pattern>`).
50
51 --grep-reflog=<pattern>::
52 Limit the commits output to ones with reflog entries that
53 match the specified pattern (regular expression). With
54 more than one `--grep-reflog`, commits whose reflog message
55 matches any of the given patterns are chosen. It is an
56 error to use this option unless `--walk-reflogs` is in use.
57
58 --grep=<pattern>::
59 Limit the commits output to ones with log message that
60 matches the specified pattern (regular expression). With
61 more than one `--grep=<pattern>`, commits whose message
62 matches any of the given patterns are chosen (but see
63 `--all-match`).
64 ifndef::git-rev-list[]
65 +
66 When `--notes` is in effect, the message from the notes is
67 matched as if it were part of the log message.
68 endif::git-rev-list[]
69
70 --all-match::
71 Limit the commits output to ones that match all given `--grep`,
72 instead of ones that match at least one.
73
74 --invert-grep::
75 Limit the commits output to ones with log message that do not
76 match the pattern specified with `--grep=<pattern>`.
77
78 -i::
79 --regexp-ignore-case::
80 Match the regular expression limiting patterns without regard to letter
81 case.
82
83 --basic-regexp::
84 Consider the limiting patterns to be basic regular expressions;
85 this is the default.
86
87 -E::
88 --extended-regexp::
89 Consider the limiting patterns to be extended regular expressions
90 instead of the default basic regular expressions.
91
92 -F::
93 --fixed-strings::
94 Consider the limiting patterns to be fixed strings (don't interpret
95 pattern as a regular expression).
96
97 -P::
98 --perl-regexp::
99 Consider the limiting patterns to be Perl-compatible regular
100 expressions.
101 +
102 Support for these types of regular expressions is an optional
103 compile-time dependency. If Git wasn't compiled with support for them
104 providing this option will cause it to die.
105
106 --remove-empty::
107 Stop when a given path disappears from the tree.
108
109 --merges::
110 Print only merge commits. This is exactly the same as `--min-parents=2`.
111
112 --no-merges::
113 Do not print commits with more than one parent. This is
114 exactly the same as `--max-parents=1`.
115
116 --min-parents=<number>::
117 --max-parents=<number>::
118 --no-min-parents::
119 --no-max-parents::
120 Show only commits which have at least (or at most) that many parent
121 commits. In particular, `--max-parents=1` is the same as `--no-merges`,
122 `--min-parents=2` is the same as `--merges`. `--max-parents=0`
123 gives all root commits and `--min-parents=3` all octopus merges.
124 +
125 `--no-min-parents` and `--no-max-parents` reset these limits (to no limit)
126 again. Equivalent forms are `--min-parents=0` (any commit has 0 or more
127 parents) and `--max-parents=-1` (negative numbers denote no upper limit).
128
129 --first-parent::
130 When finding commits to include, follow only the first
131 parent commit upon seeing a merge commit. This option
132 can give a better overview when viewing the evolution of
133 a particular topic branch, because merges into a topic
134 branch tend to be only about adjusting to updated upstream
135 from time to time, and this option allows you to ignore
136 the individual commits brought in to your history by such
137 a merge.
138 ifdef::git-log[]
139 +
140 This option also changes default diff format for merge commits
141 to `first-parent`, see `--diff-merges=first-parent` for details.
142 endif::git-log[]
143
144 --exclude-first-parent-only::
145 When finding commits to exclude (with a '{caret}'), follow only
146 the first parent commit upon seeing a merge commit.
147 This can be used to find the set of changes in a topic branch
148 from the point where it diverged from the remote branch, given
149 that arbitrary merges can be valid topic branch changes.
150
151 --not::
152 Reverses the meaning of the '{caret}' prefix (or lack thereof)
153 for all following revision specifiers, up to the next `--not`.
154
155 --all::
156 Pretend as if all the refs in `refs/`, along with `HEAD`, are
157 listed on the command line as '<commit>'.
158
159 --branches[=<pattern>]::
160 Pretend as if all the refs in `refs/heads` are listed
161 on the command line as '<commit>'. If '<pattern>' is given, limit
162 branches to ones matching given shell glob. If pattern lacks '?',
163 '{asterisk}', or '[', '/{asterisk}' at the end is implied.
164
165 --tags[=<pattern>]::
166 Pretend as if all the refs in `refs/tags` are listed
167 on the command line as '<commit>'. If '<pattern>' is given, limit
168 tags to ones matching given shell glob. If pattern lacks '?', '{asterisk}',
169 or '[', '/{asterisk}' at the end is implied.
170
171 --remotes[=<pattern>]::
172 Pretend as if all the refs in `refs/remotes` are listed
173 on the command line as '<commit>'. If '<pattern>' is given, limit
174 remote-tracking branches to ones matching given shell glob.
175 If pattern lacks '?', '{asterisk}', or '[', '/{asterisk}' at the end is implied.
176
177 --glob=<glob-pattern>::
178 Pretend as if all the refs matching shell glob '<glob-pattern>'
179 are listed on the command line as '<commit>'. Leading 'refs/',
180 is automatically prepended if missing. If pattern lacks '?', '{asterisk}',
181 or '[', '/{asterisk}' at the end is implied.
182
183 --exclude=<glob-pattern>::
184
185 Do not include refs matching '<glob-pattern>' that the next `--all`,
186 `--branches`, `--tags`, `--remotes`, or `--glob` would otherwise
187 consider. Repetitions of this option accumulate exclusion patterns
188 up to the next `--all`, `--branches`, `--tags`, `--remotes`, or
189 `--glob` option (other options or arguments do not clear
190 accumulated patterns).
191 +
192 The patterns given should not begin with `refs/heads`, `refs/tags`, or
193 `refs/remotes` when applied to `--branches`, `--tags`, or `--remotes`,
194 respectively, and they must begin with `refs/` when applied to `--glob`
195 or `--all`. If a trailing '/{asterisk}' is intended, it must be given
196 explicitly.
197
198 --exclude-hidden=[fetch|receive|uploadpack]::
199 Do not include refs that would be hidden by `git-fetch`,
200 `git-receive-pack` or `git-upload-pack` by consulting the appropriate
201 `fetch.hideRefs`, `receive.hideRefs` or `uploadpack.hideRefs`
202 configuration along with `transfer.hideRefs` (see
203 linkgit:git-config[1]). This option affects the next pseudo-ref option
204 `--all` or `--glob` and is cleared after processing them.
205
206 --reflog::
207 Pretend as if all objects mentioned by reflogs are listed on the
208 command line as `<commit>`.
209
210 --alternate-refs::
211 Pretend as if all objects mentioned as ref tips of alternate
212 repositories were listed on the command line. An alternate
213 repository is any repository whose object directory is specified
214 in `objects/info/alternates`. The set of included objects may
215 be modified by `core.alternateRefsCommand`, etc. See
216 linkgit:git-config[1].
217
218 --single-worktree::
219 By default, all working trees will be examined by the
220 following options when there are more than one (see
221 linkgit:git-worktree[1]): `--all`, `--reflog` and
222 `--indexed-objects`.
223 This option forces them to examine the current working tree
224 only.
225
226 --ignore-missing::
227 Upon seeing an invalid object name in the input, pretend as if
228 the bad input was not given.
229
230 ifndef::git-rev-list[]
231 --bisect::
232 Pretend as if the bad bisection ref `refs/bisect/bad`
233 was listed and as if it was followed by `--not` and the good
234 bisection refs `refs/bisect/good-*` on the command
235 line.
236 endif::git-rev-list[]
237
238 --stdin::
239 In addition to the '<commit>' listed on the command
240 line, read them from the standard input. If a `--` separator is
241 seen, stop reading commits and start reading paths to limit the
242 result.
243
244 ifdef::git-rev-list[]
245 --quiet::
246 Don't print anything to standard output. This form
247 is primarily meant to allow the caller to
248 test the exit status to see if a range of objects is fully
249 connected (or not). It is faster than redirecting stdout
250 to `/dev/null` as the output does not have to be formatted.
251
252 --disk-usage::
253 --disk-usage=human::
254 Suppress normal output; instead, print the sum of the bytes used
255 for on-disk storage by the selected commits or objects. This is
256 equivalent to piping the output into `git cat-file
257 --batch-check='%(objectsize:disk)'`, except that it runs much
258 faster (especially with `--use-bitmap-index`). See the `CAVEATS`
259 section in linkgit:git-cat-file[1] for the limitations of what
260 "on-disk storage" means.
261 With the optional value `human`, on-disk storage size is shown
262 in human-readable string(e.g. 12.24 Kib, 3.50 Mib).
263 endif::git-rev-list[]
264
265 --cherry-mark::
266 Like `--cherry-pick` (see below) but mark equivalent commits
267 with `=` rather than omitting them, and inequivalent ones with `+`.
268
269 --cherry-pick::
270 Omit any commit that introduces the same change as
271 another commit on the ``other side'' when the set of
272 commits are limited with symmetric difference.
273 +
274 For example, if you have two branches, `A` and `B`, a usual way
275 to list all commits on only one side of them is with
276 `--left-right` (see the example below in the description of
277 the `--left-right` option). However, it shows the commits that were
278 cherry-picked from the other branch (for example, ``3rd on b'' may be
279 cherry-picked from branch A). With this option, such pairs of commits are
280 excluded from the output.
281
282 --left-only::
283 --right-only::
284 List only commits on the respective side of a symmetric difference,
285 i.e. only those which would be marked `<` resp. `>` by
286 `--left-right`.
287 +
288 For example, `--cherry-pick --right-only A...B` omits those
289 commits from `B` which are in `A` or are patch-equivalent to a commit in
290 `A`. In other words, this lists the `+` commits from `git cherry A B`.
291 More precisely, `--cherry-pick --right-only --no-merges` gives the exact
292 list.
293
294 --cherry::
295 A synonym for `--right-only --cherry-mark --no-merges`; useful to
296 limit the output to the commits on our side and mark those that
297 have been applied to the other side of a forked history with
298 `git log --cherry upstream...mybranch`, similar to
299 `git cherry upstream mybranch`.
300
301 -g::
302 --walk-reflogs::
303 Instead of walking the commit ancestry chain, walk
304 reflog entries from the most recent one to older ones.
305 When this option is used you cannot specify commits to
306 exclude (that is, '{caret}commit', 'commit1..commit2',
307 and 'commit1\...commit2' notations cannot be used).
308 +
309 With `--pretty` format other than `oneline` and `reference` (for obvious reasons),
310 this causes the output to have two extra lines of information
311 taken from the reflog. The reflog designator in the output may be shown
312 as `ref@{Nth}` (where `Nth` is the reverse-chronological index in the
313 reflog) or as `ref@{timestamp}` (with the timestamp for that entry),
314 depending on a few rules:
315 +
316 --
317 1. If the starting point is specified as `ref@{Nth}`, show the index
318 format.
319 +
320 2. If the starting point was specified as `ref@{now}`, show the
321 timestamp format.
322 +
323 3. If neither was used, but `--date` was given on the command line, show
324 the timestamp in the format requested by `--date`.
325 +
326 4. Otherwise, show the index format.
327 --
328 +
329 Under `--pretty=oneline`, the commit message is
330 prefixed with this information on the same line.
331 This option cannot be combined with `--reverse`.
332 See also linkgit:git-reflog[1].
333 +
334 Under `--pretty=reference`, this information will not be shown at all.
335
336 --merge::
337 After a failed merge, show refs that touch files having a
338 conflict and don't exist on all heads to merge.
339
340 --boundary::
341 Output excluded boundary commits. Boundary commits are
342 prefixed with `-`.
343
344 ifdef::git-rev-list[]
345 --use-bitmap-index::
346
347 Try to speed up the traversal using the pack bitmap index (if
348 one is available). Note that when traversing with `--objects`,
349 trees and blobs will not have their associated path printed.
350
351 --progress=<header>::
352 Show progress reports on stderr as objects are considered. The
353 `<header>` text will be printed with each progress update.
354 endif::git-rev-list[]
355
356 History Simplification
357 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
358
359 Sometimes you are only interested in parts of the history, for example the
360 commits modifying a particular <path>. But there are two parts of
361 'History Simplification', one part is selecting the commits and the other
362 is how to do it, as there are various strategies to simplify the history.
363
364 The following options select the commits to be shown:
365
366 <paths>::
367 Commits modifying the given <paths> are selected.
368
369 --simplify-by-decoration::
370 Commits that are referred by some branch or tag are selected.
371
372 Note that extra commits can be shown to give a meaningful history.
373
374 The following options affect the way the simplification is performed:
375
376 Default mode::
377 Simplifies the history to the simplest history explaining the
378 final state of the tree. Simplest because it prunes some side
379 branches if the end result is the same (i.e. merging branches
380 with the same content)
381
382 --show-pulls::
383 Include all commits from the default mode, but also any merge
384 commits that are not TREESAME to the first parent but are
385 TREESAME to a later parent. This mode is helpful for showing
386 the merge commits that "first introduced" a change to a branch.
387
388 --full-history::
389 Same as the default mode, but does not prune some history.
390
391 --dense::
392 Only the selected commits are shown, plus some to have a
393 meaningful history.
394
395 --sparse::
396 All commits in the simplified history are shown.
397
398 --simplify-merges::
399 Additional option to `--full-history` to remove some needless
400 merges from the resulting history, as there are no selected
401 commits contributing to this merge.
402
403 --ancestry-path[=<commit>]::
404 When given a range of commits to display (e.g. 'commit1..commit2'
405 or 'commit2 {caret}commit1'), only display commits in that range
406 that are ancestors of <commit>, descendants of <commit>, or
407 <commit> itself. If no commit is specified, use 'commit1' (the
408 excluded part of the range) as <commit>. Can be passed multiple
409 times; if so, a commit is included if it is any of the commits
410 given or if it is an ancestor or descendant of one of them.
411
412 A more detailed explanation follows.
413
414 Suppose you specified `foo` as the <paths>. We shall call commits
415 that modify `foo` !TREESAME, and the rest TREESAME. (In a diff
416 filtered for `foo`, they look different and equal, respectively.)
417
418 In the following, we will always refer to the same example history to
419 illustrate the differences between simplification settings. We assume
420 that you are filtering for a file `foo` in this commit graph:
421 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
422 .-A---M---N---O---P---Q
423 / / / / / /
424 I B C D E Y
425 \ / / / / /
426 `-------------' X
427 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
428 The horizontal line of history A---Q is taken to be the first parent of
429 each merge. The commits are:
430
431 * `I` is the initial commit, in which `foo` exists with contents
432 ``asdf'', and a file `quux` exists with contents ``quux''. Initial
433 commits are compared to an empty tree, so `I` is !TREESAME.
434
435 * In `A`, `foo` contains just ``foo''.
436
437 * `B` contains the same change as `A`. Its merge `M` is trivial and
438 hence TREESAME to all parents.
439
440 * `C` does not change `foo`, but its merge `N` changes it to ``foobar'',
441 so it is not TREESAME to any parent.
442
443 * `D` sets `foo` to ``baz''. Its merge `O` combines the strings from
444 `N` and `D` to ``foobarbaz''; i.e., it is not TREESAME to any parent.
445
446 * `E` changes `quux` to ``xyzzy'', and its merge `P` combines the
447 strings to ``quux xyzzy''. `P` is TREESAME to `O`, but not to `E`.
448
449 * `X` is an independent root commit that added a new file `side`, and `Y`
450 modified it. `Y` is TREESAME to `X`. Its merge `Q` added `side` to `P`, and
451 `Q` is TREESAME to `P`, but not to `Y`.
452
453 `rev-list` walks backwards through history, including or excluding
454 commits based on whether `--full-history` and/or parent rewriting
455 (via `--parents` or `--children`) are used. The following settings
456 are available.
457
458 Default mode::
459 Commits are included if they are not TREESAME to any parent
460 (though this can be changed, see `--sparse` below). If the
461 commit was a merge, and it was TREESAME to one parent, follow
462 only that parent. (Even if there are several TREESAME
463 parents, follow only one of them.) Otherwise, follow all
464 parents.
465 +
466 This results in:
467 +
468 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
469 .-A---N---O
470 / / /
471 I---------D
472 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
473 +
474 Note how the rule to only follow the TREESAME parent, if one is
475 available, removed `B` from consideration entirely. `C` was
476 considered via `N`, but is TREESAME. Root commits are compared to an
477 empty tree, so `I` is !TREESAME.
478 +
479 Parent/child relations are only visible with `--parents`, but that does
480 not affect the commits selected in default mode, so we have shown the
481 parent lines.
482
483 --full-history without parent rewriting::
484 This mode differs from the default in one point: always follow
485 all parents of a merge, even if it is TREESAME to one of them.
486 Even if more than one side of the merge has commits that are
487 included, this does not imply that the merge itself is! In
488 the example, we get
489 +
490 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
491 I A B N D O P Q
492 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
493 +
494 `M` was excluded because it is TREESAME to both parents. `E`,
495 `C` and `B` were all walked, but only `B` was !TREESAME, so the others
496 do not appear.
497 +
498 Note that without parent rewriting, it is not really possible to talk
499 about the parent/child relationships between the commits, so we show
500 them disconnected.
501
502 --full-history with parent rewriting::
503 Ordinary commits are only included if they are !TREESAME
504 (though this can be changed, see `--sparse` below).
505 +
506 Merges are always included. However, their parent list is rewritten:
507 Along each parent, prune away commits that are not included
508 themselves. This results in
509 +
510 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
511 .-A---M---N---O---P---Q
512 / / / / /
513 I B / D /
514 \ / / / /
515 `-------------'
516 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
517 +
518 Compare to `--full-history` without rewriting above. Note that `E`
519 was pruned away because it is TREESAME, but the parent list of P was
520 rewritten to contain `E`'s parent `I`. The same happened for `C` and
521 `N`, and `X`, `Y` and `Q`.
522
523 In addition to the above settings, you can change whether TREESAME
524 affects inclusion:
525
526 --dense::
527 Commits that are walked are included if they are not TREESAME
528 to any parent.
529
530 --sparse::
531 All commits that are walked are included.
532 +
533 Note that without `--full-history`, this still simplifies merges: if
534 one of the parents is TREESAME, we follow only that one, so the other
535 sides of the merge are never walked.
536
537 --simplify-merges::
538 First, build a history graph in the same way that
539 `--full-history` with parent rewriting does (see above).
540 +
541 Then simplify each commit `C` to its replacement `C'` in the final
542 history according to the following rules:
543 +
544 --
545 * Set `C'` to `C`.
546 +
547 * Replace each parent `P` of `C'` with its simplification `P'`. In
548 the process, drop parents that are ancestors of other parents or that are
549 root commits TREESAME to an empty tree, and remove duplicates, but take care
550 to never drop all parents that we are TREESAME to.
551 +
552 * If after this parent rewriting, `C'` is a root or merge commit (has
553 zero or >1 parents), a boundary commit, or !TREESAME, it remains.
554 Otherwise, it is replaced with its only parent.
555 --
556 +
557 The effect of this is best shown by way of comparing to
558 `--full-history` with parent rewriting. The example turns into:
559 +
560 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
561 .-A---M---N---O
562 / / /
563 I B D
564 \ / /
565 `---------'
566 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
567 +
568 Note the major differences in `N`, `P`, and `Q` over `--full-history`:
569 +
570 --
571 * `N`'s parent list had `I` removed, because it is an ancestor of the
572 other parent `M`. Still, `N` remained because it is !TREESAME.
573 +
574 * `P`'s parent list similarly had `I` removed. `P` was then
575 removed completely, because it had one parent and is TREESAME.
576 +
577 * `Q`'s parent list had `Y` simplified to `X`. `X` was then removed, because it
578 was a TREESAME root. `Q` was then removed completely, because it had one
579 parent and is TREESAME.
580 --
581
582 There is another simplification mode available:
583
584 --ancestry-path[=<commit>]::
585 Limit the displayed commits to those which are an ancestor of
586 <commit>, or which are a descendant of <commit>, or are <commit>
587 itself.
588 +
589 As an example use case, consider the following commit history:
590 +
591 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
592 D---E-------F
593 / \ \
594 B---C---G---H---I---J
595 / \
596 A-------K---------------L--M
597 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
598 +
599 A regular 'D..M' computes the set of commits that are ancestors of `M`,
600 but excludes the ones that are ancestors of `D`. This is useful to see
601 what happened to the history leading to `M` since `D`, in the sense
602 that ``what does `M` have that did not exist in `D`''. The result in this
603 example would be all the commits, except `A` and `B` (and `D` itself,
604 of course).
605 +
606 When we want to find out what commits in `M` are contaminated with the
607 bug introduced by `D` and need fixing, however, we might want to view
608 only the subset of 'D..M' that are actually descendants of `D`, i.e.
609 excluding `C` and `K`. This is exactly what the `--ancestry-path`
610 option does. Applied to the 'D..M' range, it results in:
611 +
612 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
613 E-------F
614 \ \
615 G---H---I---J
616 \
617 L--M
618 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
619 +
620 We can also use `--ancestry-path=D` instead of `--ancestry-path` which
621 means the same thing when applied to the 'D..M' range but is just more
622 explicit.
623 +
624 If we instead are interested in a given topic within this range, and all
625 commits affected by that topic, we may only want to view the subset of
626 `D..M` which contain that topic in their ancestry path. So, using
627 `--ancestry-path=H D..M` for example would result in:
628 +
629 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
630 E
631 \
632 G---H---I---J
633 \
634 L--M
635 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
636 +
637 Whereas `--ancestry-path=K D..M` would result in
638 +
639 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
640 K---------------L--M
641 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
642
643 Before discussing another option, `--show-pulls`, we need to
644 create a new example history.
645
646 A common problem users face when looking at simplified history is that a
647 commit they know changed a file somehow does not appear in the file's
648 simplified history. Let's demonstrate a new example and show how options
649 such as `--full-history` and `--simplify-merges` works in that case:
650
651 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
652 .-A---M-----C--N---O---P
653 / / \ \ \/ / /
654 I B \ R-'`-Z' /
655 \ / \/ /
656 \ / /\ /
657 `---X--' `---Y--'
658 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
659
660 For this example, suppose `I` created `file.txt` which was modified by
661 `A`, `B`, and `X` in different ways. The single-parent commits `C`, `Z`,
662 and `Y` do not change `file.txt`. The merge commit `M` was created by
663 resolving the merge conflict to include both changes from `A` and `B`
664 and hence is not TREESAME to either. The merge commit `R`, however, was
665 created by ignoring the contents of `file.txt` at `M` and taking only
666 the contents of `file.txt` at `X`. Hence, `R` is TREESAME to `X` but not
667 `M`. Finally, the natural merge resolution to create `N` is to take the
668 contents of `file.txt` at `R`, so `N` is TREESAME to `R` but not `C`.
669 The merge commits `O` and `P` are TREESAME to their first parents, but
670 not to their second parents, `Z` and `Y` respectively.
671
672 When using the default mode, `N` and `R` both have a TREESAME parent, so
673 those edges are walked and the others are ignored. The resulting history
674 graph is:
675
676 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
677 I---X
678 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
679
680 When using `--full-history`, Git walks every edge. This will discover
681 the commits `A` and `B` and the merge `M`, but also will reveal the
682 merge commits `O` and `P`. With parent rewriting, the resulting graph is:
683
684 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
685 .-A---M--------N---O---P
686 / / \ \ \/ / /
687 I B \ R-'`--' /
688 \ / \/ /
689 \ / /\ /
690 `---X--' `------'
691 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
692
693 Here, the merge commits `O` and `P` contribute extra noise, as they did
694 not actually contribute a change to `file.txt`. They only merged a topic
695 that was based on an older version of `file.txt`. This is a common
696 issue in repositories using a workflow where many contributors work in
697 parallel and merge their topic branches along a single trunk: many
698 unrelated merges appear in the `--full-history` results.
699
700 When using the `--simplify-merges` option, the commits `O` and `P`
701 disappear from the results. This is because the rewritten second parents
702 of `O` and `P` are reachable from their first parents. Those edges are
703 removed and then the commits look like single-parent commits that are
704 TREESAME to their parent. This also happens to the commit `N`, resulting
705 in a history view as follows:
706
707 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
708 .-A---M--.
709 / / \
710 I B R
711 \ / /
712 \ / /
713 `---X--'
714 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
715
716 In this view, we see all of the important single-parent changes from
717 `A`, `B`, and `X`. We also see the carefully-resolved merge `M` and the
718 not-so-carefully-resolved merge `R`. This is usually enough information
719 to determine why the commits `A` and `B` "disappeared" from history in
720 the default view. However, there are a few issues with this approach.
721
722 The first issue is performance. Unlike any previous option, the
723 `--simplify-merges` option requires walking the entire commit history
724 before returning a single result. This can make the option difficult to
725 use for very large repositories.
726
727 The second issue is one of auditing. When many contributors are working
728 on the same repository, it is important which merge commits introduced
729 a change into an important branch. The problematic merge `R` above is
730 not likely to be the merge commit that was used to merge into an
731 important branch. Instead, the merge `N` was used to merge `R` and `X`
732 into the important branch. This commit may have information about why
733 the change `X` came to override the changes from `A` and `B` in its
734 commit message.
735
736 --show-pulls::
737 In addition to the commits shown in the default history, show
738 each merge commit that is not TREESAME to its first parent but
739 is TREESAME to a later parent.
740 +
741 When a merge commit is included by `--show-pulls`, the merge is
742 treated as if it "pulled" the change from another branch. When using
743 `--show-pulls` on this example (and no other options) the resulting
744 graph is:
745 +
746 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
747 I---X---R---N
748 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
749 +
750 Here, the merge commits `R` and `N` are included because they pulled
751 the commits `X` and `R` into the base branch, respectively. These
752 merges are the reason the commits `A` and `B` do not appear in the
753 default history.
754 +
755 When `--show-pulls` is paired with `--simplify-merges`, the
756 graph includes all of the necessary information:
757 +
758 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
759 .-A---M--. N
760 / / \ /
761 I B R
762 \ / /
763 \ / /
764 `---X--'
765 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
766 +
767 Notice that since `M` is reachable from `R`, the edge from `N` to `M`
768 was simplified away. However, `N` still appears in the history as an
769 important commit because it "pulled" the change `R` into the main
770 branch.
771
772 The `--simplify-by-decoration` option allows you to view only the
773 big picture of the topology of the history, by omitting commits
774 that are not referenced by tags. Commits are marked as !TREESAME
775 (in other words, kept after history simplification rules described
776 above) if (1) they are referenced by tags, or (2) they change the
777 contents of the paths given on the command line. All other
778 commits are marked as TREESAME (subject to be simplified away).
779
780 ifndef::git-shortlog[]
781 ifdef::git-rev-list[]
782 Bisection Helpers
783 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
784
785 --bisect::
786 Limit output to the one commit object which is roughly halfway between
787 included and excluded commits. Note that the bad bisection ref
788 `refs/bisect/bad` is added to the included commits (if it
789 exists) and the good bisection refs `refs/bisect/good-*` are
790 added to the excluded commits (if they exist). Thus, supposing there
791 are no refs in `refs/bisect/`, if
792 +
793 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
794 $ git rev-list --bisect foo ^bar ^baz
795 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
796 +
797 outputs 'midpoint', the output of the two commands
798 +
799 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
800 $ git rev-list foo ^midpoint
801 $ git rev-list midpoint ^bar ^baz
802 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
803 +
804 would be of roughly the same length. Finding the change which
805 introduces a regression is thus reduced to a binary search: repeatedly
806 generate and test new 'midpoint's until the commit chain is of length
807 one.
808
809 --bisect-vars::
810 This calculates the same as `--bisect`, except that refs in
811 `refs/bisect/` are not used, and except that this outputs
812 text ready to be eval'ed by the shell. These lines will assign the
813 name of the midpoint revision to the variable `bisect_rev`, and the
814 expected number of commits to be tested after `bisect_rev` is tested
815 to `bisect_nr`, the expected number of commits to be tested if
816 `bisect_rev` turns out to be good to `bisect_good`, the expected
817 number of commits to be tested if `bisect_rev` turns out to be bad to
818 `bisect_bad`, and the number of commits we are bisecting right now to
819 `bisect_all`.
820
821 --bisect-all::
822 This outputs all the commit objects between the included and excluded
823 commits, ordered by their distance to the included and excluded
824 commits. Refs in `refs/bisect/` are not used. The farthest
825 from them is displayed first. (This is the only one displayed by
826 `--bisect`.)
827 +
828 This is useful because it makes it easy to choose a good commit to
829 test when you want to avoid to test some of them for some reason (they
830 may not compile for example).
831 +
832 This option can be used along with `--bisect-vars`, in this case,
833 after all the sorted commit objects, there will be the same text as if
834 `--bisect-vars` had been used alone.
835 endif::git-rev-list[]
836 endif::git-shortlog[]
837
838 ifndef::git-shortlog[]
839 Commit Ordering
840 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
841
842 By default, the commits are shown in reverse chronological order.
843
844 --date-order::
845 Show no parents before all of its children are shown, but
846 otherwise show commits in the commit timestamp order.
847
848 --author-date-order::
849 Show no parents before all of its children are shown, but
850 otherwise show commits in the author timestamp order.
851
852 --topo-order::
853 Show no parents before all of its children are shown, and
854 avoid showing commits on multiple lines of history
855 intermixed.
856 +
857 For example, in a commit history like this:
858 +
859 ----------------------------------------------------------------
860
861 ---1----2----4----7
862 \ \
863 3----5----6----8---
864
865 ----------------------------------------------------------------
866 +
867 where the numbers denote the order of commit timestamps, `git
868 rev-list` and friends with `--date-order` show the commits in the
869 timestamp order: 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1.
870 +
871 With `--topo-order`, they would show 8 6 5 3 7 4 2 1 (or 8 7 4 2 6 5
872 3 1); some older commits are shown before newer ones in order to
873 avoid showing the commits from two parallel development track mixed
874 together.
875
876 --reverse::
877 Output the commits chosen to be shown (see Commit Limiting
878 section above) in reverse order. Cannot be combined with
879 `--walk-reflogs`.
880 endif::git-shortlog[]
881
882 ifndef::git-shortlog[]
883 Object Traversal
884 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
885
886 These options are mostly targeted for packing of Git repositories.
887
888 ifdef::git-rev-list[]
889 --objects::
890 Print the object IDs of any object referenced by the listed
891 commits. `--objects foo ^bar` thus means ``send me
892 all object IDs which I need to download if I have the commit
893 object _bar_ but not _foo_''. See also `--object-names` below.
894
895 --in-commit-order::
896 Print tree and blob ids in order of the commits. The tree
897 and blob ids are printed after they are first referenced
898 by a commit.
899
900 --objects-edge::
901 Similar to `--objects`, but also print the IDs of excluded
902 commits prefixed with a ``-'' character. This is used by
903 linkgit:git-pack-objects[1] to build a ``thin'' pack, which records
904 objects in deltified form based on objects contained in these
905 excluded commits to reduce network traffic.
906
907 --objects-edge-aggressive::
908 Similar to `--objects-edge`, but it tries harder to find excluded
909 commits at the cost of increased time. This is used instead of
910 `--objects-edge` to build ``thin'' packs for shallow repositories.
911
912 --indexed-objects::
913 Pretend as if all trees and blobs used by the index are listed
914 on the command line. Note that you probably want to use
915 `--objects`, too.
916
917 --unpacked::
918 Only useful with `--objects`; print the object IDs that are not
919 in packs.
920
921 --object-names::
922 Only useful with `--objects`; print the names of the object IDs
923 that are found. This is the default behavior. Note that the
924 "name" of each object is ambiguous, and mostly intended as a
925 hint for packing objects. In particular: no distinction is made between
926 the names of tags, trees, and blobs; path names may be modified
927 to remove newlines; and if an object would appear multiple times
928 with different names, only one name is shown.
929
930 --no-object-names::
931 Only useful with `--objects`; does not print the names of the object
932 IDs that are found. This inverts `--object-names`. This flag allows
933 the output to be more easily parsed by commands such as
934 linkgit:git-cat-file[1].
935
936 --filter=<filter-spec>::
937 Only useful with one of the `--objects*`; omits objects (usually
938 blobs) from the list of printed objects. The '<filter-spec>'
939 may be one of the following:
940 +
941 The form '--filter=blob:none' omits all blobs.
942 +
943 The form '--filter=blob:limit=<n>[kmg]' omits blobs larger than n bytes
944 or units. n may be zero. The suffixes k, m, and g can be used to name
945 units in KiB, MiB, or GiB. For example, 'blob:limit=1k' is the same
946 as 'blob:limit=1024'.
947 +
948 The form '--filter=object:type=(tag|commit|tree|blob)' omits all objects
949 which are not of the requested type.
950 +
951 The form '--filter=sparse:oid=<blob-ish>' uses a sparse-checkout
952 specification contained in the blob (or blob-expression) '<blob-ish>'
953 to omit blobs that would not be required for a sparse checkout on
954 the requested refs.
955 +
956 The form '--filter=tree:<depth>' omits all blobs and trees whose depth
957 from the root tree is >= <depth> (minimum depth if an object is located
958 at multiple depths in the commits traversed). <depth>=0 will not include
959 any trees or blobs unless included explicitly in the command-line (or
960 standard input when --stdin is used). <depth>=1 will include only the
961 tree and blobs which are referenced directly by a commit reachable from
962 <commit> or an explicitly-given object. <depth>=2 is like <depth>=1
963 while also including trees and blobs one more level removed from an
964 explicitly-given commit or tree.
965 +
966 Note that the form '--filter=sparse:path=<path>' that wants to read
967 from an arbitrary path on the filesystem has been dropped for security
968 reasons.
969 +
970 Multiple '--filter=' flags can be specified to combine filters. Only
971 objects which are accepted by every filter are included.
972 +
973 The form '--filter=combine:<filter1>+<filter2>+...<filterN>' can also be
974 used to combined several filters, but this is harder than just repeating
975 the '--filter' flag and is usually not necessary. Filters are joined by
976 '{plus}' and individual filters are %-encoded (i.e. URL-encoded).
977 Besides the '{plus}' and '%' characters, the following characters are
978 reserved and also must be encoded: `~!@#$^&*()[]{}\;",<>?`+&#39;&#96;+
979 as well as all characters with ASCII code &lt;= `0x20`, which includes
980 space and newline.
981 +
982 Other arbitrary characters can also be encoded. For instance,
983 'combine:tree:3+blob:none' and 'combine:tree%3A3+blob%3Anone' are
984 equivalent.
985
986 --no-filter::
987 Turn off any previous `--filter=` argument.
988
989 --filter-provided-objects::
990 Filter the list of explicitly provided objects, which would otherwise
991 always be printed even if they did not match any of the filters. Only
992 useful with `--filter=`.
993
994 --filter-print-omitted::
995 Only useful with `--filter=`; prints a list of the objects omitted
996 by the filter. Object IDs are prefixed with a ``~'' character.
997
998 --missing=<missing-action>::
999 A debug option to help with future "partial clone" development.
1000 This option specifies how missing objects are handled.
1001 +
1002 The form '--missing=error' requests that rev-list stop with an error if
1003 a missing object is encountered. This is the default action.
1004 +
1005 The form '--missing=allow-any' will allow object traversal to continue
1006 if a missing object is encountered. Missing objects will silently be
1007 omitted from the results.
1008 +
1009 The form '--missing=allow-promisor' is like 'allow-any', but will only
1010 allow object traversal to continue for EXPECTED promisor missing objects.
1011 Unexpected missing objects will raise an error.
1012 +
1013 The form '--missing=print' is like 'allow-any', but will also print a
1014 list of the missing objects. Object IDs are prefixed with a ``?'' character.
1015
1016 --exclude-promisor-objects::
1017 (For internal use only.) Prefilter object traversal at
1018 promisor boundary. This is used with partial clone. This is
1019 stronger than `--missing=allow-promisor` because it limits the
1020 traversal, rather than just silencing errors about missing
1021 objects.
1022 endif::git-rev-list[]
1023
1024 --no-walk[=(sorted|unsorted)]::
1025 Only show the given commits, but do not traverse their ancestors.
1026 This has no effect if a range is specified. If the argument
1027 `unsorted` is given, the commits are shown in the order they were
1028 given on the command line. Otherwise (if `sorted` or no argument
1029 was given), the commits are shown in reverse chronological order
1030 by commit time.
1031 Cannot be combined with `--graph`.
1032
1033 --do-walk::
1034 Overrides a previous `--no-walk`.
1035 endif::git-shortlog[]
1036
1037 ifndef::git-shortlog[]
1038 Commit Formatting
1039 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1040
1041 ifdef::git-rev-list[]
1042 Using these options, linkgit:git-rev-list[1] will act similar to the
1043 more specialized family of commit log tools: linkgit:git-log[1],
1044 linkgit:git-show[1], and linkgit:git-whatchanged[1]
1045 endif::git-rev-list[]
1046
1047 include::pretty-options.txt[]
1048
1049 --relative-date::
1050 Synonym for `--date=relative`.
1051
1052 --date=<format>::
1053 Only takes effect for dates shown in human-readable format, such
1054 as when using `--pretty`. `log.date` config variable sets a default
1055 value for the log command's `--date` option. By default, dates
1056 are shown in the original time zone (either committer's or
1057 author's). If `-local` is appended to the format (e.g.,
1058 `iso-local`), the user's local time zone is used instead.
1059 +
1060 --
1061 `--date=relative` shows dates relative to the current time,
1062 e.g. ``2 hours ago''. The `-local` option has no effect for
1063 `--date=relative`.
1064
1065 `--date=local` is an alias for `--date=default-local`.
1066
1067 `--date=iso` (or `--date=iso8601`) shows timestamps in a ISO 8601-like format.
1068 The differences to the strict ISO 8601 format are:
1069
1070 - a space instead of the `T` date/time delimiter
1071 - a space between time and time zone
1072 - no colon between hours and minutes of the time zone
1073
1074 `--date=iso-strict` (or `--date=iso8601-strict`) shows timestamps in strict
1075 ISO 8601 format.
1076
1077 `--date=rfc` (or `--date=rfc2822`) shows timestamps in RFC 2822
1078 format, often found in email messages.
1079
1080 `--date=short` shows only the date, but not the time, in `YYYY-MM-DD` format.
1081
1082 `--date=raw` shows the date as seconds since the epoch (1970-01-01
1083 00:00:00 UTC), followed by a space, and then the timezone as an offset
1084 from UTC (a `+` or `-` with four digits; the first two are hours, and
1085 the second two are minutes). I.e., as if the timestamp were formatted
1086 with `strftime("%s %z")`).
1087 Note that the `-local` option does not affect the seconds-since-epoch
1088 value (which is always measured in UTC), but does switch the accompanying
1089 timezone value.
1090
1091 `--date=human` shows the timezone if the timezone does not match the
1092 current time-zone, and doesn't print the whole date if that matches
1093 (ie skip printing year for dates that are "this year", but also skip
1094 the whole date itself if it's in the last few days and we can just say
1095 what weekday it was). For older dates the hour and minute is also
1096 omitted.
1097
1098 `--date=unix` shows the date as a Unix epoch timestamp (seconds since
1099 1970). As with `--raw`, this is always in UTC and therefore `-local`
1100 has no effect.
1101
1102 `--date=format:...` feeds the format `...` to your system `strftime`,
1103 except for %s, %z, and %Z, which are handled internally.
1104 Use `--date=format:%c` to show the date in your system locale's
1105 preferred format. See the `strftime` manual for a complete list of
1106 format placeholders. When using `-local`, the correct syntax is
1107 `--date=format-local:...`.
1108
1109 `--date=default` is the default format, and is based on ctime(3)
1110 output. It shows a single line with three-letter day of the week,
1111 three-letter month, day-of-month, hour-minute-seconds in "HH:MM:SS"
1112 format, followed by 4-digit year, plus timezone information, unless
1113 the local time zone is used, e.g. `Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 +0000`.
1114 --
1115
1116 ifdef::git-rev-list[]
1117 --header::
1118 Print the contents of the commit in raw-format; each record is
1119 separated with a NUL character.
1120
1121 --no-commit-header::
1122 Suppress the header line containing "commit" and the object ID printed before
1123 the specified format. This has no effect on the built-in formats; only custom
1124 formats are affected.
1125
1126 --commit-header::
1127 Overrides a previous `--no-commit-header`.
1128 endif::git-rev-list[]
1129
1130 --parents::
1131 Print also the parents of the commit (in the form "commit parent...").
1132 Also enables parent rewriting, see 'History Simplification' above.
1133
1134 --children::
1135 Print also the children of the commit (in the form "commit child...").
1136 Also enables parent rewriting, see 'History Simplification' above.
1137
1138 ifdef::git-rev-list[]
1139 --timestamp::
1140 Print the raw commit timestamp.
1141 endif::git-rev-list[]
1142
1143 --left-right::
1144 Mark which side of a symmetric difference a commit is reachable from.
1145 Commits from the left side are prefixed with `<` and those from
1146 the right with `>`. If combined with `--boundary`, those
1147 commits are prefixed with `-`.
1148 +
1149 For example, if you have this topology:
1150 +
1151 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
1152 y---b---b branch B
1153 / \ /
1154 / .
1155 / / \
1156 o---x---a---a branch A
1157 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
1158 +
1159 you would get an output like this:
1160 +
1161 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
1162 $ git rev-list --left-right --boundary --pretty=oneline A...B
1163
1164 >bbbbbbb... 3rd on b
1165 >bbbbbbb... 2nd on b
1166 <aaaaaaa... 3rd on a
1167 <aaaaaaa... 2nd on a
1168 -yyyyyyy... 1st on b
1169 -xxxxxxx... 1st on a
1170 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
1171
1172 --graph::
1173 Draw a text-based graphical representation of the commit history
1174 on the left hand side of the output. This may cause extra lines
1175 to be printed in between commits, in order for the graph history
1176 to be drawn properly.
1177 Cannot be combined with `--no-walk`.
1178 +
1179 This enables parent rewriting, see 'History Simplification' above.
1180 +
1181 This implies the `--topo-order` option by default, but the
1182 `--date-order` option may also be specified.
1183
1184 --show-linear-break[=<barrier>]::
1185 When --graph is not used, all history branches are flattened
1186 which can make it hard to see that the two consecutive commits
1187 do not belong to a linear branch. This option puts a barrier
1188 in between them in that case. If `<barrier>` is specified, it
1189 is the string that will be shown instead of the default one.
1190
1191 ifdef::git-rev-list[]
1192 --count::
1193 Print a number stating how many commits would have been
1194 listed, and suppress all other output. When used together
1195 with `--left-right`, instead print the counts for left and
1196 right commits, separated by a tab. When used together with
1197 `--cherry-mark`, omit patch equivalent commits from these
1198 counts and print the count for equivalent commits separated
1199 by a tab.
1200 endif::git-rev-list[]
1201 endif::git-shortlog[]