Documentation/git-tag.txt

   1 git-tag(1)
   2 ==========
   3
   4 NAME
   5 ----
   6 git-tag - Create, list, delete or verify a tag object signed with GPG
   7
   8
   9 SYNOPSIS
  10 --------
  11 [verse]
  12 'git tag' [-a | -s | -u <keyid>] [-f] [-m <msg> | -F <file>] [-e]
  13         <tagname> [<commit> | <object>]
  14 'git tag' -d <tagname>...
  15 'git tag' [-n[<num>]] -l [--contains <commit>] [--no-contains <commit>]
  16         [--points-at <object>] [--column[=<options>] | --no-column]
  17         [--create-reflog] [--sort=<key>] [--format=<format>]
  18         [--[no-]merged [<commit>]] [<pattern>...]
  19 'git tag' -v [--format=<format>] <tagname>...
  20
  21 DESCRIPTION
  22 -----------
  23
  24 Add a tag reference in `refs/tags/`, unless `-d/-l/-v` is given
  25 to delete, list or verify tags.
  26
  27 Unless `-f` is given, the named tag must not yet exist.
  28
  29 If one of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <keyid>` is passed, the command
  30 creates a 'tag' object, and requires a tag message.  Unless
  31 `-m <msg>` or `-F <file>` is given, an editor is started for the user to type
  32 in the tag message.
  33
  34 If `-m <msg>` or `-F <file>` is given and `-a`, `-s`, and `-u <keyid>`
  35 are absent, `-a` is implied.
  36
  37 Otherwise, a tag reference that points directly at the given object
  38 (i.e., a lightweight tag) is created.
  39
  40 A GnuPG signed tag object will be created when `-s` or `-u
  41 <keyid>` is used.  When `-u <keyid>` is not used, the
  42 committer identity for the current user is used to find the
  43 GnuPG key for signing.  The configuration variable `gpg.program`
  44 is used to specify custom GnuPG binary.
  45
  46 Tag objects (created with `-a`, `-s`, or `-u`) are called "annotated"
  47 tags; they contain a creation date, the tagger name and e-mail, a
  48 tagging message, and an optional GnuPG signature. Whereas a
  49 "lightweight" tag is simply a name for an object (usually a commit
  50 object).
  51
  52 Annotated tags are meant for release while lightweight tags are meant
  53 for private or temporary object labels. For this reason, some git
  54 commands for naming objects (like `git describe`) will ignore
  55 lightweight tags by default.
  56
  57
  58 OPTIONS
  59 -------
  60 -a::
  61 --annotate::
  62         Make an unsigned, annotated tag object
  63
  64 -s::
  65 --sign::
  66         Make a GPG-signed tag, using the default e-mail address's key.
  67         The default behavior of tag GPG-signing is controlled by `tag.gpgSign`
  68         configuration variable if it exists, or disabled oder otherwise.
  69         See linkgit:git-config[1].
  70
  71 --no-sign::
  72         Override `tag.gpgSign` configuration variable that is
  73         set to force each and every tag to be signed.
  74
  75 -u <keyid>::
  76 --local-user=<keyid>::
  77         Make a GPG-signed tag, using the given key.
  78
  79 -f::
  80 --force::
  81         Replace an existing tag with the given name (instead of failing)
  82
  83 -d::
  84 --delete::
  85         Delete existing tags with the given names.
  86
  87 -v::
  88 --verify::
  89         Verify the GPG signature of the given tag names.
  90
  91 -n<num>::
  92         <num> specifies how many lines from the annotation, if any,
  93         are printed when using -l. Implies `--list`.
  94 +
  95 The default is not to print any annotation lines.
  96 If no number is given to `-n`, only the first line is printed.
  97 If the tag is not annotated, the commit message is displayed instead.
  98
  99 -l::
 100 --list::
 101         List tags. With optional `<pattern>...`, e.g. `git tag --list
 102         'v-*'`, list only the tags that match the pattern(s).
 103 +
 104 Running "git tag" without arguments also lists all tags. The pattern
 105 is a shell wildcard (i.e., matched using fnmatch(3)). Multiple
 106 patterns may be given; if any of them matches, the tag is shown.
 107 +
 108 This option is implicitly supplied if any other list-like option such
 109 as `--contains` is provided. See the documentation for each of those
 110 options for details.
 111
 112 --sort=<key>::
 113         Sort based on the key given.  Prefix `-` to sort in
 114         descending order of the value. You may use the --sort=<key> option
 115         multiple times, in which case the last key becomes the primary
 116         key. Also supports "version:refname" or "v:refname" (tag
 117         names are treated as versions). The "version:refname" sort
 118         order can also be affected by the "versionsort.suffix"
 119         configuration variable.
 120         The keys supported are the same as those in `git for-each-ref`.
 121         Sort order defaults to the value configured for the `tag.sort`
 122         variable if it exists, or lexicographic order otherwise. See
 123         linkgit:git-config[1].
 124
 125 --color[=<when>]::
 126         Respect any colors specified in the `--format` option. The
 127         `<when>` field must be one of `always`, `never`, or `auto` (if
 128         `<when>` is absent, behave as if `always` was given).
 129
 130 -i::
 131 --ignore-case::
 132         Sorting and filtering tags are case insensitive.
 133
 134 --column[=<options>]::
 135 --no-column::
 136         Display tag listing in columns. See configuration variable
 137         column.tag for option syntax.`--column` and `--no-column`
 138         without options are equivalent to 'always' and 'never' respectively.
 139 +
 140 This option is only applicable when listing tags without annotation lines.
 141
 142 --contains [<commit>]::
 143         Only list tags which contain the specified commit (HEAD if not
 144         specified). Implies `--list`.
 145
 146 --no-contains [<commit>]::
 147         Only list tags which don't contain the specified commit (HEAD if
 148         not specified). Implies `--list`.
 149
 150 --merged [<commit>]::
 151         Only list tags whose commits are reachable from the specified
 152         commit (`HEAD` if not specified), incompatible with `--no-merged`.
 153
 154 --no-merged [<commit>]::
 155         Only list tags whose commits are not reachable from the specified
 156         commit (`HEAD` if not specified), incompatible with `--merged`.
 157
 158 --points-at <object>::
 159         Only list tags of the given object (HEAD if not
 160         specified). Implies `--list`.
 161
 162 -m <msg>::
 163 --message=<msg>::
 164         Use the given tag message (instead of prompting).
 165         If multiple `-m` options are given, their values are
 166         concatenated as separate paragraphs.
 167         Implies `-a` if none of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <keyid>`
 168         is given.
 169
 170 -F <file>::
 171 --file=<file>::
 172         Take the tag message from the given file.  Use '-' to
 173         read the message from the standard input.
 174         Implies `-a` if none of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <keyid>`
 175         is given.
 176
 177 -e::
 178 --edit::
 179         The message taken from file with `-F` and command line with
 180         `-m` are usually used as the tag message unmodified.
 181         This option lets you further edit the message taken from these sources.
 182
 183 --cleanup=<mode>::
 184         This option sets how the tag message is cleaned up.
 185         The  '<mode>' can be one of 'verbatim', 'whitespace' and 'strip'.  The
 186         'strip' mode is default. The 'verbatim' mode does not change message at
 187         all, 'whitespace' removes just leading/trailing whitespace lines and
 188         'strip' removes both whitespace and commentary.
 189
 190 --create-reflog::
 191         Create a reflog for the tag. To globally enable reflogs for tags, see
 192         `core.logAllRefUpdates` in linkgit:git-config[1].
 193         The negated form `--no-create-reflog` only overrides an earlier
 194         `--create-reflog`, but currently does not negate the setting of
 195         `core.logAllRefUpdates`.
 196
 197 --format=<format>::
 198         A string that interpolates `%(fieldname)` from a tag ref being shown
 199         and the object it points at.  The format is the same as
 200         that of linkgit:git-for-each-ref[1].  When unspecified,
 201         defaults to `%(refname:strip=2)`.
 202
 203 <tagname>::
 204         The name of the tag to create, delete, or describe.
 205         The new tag name must pass all checks defined by
 206         linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1].  Some of these checks
 207         may restrict the characters allowed in a tag name.
 208
 209 <commit>::
 210 <object>::
 211         The object that the new tag will refer to, usually a commit.
 212         Defaults to HEAD.
 213
 214 CONFIGURATION
 215 -------------
 216 By default, 'git tag' in sign-with-default mode (-s) will use your
 217 committer identity (of the form `Your Name <your@email.address>`) to
 218 find a key.  If you want to use a different default key, you can specify
 219 it in the repository configuration as follows:
 220
 221 -------------------------------------
 222 [user]
 223     signingKey = <gpg-keyid>
 224 -------------------------------------
 225
 226 `pager.tag` is only respected when listing tags, i.e., when `-l` is
 227 used or implied. The default is to use a pager.
 228 See linkgit:git-config[1].
 229
 230 DISCUSSION
 231 ----------
 232
 233 On Re-tagging
 234 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 235
 236 What should you do when you tag a wrong commit and you would
 237 want to re-tag?
 238
 239 If you never pushed anything out, just re-tag it. Use "-f" to
 240 replace the old one. And you're done.
 241
 242 But if you have pushed things out (or others could just read
 243 your repository directly), then others will have already seen
 244 the old tag. In that case you can do one of two things:
 245
 246 . The sane thing.
 247   Just admit you screwed up, and use a different name. Others have
 248   already seen one tag-name, and if you keep the same name, you
 249   may be in the situation that two people both have "version X",
 250   but they actually have 'different' "X"'s.  So just call it "X.1"
 251   and be done with it.
 252
 253 . The insane thing.
 254   You really want to call the new version "X" too, 'even though'
 255   others have already seen the old one. So just use 'git tag -f'
 256   again, as if you hadn't already published the old one.
 257
 258 However, Git does *not* (and it should not) change tags behind
 259 users back. So if somebody already got the old tag, doing a
 260 'git pull' on your tree shouldn't just make them overwrite the old
 261 one.
 262
 263 If somebody got a release tag from you, you cannot just change
 264 the tag for them by updating your own one. This is a big
 265 security issue, in that people MUST be able to trust their
 266 tag-names.  If you really want to do the insane thing, you need
 267 to just fess up to it, and tell people that you messed up. You
 268 can do that by making a very public announcement saying:
 269
 270 ------------
 271 Ok, I messed up, and I pushed out an earlier version tagged as X. I
 272 then fixed something, and retagged the *fixed* tree as X again.
 273
 274 If you got the wrong tag, and want the new one, please delete
 275 the old one and fetch the new one by doing:
 276
 277         git tag -d X
 278         git fetch origin tag X
 279
 280 to get my updated tag.
 281
 282 You can test which tag you have by doing
 283
 284         git rev-parse X
 285
 286 which should return 0123456789abcdef.. if you have the new version.
 287
 288 Sorry for the inconvenience.
 289 ------------
 290
 291 Does this seem a bit complicated?  It *should* be. There is no
 292 way that it would be correct to just "fix" it automatically.
 293 People need to know that their tags might have been changed.
 294
 295
 296 On Automatic following
 297 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 298
 299 If you are following somebody else's tree, you are most likely
 300 using remote-tracking branches (eg. `refs/remotes/origin/master`).
 301 You usually want the tags from the other end.
 302
 303 On the other hand, if you are fetching because you would want a
 304 one-shot merge from somebody else, you typically do not want to
 305 get tags from there.  This happens more often for people near
 306 the toplevel but not limited to them.  Mere mortals when pulling
 307 from each other do not necessarily want to automatically get
 308 private anchor point tags from the other person.
 309
 310 Often, "please pull" messages on the mailing list just provide
 311 two pieces of information: a repo URL and a branch name; this
 312 is designed to be easily cut&pasted at the end of a 'git fetch'
 313 command line:
 314
 315 ------------
 316 Linus, please pull from
 317
 318         git://git..../proj.git master
 319
 320 to get the following updates...
 321 ------------
 322
 323 becomes:
 324
 325 ------------
 326 $ git pull git://git..../proj.git master
 327 ------------
 328
 329 In such a case, you do not want to automatically follow the other
 330 person's tags.
 331
 332 One important aspect of Git is its distributed nature, which
 333 largely means there is no inherent "upstream" or
 334 "downstream" in the system.  On the face of it, the above
 335 example might seem to indicate that the tag namespace is owned
 336 by the upper echelon of people and that tags only flow downwards, but
 337 that is not the case.  It only shows that the usage pattern
 338 determines who are interested in whose tags.
 339
 340 A one-shot pull is a sign that a commit history is now crossing
 341 the boundary between one circle of people (e.g. "people who are
 342 primarily interested in the networking part of the kernel") who may
 343 have their own set of tags (e.g. "this is the third release
 344 candidate from the networking group to be proposed for general
 345 consumption with 2.6.21 release") to another circle of people
 346 (e.g. "people who integrate various subsystem improvements").
 347 The latter are usually not interested in the detailed tags used
 348 internally in the former group (that is what "internal" means).
 349 That is why it is desirable not to follow tags automatically in
 350 this case.
 351
 352 It may well be that among networking people, they may want to
 353 exchange the tags internal to their group, but in that workflow
 354 they are most likely tracking each other's progress by
 355 having remote-tracking branches.  Again, the heuristic to automatically
 356 follow such tags is a good thing.
 357
 358
 359 On Backdating Tags
 360 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 361
 362 If you have imported some changes from another VCS and would like
 363 to add tags for major releases of your work, it is useful to be able
 364 to specify the date to embed inside of the tag object; such data in
 365 the tag object affects, for example, the ordering of tags in the
 366 gitweb interface.
 367
 368 To set the date used in future tag objects, set the environment
 369 variable GIT_COMMITTER_DATE (see the later discussion of possible
 370 values; the most common form is "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM").
 371
 372 For example:
 373
 374 ------------
 375 $ GIT_COMMITTER_DATE="2006-10-02 10:31" git tag -s v1.0.1
 376 ------------
 377
 378 include::date-formats.txt[]
 379
 380 SEE ALSO
 381 --------
 382 linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1].
 383 linkgit:git-config[1].
 384
 385 GIT
 386 ---
 387 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite