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 <key-id>] [-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         [--merged <commit>] [--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 <key-id>` 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 <key-id>`
  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 <key-id>` is used.  When `-u <key-id>` 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 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 <key-id>::
  76 --local-user=<key-id>::
  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 --omit-empty::
 135         Do not print a newline after formatted refs where the format expands
 136         to the empty string.
 137
 138 --column[=<options>]::
 139 --no-column::
 140         Display tag listing in columns. See configuration variable
 141         `column.tag` for option syntax. `--column` and `--no-column`
 142         without options are equivalent to 'always' and 'never' respectively.
 143 +
 144 This option is only applicable when listing tags without annotation lines.
 145
 146 --contains [<commit>]::
 147         Only list tags which contain the specified commit (HEAD if not
 148         specified). Implies `--list`.
 149
 150 --no-contains [<commit>]::
 151         Only list tags which don't contain the specified commit (HEAD if
 152         not specified). Implies `--list`.
 153
 154 --merged [<commit>]::
 155         Only list tags whose commits are reachable from the specified
 156         commit (`HEAD` if not specified).
 157
 158 --no-merged [<commit>]::
 159         Only list tags whose commits are not reachable from the specified
 160         commit (`HEAD` if not specified).
 161
 162 --points-at <object>::
 163         Only list tags of the given object (HEAD if not
 164         specified). Implies `--list`.
 165
 166 -m <msg>::
 167 --message=<msg>::
 168         Use the given tag message (instead of prompting).
 169         If multiple `-m` options are given, their values are
 170         concatenated as separate paragraphs.
 171         Implies `-a` if none of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <key-id>`
 172         is given.
 173
 174 -F <file>::
 175 --file=<file>::
 176         Take the tag message from the given file.  Use '-' to
 177         read the message from the standard input.
 178         Implies `-a` if none of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <key-id>`
 179         is given.
 180
 181 -e::
 182 --edit::
 183         The message taken from file with `-F` and command line with
 184         `-m` are usually used as the tag message unmodified.
 185         This option lets you further edit the message taken from these sources.
 186
 187 --cleanup=<mode>::
 188         This option sets how the tag message is cleaned up.
 189         The  '<mode>' can be one of 'verbatim', 'whitespace' and 'strip'.  The
 190         'strip' mode is default. The 'verbatim' mode does not change message at
 191         all, 'whitespace' removes just leading/trailing whitespace lines and
 192         'strip' removes both whitespace and commentary.
 193
 194 --create-reflog::
 195         Create a reflog for the tag. To globally enable reflogs for tags, see
 196         `core.logAllRefUpdates` in linkgit:git-config[1].
 197         The negated form `--no-create-reflog` only overrides an earlier
 198         `--create-reflog`, but currently does not negate the setting of
 199         `core.logAllRefUpdates`.
 200
 201 --format=<format>::
 202         A string that interpolates `%(fieldname)` from a tag ref being shown
 203         and the object it points at.  The format is the same as
 204         that of linkgit:git-for-each-ref[1].  When unspecified,
 205         defaults to `%(refname:strip=2)`.
 206
 207 <tagname>::
 208         The name of the tag to create, delete, or describe.
 209         The new tag name must pass all checks defined by
 210         linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1].  Some of these checks
 211         may restrict the characters allowed in a tag name.
 212
 213 <commit>::
 214 <object>::
 215         The object that the new tag will refer to, usually a commit.
 216         Defaults to HEAD.
 217
 218 CONFIGURATION
 219 -------------
 220 By default, 'git tag' in sign-with-default mode (-s) will use your
 221 committer identity (of the form `Your Name <your@email.address>`) to
 222 find a key.  If you want to use a different default key, you can specify
 223 it in the repository configuration as follows:
 224
 225 -------------------------------------
 226 [user]
 227     signingKey = <gpg-key-id>
 228 -------------------------------------
 229
 230 `pager.tag` is only respected when listing tags, i.e., when `-l` is
 231 used or implied. The default is to use a pager.
 232 See linkgit:git-config[1].
 233
 234 DISCUSSION
 235 ----------
 236
 237 On Re-tagging
 238 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 239
 240 What should you do when you tag a wrong commit and you would
 241 want to re-tag?
 242
 243 If you never pushed anything out, just re-tag it. Use "-f" to
 244 replace the old one. And you're done.
 245
 246 But if you have pushed things out (or others could just read
 247 your repository directly), then others will have already seen
 248 the old tag. In that case you can do one of two things:
 249
 250 . The sane thing.
 251   Just admit you screwed up, and use a different name. Others have
 252   already seen one tag-name, and if you keep the same name, you
 253   may be in the situation that two people both have "version X",
 254   but they actually have 'different' "X"'s.  So just call it "X.1"
 255   and be done with it.
 256
 257 . The insane thing.
 258   You really want to call the new version "X" too, 'even though'
 259   others have already seen the old one. So just use 'git tag -f'
 260   again, as if you hadn't already published the old one.
 261
 262 However, Git does *not* (and it should not) change tags behind
 263 users back. So if somebody already got the old tag, doing a
 264 'git pull' on your tree shouldn't just make them overwrite the old
 265 one.
 266
 267 If somebody got a release tag from you, you cannot just change
 268 the tag for them by updating your own one. This is a big
 269 security issue, in that people MUST be able to trust their
 270 tag-names.  If you really want to do the insane thing, you need
 271 to just fess up to it, and tell people that you messed up. You
 272 can do that by making a very public announcement saying:
 273
 274 ------------
 275 Ok, I messed up, and I pushed out an earlier version tagged as X. I
 276 then fixed something, and retagged the *fixed* tree as X again.
 277
 278 If you got the wrong tag, and want the new one, please delete
 279 the old one and fetch the new one by doing:
 280
 281         git tag -d X
 282         git fetch origin tag X
 283
 284 to get my updated tag.
 285
 286 You can test which tag you have by doing
 287
 288         git rev-parse X
 289
 290 which should return 0123456789abcdef.. if you have the new version.
 291
 292 Sorry for the inconvenience.
 293 ------------
 294
 295 Does this seem a bit complicated?  It *should* be. There is no
 296 way that it would be correct to just "fix" it automatically.
 297 People need to know that their tags might have been changed.
 298
 299
 300 On Automatic following
 301 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 302
 303 If you are following somebody else's tree, you are most likely
 304 using remote-tracking branches (eg. `refs/remotes/origin/master`).
 305 You usually want the tags from the other end.
 306
 307 On the other hand, if you are fetching because you would want a
 308 one-shot merge from somebody else, you typically do not want to
 309 get tags from there.  This happens more often for people near
 310 the toplevel but not limited to them.  Mere mortals when pulling
 311 from each other do not necessarily want to automatically get
 312 private anchor point tags from the other person.
 313
 314 Often, "please pull" messages on the mailing list just provide
 315 two pieces of information: a repo URL and a branch name; this
 316 is designed to be easily cut&pasted at the end of a 'git fetch'
 317 command line:
 318
 319 ------------
 320 Linus, please pull from
 321
 322         git://git..../proj.git master
 323
 324 to get the following updates...
 325 ------------
 326
 327 becomes:
 328
 329 ------------
 330 $ git pull git://git..../proj.git master
 331 ------------
 332
 333 In such a case, you do not want to automatically follow the other
 334 person's tags.
 335
 336 One important aspect of Git is its distributed nature, which
 337 largely means there is no inherent "upstream" or
 338 "downstream" in the system.  On the face of it, the above
 339 example might seem to indicate that the tag namespace is owned
 340 by the upper echelon of people and that tags only flow downwards, but
 341 that is not the case.  It only shows that the usage pattern
 342 determines who are interested in whose tags.
 343
 344 A one-shot pull is a sign that a commit history is now crossing
 345 the boundary between one circle of people (e.g. "people who are
 346 primarily interested in the networking part of the kernel") who may
 347 have their own set of tags (e.g. "this is the third release
 348 candidate from the networking group to be proposed for general
 349 consumption with 2.6.21 release") to another circle of people
 350 (e.g. "people who integrate various subsystem improvements").
 351 The latter are usually not interested in the detailed tags used
 352 internally in the former group (that is what "internal" means).
 353 That is why it is desirable not to follow tags automatically in
 354 this case.
 355
 356 It may well be that among networking people, they may want to
 357 exchange the tags internal to their group, but in that workflow
 358 they are most likely tracking each other's progress by
 359 having remote-tracking branches.  Again, the heuristic to automatically
 360 follow such tags is a good thing.
 361
 362
 363 On Backdating Tags
 364 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 365
 366 If you have imported some changes from another VCS and would like
 367 to add tags for major releases of your work, it is useful to be able
 368 to specify the date to embed inside of the tag object; such data in
 369 the tag object affects, for example, the ordering of tags in the
 370 gitweb interface.
 371
 372 To set the date used in future tag objects, set the environment
 373 variable GIT_COMMITTER_DATE (see the later discussion of possible
 374 values; the most common form is "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM").
 375
 376 For example:
 377
 378 ------------
 379 $ GIT_COMMITTER_DATE="2006-10-02 10:31" git tag -s v1.0.1
 380 ------------
 381
 382 include::date-formats.txt[]
 383
 384 FILES
 385 -----
 386
 387 `$GIT_DIR/TAG_EDITMSG`::
 388         This file contains the message of an in-progress annotated
 389         tag. If `git tag` exits due to an error before creating an
 390         annotated tag then the tag message that has been provided by the
 391         user in an editor session will be available in this file, but
 392         may be overwritten by the next invocation of `git tag`.
 393
 394 NOTES
 395 -----
 396
 397 include::ref-reachability-filters.txt[]
 398
 399 SEE ALSO
 400 --------
 401 linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1].
 402 linkgit:git-config[1].
 403
 404 GIT
 405 ---
 406 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite