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[git/git.git] / Documentation / git-format-patch.txt

git-format-patch(1)
===================

NAME
----
git-format-patch - Prepare patches for e-mail submission


SYNOPSIS
--------
[verse]
'git-format-patch' [-k] [-o <dir> | --stdout] [--thread]
		   [--attach[=<boundary>] | --inline[=<boundary>]]
		   [-s | --signoff] [<common diff options>]
		   [-n | --numbered | -N | --no-numbered]
		   [--start-number <n>] [--numbered-files]
		   [--in-reply-to=Message-Id] [--suffix=.<sfx>]
		   [--ignore-if-in-upstream]
		   [--subject-prefix=Subject-Prefix]
		   [--cover-letter]
		   [ <since> | <revision range> ]

DESCRIPTION
-----------

Prepare each commit with its patch in
one file per commit, formatted to resemble UNIX mailbox format.
The output of this command is convenient for e-mail submission or
for use with linkgit:git-am[1].

There are two ways to specify which commits to operate on.

1. A single commit, <since>, specifies that the commits leading
   to the tip of the current branch that are not in the history
   that leads to the <since> to be output.

2. Generic <revision range> expression (see "SPECIFYING
   REVISIONS" section in linkgit:git-rev-parse[1]) means the
   commits in the specified range.

A single commit, when interpreted as a <revision range>
expression, means "everything that leads to that commit", but
if you write 'git format-patch <commit>', the previous rule
applies to that command line and you do not get "everything
since the beginning of the time".  If you want to format
everything since project inception to one commit, say "git
format-patch \--root <commit>" to make it clear that it is the
latter case.

By default, each output file is numbered sequentially from 1, and uses the
first line of the commit message (massaged for pathname safety) as
the filename. With the --numbered-files option, the output file names
will only be numbers, without the first line of the commit appended.
The names of the output files are printed to standard
output, unless the --stdout option is specified.

If -o is specified, output files are created in <dir>.  Otherwise
they are created in the current working directory.

If -n is specified, instead of "[PATCH] Subject", the first line
is formatted as "[PATCH n/m] Subject".

If given --thread, git-format-patch will generate In-Reply-To and
References headers to make the second and subsequent patch mails appear
as replies to the first mail; this also generates a Message-Id header to
reference.

OPTIONS
-------
:git-format-patch: 1
include::diff-options.txt[]

-<n>::
	Limits the number of patches to prepare.

-o|--output-directory <dir>::
	Use <dir> to store the resulting files, instead of the
	current working directory.

-n|--numbered::
	Name output in '[PATCH n/m]' format.

-N|--no-numbered::
	Name output in '[PATCH]' format.

--start-number <n>::
	Start numbering the patches at <n> instead of 1.

--numbered-files::
	Output file names will be a simple number sequence
	without the default first line of the commit appended.
	Mutually exclusive with the --stdout option.

-k|--keep-subject::
	Do not strip/add '[PATCH]' from the first line of the
	commit log message.

-s|--signoff::
	Add `Signed-off-by:` line to the commit message, using
	the committer identity of yourself.

--stdout::
	Print all commits to the standard output in mbox format,
	instead of creating a file for each one.

--attach[=<boundary>]::
	Create multipart/mixed attachment, the first part of
	which is the commit message and the patch itself in the
	second part, with "Content-Disposition: attachment".

--inline[=<boundary>]::
	Create multipart/mixed attachment, the first part of
	which is the commit message and the patch itself in the
	second part, with "Content-Disposition: inline".

--thread::
	Add In-Reply-To and References headers to make the second and
	subsequent mails appear as replies to the first.  Also generates
	the Message-Id header to reference.

--in-reply-to=Message-Id::
	Make the first mail (or all the mails with --no-thread) appear as a
	reply to the given Message-Id, which avoids breaking threads to
	provide a new patch series.

--ignore-if-in-upstream::
	Do not include a patch that matches a commit in
	<until>..<since>.  This will examine all patches reachable
	from <since> but not from <until> and compare them with the
	patches being generated, and any patch that matches is
	ignored.

--subject-prefix=<Subject-Prefix>::
	Instead of the standard '[PATCH]' prefix in the subject
	line, instead use '[<Subject-Prefix>]'. This
	allows for useful naming of a patch series, and can be
	combined with the --numbered option.

--cover-letter::
	Generate a cover letter template.  You still have to fill in
	a description, but the shortlog and the diffstat will be
	generated for you.

--suffix=.<sfx>::
	Instead of using `.patch` as the suffix for generated
	filenames, use specified suffix.  A common alternative is
	`--suffix=.txt`.
+
Note that you would need to include the leading dot `.` if you
want a filename like `0001-description-of-my-change.patch`, and
the first letter does not have to be a dot.  Leaving it empty would
not add any suffix.

CONFIGURATION
-------------
You can specify extra mail header lines to be added to each message
in the repository configuration, new defaults for the subject prefix
and file suffix, and number patches when outputting more than one.

------------
[format]
        headers = "Organization: git-foo\n"
        subjectprefix = CHANGE
        suffix = .txt
        numbered = auto
------------


EXAMPLES
--------

git-format-patch -k --stdout R1..R2 | git-am -3 -k::
	Extract commits between revisions R1 and R2, and apply
	them on top of the current branch using `git-am` to
	cherry-pick them.

git-format-patch origin::
	Extract all commits which are in the current branch but
	not in the origin branch.  For each commit a separate file
	is created in the current directory.

git-format-patch \--root origin::
	Extract all commits that lead to 'origin' since the
	inception of the project.

git-format-patch -M -B origin::
	The same as the previous one.  Additionally, it detects
	and handles renames and complete rewrites intelligently to
	produce a renaming patch.  A renaming patch reduces the
	amount of text output, and generally makes it easier to
	review it.  Note that the "patch" program does not
	understand renaming patches, so use it only when you know
	the recipient uses git to apply your patch.

git-format-patch -3::
	Extract three topmost commits from the current branch
	and format them as e-mailable patches.

See Also
--------
linkgit:git-am[1], linkgit:git-send-email[1]


Author
------
Written by Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net>

Documentation
--------------
Documentation by Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.

GIT
---
Part of the linkgit:git[7] suite