Documentation / git-send-email.txton commit git-send-email.txt: describe --compose better (01d3861)
   1git-send-email(1)
   2=================
   3
   4NAME
   5----
   6git-send-email - Send a collection of patches as emails
   7
   8
   9SYNOPSIS
  10--------
  11'git send-email' [options] <file|directory|rev-list options>...
  12
  13
  14DESCRIPTION
  15-----------
  16Takes the patches given on the command line and emails them out.
  17
  18The header of the email is configurable by command line options.  If not
  19specified on the command line, the user will be prompted with a ReadLine
  20enabled interface to provide the necessary information.
  21
  22There are two formats accepted for patch files:
  23
  241. mbox format files
  25+
  26This is what linkgit:git-format-patch[1] generates.  Most headers and MIME
  27formatting are ignored.
  28
  292. The original format used by Greg Kroah-Hartman's 'send_lots_of_email.pl'
  30script
  31+
  32This format expects the first line of the file to contain the "Cc:" value
  33and the "Subject:" of the message as the second line.
  34
  35
  36OPTIONS
  37-------
  38
  39Composing
  40~~~~~~~~~
  41
  42--bcc::
  43        Specify a "Bcc:" value for each email. Default is the value of
  44        'sendemail.bcc'.
  45+
  46The --bcc option must be repeated for each user you want on the bcc list.
  47
  48--cc::
  49        Specify a starting "Cc:" value for each email.
  50        Default is the value of 'sendemail.cc'.
  51+
  52The --cc option must be repeated for each user you want on the cc list.
  53
  54--annotate::
  55        Review each patch you're about to send in an editor. The setting
  56        'sendemail.multiedit' defines if this will spawn one editor per patch
  57        or one for all of them at once.
  58
  59--compose::
  60        Use $GIT_EDITOR, core.editor, $VISUAL, or $EDITOR to edit an
  61        introductory message for the patch series.
  62+
  63When '--compose' is used, git send-email will use the From, Subject, and
  64In-Reply-To headers specified in the message. If the body of the message
  65(what you type after the headers and a blank line) only contains blank
  66(or GIT: prefixed) lines the summary won't be sent, but From, Subject,
  67and In-Reply-To headers will be used unless they are removed.
  68+
  69Missing From or In-Reply-To headers will be prompted for.
  70
  71--from::
  72        Specify the sender of the emails.  This will default to
  73        the value GIT_COMMITTER_IDENT, as returned by "git var -l".
  74        The user will still be prompted to confirm this entry.
  75
  76--in-reply-to::
  77        Specify the contents of the first In-Reply-To header.
  78        Subsequent emails will refer to the previous email
  79        instead of this if --chain-reply-to is set (the default)
  80        Only necessary if --compose is also set.  If --compose
  81        is not set, this will be prompted for.
  82
  83--subject::
  84        Specify the initial subject of the email thread.
  85        Only necessary if --compose is also set.  If --compose
  86        is not set, this will be prompted for.
  87
  88--to::
  89        Specify the primary recipient of the emails generated. Generally, this
  90        will be the upstream maintainer of the project involved. Default is the
  91        value of the 'sendemail.to' configuration value; if that is unspecified,
  92        this will be prompted for.
  93+
  94The --to option must be repeated for each user you want on the to list.
  95
  96
  97Sending
  98~~~~~~~
  99
 100--envelope-sender::
 101        Specify the envelope sender used to send the emails.
 102        This is useful if your default address is not the address that is
 103        subscribed to a list. If you use the sendmail binary, you must have
 104        suitable privileges for the -f parameter. Default is the value of
 105        the 'sendemail.envelopesender' configuration variable; if that is
 106        unspecified, choosing the envelope sender is left to your MTA.
 107
 108--smtp-encryption::
 109        Specify the encryption to use, either 'ssl' or 'tls'.  Any other
 110        value reverts to plain SMTP.  Default is the value of
 111        'sendemail.smtpencryption'.
 112
 113--smtp-pass::
 114        Password for SMTP-AUTH. The argument is optional: If no
 115        argument is specified, then the empty string is used as
 116        the password. Default is the value of 'sendemail.smtppass',
 117        however '--smtp-pass' always overrides this value.
 118+
 119Furthermore, passwords need not be specified in configuration files
 120or on the command line. If a username has been specified (with
 121'--smtp-user' or a 'sendemail.smtpuser'), but no password has been
 122specified (with '--smtp-pass' or 'sendemail.smtppass'), then the
 123user is prompted for a password while the input is masked for privacy.
 124
 125--smtp-server::
 126        If set, specifies the outgoing SMTP server to use (e.g.
 127        `smtp.example.com` or a raw IP address).  Alternatively it can
 128        specify a full pathname of a sendmail-like program instead;
 129        the program must support the `-i` option.  Default value can
 130        be specified by the 'sendemail.smtpserver' configuration
 131        option; the built-in default is `/usr/sbin/sendmail` or
 132        `/usr/lib/sendmail` if such program is available, or
 133        `localhost` otherwise.
 134
 135--smtp-server-port::
 136        Specifies a port different from the default port (SMTP
 137        servers typically listen to smtp port 25 and ssmtp port
 138        465). This can be set with 'sendemail.smtpserverport'.
 139
 140--smtp-ssl::
 141        Legacy alias for '--smtp-encryption ssl'.
 142
 143--smtp-user::
 144        Username for SMTP-AUTH. Default is the value of 'sendemail.smtpuser';
 145        if a username is not specified (with '--smtp-user' or 'sendemail.smtpuser'),
 146        then authentication is not attempted.
 147
 148
 149Automating
 150~~~~~~~~~~
 151
 152--cc-cmd::
 153        Specify a command to execute once per patch file which
 154        should generate patch file specific "Cc:" entries.
 155        Output of this command must be single email address per line.
 156        Default is the value of 'sendemail.cccmd' configuration value.
 157
 158--[no-]chain-reply-to::
 159        If this is set, each email will be sent as a reply to the previous
 160        email sent.  If disabled with "--no-chain-reply-to", all emails after
 161        the first will be sent as replies to the first email sent.  When using
 162        this, it is recommended that the first file given be an overview of the
 163        entire patch series. Default is the value of the 'sendemail.chainreplyto'
 164        configuration value; if that is unspecified, default to --chain-reply-to.
 165
 166--identity::
 167        A configuration identity. When given, causes values in the
 168        'sendemail.<identity>' subsection to take precedence over
 169        values in the 'sendemail' section. The default identity is
 170        the value of 'sendemail.identity'.
 171
 172--[no-]signed-off-by-cc::
 173        If this is set, add emails found in Signed-off-by: or Cc: lines to the
 174        cc list. Default is the value of 'sendemail.signedoffbycc' configuration
 175        value; if that is unspecified, default to --signed-off-by-cc.
 176
 177--suppress-cc::
 178        Specify an additional category of recipients to suppress the
 179        auto-cc of:
 180+
 181--
 182- 'author' will avoid including the patch author
 183- 'self' will avoid including the sender
 184- 'cc' will avoid including anyone mentioned in Cc lines in the patch header
 185  except for self (use 'self' for that).
 186- 'ccbody' will avoid including anyone mentioned in Cc lines in the
 187  patch body (commit message) except for self (use 'self' for that).
 188- 'sob' will avoid including anyone mentioned in Signed-off-by lines except
 189   for self (use 'self' for that).
 190- 'cccmd' will avoid running the --cc-cmd.
 191- 'body' is equivalent to 'sob' + 'ccbody'
 192- 'all' will suppress all auto cc values.
 193--
 194+
 195Default is the value of 'sendemail.suppresscc' configuration value; if
 196that is unspecified, default to 'self' if --suppress-from is
 197specified, as well as 'body' if --no-signed-off-cc is specified.
 198
 199--[no-]suppress-from::
 200        If this is set, do not add the From: address to the cc: list.
 201        Default is the value of 'sendemail.suppressfrom' configuration
 202        value; if that is unspecified, default to --no-suppress-from.
 203
 204--[no-]thread::
 205        If this is set, the In-Reply-To header will be set on each email sent.
 206        If disabled with "--no-thread", no emails will have the In-Reply-To
 207        header set. Default is the value of the 'sendemail.thread' configuration
 208        value; if that is unspecified, default to --thread.
 209
 210
 211Administering
 212~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 213
 214--confirm::
 215        Confirm just before sending:
 216+
 217--
 218- 'always' will always confirm before sending
 219- 'never' will never confirm before sending
 220- 'cc' will confirm before sending when send-email has automatically
 221  added addresses from the patch to the Cc list
 222- 'compose' will confirm before sending the first message when using --compose.
 223- 'auto' is equivalent to 'cc' + 'compose'
 224--
 225+
 226Default is the value of 'sendemail.confirm' configuration value; if that
 227is unspecified, default to 'auto' unless any of the suppress options
 228have been specified, in which case default to 'compose'.
 229
 230--dry-run::
 231        Do everything except actually send the emails.
 232
 233--quiet::
 234        Make git-send-email less verbose.  One line per email should be
 235        all that is output.
 236
 237--[no-]validate::
 238        Perform sanity checks on patches.
 239        Currently, validation means the following:
 240+
 241--
 242                *       Warn of patches that contain lines longer than 998 characters; this
 243                        is due to SMTP limits as described by http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2821.txt.
 244--
 245+
 246Default is the value of 'sendemail.validate'; if this is not set,
 247default to '--validate'.
 248
 249--[no-]format-patch::
 250        When an argument may be understood either as a reference or as a file name,
 251        choose to understand it as a format-patch argument ('--format-patch')
 252        or as a file name ('--no-format-patch'). By default, when such a conflict
 253        occurs, git send-email will fail.
 254
 255
 256CONFIGURATION
 257-------------
 258
 259sendemail.aliasesfile::
 260        To avoid typing long email addresses, point this to one or more
 261        email aliases files.  You must also supply 'sendemail.aliasfiletype'.
 262
 263sendemail.aliasfiletype::
 264        Format of the file(s) specified in sendemail.aliasesfile. Must be
 265        one of 'mutt', 'mailrc', 'pine', or 'gnus'.
 266
 267sendemail.multiedit::
 268        If true (default), a single editor instance will be spawned to edit
 269        files you have to edit (patches when '--annotate' is used, and the
 270        summary when '--compose' is used). If false, files will be edited one
 271        after the other, spawning a new editor each time.
 272
 273sendemail.confirm::
 274        Sets the default for whether to confirm before sending. Must be
 275        one of 'always', 'never', 'cc', 'compose', or 'auto'. See '--confirm'
 276        in the previous section for the meaning of these values.
 277
 278
 279Author
 280------
 281Written by Ryan Anderson <ryan@michonline.com>
 282
 283git-send-email is originally based upon
 284send_lots_of_email.pl by Greg Kroah-Hartman.
 285
 286
 287Documentation
 288--------------
 289Documentation by Ryan Anderson
 290
 291
 292GIT
 293---
 294Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite