Documentation / git-commit.txton commit fast-import: duplicate into history rather than passing ownership (1ebec8d)
   1git-commit(1)
   2=============
   3
   4NAME
   5----
   6git-commit - Record changes to the repository
   7
   8SYNOPSIS
   9--------
  10[verse]
  11'git commit' [-a | --interactive | --patch] [-s] [-v] [-u<mode>] [--amend]
  12           [--dry-run] [(-c | -C | --fixup | --squash) <commit>]
  13           [-F <file> | -m <msg>] [--reset-author] [--allow-empty]
  14           [--allow-empty-message] [--no-verify] [-e] [--author=<author>]
  15           [--date=<date>] [--cleanup=<mode>] [--[no-]status]
  16           [-i | -o] [-S[<keyid>]] [--] [<file>...]
  17
  18DESCRIPTION
  19-----------
  20Create a new commit containing the current contents of the index and
  21the given log message describing the changes. The new commit is a
  22direct child of HEAD, usually the tip of the current branch, and the
  23branch is updated to point to it (unless no branch is associated with
  24the working tree, in which case HEAD is "detached" as described in
  25linkgit:git-checkout[1]).
  26
  27The content to be committed can be specified in several ways:
  28
  291. by using linkgit:git-add[1] to incrementally "add" changes to the
  30   index before using the 'commit' command (Note: even modified files
  31   must be "added");
  32
  332. by using linkgit:git-rm[1] to remove files from the working tree
  34   and the index, again before using the 'commit' command;
  35
  363. by listing files as arguments to the 'commit' command
  37   (without --interactive or --patch switch), in which
  38   case the commit will ignore changes staged in the index, and instead
  39   record the current content of the listed files (which must already
  40   be known to Git);
  41
  424. by using the -a switch with the 'commit' command to automatically
  43   "add" changes from all known files (i.e. all files that are already
  44   listed in the index) and to automatically "rm" files in the index
  45   that have been removed from the working tree, and then perform the
  46   actual commit;
  47
  485. by using the --interactive or --patch switches with the 'commit' command
  49   to decide one by one which files or hunks should be part of the commit
  50   in addition to contents in the index,
  51   before finalizing the operation. See the ``Interactive Mode'' section of
  52   linkgit:git-add[1] to learn how to operate these modes.
  53
  54The `--dry-run` option can be used to obtain a
  55summary of what is included by any of the above for the next
  56commit by giving the same set of parameters (options and paths).
  57
  58If you make a commit and then find a mistake immediately after
  59that, you can recover from it with 'git reset'.
  60
  61
  62OPTIONS
  63-------
  64-a::
  65--all::
  66        Tell the command to automatically stage files that have
  67        been modified and deleted, but new files you have not
  68        told Git about are not affected.
  69
  70-p::
  71--patch::
  72        Use the interactive patch selection interface to chose
  73        which changes to commit. See linkgit:git-add[1] for
  74        details.
  75
  76-C <commit>::
  77--reuse-message=<commit>::
  78        Take an existing commit object, and reuse the log message
  79        and the authorship information (including the timestamp)
  80        when creating the commit.
  81
  82-c <commit>::
  83--reedit-message=<commit>::
  84        Like '-C', but with `-c` the editor is invoked, so that
  85        the user can further edit the commit message.
  86
  87--fixup=<commit>::
  88        Construct a commit message for use with `rebase --autosquash`.
  89        The commit message will be the subject line from the specified
  90        commit with a prefix of "fixup! ".  See linkgit:git-rebase[1]
  91        for details.
  92
  93--squash=<commit>::
  94        Construct a commit message for use with `rebase --autosquash`.
  95        The commit message subject line is taken from the specified
  96        commit with a prefix of "squash! ".  Can be used with additional
  97        commit message options (`-m`/`-c`/`-C`/`-F`). See
  98        linkgit:git-rebase[1] for details.
  99
 100--reset-author::
 101        When used with -C/-c/--amend options, or when committing after a
 102        conflicting cherry-pick, declare that the authorship of the
 103        resulting commit now belongs to the committer. This also renews
 104        the author timestamp.
 105
 106--short::
 107        When doing a dry-run, give the output in the short-format. See
 108        linkgit:git-status[1] for details. Implies `--dry-run`.
 109
 110--branch::
 111        Show the branch and tracking info even in short-format.
 112
 113--porcelain::
 114        When doing a dry-run, give the output in a porcelain-ready
 115        format. See linkgit:git-status[1] for details. Implies
 116        `--dry-run`.
 117
 118--long::
 119        When doing a dry-run, give the output in the long-format.
 120        Implies `--dry-run`.
 121
 122-z::
 123--null::
 124        When showing `short` or `porcelain` status output, print the
 125        filename verbatim and terminate the entries with NUL, instead of LF.
 126        If no format is given, implies the `--porcelain` output format.
 127        Without the `-z` option, filenames with "unusual" characters are
 128        quoted as explained for the configuration variable `core.quotePath`
 129        (see linkgit:git-config[1]).
 130
 131-F <file>::
 132--file=<file>::
 133        Take the commit message from the given file.  Use '-' to
 134        read the message from the standard input.
 135
 136--author=<author>::
 137        Override the commit author. Specify an explicit author using the
 138        standard `A U Thor <author@example.com>` format. Otherwise <author>
 139        is assumed to be a pattern and is used to search for an existing
 140        commit by that author (i.e. rev-list --all -i --author=<author>);
 141        the commit author is then copied from the first such commit found.
 142
 143--date=<date>::
 144        Override the author date used in the commit.
 145
 146-m <msg>::
 147--message=<msg>::
 148        Use the given <msg> as the commit message.
 149        If multiple `-m` options are given, their values are
 150        concatenated as separate paragraphs.
 151+
 152The `-m` option is mutually exclusive with `-c`, `-C`, and `-F`.
 153
 154-t <file>::
 155--template=<file>::
 156        When editing the commit message, start the editor with the
 157        contents in the given file.  The `commit.template` configuration
 158        variable is often used to give this option implicitly to the
 159        command.  This mechanism can be used by projects that want to
 160        guide participants with some hints on what to write in the message
 161        in what order.  If the user exits the editor without editing the
 162        message, the commit is aborted.  This has no effect when a message
 163        is given by other means, e.g. with the `-m` or `-F` options.
 164
 165-s::
 166--signoff::
 167        Add Signed-off-by line by the committer at the end of the commit
 168        log message.  The meaning of a signoff depends on the project,
 169        but it typically certifies that committer has
 170        the rights to submit this work under the same license and
 171        agrees to a Developer Certificate of Origin
 172        (see http://developercertificate.org/ for more information).
 173
 174-n::
 175--no-verify::
 176        This option bypasses the pre-commit and commit-msg hooks.
 177        See also linkgit:githooks[5].
 178
 179--allow-empty::
 180        Usually recording a commit that has the exact same tree as its
 181        sole parent commit is a mistake, and the command prevents you
 182        from making such a commit.  This option bypasses the safety, and
 183        is primarily for use by foreign SCM interface scripts.
 184
 185--allow-empty-message::
 186       Like --allow-empty this command is primarily for use by foreign
 187       SCM interface scripts. It allows you to create a commit with an
 188       empty commit message without using plumbing commands like
 189       linkgit:git-commit-tree[1].
 190
 191--cleanup=<mode>::
 192        This option determines how the supplied commit message should be
 193        cleaned up before committing.  The '<mode>' can be `strip`,
 194        `whitespace`, `verbatim`, `scissors` or `default`.
 195+
 196--
 197strip::
 198        Strip leading and trailing empty lines, trailing whitespace,
 199        commentary and collapse consecutive empty lines.
 200whitespace::
 201        Same as `strip` except #commentary is not removed.
 202verbatim::
 203        Do not change the message at all.
 204scissors::
 205        Same as `whitespace` except that everything from (and including)
 206        the line found below is truncated, if the message is to be edited.
 207        "`#`" can be customized with core.commentChar.
 208
 209                # ------------------------ >8 ------------------------
 210
 211default::
 212        Same as `strip` if the message is to be edited.
 213        Otherwise `whitespace`.
 214--
 215+
 216The default can be changed by the `commit.cleanup` configuration
 217variable (see linkgit:git-config[1]).
 218
 219-e::
 220--edit::
 221        The message taken from file with `-F`, command line with
 222        `-m`, and from commit object with `-C` are usually used as
 223        the commit log message unmodified. This option lets you
 224        further edit the message taken from these sources.
 225
 226--no-edit::
 227        Use the selected commit message without launching an editor.
 228        For example, `git commit --amend --no-edit` amends a commit
 229        without changing its commit message.
 230
 231--amend::
 232        Replace the tip of the current branch by creating a new
 233        commit. The recorded tree is prepared as usual (including
 234        the effect of the `-i` and `-o` options and explicit
 235        pathspec), and the message from the original commit is used
 236        as the starting point, instead of an empty message, when no
 237        other message is specified from the command line via options
 238        such as `-m`, `-F`, `-c`, etc.  The new commit has the same
 239        parents and author as the current one (the `--reset-author`
 240        option can countermand this).
 241+
 242--
 243It is a rough equivalent for:
 244------
 245        $ git reset --soft HEAD^
 246        $ ... do something else to come up with the right tree ...
 247        $ git commit -c ORIG_HEAD
 248
 249------
 250but can be used to amend a merge commit.
 251--
 252+
 253You should understand the implications of rewriting history if you
 254amend a commit that has already been published.  (See the "RECOVERING
 255FROM UPSTREAM REBASE" section in linkgit:git-rebase[1].)
 256
 257--no-post-rewrite::
 258        Bypass the post-rewrite hook.
 259
 260-i::
 261--include::
 262        Before making a commit out of staged contents so far,
 263        stage the contents of paths given on the command line
 264        as well.  This is usually not what you want unless you
 265        are concluding a conflicted merge.
 266
 267-o::
 268--only::
 269        Make a commit by taking the updated working tree contents
 270        of the paths specified on the
 271        command line, disregarding any contents that have been
 272        staged for other paths. This is the default mode of operation of
 273        'git commit' if any paths are given on the command line,
 274        in which case this option can be omitted.
 275        If this option is specified together with `--amend`, then
 276        no paths need to be specified, which can be used to amend
 277        the last commit without committing changes that have
 278        already been staged. If used together with `--allow-empty`
 279        paths are also not required, and an empty commit will be created.
 280
 281-u[<mode>]::
 282--untracked-files[=<mode>]::
 283        Show untracked files.
 284+
 285The mode parameter is optional (defaults to 'all'), and is used to
 286specify the handling of untracked files; when -u is not used, the
 287default is 'normal', i.e. show untracked files and directories.
 288+
 289The possible options are:
 290+
 291        - 'no'     - Show no untracked files
 292        - 'normal' - Shows untracked files and directories
 293        - 'all'    - Also shows individual files in untracked directories.
 294+
 295The default can be changed using the status.showUntrackedFiles
 296configuration variable documented in linkgit:git-config[1].
 297
 298-v::
 299--verbose::
 300        Show unified diff between the HEAD commit and what
 301        would be committed at the bottom of the commit message
 302        template to help the user describe the commit by reminding
 303        what changes the commit has.
 304        Note that this diff output doesn't have its
 305        lines prefixed with '#'. This diff will not be a part
 306        of the commit message. See the `commit.verbose` configuration
 307        variable in linkgit:git-config[1].
 308+
 309If specified twice, show in addition the unified diff between
 310what would be committed and the worktree files, i.e. the unstaged
 311changes to tracked files.
 312
 313-q::
 314--quiet::
 315        Suppress commit summary message.
 316
 317--dry-run::
 318        Do not create a commit, but show a list of paths that are
 319        to be committed, paths with local changes that will be left
 320        uncommitted and paths that are untracked.
 321
 322--status::
 323        Include the output of linkgit:git-status[1] in the commit
 324        message template when using an editor to prepare the commit
 325        message.  Defaults to on, but can be used to override
 326        configuration variable commit.status.
 327
 328--no-status::
 329        Do not include the output of linkgit:git-status[1] in the
 330        commit message template when using an editor to prepare the
 331        default commit message.
 332
 333-S[<keyid>]::
 334--gpg-sign[=<keyid>]::
 335        GPG-sign commits. The `keyid` argument is optional and
 336        defaults to the committer identity; if specified, it must be
 337        stuck to the option without a space.
 338
 339--no-gpg-sign::
 340        Countermand `commit.gpgSign` configuration variable that is
 341        set to force each and every commit to be signed.
 342
 343\--::
 344        Do not interpret any more arguments as options.
 345
 346<file>...::
 347        When files are given on the command line, the command
 348        commits the contents of the named files, without
 349        recording the changes already staged.  The contents of
 350        these files are also staged for the next commit on top
 351        of what have been staged before.
 352
 353:git-commit: 1
 354include::date-formats.txt[]
 355
 356EXAMPLES
 357--------
 358When recording your own work, the contents of modified files in
 359your working tree are temporarily stored to a staging area
 360called the "index" with 'git add'.  A file can be
 361reverted back, only in the index but not in the working tree,
 362to that of the last commit with `git restore --staged <file>`,
 363which effectively reverts 'git add' and prevents the changes to
 364this file from participating in the next commit.  After building
 365the state to be committed incrementally with these commands,
 366`git commit` (without any pathname parameter) is used to record what
 367has been staged so far.  This is the most basic form of the
 368command.  An example:
 369
 370------------
 371$ edit hello.c
 372$ git rm goodbye.c
 373$ git add hello.c
 374$ git commit
 375------------
 376
 377Instead of staging files after each individual change, you can
 378tell `git commit` to notice the changes to the files whose
 379contents are tracked in
 380your working tree and do corresponding `git add` and `git rm`
 381for you.  That is, this example does the same as the earlier
 382example if there is no other change in your working tree:
 383
 384------------
 385$ edit hello.c
 386$ rm goodbye.c
 387$ git commit -a
 388------------
 389
 390The command `git commit -a` first looks at your working tree,
 391notices that you have modified hello.c and removed goodbye.c,
 392and performs necessary `git add` and `git rm` for you.
 393
 394After staging changes to many files, you can alter the order the
 395changes are recorded in, by giving pathnames to `git commit`.
 396When pathnames are given, the command makes a commit that
 397only records the changes made to the named paths:
 398
 399------------
 400$ edit hello.c hello.h
 401$ git add hello.c hello.h
 402$ edit Makefile
 403$ git commit Makefile
 404------------
 405
 406This makes a commit that records the modification to `Makefile`.
 407The changes staged for `hello.c` and `hello.h` are not included
 408in the resulting commit.  However, their changes are not lost --
 409they are still staged and merely held back.  After the above
 410sequence, if you do:
 411
 412------------
 413$ git commit
 414------------
 415
 416this second commit would record the changes to `hello.c` and
 417`hello.h` as expected.
 418
 419After a merge (initiated by 'git merge' or 'git pull') stops
 420because of conflicts, cleanly merged
 421paths are already staged to be committed for you, and paths that
 422conflicted are left in unmerged state.  You would have to first
 423check which paths are conflicting with 'git status'
 424and after fixing them manually in your working tree, you would
 425stage the result as usual with 'git add':
 426
 427------------
 428$ git status | grep unmerged
 429unmerged: hello.c
 430$ edit hello.c
 431$ git add hello.c
 432------------
 433
 434After resolving conflicts and staging the result, `git ls-files -u`
 435would stop mentioning the conflicted path.  When you are done,
 436run `git commit` to finally record the merge:
 437
 438------------
 439$ git commit
 440------------
 441
 442As with the case to record your own changes, you can use `-a`
 443option to save typing.  One difference is that during a merge
 444resolution, you cannot use `git commit` with pathnames to
 445alter the order the changes are committed, because the merge
 446should be recorded as a single commit.  In fact, the command
 447refuses to run when given pathnames (but see `-i` option).
 448
 449
 450DISCUSSION
 451----------
 452
 453Though not required, it's a good idea to begin the commit message
 454with a single short (less than 50 character) line summarizing the
 455change, followed by a blank line and then a more thorough description.
 456The text up to the first blank line in a commit message is treated
 457as the commit title, and that title is used throughout Git.
 458For example, linkgit:git-format-patch[1] turns a commit into email, and it uses
 459the title on the Subject line and the rest of the commit in the body.
 460
 461include::i18n.txt[]
 462
 463ENVIRONMENT AND CONFIGURATION VARIABLES
 464---------------------------------------
 465The editor used to edit the commit log message will be chosen from the
 466`GIT_EDITOR` environment variable, the core.editor configuration variable, the
 467`VISUAL` environment variable, or the `EDITOR` environment variable (in that
 468order).  See linkgit:git-var[1] for details.
 469
 470HOOKS
 471-----
 472This command can run `commit-msg`, `prepare-commit-msg`, `pre-commit`,
 473`post-commit` and `post-rewrite` hooks.  See linkgit:githooks[5] for more
 474information.
 475
 476FILES
 477-----
 478
 479`$GIT_DIR/COMMIT_EDITMSG`::
 480        This file contains the commit message of a commit in progress.
 481        If `git commit` exits due to an error before creating a commit,
 482        any commit message that has been provided by the user (e.g., in
 483        an editor session) will be available in this file, but will be
 484        overwritten by the next invocation of `git commit`.
 485
 486SEE ALSO
 487--------
 488linkgit:git-add[1],
 489linkgit:git-rm[1],
 490linkgit:git-mv[1],
 491linkgit:git-merge[1],
 492linkgit:git-commit-tree[1]
 493
 494GIT
 495---
 496Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite