Documentation / git-commit.txton commit Merge branch 'mh/ref-remove-empty-directory' (3ad8b5b)
   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-----------
  20Stores the current contents of the index in a new commit along
  21with a log message from the user describing the changes.
  22
  23The content to be added can be specified in several ways:
  24
  251. by using 'git add' to incrementally "add" changes to the
  26   index before using the 'commit' command (Note: even modified
  27   files must be "added");
  28
  292. by using 'git rm' to remove files from the working tree
  30   and the index, again before using the 'commit' command;
  31
  323. by listing files as arguments to the 'commit' command
  33   (without --interactive or --patch switch), in which
  34   case the commit will ignore changes staged in the index, and instead
  35   record the current content of the listed files (which must already
  36   be known to Git);
  37
  384. by using the -a switch with the 'commit' command to automatically
  39   "add" changes from all known files (i.e. all files that are already
  40   listed in the index) and to automatically "rm" files in the index
  41   that have been removed from the working tree, and then perform the
  42   actual commit;
  43
  445. by using the --interactive or --patch switches with the 'commit' command
  45   to decide one by one which files or hunks should be part of the commit
  46   in addition to contents in the index,
  47   before finalizing the operation. See the ``Interactive Mode'' section of
  48   linkgit:git-add[1] to learn how to operate these modes.
  49
  50The `--dry-run` option can be used to obtain a
  51summary of what is included by any of the above for the next
  52commit by giving the same set of parameters (options and paths).
  53
  54If you make a commit and then find a mistake immediately after
  55that, you can recover from it with 'git reset'.
  56
  57
  58OPTIONS
  59-------
  60-a::
  61--all::
  62        Tell the command to automatically stage files that have
  63        been modified and deleted, but new files you have not
  64        told Git about are not affected.
  65
  66-p::
  67--patch::
  68        Use the interactive patch selection interface to chose
  69        which changes to commit. See linkgit:git-add[1] for
  70        details.
  71
  72-C <commit>::
  73--reuse-message=<commit>::
  74        Take an existing commit object, and reuse the log message
  75        and the authorship information (including the timestamp)
  76        when creating the commit.
  77
  78-c <commit>::
  79--reedit-message=<commit>::
  80        Like '-C', but with `-c` the editor is invoked, so that
  81        the user can further edit the commit message.
  82
  83--fixup=<commit>::
  84        Construct a commit message for use with `rebase --autosquash`.
  85        The commit message will be the subject line from the specified
  86        commit with a prefix of "fixup! ".  See linkgit:git-rebase[1]
  87        for details.
  88
  89--squash=<commit>::
  90        Construct a commit message for use with `rebase --autosquash`.
  91        The commit message subject line is taken from the specified
  92        commit with a prefix of "squash! ".  Can be used with additional
  93        commit message options (`-m`/`-c`/`-C`/`-F`). See
  94        linkgit:git-rebase[1] for details.
  95
  96--reset-author::
  97        When used with -C/-c/--amend options, or when committing after a
  98        a conflicting cherry-pick, declare that the authorship of the
  99        resulting commit now belongs to the committer. This also renews
 100        the author timestamp.
 101
 102--short::
 103        When doing a dry-run, give the output in the short-format. See
 104        linkgit:git-status[1] for details. Implies `--dry-run`.
 105
 106--branch::
 107        Show the branch and tracking info even in short-format.
 108
 109--porcelain::
 110        When doing a dry-run, give the output in a porcelain-ready
 111        format. See linkgit:git-status[1] for details. Implies
 112        `--dry-run`.
 113
 114--long::
 115        When doing a dry-run, give the output in a the long-format.
 116        Implies `--dry-run`.
 117
 118-z::
 119--null::
 120        When showing `short` or `porcelain` status output, terminate
 121        entries in the status output with NUL, instead of LF. If no
 122        format is given, implies the `--porcelain` output format.
 123
 124-F <file>::
 125--file=<file>::
 126        Take the commit message from the given file.  Use '-' to
 127        read the message from the standard input.
 128
 129--author=<author>::
 130        Override the commit author. Specify an explicit author using the
 131        standard `A U Thor <author@example.com>` format. Otherwise <author>
 132        is assumed to be a pattern and is used to search for an existing
 133        commit by that author (i.e. rev-list --all -i --author=<author>);
 134        the commit author is then copied from the first such commit found.
 135
 136--date=<date>::
 137        Override the author date used in the commit.
 138
 139-m <msg>::
 140--message=<msg>::
 141        Use the given <msg> as the commit message.
 142        If multiple `-m` options are given, their values are
 143        concatenated as separate paragraphs.
 144
 145-t <file>::
 146--template=<file>::
 147        When editing the commit message, start the editor with the
 148        contents in the given file.  The `commit.template` configuration
 149        variable is often used to give this option implicitly to the
 150        command.  This mechanism can be used by projects that want to
 151        guide participants with some hints on what to write in the message
 152        in what order.  If the user exits the editor without editing the
 153        message, the commit is aborted.  This has no effect when a message
 154        is given by other means, e.g. with the `-m` or `-F` options.
 155
 156-s::
 157--signoff::
 158        Add Signed-off-by line by the committer at the end of the commit
 159        log message.  The meaning of a signoff depends on the project,
 160        but it typically certifies that committer has
 161        the rights to submit this work under the same license and
 162        agrees to a Developer Certificate of Origin
 163        (see http://developercertificate.org/ for more information).
 164
 165-n::
 166--no-verify::
 167        This option bypasses the pre-commit and commit-msg hooks.
 168        See also linkgit:githooks[5].
 169
 170--allow-empty::
 171        Usually recording a commit that has the exact same tree as its
 172        sole parent commit is a mistake, and the command prevents you
 173        from making such a commit.  This option bypasses the safety, and
 174        is primarily for use by foreign SCM interface scripts.
 175
 176--allow-empty-message::
 177       Like --allow-empty this command is primarily for use by foreign
 178       SCM interface scripts. It allows you to create a commit with an
 179       empty commit message without using plumbing commands like
 180       linkgit:git-commit-tree[1].
 181
 182--cleanup=<mode>::
 183        This option determines how the supplied commit message should be
 184        cleaned up before committing.  The '<mode>' can be `strip`,
 185        `whitespace`, `verbatim`, `scissors` or `default`.
 186+
 187--
 188strip::
 189        Strip leading and trailing empty lines, trailing whitespace,
 190        commentary and collapse consecutive empty lines.
 191whitespace::
 192        Same as `strip` except #commentary is not removed.
 193verbatim::
 194        Do not change the message at all.
 195scissors::
 196        Same as `whitespace`, except that everything from (and
 197        including) the line
 198        "`# ------------------------ >8 ------------------------`"
 199        is truncated if the message is to be edited. "`#`" can be
 200        customized with core.commentChar.
 201default::
 202        Same as `strip` if the message is to be edited.
 203        Otherwise `whitespace`.
 204--
 205+
 206The default can be changed by the `commit.cleanup` configuration
 207variable (see linkgit:git-config[1]).
 208
 209-e::
 210--edit::
 211        The message taken from file with `-F`, command line with
 212        `-m`, and from commit object with `-C` are usually used as
 213        the commit log message unmodified. This option lets you
 214        further edit the message taken from these sources.
 215
 216--no-edit::
 217        Use the selected commit message without launching an editor.
 218        For example, `git commit --amend --no-edit` amends a commit
 219        without changing its commit message.
 220
 221--amend::
 222        Replace the tip of the current branch by creating a new
 223        commit. The recorded tree is prepared as usual (including
 224        the effect of the `-i` and `-o` options and explicit
 225        pathspec), and the message from the original commit is used
 226        as the starting point, instead of an empty message, when no
 227        other message is specified from the command line via options
 228        such as `-m`, `-F`, `-c`, etc.  The new commit has the same
 229        parents and author as the current one (the `--reset-author`
 230        option can countermand this).
 231+
 232--
 233It is a rough equivalent for:
 234------
 235        $ git reset --soft HEAD^
 236        $ ... do something else to come up with the right tree ...
 237        $ git commit -c ORIG_HEAD
 238
 239------
 240but can be used to amend a merge commit.
 241--
 242+
 243You should understand the implications of rewriting history if you
 244amend a commit that has already been published.  (See the "RECOVERING
 245FROM UPSTREAM REBASE" section in linkgit:git-rebase[1].)
 246
 247--no-post-rewrite::
 248        Bypass the post-rewrite hook.
 249
 250-i::
 251--include::
 252        Before making a commit out of staged contents so far,
 253        stage the contents of paths given on the command line
 254        as well.  This is usually not what you want unless you
 255        are concluding a conflicted merge.
 256
 257-o::
 258--only::
 259        Make a commit by taking the updated working tree contents
 260        of the paths specified on the
 261        command line, disregarding any contents that have been
 262        staged for other paths. This is the default mode of operation of
 263        'git commit' if any paths are given on the command line,
 264        in which case this option can be omitted.
 265        If this option is specified together with `--amend`, then
 266        no paths need to be specified, which can be used to amend
 267        the last commit without committing changes that have
 268        already been staged. If used together with `--allow-empty`
 269        paths are also not required, and an empty commit will be created.
 270
 271-u[<mode>]::
 272--untracked-files[=<mode>]::
 273        Show untracked files.
 274+
 275The mode parameter is optional (defaults to 'all'), and is used to
 276specify the handling of untracked files; when -u is not used, the
 277default is 'normal', i.e. show untracked files and directories.
 278+
 279The possible options are:
 280+
 281        - 'no'     - Show no untracked files
 282        - 'normal' - Shows untracked files and directories
 283        - 'all'    - Also shows individual files in untracked directories.
 284+
 285The default can be changed using the status.showUntrackedFiles
 286configuration variable documented in linkgit:git-config[1].
 287
 288-v::
 289--verbose::
 290        Show unified diff between the HEAD commit and what
 291        would be committed at the bottom of the commit message
 292        template to help the user describe the commit by reminding
 293        what changes the commit has.
 294        Note that this diff output doesn't have its
 295        lines prefixed with '#'. This diff will not be a part
 296        of the commit message. See the `commit.verbose` configuration
 297        variable in linkgit:git-config[1].
 298+
 299If specified twice, show in addition the unified diff between
 300what would be committed and the worktree files, i.e. the unstaged
 301changes to tracked files.
 302
 303-q::
 304--quiet::
 305        Suppress commit summary message.
 306
 307--dry-run::
 308        Do not create a commit, but show a list of paths that are
 309        to be committed, paths with local changes that will be left
 310        uncommitted and paths that are untracked.
 311
 312--status::
 313        Include the output of linkgit:git-status[1] in the commit
 314        message template when using an editor to prepare the commit
 315        message.  Defaults to on, but can be used to override
 316        configuration variable commit.status.
 317
 318--no-status::
 319        Do not include the output of linkgit:git-status[1] in the
 320        commit message template when using an editor to prepare the
 321        default commit message.
 322
 323-S[<keyid>]::
 324--gpg-sign[=<keyid>]::
 325        GPG-sign commits. The `keyid` argument is optional and
 326        defaults to the committer identity; if specified, it must be
 327        stuck to the option without a space.
 328
 329--no-gpg-sign::
 330        Countermand `commit.gpgSign` configuration variable that is
 331        set to force each and every commit to be signed.
 332
 333\--::
 334        Do not interpret any more arguments as options.
 335
 336<file>...::
 337        When files are given on the command line, the command
 338        commits the contents of the named files, without
 339        recording the changes already staged.  The contents of
 340        these files are also staged for the next commit on top
 341        of what have been staged before.
 342
 343:git-commit: 1
 344include::date-formats.txt[]
 345
 346EXAMPLES
 347--------
 348When recording your own work, the contents of modified files in
 349your working tree are temporarily stored to a staging area
 350called the "index" with 'git add'.  A file can be
 351reverted back, only in the index but not in the working tree,
 352to that of the last commit with `git reset HEAD -- <file>`,
 353which effectively reverts 'git add' and prevents the changes to
 354this file from participating in the next commit.  After building
 355the state to be committed incrementally with these commands,
 356`git commit` (without any pathname parameter) is used to record what
 357has been staged so far.  This is the most basic form of the
 358command.  An example:
 359
 360------------
 361$ edit hello.c
 362$ git rm goodbye.c
 363$ git add hello.c
 364$ git commit
 365------------
 366
 367Instead of staging files after each individual change, you can
 368tell `git commit` to notice the changes to the files whose
 369contents are tracked in
 370your working tree and do corresponding `git add` and `git rm`
 371for you.  That is, this example does the same as the earlier
 372example if there is no other change in your working tree:
 373
 374------------
 375$ edit hello.c
 376$ rm goodbye.c
 377$ git commit -a
 378------------
 379
 380The command `git commit -a` first looks at your working tree,
 381notices that you have modified hello.c and removed goodbye.c,
 382and performs necessary `git add` and `git rm` for you.
 383
 384After staging changes to many files, you can alter the order the
 385changes are recorded in, by giving pathnames to `git commit`.
 386When pathnames are given, the command makes a commit that
 387only records the changes made to the named paths:
 388
 389------------
 390$ edit hello.c hello.h
 391$ git add hello.c hello.h
 392$ edit Makefile
 393$ git commit Makefile
 394------------
 395
 396This makes a commit that records the modification to `Makefile`.
 397The changes staged for `hello.c` and `hello.h` are not included
 398in the resulting commit.  However, their changes are not lost --
 399they are still staged and merely held back.  After the above
 400sequence, if you do:
 401
 402------------
 403$ git commit
 404------------
 405
 406this second commit would record the changes to `hello.c` and
 407`hello.h` as expected.
 408
 409After a merge (initiated by 'git merge' or 'git pull') stops
 410because of conflicts, cleanly merged
 411paths are already staged to be committed for you, and paths that
 412conflicted are left in unmerged state.  You would have to first
 413check which paths are conflicting with 'git status'
 414and after fixing them manually in your working tree, you would
 415stage the result as usual with 'git add':
 416
 417------------
 418$ git status | grep unmerged
 419unmerged: hello.c
 420$ edit hello.c
 421$ git add hello.c
 422------------
 423
 424After resolving conflicts and staging the result, `git ls-files -u`
 425would stop mentioning the conflicted path.  When you are done,
 426run `git commit` to finally record the merge:
 427
 428------------
 429$ git commit
 430------------
 431
 432As with the case to record your own changes, you can use `-a`
 433option to save typing.  One difference is that during a merge
 434resolution, you cannot use `git commit` with pathnames to
 435alter the order the changes are committed, because the merge
 436should be recorded as a single commit.  In fact, the command
 437refuses to run when given pathnames (but see `-i` option).
 438
 439
 440DISCUSSION
 441----------
 442
 443Though not required, it's a good idea to begin the commit message
 444with a single short (less than 50 character) line summarizing the
 445change, followed by a blank line and then a more thorough description.
 446The text up to the first blank line in a commit message is treated
 447as the commit title, and that title is used throughout Git.
 448For example, linkgit:git-format-patch[1] turns a commit into email, and it uses
 449the title on the Subject line and the rest of the commit in the body.
 450
 451include::i18n.txt[]
 452
 453ENVIRONMENT AND CONFIGURATION VARIABLES
 454---------------------------------------
 455The editor used to edit the commit log message will be chosen from the
 456`GIT_EDITOR` environment variable, the core.editor configuration variable, the
 457`VISUAL` environment variable, or the `EDITOR` environment variable (in that
 458order).  See linkgit:git-var[1] for details.
 459
 460HOOKS
 461-----
 462This command can run `commit-msg`, `prepare-commit-msg`, `pre-commit`,
 463and `post-commit` hooks.  See linkgit:githooks[5] for more
 464information.
 465
 466FILES
 467-----
 468
 469`$GIT_DIR/COMMIT_EDITMSG`::
 470        This file contains the commit message of a commit in progress.
 471        If `git commit` exits due to an error before creating a commit,
 472        any commit message that has been provided by the user (e.g., in
 473        an editor session) will be available in this file, but will be
 474        overwritten by the next invocation of `git commit`.
 475
 476SEE ALSO
 477--------
 478linkgit:git-add[1],
 479linkgit:git-rm[1],
 480linkgit:git-mv[1],
 481linkgit:git-merge[1],
 482linkgit:git-commit-tree[1]
 483
 484GIT
 485---
 486Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite