Documentation / git-commit.txton commit The fourth batch post 2.14 (3dc57eb)
   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        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 the long-format.
 116        Implies `--dry-run`.
 117
 118-z::
 119--null::
 120        When showing `short` or `porcelain` status output, print the
 121        filename verbatim and terminate the entries with NUL, instead of LF.
 122        If no format is given, implies the `--porcelain` output format.
 123        Without the `-z` option, filenames with "unusual" characters are
 124        quoted as explained for the configuration variable `core.quotePath`
 125        (see linkgit:git-config[1]).
 126
 127-F <file>::
 128--file=<file>::
 129        Take the commit message from the given file.  Use '-' to
 130        read the message from the standard input.
 131
 132--author=<author>::
 133        Override the commit author. Specify an explicit author using the
 134        standard `A U Thor <author@example.com>` format. Otherwise <author>
 135        is assumed to be a pattern and is used to search for an existing
 136        commit by that author (i.e. rev-list --all -i --author=<author>);
 137        the commit author is then copied from the first such commit found.
 138
 139--date=<date>::
 140        Override the author date used in the commit.
 141
 142-m <msg>::
 143--message=<msg>::
 144        Use the given <msg> as the commit message.
 145        If multiple `-m` options are given, their values are
 146        concatenated as separate paragraphs.
 147
 148-t <file>::
 149--template=<file>::
 150        When editing the commit message, start the editor with the
 151        contents in the given file.  The `commit.template` configuration
 152        variable is often used to give this option implicitly to the
 153        command.  This mechanism can be used by projects that want to
 154        guide participants with some hints on what to write in the message
 155        in what order.  If the user exits the editor without editing the
 156        message, the commit is aborted.  This has no effect when a message
 157        is given by other means, e.g. with the `-m` or `-F` options.
 158
 159-s::
 160--signoff::
 161        Add Signed-off-by line by the committer at the end of the commit
 162        log message.  The meaning of a signoff depends on the project,
 163        but it typically certifies that committer has
 164        the rights to submit this work under the same license and
 165        agrees to a Developer Certificate of Origin
 166        (see http://developercertificate.org/ for more information).
 167
 168-n::
 169--no-verify::
 170        This option bypasses the pre-commit and commit-msg hooks.
 171        See also linkgit:githooks[5].
 172
 173--allow-empty::
 174        Usually recording a commit that has the exact same tree as its
 175        sole parent commit is a mistake, and the command prevents you
 176        from making such a commit.  This option bypasses the safety, and
 177        is primarily for use by foreign SCM interface scripts.
 178
 179--allow-empty-message::
 180       Like --allow-empty this command is primarily for use by foreign
 181       SCM interface scripts. It allows you to create a commit with an
 182       empty commit message without using plumbing commands like
 183       linkgit:git-commit-tree[1].
 184
 185--cleanup=<mode>::
 186        This option determines how the supplied commit message should be
 187        cleaned up before committing.  The '<mode>' can be `strip`,
 188        `whitespace`, `verbatim`, `scissors` or `default`.
 189+
 190--
 191strip::
 192        Strip leading and trailing empty lines, trailing whitespace,
 193        commentary and collapse consecutive empty lines.
 194whitespace::
 195        Same as `strip` except #commentary is not removed.
 196verbatim::
 197        Do not change the message at all.
 198scissors::
 199        Same as `whitespace` except that everything from (and including)
 200        the line found below is truncated, if the message is to be edited.
 201        "`#`" can be customized with core.commentChar.
 202
 203                # ------------------------ >8 ------------------------
 204
 205default::
 206        Same as `strip` if the message is to be edited.
 207        Otherwise `whitespace`.
 208--
 209+
 210The default can be changed by the `commit.cleanup` configuration
 211variable (see linkgit:git-config[1]).
 212
 213-e::
 214--edit::
 215        The message taken from file with `-F`, command line with
 216        `-m`, and from commit object with `-C` are usually used as
 217        the commit log message unmodified. This option lets you
 218        further edit the message taken from these sources.
 219
 220--no-edit::
 221        Use the selected commit message without launching an editor.
 222        For example, `git commit --amend --no-edit` amends a commit
 223        without changing its commit message.
 224
 225--amend::
 226        Replace the tip of the current branch by creating a new
 227        commit. The recorded tree is prepared as usual (including
 228        the effect of the `-i` and `-o` options and explicit
 229        pathspec), and the message from the original commit is used
 230        as the starting point, instead of an empty message, when no
 231        other message is specified from the command line via options
 232        such as `-m`, `-F`, `-c`, etc.  The new commit has the same
 233        parents and author as the current one (the `--reset-author`
 234        option can countermand this).
 235+
 236--
 237It is a rough equivalent for:
 238------
 239        $ git reset --soft HEAD^
 240        $ ... do something else to come up with the right tree ...
 241        $ git commit -c ORIG_HEAD
 242
 243------
 244but can be used to amend a merge commit.
 245--
 246+
 247You should understand the implications of rewriting history if you
 248amend a commit that has already been published.  (See the "RECOVERING
 249FROM UPSTREAM REBASE" section in linkgit:git-rebase[1].)
 250
 251--no-post-rewrite::
 252        Bypass the post-rewrite hook.
 253
 254-i::
 255--include::
 256        Before making a commit out of staged contents so far,
 257        stage the contents of paths given on the command line
 258        as well.  This is usually not what you want unless you
 259        are concluding a conflicted merge.
 260
 261-o::
 262--only::
 263        Make a commit by taking the updated working tree contents
 264        of the paths specified on the
 265        command line, disregarding any contents that have been
 266        staged for other paths. This is the default mode of operation of
 267        'git commit' if any paths are given on the command line,
 268        in which case this option can be omitted.
 269        If this option is specified together with `--amend`, then
 270        no paths need to be specified, which can be used to amend
 271        the last commit without committing changes that have
 272        already been staged. If used together with `--allow-empty`
 273        paths are also not required, and an empty commit will be created.
 274
 275-u[<mode>]::
 276--untracked-files[=<mode>]::
 277        Show untracked files.
 278+
 279The mode parameter is optional (defaults to 'all'), and is used to
 280specify the handling of untracked files; when -u is not used, the
 281default is 'normal', i.e. show untracked files and directories.
 282+
 283The possible options are:
 284+
 285        - 'no'     - Show no untracked files
 286        - 'normal' - Shows untracked files and directories
 287        - 'all'    - Also shows individual files in untracked directories.
 288+
 289The default can be changed using the status.showUntrackedFiles
 290configuration variable documented in linkgit:git-config[1].
 291
 292-v::
 293--verbose::
 294        Show unified diff between the HEAD commit and what
 295        would be committed at the bottom of the commit message
 296        template to help the user describe the commit by reminding
 297        what changes the commit has.
 298        Note that this diff output doesn't have its
 299        lines prefixed with '#'. This diff will not be a part
 300        of the commit message. See the `commit.verbose` configuration
 301        variable in linkgit:git-config[1].
 302+
 303If specified twice, show in addition the unified diff between
 304what would be committed and the worktree files, i.e. the unstaged
 305changes to tracked files.
 306
 307-q::
 308--quiet::
 309        Suppress commit summary message.
 310
 311--dry-run::
 312        Do not create a commit, but show a list of paths that are
 313        to be committed, paths with local changes that will be left
 314        uncommitted and paths that are untracked.
 315
 316--status::
 317        Include the output of linkgit:git-status[1] in the commit
 318        message template when using an editor to prepare the commit
 319        message.  Defaults to on, but can be used to override
 320        configuration variable commit.status.
 321
 322--no-status::
 323        Do not include the output of linkgit:git-status[1] in the
 324        commit message template when using an editor to prepare the
 325        default commit message.
 326
 327-S[<keyid>]::
 328--gpg-sign[=<keyid>]::
 329        GPG-sign commits. The `keyid` argument is optional and
 330        defaults to the committer identity; if specified, it must be
 331        stuck to the option without a space.
 332
 333--no-gpg-sign::
 334        Countermand `commit.gpgSign` configuration variable that is
 335        set to force each and every commit to be signed.
 336
 337\--::
 338        Do not interpret any more arguments as options.
 339
 340<file>...::
 341        When files are given on the command line, the command
 342        commits the contents of the named files, without
 343        recording the changes already staged.  The contents of
 344        these files are also staged for the next commit on top
 345        of what have been staged before.
 346
 347:git-commit: 1
 348include::date-formats.txt[]
 349
 350EXAMPLES
 351--------
 352When recording your own work, the contents of modified files in
 353your working tree are temporarily stored to a staging area
 354called the "index" with 'git add'.  A file can be
 355reverted back, only in the index but not in the working tree,
 356to that of the last commit with `git reset HEAD -- <file>`,
 357which effectively reverts 'git add' and prevents the changes to
 358this file from participating in the next commit.  After building
 359the state to be committed incrementally with these commands,
 360`git commit` (without any pathname parameter) is used to record what
 361has been staged so far.  This is the most basic form of the
 362command.  An example:
 363
 364------------
 365$ edit hello.c
 366$ git rm goodbye.c
 367$ git add hello.c
 368$ git commit
 369------------
 370
 371Instead of staging files after each individual change, you can
 372tell `git commit` to notice the changes to the files whose
 373contents are tracked in
 374your working tree and do corresponding `git add` and `git rm`
 375for you.  That is, this example does the same as the earlier
 376example if there is no other change in your working tree:
 377
 378------------
 379$ edit hello.c
 380$ rm goodbye.c
 381$ git commit -a
 382------------
 383
 384The command `git commit -a` first looks at your working tree,
 385notices that you have modified hello.c and removed goodbye.c,
 386and performs necessary `git add` and `git rm` for you.
 387
 388After staging changes to many files, you can alter the order the
 389changes are recorded in, by giving pathnames to `git commit`.
 390When pathnames are given, the command makes a commit that
 391only records the changes made to the named paths:
 392
 393------------
 394$ edit hello.c hello.h
 395$ git add hello.c hello.h
 396$ edit Makefile
 397$ git commit Makefile
 398------------
 399
 400This makes a commit that records the modification to `Makefile`.
 401The changes staged for `hello.c` and `hello.h` are not included
 402in the resulting commit.  However, their changes are not lost --
 403they are still staged and merely held back.  After the above
 404sequence, if you do:
 405
 406------------
 407$ git commit
 408------------
 409
 410this second commit would record the changes to `hello.c` and
 411`hello.h` as expected.
 412
 413After a merge (initiated by 'git merge' or 'git pull') stops
 414because of conflicts, cleanly merged
 415paths are already staged to be committed for you, and paths that
 416conflicted are left in unmerged state.  You would have to first
 417check which paths are conflicting with 'git status'
 418and after fixing them manually in your working tree, you would
 419stage the result as usual with 'git add':
 420
 421------------
 422$ git status | grep unmerged
 423unmerged: hello.c
 424$ edit hello.c
 425$ git add hello.c
 426------------
 427
 428After resolving conflicts and staging the result, `git ls-files -u`
 429would stop mentioning the conflicted path.  When you are done,
 430run `git commit` to finally record the merge:
 431
 432------------
 433$ git commit
 434------------
 435
 436As with the case to record your own changes, you can use `-a`
 437option to save typing.  One difference is that during a merge
 438resolution, you cannot use `git commit` with pathnames to
 439alter the order the changes are committed, because the merge
 440should be recorded as a single commit.  In fact, the command
 441refuses to run when given pathnames (but see `-i` option).
 442
 443
 444DISCUSSION
 445----------
 446
 447Though not required, it's a good idea to begin the commit message
 448with a single short (less than 50 character) line summarizing the
 449change, followed by a blank line and then a more thorough description.
 450The text up to the first blank line in a commit message is treated
 451as the commit title, and that title is used throughout Git.
 452For example, linkgit:git-format-patch[1] turns a commit into email, and it uses
 453the title on the Subject line and the rest of the commit in the body.
 454
 455include::i18n.txt[]
 456
 457ENVIRONMENT AND CONFIGURATION VARIABLES
 458---------------------------------------
 459The editor used to edit the commit log message will be chosen from the
 460`GIT_EDITOR` environment variable, the core.editor configuration variable, the
 461`VISUAL` environment variable, or the `EDITOR` environment variable (in that
 462order).  See linkgit:git-var[1] for details.
 463
 464HOOKS
 465-----
 466This command can run `commit-msg`, `prepare-commit-msg`, `pre-commit`,
 467`post-commit` and `post-rewrite` hooks.  See linkgit:githooks[5] for more
 468information.
 469
 470FILES
 471-----
 472
 473`$GIT_DIR/COMMIT_EDITMSG`::
 474        This file contains the commit message of a commit in progress.
 475        If `git commit` exits due to an error before creating a commit,
 476        any commit message that has been provided by the user (e.g., in
 477        an editor session) will be available in this file, but will be
 478        overwritten by the next invocation of `git commit`.
 479
 480SEE ALSO
 481--------
 482linkgit:git-add[1],
 483linkgit:git-rm[1],
 484linkgit:git-mv[1],
 485linkgit:git-merge[1],
 486linkgit:git-commit-tree[1]
 487
 488GIT
 489---
 490Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite