Documentation / git-commit.txton commit rebase --rebase-merges: root commits can be cousins, too (8fa6eea)
   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+
 148The `-m` option is mutually exclusive with `-c`, `-C`, and `-F`.
 149
 150-t <file>::
 151--template=<file>::
 152        When editing the commit message, start the editor with the
 153        contents in the given file.  The `commit.template` configuration
 154        variable is often used to give this option implicitly to the
 155        command.  This mechanism can be used by projects that want to
 156        guide participants with some hints on what to write in the message
 157        in what order.  If the user exits the editor without editing the
 158        message, the commit is aborted.  This has no effect when a message
 159        is given by other means, e.g. with the `-m` or `-F` options.
 160
 161-s::
 162--signoff::
 163        Add Signed-off-by line by the committer at the end of the commit
 164        log message.  The meaning of a signoff depends on the project,
 165        but it typically certifies that committer has
 166        the rights to submit this work under the same license and
 167        agrees to a Developer Certificate of Origin
 168        (see http://developercertificate.org/ for more information).
 169
 170-n::
 171--no-verify::
 172        This option bypasses the pre-commit and commit-msg hooks.
 173        See also linkgit:githooks[5].
 174
 175--allow-empty::
 176        Usually recording a commit that has the exact same tree as its
 177        sole parent commit is a mistake, and the command prevents you
 178        from making such a commit.  This option bypasses the safety, and
 179        is primarily for use by foreign SCM interface scripts.
 180
 181--allow-empty-message::
 182       Like --allow-empty this command is primarily for use by foreign
 183       SCM interface scripts. It allows you to create a commit with an
 184       empty commit message without using plumbing commands like
 185       linkgit:git-commit-tree[1].
 186
 187--cleanup=<mode>::
 188        This option determines how the supplied commit message should be
 189        cleaned up before committing.  The '<mode>' can be `strip`,
 190        `whitespace`, `verbatim`, `scissors` or `default`.
 191+
 192--
 193strip::
 194        Strip leading and trailing empty lines, trailing whitespace,
 195        commentary and collapse consecutive empty lines.
 196whitespace::
 197        Same as `strip` except #commentary is not removed.
 198verbatim::
 199        Do not change the message at all.
 200scissors::
 201        Same as `whitespace` except that everything from (and including)
 202        the line found below is truncated, if the message is to be edited.
 203        "`#`" can be customized with core.commentChar.
 204
 205                # ------------------------ >8 ------------------------
 206
 207default::
 208        Same as `strip` if the message is to be edited.
 209        Otherwise `whitespace`.
 210--
 211+
 212The default can be changed by the `commit.cleanup` configuration
 213variable (see linkgit:git-config[1]).
 214
 215-e::
 216--edit::
 217        The message taken from file with `-F`, command line with
 218        `-m`, and from commit object with `-C` are usually used as
 219        the commit log message unmodified. This option lets you
 220        further edit the message taken from these sources.
 221
 222--no-edit::
 223        Use the selected commit message without launching an editor.
 224        For example, `git commit --amend --no-edit` amends a commit
 225        without changing its commit message.
 226
 227--amend::
 228        Replace the tip of the current branch by creating a new
 229        commit. The recorded tree is prepared as usual (including
 230        the effect of the `-i` and `-o` options and explicit
 231        pathspec), and the message from the original commit is used
 232        as the starting point, instead of an empty message, when no
 233        other message is specified from the command line via options
 234        such as `-m`, `-F`, `-c`, etc.  The new commit has the same
 235        parents and author as the current one (the `--reset-author`
 236        option can countermand this).
 237+
 238--
 239It is a rough equivalent for:
 240------
 241        $ git reset --soft HEAD^
 242        $ ... do something else to come up with the right tree ...
 243        $ git commit -c ORIG_HEAD
 244
 245------
 246but can be used to amend a merge commit.
 247--
 248+
 249You should understand the implications of rewriting history if you
 250amend a commit that has already been published.  (See the "RECOVERING
 251FROM UPSTREAM REBASE" section in linkgit:git-rebase[1].)
 252
 253--no-post-rewrite::
 254        Bypass the post-rewrite hook.
 255
 256-i::
 257--include::
 258        Before making a commit out of staged contents so far,
 259        stage the contents of paths given on the command line
 260        as well.  This is usually not what you want unless you
 261        are concluding a conflicted merge.
 262
 263-o::
 264--only::
 265        Make a commit by taking the updated working tree contents
 266        of the paths specified on the
 267        command line, disregarding any contents that have been
 268        staged for other paths. This is the default mode of operation of
 269        'git commit' if any paths are given on the command line,
 270        in which case this option can be omitted.
 271        If this option is specified together with `--amend`, then
 272        no paths need to be specified, which can be used to amend
 273        the last commit without committing changes that have
 274        already been staged. If used together with `--allow-empty`
 275        paths are also not required, and an empty commit will be created.
 276
 277-u[<mode>]::
 278--untracked-files[=<mode>]::
 279        Show untracked files.
 280+
 281The mode parameter is optional (defaults to 'all'), and is used to
 282specify the handling of untracked files; when -u is not used, the
 283default is 'normal', i.e. show untracked files and directories.
 284+
 285The possible options are:
 286+
 287        - 'no'     - Show no untracked files
 288        - 'normal' - Shows untracked files and directories
 289        - 'all'    - Also shows individual files in untracked directories.
 290+
 291The default can be changed using the status.showUntrackedFiles
 292configuration variable documented in linkgit:git-config[1].
 293
 294-v::
 295--verbose::
 296        Show unified diff between the HEAD commit and what
 297        would be committed at the bottom of the commit message
 298        template to help the user describe the commit by reminding
 299        what changes the commit has.
 300        Note that this diff output doesn't have its
 301        lines prefixed with '#'. This diff will not be a part
 302        of the commit message. See the `commit.verbose` configuration
 303        variable in linkgit:git-config[1].
 304+
 305If specified twice, show in addition the unified diff between
 306what would be committed and the worktree files, i.e. the unstaged
 307changes to tracked files.
 308
 309-q::
 310--quiet::
 311        Suppress commit summary message.
 312
 313--dry-run::
 314        Do not create a commit, but show a list of paths that are
 315        to be committed, paths with local changes that will be left
 316        uncommitted and paths that are untracked.
 317
 318--status::
 319        Include the output of linkgit:git-status[1] in the commit
 320        message template when using an editor to prepare the commit
 321        message.  Defaults to on, but can be used to override
 322        configuration variable commit.status.
 323
 324--no-status::
 325        Do not include the output of linkgit:git-status[1] in the
 326        commit message template when using an editor to prepare the
 327        default commit message.
 328
 329-S[<keyid>]::
 330--gpg-sign[=<keyid>]::
 331        GPG-sign commits. The `keyid` argument is optional and
 332        defaults to the committer identity; if specified, it must be
 333        stuck to the option without a space.
 334
 335--no-gpg-sign::
 336        Countermand `commit.gpgSign` configuration variable that is
 337        set to force each and every commit to be signed.
 338
 339\--::
 340        Do not interpret any more arguments as options.
 341
 342<file>...::
 343        When files are given on the command line, the command
 344        commits the contents of the named files, without
 345        recording the changes already staged.  The contents of
 346        these files are also staged for the next commit on top
 347        of what have been staged before.
 348
 349:git-commit: 1
 350include::date-formats.txt[]
 351
 352EXAMPLES
 353--------
 354When recording your own work, the contents of modified files in
 355your working tree are temporarily stored to a staging area
 356called the "index" with 'git add'.  A file can be
 357reverted back, only in the index but not in the working tree,
 358to that of the last commit with `git reset HEAD -- <file>`,
 359which effectively reverts 'git add' and prevents the changes to
 360this file from participating in the next commit.  After building
 361the state to be committed incrementally with these commands,
 362`git commit` (without any pathname parameter) is used to record what
 363has been staged so far.  This is the most basic form of the
 364command.  An example:
 365
 366------------
 367$ edit hello.c
 368$ git rm goodbye.c
 369$ git add hello.c
 370$ git commit
 371------------
 372
 373Instead of staging files after each individual change, you can
 374tell `git commit` to notice the changes to the files whose
 375contents are tracked in
 376your working tree and do corresponding `git add` and `git rm`
 377for you.  That is, this example does the same as the earlier
 378example if there is no other change in your working tree:
 379
 380------------
 381$ edit hello.c
 382$ rm goodbye.c
 383$ git commit -a
 384------------
 385
 386The command `git commit -a` first looks at your working tree,
 387notices that you have modified hello.c and removed goodbye.c,
 388and performs necessary `git add` and `git rm` for you.
 389
 390After staging changes to many files, you can alter the order the
 391changes are recorded in, by giving pathnames to `git commit`.
 392When pathnames are given, the command makes a commit that
 393only records the changes made to the named paths:
 394
 395------------
 396$ edit hello.c hello.h
 397$ git add hello.c hello.h
 398$ edit Makefile
 399$ git commit Makefile
 400------------
 401
 402This makes a commit that records the modification to `Makefile`.
 403The changes staged for `hello.c` and `hello.h` are not included
 404in the resulting commit.  However, their changes are not lost --
 405they are still staged and merely held back.  After the above
 406sequence, if you do:
 407
 408------------
 409$ git commit
 410------------
 411
 412this second commit would record the changes to `hello.c` and
 413`hello.h` as expected.
 414
 415After a merge (initiated by 'git merge' or 'git pull') stops
 416because of conflicts, cleanly merged
 417paths are already staged to be committed for you, and paths that
 418conflicted are left in unmerged state.  You would have to first
 419check which paths are conflicting with 'git status'
 420and after fixing them manually in your working tree, you would
 421stage the result as usual with 'git add':
 422
 423------------
 424$ git status | grep unmerged
 425unmerged: hello.c
 426$ edit hello.c
 427$ git add hello.c
 428------------
 429
 430After resolving conflicts and staging the result, `git ls-files -u`
 431would stop mentioning the conflicted path.  When you are done,
 432run `git commit` to finally record the merge:
 433
 434------------
 435$ git commit
 436------------
 437
 438As with the case to record your own changes, you can use `-a`
 439option to save typing.  One difference is that during a merge
 440resolution, you cannot use `git commit` with pathnames to
 441alter the order the changes are committed, because the merge
 442should be recorded as a single commit.  In fact, the command
 443refuses to run when given pathnames (but see `-i` option).
 444
 445
 446DISCUSSION
 447----------
 448
 449Though not required, it's a good idea to begin the commit message
 450with a single short (less than 50 character) line summarizing the
 451change, followed by a blank line and then a more thorough description.
 452The text up to the first blank line in a commit message is treated
 453as the commit title, and that title is used throughout Git.
 454For example, linkgit:git-format-patch[1] turns a commit into email, and it uses
 455the title on the Subject line and the rest of the commit in the body.
 456
 457include::i18n.txt[]
 458
 459ENVIRONMENT AND CONFIGURATION VARIABLES
 460---------------------------------------
 461The editor used to edit the commit log message will be chosen from the
 462`GIT_EDITOR` environment variable, the core.editor configuration variable, the
 463`VISUAL` environment variable, or the `EDITOR` environment variable (in that
 464order).  See linkgit:git-var[1] for details.
 465
 466HOOKS
 467-----
 468This command can run `commit-msg`, `prepare-commit-msg`, `pre-commit`,
 469`post-commit` and `post-rewrite` hooks.  See linkgit:githooks[5] for more
 470information.
 471
 472FILES
 473-----
 474
 475`$GIT_DIR/COMMIT_EDITMSG`::
 476        This file contains the commit message of a commit in progress.
 477        If `git commit` exits due to an error before creating a commit,
 478        any commit message that has been provided by the user (e.g., in
 479        an editor session) will be available in this file, but will be
 480        overwritten by the next invocation of `git commit`.
 481
 482SEE ALSO
 483--------
 484linkgit:git-add[1],
 485linkgit:git-rm[1],
 486linkgit:git-mv[1],
 487linkgit:git-merge[1],
 488linkgit:git-commit-tree[1]
 489
 490GIT
 491---
 492Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite