Documentation / git-send-email.txton commit Merge branch 'maint-1.6.1' into maint (a2dc04b)
   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 gets less interactive will use the
  64values of the headers you set there. If the body of the email (what you type
  65after the headers and a blank line) only contains blank (or GIT: prefixed)
  66lines, the summary won't be sent, but git-send-email will still use the
  67Headers values if you don't removed them.
  68+
  69If it wasn't able to see a header in the summary it will ask you about it
  70interactively after quitting your editor.
  71
  72--from::
  73        Specify the sender of the emails.  This will default to
  74        the value GIT_COMMITTER_IDENT, as returned by "git var -l".
  75        The user will still be prompted to confirm this entry.
  76
  77--in-reply-to::
  78        Specify the contents of the first In-Reply-To header.
  79        Subsequent emails will refer to the previous email
  80        instead of this if --chain-reply-to is set (the default)
  81        Only necessary if --compose is also set.  If --compose
  82        is not set, this will be prompted for.
  83
  84--subject::
  85        Specify the initial subject of the email thread.
  86        Only necessary if --compose is also set.  If --compose
  87        is not set, this will be prompted for.
  88
  89--to::
  90        Specify the primary recipient of the emails generated. Generally, this
  91        will be the upstream maintainer of the project involved. Default is the
  92        value of the 'sendemail.to' configuration value; if that is unspecified,
  93        this will be prompted for.
  94+
  95The --to option must be repeated for each user you want on the to list.
  96
  97
  98Sending
  99~~~~~~~
 100
 101--envelope-sender::
 102        Specify the envelope sender used to send the emails.
 103        This is useful if your default address is not the address that is
 104        subscribed to a list. If you use the sendmail binary, you must have
 105        suitable privileges for the -f parameter. Default is the value of
 106        the 'sendemail.envelopesender' configuration variable; if that is
 107        unspecified, choosing the envelope sender is left to your MTA.
 108
 109--smtp-encryption::
 110        Specify the encryption to use, either 'ssl' or 'tls'.  Any other
 111        value reverts to plain SMTP.  Default is the value of
 112        'sendemail.smtpencryption'.
 113
 114--smtp-pass::
 115        Password for SMTP-AUTH. The argument is optional: If no
 116        argument is specified, then the empty string is used as
 117        the password. Default is the value of 'sendemail.smtppass',
 118        however '--smtp-pass' always overrides this value.
 119+
 120Furthermore, passwords need not be specified in configuration files
 121or on the command line. If a username has been specified (with
 122'--smtp-user' or a 'sendemail.smtpuser'), but no password has been
 123specified (with '--smtp-pass' or 'sendemail.smtppass'), then the
 124user is prompted for a password while the input is masked for privacy.
 125
 126--smtp-server::
 127        If set, specifies the outgoing SMTP server to use (e.g.
 128        `smtp.example.com` or a raw IP address).  Alternatively it can
 129        specify a full pathname of a sendmail-like program instead;
 130        the program must support the `-i` option.  Default value can
 131        be specified by the 'sendemail.smtpserver' configuration
 132        option; the built-in default is `/usr/sbin/sendmail` or
 133        `/usr/lib/sendmail` if such program is available, or
 134        `localhost` otherwise.
 135
 136--smtp-server-port::
 137        Specifies a port different from the default port (SMTP
 138        servers typically listen to smtp port 25 and ssmtp port
 139        465). This can be set with 'sendemail.smtpserverport'.
 140
 141--smtp-ssl::
 142        Legacy alias for '--smtp-encryption ssl'.
 143
 144--smtp-user::
 145        Username for SMTP-AUTH. Default is the value of 'sendemail.smtpuser';
 146        if a username is not specified (with '--smtp-user' or 'sendemail.smtpuser'),
 147        then authentication is not attempted.
 148
 149
 150Automating
 151~~~~~~~~~~
 152
 153--cc-cmd::
 154        Specify a command to execute once per patch file which
 155        should generate patch file specific "Cc:" entries.
 156        Output of this command must be single email address per line.
 157        Default is the value of 'sendemail.cccmd' configuration value.
 158
 159--[no-]chain-reply-to::
 160        If this is set, each email will be sent as a reply to the previous
 161        email sent.  If disabled with "--no-chain-reply-to", all emails after
 162        the first will be sent as replies to the first email sent.  When using
 163        this, it is recommended that the first file given be an overview of the
 164        entire patch series. Default is the value of the 'sendemail.chainreplyto'
 165        configuration value; if that is unspecified, default to --chain-reply-to.
 166
 167--identity::
 168        A configuration identity. When given, causes values in the
 169        'sendemail.<identity>' subsection to take precedence over
 170        values in the 'sendemail' section. The default identity is
 171        the value of 'sendemail.identity'.
 172
 173--[no-]signed-off-by-cc::
 174        If this is set, add emails found in Signed-off-by: or Cc: lines to the
 175        cc list. Default is the value of 'sendemail.signedoffbycc' configuration
 176        value; if that is unspecified, default to --signed-off-by-cc.
 177
 178--suppress-cc::
 179        Specify an additional category of recipients to suppress the
 180        auto-cc of:
 181+
 182--
 183- 'author' will avoid including the patch author
 184- 'self' will avoid including the sender
 185- 'cc' will avoid including anyone mentioned in Cc lines in the patch header
 186  except for self (use 'self' for that).
 187- 'ccbody' will avoid including anyone mentioned in Cc lines in the
 188  patch body (commit message) except for self (use 'self' for that).
 189- 'sob' will avoid including anyone mentioned in Signed-off-by lines except
 190   for self (use 'self' for that).
 191- 'cccmd' will avoid running the --cc-cmd.
 192- 'body' is equivalent to 'sob' + 'ccbody'
 193- 'all' will suppress all auto cc values.
 194--
 195+
 196Default is the value of 'sendemail.suppresscc' configuration value; if
 197that is unspecified, default to 'self' if --suppress-from is
 198specified, as well as 'body' if --no-signed-off-cc is specified.
 199
 200--[no-]suppress-from::
 201        If this is set, do not add the From: address to the cc: list.
 202        Default is the value of 'sendemail.suppressfrom' configuration
 203        value; if that is unspecified, default to --no-suppress-from.
 204
 205--[no-]thread::
 206        If this is set, the In-Reply-To header will be set on each email sent.
 207        If disabled with "--no-thread", no emails will have the In-Reply-To
 208        header set. Default is the value of the 'sendemail.thread' configuration
 209        value; if that is unspecified, default to --thread.
 210
 211
 212Administering
 213~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 214
 215--dry-run::
 216        Do everything except actually send the emails.
 217
 218--quiet::
 219        Make git-send-email less verbose.  One line per email should be
 220        all that is output.
 221
 222--[no-]validate::
 223        Perform sanity checks on patches.
 224        Currently, validation means the following:
 225+
 226--
 227                *       Warn of patches that contain lines longer than 998 characters; this
 228                        is due to SMTP limits as described by http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2821.txt.
 229--
 230+
 231Default is the value of 'sendemail.validate'; if this is not set,
 232default to '--validate'.
 233
 234--[no-]format-patch::
 235        When an argument may be understood either as a reference or as a file name,
 236        choose to understand it as a format-patch argument ('--format-patch')
 237        or as a file name ('--no-format-patch'). By default, when such a conflict
 238        occurs, git send-email will fail.
 239
 240
 241CONFIGURATION
 242-------------
 243
 244sendemail.aliasesfile::
 245        To avoid typing long email addresses, point this to one or more
 246        email aliases files.  You must also supply 'sendemail.aliasfiletype'.
 247
 248sendemail.aliasfiletype::
 249        Format of the file(s) specified in sendemail.aliasesfile. Must be
 250        one of 'mutt', 'mailrc', 'pine', or 'gnus'.
 251
 252sendemail.multiedit::
 253        If true (default), a single editor instance will be spawned to edit
 254        files you have to edit (patches when '--annotate' is used, and the
 255        summary when '--compose' is used). If false, files will be edited one
 256        after the other, spawning a new editor each time.
 257
 258
 259Author
 260------
 261Written by Ryan Anderson <ryan@michonline.com>
 262
 263git-send-email is originally based upon
 264send_lots_of_email.pl by Greg Kroah-Hartman.
 265
 266
 267Documentation
 268--------------
 269Documentation by Ryan Anderson
 270
 271
 272GIT
 273---
 274Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite