Documentation / git-add.txton commit Merge branch 'da/mergetool-trust-exit-code' into maint (b3dac9c)
   1git-add(1)
   2==========
   3
   4NAME
   5----
   6git-add - Add file contents to the index
   7
   8SYNOPSIS
   9--------
  10[verse]
  11'git add' [--verbose | -v] [--dry-run | -n] [--force | -f] [--interactive | -i] [--patch | -p]
  12          [--edit | -e] [--[no-]all | --[no-]ignore-removal | [--update | -u]]
  13          [--intent-to-add | -N] [--refresh] [--ignore-errors] [--ignore-missing]
  14          [--chmod=(+|-)x] [--] [<pathspec>...]
  15
  16DESCRIPTION
  17-----------
  18This command updates the index using the current content found in
  19the working tree, to prepare the content staged for the next commit.
  20It typically adds the current content of existing paths as a whole,
  21but with some options it can also be used to add content with
  22only part of the changes made to the working tree files applied, or
  23remove paths that do not exist in the working tree anymore.
  24
  25The "index" holds a snapshot of the content of the working tree, and it
  26is this snapshot that is taken as the contents of the next commit.  Thus
  27after making any changes to the working tree, and before running
  28the commit command, you must use the `add` command to add any new or
  29modified files to the index.
  30
  31This command can be performed multiple times before a commit.  It only
  32adds the content of the specified file(s) at the time the add command is
  33run; if you want subsequent changes included in the next commit, then
  34you must run `git add` again to add the new content to the index.
  35
  36The `git status` command can be used to obtain a summary of which
  37files have changes that are staged for the next commit.
  38
  39The `git add` command will not add ignored files by default.  If any
  40ignored files were explicitly specified on the command line, `git add`
  41will fail with a list of ignored files.  Ignored files reached by
  42directory recursion or filename globbing performed by Git (quote your
  43globs before the shell) will be silently ignored.  The 'git add' command can
  44be used to add ignored files with the `-f` (force) option.
  45
  46Please see linkgit:git-commit[1] for alternative ways to add content to a
  47commit.
  48
  49
  50OPTIONS
  51-------
  52<pathspec>...::
  53        Files to add content from.  Fileglobs (e.g. `*.c`) can
  54        be given to add all matching files.  Also a
  55        leading directory name (e.g. `dir` to add `dir/file1`
  56        and `dir/file2`) can be given to update the index to
  57        match the current state of the directory as a whole (e.g.
  58        specifying `dir` will record not just a file `dir/file1`
  59        modified in the working tree, a file `dir/file2` added to
  60        the working tree, but also a file `dir/file3` removed from
  61        the working tree.  Note that older versions of Git used
  62        to ignore removed files; use `--no-all` option if you want
  63        to add modified or new files but ignore removed ones.
  64
  65-n::
  66--dry-run::
  67        Don't actually add the file(s), just show if they exist and/or will
  68        be ignored.
  69
  70-v::
  71--verbose::
  72        Be verbose.
  73
  74-f::
  75--force::
  76        Allow adding otherwise ignored files.
  77
  78-i::
  79--interactive::
  80        Add modified contents in the working tree interactively to
  81        the index. Optional path arguments may be supplied to limit
  82        operation to a subset of the working tree. See ``Interactive
  83        mode'' for details.
  84
  85-p::
  86--patch::
  87        Interactively choose hunks of patch between the index and the
  88        work tree and add them to the index. This gives the user a chance
  89        to review the difference before adding modified contents to the
  90        index.
  91+
  92This effectively runs `add --interactive`, but bypasses the
  93initial command menu and directly jumps to the `patch` subcommand.
  94See ``Interactive mode'' for details.
  95
  96-e::
  97--edit::
  98        Open the diff vs. the index in an editor and let the user
  99        edit it.  After the editor was closed, adjust the hunk headers
 100        and apply the patch to the index.
 101+
 102The intent of this option is to pick and choose lines of the patch to
 103apply, or even to modify the contents of lines to be staged. This can be
 104quicker and more flexible than using the interactive hunk selector.
 105However, it is easy to confuse oneself and create a patch that does not
 106apply to the index. See EDITING PATCHES below.
 107
 108-u::
 109--update::
 110        Update the index just where it already has an entry matching
 111        <pathspec>.  This removes as well as modifies index entries to
 112        match the working tree, but adds no new files.
 113+
 114If no <pathspec> is given when `-u` option is used, all
 115tracked files in the entire working tree are updated (old versions
 116of Git used to limit the update to the current directory and its
 117subdirectories).
 118
 119-A::
 120--all::
 121--no-ignore-removal::
 122        Update the index not only where the working tree has a file
 123        matching <pathspec> but also where the index already has an
 124        entry.  This adds, modifies, and removes index entries to
 125        match the working tree.
 126+
 127If no <pathspec> is given when `-A` option is used, all
 128files in the entire working tree are updated (old versions
 129of Git used to limit the update to the current directory and its
 130subdirectories).
 131
 132--no-all::
 133--ignore-removal::
 134        Update the index by adding new files that are unknown to the
 135        index and files modified in the working tree, but ignore
 136        files that have been removed from the working tree.  This
 137        option is a no-op when no <pathspec> is used.
 138+
 139This option is primarily to help users who are used to older
 140versions of Git, whose "git add <pathspec>..." was a synonym
 141for "git add --no-all <pathspec>...", i.e. ignored removed files.
 142
 143-N::
 144--intent-to-add::
 145        Record only the fact that the path will be added later. An entry
 146        for the path is placed in the index with no content. This is
 147        useful for, among other things, showing the unstaged content of
 148        such files with `git diff` and committing them with `git commit
 149        -a`.
 150
 151--refresh::
 152        Don't add the file(s), but only refresh their stat()
 153        information in the index.
 154
 155--ignore-errors::
 156        If some files could not be added because of errors indexing
 157        them, do not abort the operation, but continue adding the
 158        others. The command shall still exit with non-zero status.
 159        The configuration variable `add.ignoreErrors` can be set to
 160        true to make this the default behaviour.
 161
 162--ignore-missing::
 163        This option can only be used together with --dry-run. By using
 164        this option the user can check if any of the given files would
 165        be ignored, no matter if they are already present in the work
 166        tree or not.
 167
 168--chmod=(+|-)x::
 169        Override the executable bit of the added files.  The executable
 170        bit is only changed in the index, the files on disk are left
 171        unchanged.
 172
 173\--::
 174        This option can be used to separate command-line options from
 175        the list of files, (useful when filenames might be mistaken
 176        for command-line options).
 177
 178
 179Configuration
 180-------------
 181
 182The optional configuration variable `core.excludesFile` indicates a path to a
 183file containing patterns of file names to exclude from git-add, similar to
 184$GIT_DIR/info/exclude.  Patterns in the exclude file are used in addition to
 185those in info/exclude.  See linkgit:gitignore[5].
 186
 187
 188EXAMPLES
 189--------
 190
 191* Adds content from all `*.txt` files under `Documentation` directory
 192and its subdirectories:
 193+
 194------------
 195$ git add Documentation/\*.txt
 196------------
 197+
 198Note that the asterisk `*` is quoted from the shell in this
 199example; this lets the command include the files from
 200subdirectories of `Documentation/` directory.
 201
 202* Considers adding content from all git-*.sh scripts:
 203+
 204------------
 205$ git add git-*.sh
 206------------
 207+
 208Because this example lets the shell expand the asterisk (i.e. you are
 209listing the files explicitly), it does not consider
 210`subdir/git-foo.sh`.
 211
 212Interactive mode
 213----------------
 214When the command enters the interactive mode, it shows the
 215output of the 'status' subcommand, and then goes into its
 216interactive command loop.
 217
 218The command loop shows the list of subcommands available, and
 219gives a prompt "What now> ".  In general, when the prompt ends
 220with a single '>', you can pick only one of the choices given
 221and type return, like this:
 222
 223------------
 224    *** Commands ***
 225      1: status       2: update       3: revert       4: add untracked
 226      5: patch        6: diff         7: quit         8: help
 227    What now> 1
 228------------
 229
 230You also could say `s` or `sta` or `status` above as long as the
 231choice is unique.
 232
 233The main command loop has 6 subcommands (plus help and quit).
 234
 235status::
 236
 237   This shows the change between HEAD and index (i.e. what will be
 238   committed if you say `git commit`), and between index and
 239   working tree files (i.e. what you could stage further before
 240   `git commit` using `git add`) for each path.  A sample output
 241   looks like this:
 242+
 243------------
 244              staged     unstaged path
 245     1:       binary      nothing foo.png
 246     2:     +403/-35        +1/-1 git-add--interactive.perl
 247------------
 248+
 249It shows that foo.png has differences from HEAD (but that is
 250binary so line count cannot be shown) and there is no
 251difference between indexed copy and the working tree
 252version (if the working tree version were also different,
 253'binary' would have been shown in place of 'nothing').  The
 254other file, git-add{litdd}interactive.perl, has 403 lines added
 255and 35 lines deleted if you commit what is in the index, but
 256working tree file has further modifications (one addition and
 257one deletion).
 258
 259update::
 260
 261   This shows the status information and issues an "Update>>"
 262   prompt.  When the prompt ends with double '>>', you can
 263   make more than one selection, concatenated with whitespace or
 264   comma.  Also you can say ranges.  E.g. "2-5 7,9" to choose
 265   2,3,4,5,7,9 from the list.  If the second number in a range is
 266   omitted, all remaining patches are taken.  E.g. "7-" to choose
 267   7,8,9 from the list.  You can say '*' to choose everything.
 268+
 269What you chose are then highlighted with '*',
 270like this:
 271+
 272------------
 273           staged     unstaged path
 274  1:       binary      nothing foo.png
 275* 2:     +403/-35        +1/-1 git-add--interactive.perl
 276------------
 277+
 278To remove selection, prefix the input with `-`
 279like this:
 280+
 281------------
 282Update>> -2
 283------------
 284+
 285After making the selection, answer with an empty line to stage the
 286contents of working tree files for selected paths in the index.
 287
 288revert::
 289
 290  This has a very similar UI to 'update', and the staged
 291  information for selected paths are reverted to that of the
 292  HEAD version.  Reverting new paths makes them untracked.
 293
 294add untracked::
 295
 296  This has a very similar UI to 'update' and
 297  'revert', and lets you add untracked paths to the index.
 298
 299patch::
 300
 301  This lets you choose one path out of a 'status' like selection.
 302  After choosing the path, it presents the diff between the index
 303  and the working tree file and asks you if you want to stage
 304  the change of each hunk.  You can select one of the following
 305  options and type return:
 306
 307       y - stage this hunk
 308       n - do not stage this hunk
 309       q - quit; do not stage this hunk or any of the remaining ones
 310       a - stage this hunk and all later hunks in the file
 311       d - do not stage this hunk or any of the later hunks in the file
 312       g - select a hunk to go to
 313       / - search for a hunk matching the given regex
 314       j - leave this hunk undecided, see next undecided hunk
 315       J - leave this hunk undecided, see next hunk
 316       k - leave this hunk undecided, see previous undecided hunk
 317       K - leave this hunk undecided, see previous hunk
 318       s - split the current hunk into smaller hunks
 319       e - manually edit the current hunk
 320       ? - print help
 321+
 322After deciding the fate for all hunks, if there is any hunk
 323that was chosen, the index is updated with the selected hunks.
 324+
 325You can omit having to type return here, by setting the configuration
 326variable `interactive.singleKey` to `true`.
 327
 328diff::
 329
 330  This lets you review what will be committed (i.e. between
 331  HEAD and index).
 332
 333
 334EDITING PATCHES
 335---------------
 336
 337Invoking `git add -e` or selecting `e` from the interactive hunk
 338selector will open a patch in your editor; after the editor exits, the
 339result is applied to the index. You are free to make arbitrary changes
 340to the patch, but note that some changes may have confusing results, or
 341even result in a patch that cannot be applied.  If you want to abort the
 342operation entirely (i.e., stage nothing new in the index), simply delete
 343all lines of the patch. The list below describes some common things you
 344may see in a patch, and which editing operations make sense on them.
 345
 346--
 347added content::
 348
 349Added content is represented by lines beginning with "{plus}". You can
 350prevent staging any addition lines by deleting them.
 351
 352removed content::
 353
 354Removed content is represented by lines beginning with "-". You can
 355prevent staging their removal by converting the "-" to a " " (space).
 356
 357modified content::
 358
 359Modified content is represented by "-" lines (removing the old content)
 360followed by "{plus}" lines (adding the replacement content). You can
 361prevent staging the modification by converting "-" lines to " ", and
 362removing "{plus}" lines. Beware that modifying only half of the pair is
 363likely to introduce confusing changes to the index.
 364--
 365
 366There are also more complex operations that can be performed. But beware
 367that because the patch is applied only to the index and not the working
 368tree, the working tree will appear to "undo" the change in the index.
 369For example, introducing a new line into the index that is in neither
 370the HEAD nor the working tree will stage the new line for commit, but
 371the line will appear to be reverted in the working tree.
 372
 373Avoid using these constructs, or do so with extreme caution.
 374
 375--
 376removing untouched content::
 377
 378Content which does not differ between the index and working tree may be
 379shown on context lines, beginning with a " " (space).  You can stage
 380context lines for removal by converting the space to a "-". The
 381resulting working tree file will appear to re-add the content.
 382
 383modifying existing content::
 384
 385One can also modify context lines by staging them for removal (by
 386converting " " to "-") and adding a "{plus}" line with the new content.
 387Similarly, one can modify "{plus}" lines for existing additions or
 388modifications. In all cases, the new modification will appear reverted
 389in the working tree.
 390
 391new content::
 392
 393You may also add new content that does not exist in the patch; simply
 394add new lines, each starting with "{plus}". The addition will appear
 395reverted in the working tree.
 396--
 397
 398There are also several operations which should be avoided entirely, as
 399they will make the patch impossible to apply:
 400
 401* adding context (" ") or removal ("-") lines
 402* deleting context or removal lines
 403* modifying the contents of context or removal lines
 404
 405SEE ALSO
 406--------
 407linkgit:git-status[1]
 408linkgit:git-rm[1]
 409linkgit:git-reset[1]
 410linkgit:git-mv[1]
 411linkgit:git-commit[1]
 412linkgit:git-update-index[1]
 413
 414GIT
 415---
 416Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite