Documentation / git-send-email.txton commit Documentation: remove unnecessary backslashes (c200deb)
   1git-send-email(1)
   2=================
   3
   4NAME
   5----
   6git-send-email - Send a collection of patches as emails
   7
   8
   9SYNOPSIS
  10--------
  11[verse]
  12'git send-email' [options] <file|directory|rev-list options>...
  13'git send-email' --dump-aliases
  14
  15
  16DESCRIPTION
  17-----------
  18Takes the patches given on the command line and emails them out.
  19Patches can be specified as files, directories (which will send all
  20files in the directory), or directly as a revision list.  In the
  21last case, any format accepted by linkgit:git-format-patch[1] can
  22be passed to git send-email.
  23
  24The header of the email is configurable via command-line options.  If not
  25specified on the command line, the user will be prompted with a ReadLine
  26enabled interface to provide the necessary information.
  27
  28There are two formats accepted for patch files:
  29
  301. mbox format files
  31+
  32This is what linkgit:git-format-patch[1] generates.  Most headers and MIME
  33formatting are ignored.
  34
  352. The original format used by Greg Kroah-Hartman's 'send_lots_of_email.pl'
  36script
  37+
  38This format expects the first line of the file to contain the "Cc:" value
  39and the "Subject:" of the message as the second line.
  40
  41
  42OPTIONS
  43-------
  44
  45Composing
  46~~~~~~~~~
  47
  48--annotate::
  49        Review and edit each patch you're about to send. Default is the value
  50        of 'sendemail.annotate'. See the CONFIGURATION section for
  51        'sendemail.multiEdit'.
  52
  53--bcc=<address>,...::
  54        Specify a "Bcc:" value for each email. Default is the value of
  55        'sendemail.bcc'.
  56+
  57This option may be specified multiple times.
  58
  59--cc=<address>,...::
  60        Specify a starting "Cc:" value for each email.
  61        Default is the value of 'sendemail.cc'.
  62+
  63This option may be specified multiple times.
  64
  65--compose::
  66        Invoke a text editor (see GIT_EDITOR in linkgit:git-var[1])
  67        to edit an introductory message for the patch series.
  68+
  69When '--compose' is used, git send-email will use the From, Subject, and
  70In-Reply-To headers specified in the message. If the body of the message
  71(what you type after the headers and a blank line) only contains blank
  72(or Git: prefixed) lines, the summary won't be sent, but From, Subject,
  73and In-Reply-To headers will be used unless they are removed.
  74+
  75Missing From or In-Reply-To headers will be prompted for.
  76+
  77See the CONFIGURATION section for 'sendemail.multiEdit'.
  78
  79--from=<address>::
  80        Specify the sender of the emails.  If not specified on the command line,
  81        the value of the 'sendemail.from' configuration option is used.  If
  82        neither the command-line option nor 'sendemail.from' are set, then the
  83        user will be prompted for the value.  The default for the prompt will be
  84        the value of GIT_AUTHOR_IDENT, or GIT_COMMITTER_IDENT if that is not
  85        set, as returned by "git var -l".
  86
  87--in-reply-to=<identifier>::
  88        Make the first mail (or all the mails with `--no-thread`) appear as a
  89        reply to the given Message-Id, which avoids breaking threads to
  90        provide a new patch series.
  91        The second and subsequent emails will be sent as replies according to
  92        the `--[no]-chain-reply-to` setting.
  93+
  94So for example when `--thread` and `--no-chain-reply-to` are specified, the
  95second and subsequent patches will be replies to the first one like in the
  96illustration below where `[PATCH v2 0/3]` is in reply to `[PATCH 0/2]`:
  97+
  98  [PATCH 0/2] Here is what I did...
  99    [PATCH 1/2] Clean up and tests
 100    [PATCH 2/2] Implementation
 101    [PATCH v2 0/3] Here is a reroll
 102      [PATCH v2 1/3] Clean up
 103      [PATCH v2 2/3] New tests
 104      [PATCH v2 3/3] Implementation
 105+
 106Only necessary if --compose is also set.  If --compose
 107is not set, this will be prompted for.
 108
 109--subject=<string>::
 110        Specify the initial subject of the email thread.
 111        Only necessary if --compose is also set.  If --compose
 112        is not set, this will be prompted for.
 113
 114--to=<address>,...::
 115        Specify the primary recipient of the emails generated. Generally, this
 116        will be the upstream maintainer of the project involved. Default is the
 117        value of the 'sendemail.to' configuration value; if that is unspecified,
 118        and --to-cmd is not specified, this will be prompted for.
 119+
 120This option may be specified multiple times.
 121
 122--8bit-encoding=<encoding>::
 123        When encountering a non-ASCII message or subject that does not
 124        declare its encoding, add headers/quoting to indicate it is
 125        encoded in <encoding>.  Default is the value of the
 126        'sendemail.assume8bitEncoding'; if that is unspecified, this
 127        will be prompted for if any non-ASCII files are encountered.
 128+
 129Note that no attempts whatsoever are made to validate the encoding.
 130
 131--compose-encoding=<encoding>::
 132        Specify encoding of compose message. Default is the value of the
 133        'sendemail.composeencoding'; if that is unspecified, UTF-8 is assumed.
 134
 135--transfer-encoding=(7bit|8bit|quoted-printable|base64)::
 136        Specify the transfer encoding to be used to send the message over SMTP.
 137        7bit will fail upon encountering a non-ASCII message.  quoted-printable
 138        can be useful when the repository contains files that contain carriage
 139        returns, but makes the raw patch email file (as saved from a MUA) much
 140        harder to inspect manually.  base64 is even more fool proof, but also
 141        even more opaque.  Default is the value of the 'sendemail.transferEncoding'
 142        configuration value; if that is unspecified, git will use 8bit and not
 143        add a Content-Transfer-Encoding header.
 144
 145--xmailer::
 146--no-xmailer::
 147        Add (or prevent adding) the "X-Mailer:" header.  By default,
 148        the header is added, but it can be turned off by setting the
 149        `sendemail.xmailer` configuration variable to `false`.
 150
 151Sending
 152~~~~~~~
 153
 154--envelope-sender=<address>::
 155        Specify the envelope sender used to send the emails.
 156        This is useful if your default address is not the address that is
 157        subscribed to a list. In order to use the 'From' address, set the
 158        value to "auto". If you use the sendmail binary, you must have
 159        suitable privileges for the -f parameter.  Default is the value of the
 160        'sendemail.envelopeSender' configuration variable; if that is
 161        unspecified, choosing the envelope sender is left to your MTA.
 162
 163--smtp-encryption=<encryption>::
 164        Specify the encryption to use, either 'ssl' or 'tls'.  Any other
 165        value reverts to plain SMTP.  Default is the value of
 166        'sendemail.smtpEncryption'.
 167
 168--smtp-domain=<FQDN>::
 169        Specifies the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) used in the
 170        HELO/EHLO command to the SMTP server.  Some servers require the
 171        FQDN to match your IP address.  If not set, git send-email attempts
 172        to determine your FQDN automatically.  Default is the value of
 173        'sendemail.smtpDomain'.
 174
 175--smtp-auth=<mechanisms>::
 176        Whitespace-separated list of allowed SMTP-AUTH mechanisms. This setting
 177        forces using only the listed mechanisms. Example:
 178+
 179------
 180$ git send-email --smtp-auth="PLAIN LOGIN GSSAPI" ...
 181------
 182+
 183If at least one of the specified mechanisms matches the ones advertised by the
 184SMTP server and if it is supported by the utilized SASL library, the mechanism
 185is used for authentication. If neither 'sendemail.smtpAuth' nor '--smtp-auth'
 186is specified, all mechanisms supported by the SASL library can be used.
 187
 188--smtp-pass[=<password>]::
 189        Password for SMTP-AUTH. The argument is optional: If no
 190        argument is specified, then the empty string is used as
 191        the password. Default is the value of 'sendemail.smtpPass',
 192        however '--smtp-pass' always overrides this value.
 193+
 194Furthermore, passwords need not be specified in configuration files
 195or on the command line. If a username has been specified (with
 196'--smtp-user' or a 'sendemail.smtpUser'), but no password has been
 197specified (with '--smtp-pass' or 'sendemail.smtpPass'), then
 198a password is obtained using 'git-credential'.
 199
 200--smtp-server=<host>::
 201        If set, specifies the outgoing SMTP server to use (e.g.
 202        `smtp.example.com` or a raw IP address).  Alternatively it can
 203        specify a full pathname of a sendmail-like program instead;
 204        the program must support the `-i` option.  Default value can
 205        be specified by the 'sendemail.smtpServer' configuration
 206        option; the built-in default is `/usr/sbin/sendmail` or
 207        `/usr/lib/sendmail` if such program is available, or
 208        `localhost` otherwise.
 209
 210--smtp-server-port=<port>::
 211        Specifies a port different from the default port (SMTP
 212        servers typically listen to smtp port 25, but may also listen to
 213        submission port 587, or the common SSL smtp port 465);
 214        symbolic port names (e.g. "submission" instead of 587)
 215        are also accepted. The port can also be set with the
 216        'sendemail.smtpServerPort' configuration variable.
 217
 218--smtp-server-option=<option>::
 219        If set, specifies the outgoing SMTP server option to use.
 220        Default value can be specified by the 'sendemail.smtpServerOption'
 221        configuration option.
 222+
 223The --smtp-server-option option must be repeated for each option you want
 224to pass to the server. Likewise, different lines in the configuration files
 225must be used for each option.
 226
 227--smtp-ssl::
 228        Legacy alias for '--smtp-encryption ssl'.
 229
 230--smtp-ssl-cert-path::
 231        Path to a store of trusted CA certificates for SMTP SSL/TLS
 232        certificate validation (either a directory that has been processed
 233        by 'c_rehash', or a single file containing one or more PEM format
 234        certificates concatenated together: see verify(1) -CAfile and
 235        -CApath for more information on these). Set it to an empty string
 236        to disable certificate verification. Defaults to the value of the
 237        'sendemail.smtpsslcertpath' configuration variable, if set, or the
 238        backing SSL library's compiled-in default otherwise (which should
 239        be the best choice on most platforms).
 240
 241--smtp-user=<user>::
 242        Username for SMTP-AUTH. Default is the value of 'sendemail.smtpUser';
 243        if a username is not specified (with '--smtp-user' or 'sendemail.smtpUser'),
 244        then authentication is not attempted.
 245
 246--smtp-debug=0|1::
 247        Enable (1) or disable (0) debug output. If enabled, SMTP
 248        commands and replies will be printed. Useful to debug TLS
 249        connection and authentication problems.
 250
 251Automating
 252~~~~~~~~~~
 253
 254--to-cmd=<command>::
 255        Specify a command to execute once per patch file which
 256        should generate patch file specific "To:" entries.
 257        Output of this command must be single email address per line.
 258        Default is the value of 'sendemail.tocmd' configuration value.
 259
 260--cc-cmd=<command>::
 261        Specify a command to execute once per patch file which
 262        should generate patch file specific "Cc:" entries.
 263        Output of this command must be single email address per line.
 264        Default is the value of 'sendemail.ccCmd' configuration value.
 265
 266--[no-]chain-reply-to::
 267        If this is set, each email will be sent as a reply to the previous
 268        email sent.  If disabled with "--no-chain-reply-to", all emails after
 269        the first will be sent as replies to the first email sent.  When using
 270        this, it is recommended that the first file given be an overview of the
 271        entire patch series. Disabled by default, but the 'sendemail.chainReplyTo'
 272        configuration variable can be used to enable it.
 273
 274--identity=<identity>::
 275        A configuration identity. When given, causes values in the
 276        'sendemail.<identity>' subsection to take precedence over
 277        values in the 'sendemail' section. The default identity is
 278        the value of 'sendemail.identity'.
 279
 280--[no-]signed-off-by-cc::
 281        If this is set, add emails found in Signed-off-by: or Cc: lines to the
 282        cc list. Default is the value of 'sendemail.signedoffbycc' configuration
 283        value; if that is unspecified, default to --signed-off-by-cc.
 284
 285--[no-]cc-cover::
 286        If this is set, emails found in Cc: headers in the first patch of
 287        the series (typically the cover letter) are added to the cc list
 288        for each email set. Default is the value of 'sendemail.cccover'
 289        configuration value; if that is unspecified, default to --no-cc-cover.
 290
 291--[no-]to-cover::
 292        If this is set, emails found in To: headers in the first patch of
 293        the series (typically the cover letter) are added to the to list
 294        for each email set. Default is the value of 'sendemail.tocover'
 295        configuration value; if that is unspecified, default to --no-to-cover.
 296
 297--suppress-cc=<category>::
 298        Specify an additional category of recipients to suppress the
 299        auto-cc of:
 300+
 301--
 302- 'author' will avoid including the patch author
 303- 'self' will avoid including the sender
 304- 'cc' will avoid including anyone mentioned in Cc lines in the patch header
 305  except for self (use 'self' for that).
 306- 'bodycc' will avoid including anyone mentioned in Cc lines in the
 307  patch body (commit message) except for self (use 'self' for that).
 308- 'sob' will avoid including anyone mentioned in Signed-off-by lines except
 309   for self (use 'self' for that).
 310- 'cccmd' will avoid running the --cc-cmd.
 311- 'body' is equivalent to 'sob' + 'bodycc'
 312- 'all' will suppress all auto cc values.
 313--
 314+
 315Default is the value of 'sendemail.suppresscc' configuration value; if
 316that is unspecified, default to 'self' if --suppress-from is
 317specified, as well as 'body' if --no-signed-off-cc is specified.
 318
 319--[no-]suppress-from::
 320        If this is set, do not add the From: address to the cc: list.
 321        Default is the value of 'sendemail.suppressFrom' configuration
 322        value; if that is unspecified, default to --no-suppress-from.
 323
 324--[no-]thread::
 325        If this is set, the In-Reply-To and References headers will be
 326        added to each email sent.  Whether each mail refers to the
 327        previous email (`deep` threading per 'git format-patch'
 328        wording) or to the first email (`shallow` threading) is
 329        governed by "--[no-]chain-reply-to".
 330+
 331If disabled with "--no-thread", those headers will not be added
 332(unless specified with --in-reply-to).  Default is the value of the
 333'sendemail.thread' configuration value; if that is unspecified,
 334default to --thread.
 335+
 336It is up to the user to ensure that no In-Reply-To header already
 337exists when 'git send-email' is asked to add it (especially note that
 338'git format-patch' can be configured to do the threading itself).
 339Failure to do so may not produce the expected result in the
 340recipient's MUA.
 341
 342
 343Administering
 344~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 345
 346--confirm=<mode>::
 347        Confirm just before sending:
 348+
 349--
 350- 'always' will always confirm before sending
 351- 'never' will never confirm before sending
 352- 'cc' will confirm before sending when send-email has automatically
 353  added addresses from the patch to the Cc list
 354- 'compose' will confirm before sending the first message when using --compose.
 355- 'auto' is equivalent to 'cc' + 'compose'
 356--
 357+
 358Default is the value of 'sendemail.confirm' configuration value; if that
 359is unspecified, default to 'auto' unless any of the suppress options
 360have been specified, in which case default to 'compose'.
 361
 362--dry-run::
 363        Do everything except actually send the emails.
 364
 365--[no-]format-patch::
 366        When an argument may be understood either as a reference or as a file name,
 367        choose to understand it as a format-patch argument ('--format-patch')
 368        or as a file name ('--no-format-patch'). By default, when such a conflict
 369        occurs, git send-email will fail.
 370
 371--quiet::
 372        Make git-send-email less verbose.  One line per email should be
 373        all that is output.
 374
 375--[no-]validate::
 376        Perform sanity checks on patches.
 377        Currently, validation means the following:
 378+
 379--
 380                *       Warn of patches that contain lines longer than 998 characters; this
 381                        is due to SMTP limits as described by http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2821.txt.
 382--
 383+
 384Default is the value of 'sendemail.validate'; if this is not set,
 385default to '--validate'.
 386
 387--force::
 388        Send emails even if safety checks would prevent it.
 389
 390
 391Information
 392~~~~~~~~~~~
 393
 394--dump-aliases::
 395        Instead of the normal operation, dump the shorthand alias names from
 396        the configured alias file(s), one per line in alphabetical order. Note,
 397        this only includes the alias name and not its expanded email addresses.
 398        See 'sendemail.aliasesfile' for more information about aliases.
 399
 400
 401CONFIGURATION
 402-------------
 403
 404sendemail.aliasesFile::
 405        To avoid typing long email addresses, point this to one or more
 406        email aliases files.  You must also supply 'sendemail.aliasFileType'.
 407
 408sendemail.aliasFileType::
 409        Format of the file(s) specified in sendemail.aliasesFile. Must be
 410        one of 'mutt', 'mailrc', 'pine', 'elm', or 'gnus', or 'sendmail'.
 411+
 412What an alias file in each format looks like can be found in
 413the documentation of the email program of the same name. The
 414differences and limitations from the standard formats are
 415described below:
 416+
 417--
 418sendmail;;
 419*       Quoted aliases and quoted addresses are not supported: lines that
 420        contain a `"` symbol are ignored.
 421*       Redirection to a file (`/path/name`) or pipe (`|command`) is not
 422        supported.
 423*       File inclusion (`:include: /path/name`) is not supported.
 424*       Warnings are printed on the standard error output for any
 425        explicitly unsupported constructs, and any other lines that are not
 426        recognized by the parser.
 427--
 428
 429sendemail.multiEdit::
 430        If true (default), a single editor instance will be spawned to edit
 431        files you have to edit (patches when '--annotate' is used, and the
 432        summary when '--compose' is used). If false, files will be edited one
 433        after the other, spawning a new editor each time.
 434
 435sendemail.confirm::
 436        Sets the default for whether to confirm before sending. Must be
 437        one of 'always', 'never', 'cc', 'compose', or 'auto'. See '--confirm'
 438        in the previous section for the meaning of these values.
 439
 440EXAMPLE
 441-------
 442Use gmail as the smtp server
 443~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 444To use 'git send-email' to send your patches through the GMail SMTP server,
 445edit ~/.gitconfig to specify your account settings:
 446
 447        [sendemail]
 448                smtpEncryption = tls
 449                smtpServer = smtp.gmail.com
 450                smtpUser = yourname@gmail.com
 451                smtpServerPort = 587
 452
 453Once your commits are ready to be sent to the mailing list, run the
 454following commands:
 455
 456        $ git format-patch --cover-letter -M origin/master -o outgoing/
 457        $ edit outgoing/0000-*
 458        $ git send-email outgoing/*
 459
 460Note: the following perl modules are required
 461      Net::SMTP::SSL, MIME::Base64 and Authen::SASL
 462
 463SEE ALSO
 464--------
 465linkgit:git-format-patch[1], linkgit:git-imap-send[1], mbox(5)
 466
 467GIT
 468---
 469Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite