Documentation / git-commit.txton commit Merge branch 'mm/maint-doc-commit-edit' into maint (cf48960)
   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>] [--status | --no-status]
  16           [-i | -o] [--] [<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, in which
  33   case the commit will ignore changes staged in the index, and instead
  34   record the current content of the listed files (which must already
  35   be known to git);
  36
  374. by using the -a switch with the 'commit' command to automatically
  38   "add" changes from all known files (i.e. all files that are already
  39   listed in the index) and to automatically "rm" files in the index
  40   that have been removed from the working tree, and then perform the
  41   actual commit;
  42
  435. by using the --interactive or --patch switches with the 'commit' command
  44   to decide one by one which files or hunks should be part of the commit,
  45   before finalizing the operation. See the ``Interactive Mode'' section of
  46   linkgit:git-add[1] to learn how to operate these modes.
  47
  48The `--dry-run` option can be used to obtain a
  49summary of what is included by any of the above for the next
  50commit by giving the same set of parameters (options and paths).
  51
  52If you make a commit and then find a mistake immediately after
  53that, you can recover from it with 'git reset'.
  54
  55
  56OPTIONS
  57-------
  58-a::
  59--all::
  60        Tell the command to automatically stage files that have
  61        been modified and deleted, but new files you have not
  62        told git about are not affected.
  63
  64-p::
  65--patch::
  66        Use the interactive patch selection interface to chose
  67        which changes to commit. See linkgit:git-add[1] for
  68        details.
  69
  70-C <commit>::
  71--reuse-message=<commit>::
  72        Take an existing commit object, and reuse the log message
  73        and the authorship information (including the timestamp)
  74        when creating the commit.
  75
  76-c <commit>::
  77--reedit-message=<commit>::
  78        Like '-C', but with '-c' the editor is invoked, so that
  79        the user can further edit the commit message.
  80
  81--fixup=<commit>::
  82        Construct a commit message for use with `rebase --autosquash`.
  83        The commit message will be the subject line from the specified
  84        commit with a prefix of "fixup! ".  See linkgit:git-rebase[1]
  85        for details.
  86
  87--squash=<commit>::
  88        Construct a commit message for use with `rebase --autosquash`.
  89        The commit message subject line is taken from the specified
  90        commit with a prefix of "squash! ".  Can be used with additional
  91        commit message options (`-m`/`-c`/`-C`/`-F`). See
  92        linkgit:git-rebase[1] for details.
  93
  94--reset-author::
  95        When used with -C/-c/--amend options, or when committing after a
  96        a conflicting cherry-pick, declare that the authorship of the
  97        resulting commit now belongs of the committer. This also renews
  98        the author timestamp.
  99
 100--short::
 101        When doing a dry-run, give the output in the short-format. See
 102        linkgit:git-status[1] for details. Implies `--dry-run`.
 103
 104--branch::
 105        Show the branch and tracking info even in short-format.
 106
 107--porcelain::
 108        When doing a dry-run, give the output in a porcelain-ready
 109        format. See linkgit:git-status[1] for details. Implies
 110        `--dry-run`.
 111
 112-z::
 113--null::
 114        When showing `short` or `porcelain` status output, terminate
 115        entries in the status output with NUL, instead of LF. If no
 116        format is given, implies the `--porcelain` output format.
 117
 118-F <file>::
 119--file=<file>::
 120        Take the commit message from the given file.  Use '-' to
 121        read the message from the standard input.
 122
 123--author=<author>::
 124        Override the commit author. Specify an explicit author using the
 125        standard `A U Thor <author@example.com>` format. Otherwise <author>
 126        is assumed to be a pattern and is used to search for an existing
 127        commit by that author (i.e. rev-list --all -i --author=<author>);
 128        the commit author is then copied from the first such commit found.
 129
 130--date=<date>::
 131        Override the author date used in the commit.
 132
 133-m <msg>::
 134--message=<msg>::
 135        Use the given <msg> as the commit message.
 136
 137-t <file>::
 138--template=<file>::
 139        When editing the commit message, start the editor with the
 140        contents in the given file.  The `commit.template` configuration
 141        variable is often used to give this option implicitly to the
 142        command.  This mechanism can be used by projects that want to
 143        guide participants with some hints on what to write in the message
 144        in what order.  If the user exits the editor without editing the
 145        message, the commit is aborted.  This has no effect when a message
 146        is given by other means, e.g. with the `-m` or `-F` options.
 147
 148-s::
 149--signoff::
 150        Add Signed-off-by line by the committer at the end of the commit
 151        log message.
 152
 153-n::
 154--no-verify::
 155        This option bypasses the pre-commit and commit-msg hooks.
 156        See also linkgit:githooks[5].
 157
 158--allow-empty::
 159        Usually recording a commit that has the exact same tree as its
 160        sole parent commit is a mistake, and the command prevents you
 161        from making such a commit.  This option bypasses the safety, and
 162        is primarily for use by foreign SCM interface scripts.
 163
 164--allow-empty-message::
 165       Like --allow-empty this command is primarily for use by foreign
 166       SCM interface scripts. It allows you to create a commit with an
 167       empty commit message without using plumbing commands like
 168       linkgit:git-commit-tree[1].
 169
 170--cleanup=<mode>::
 171        This option sets how the commit message is cleaned up.
 172        The  '<mode>' can be one of 'verbatim', 'whitespace', 'strip',
 173        and 'default'. The 'default' mode will strip leading and
 174        trailing empty lines and #commentary from the commit message
 175        only if the message is to be edited. Otherwise only whitespace
 176        removed. The 'verbatim' mode does not change message at all,
 177        'whitespace' removes just leading/trailing whitespace lines
 178        and 'strip' removes both whitespace and commentary.
 179
 180-e::
 181--edit::
 182        The message taken from file with `-F`, command line with
 183        `-m`, and from file with `-C` are usually used as the
 184        commit log message unmodified.  This option lets you
 185        further edit the message taken from these sources.
 186
 187--no-edit::
 188        Use the selected commit message without launching an editor.
 189        For example, `git commit --amend --no-edit` amends a commit
 190        without changing its commit message.
 191
 192--amend::
 193        Used to amend the tip of the current branch. Prepare the tree
 194        object you would want to replace the latest commit as usual
 195        (this includes the usual -i/-o and explicit paths), and the
 196        commit log editor is seeded with the commit message from the
 197        tip of the current branch. The commit you create replaces the
 198        current tip -- if it was a merge, it will have the parents of
 199        the current tip as parents -- so the current top commit is
 200        discarded.
 201+
 202--
 203It is a rough equivalent for:
 204------
 205        $ git reset --soft HEAD^
 206        $ ... do something else to come up with the right tree ...
 207        $ git commit -c ORIG_HEAD
 208
 209------
 210but can be used to amend a merge commit.
 211--
 212+
 213You should understand the implications of rewriting history if you
 214amend a commit that has already been published.  (See the "RECOVERING
 215FROM UPSTREAM REBASE" section in linkgit:git-rebase[1].)
 216
 217--no-post-rewrite::
 218        Bypass the post-rewrite hook.
 219
 220-i::
 221--include::
 222        Before making a commit out of staged contents so far,
 223        stage the contents of paths given on the command line
 224        as well.  This is usually not what you want unless you
 225        are concluding a conflicted merge.
 226
 227-o::
 228--only::
 229        Make a commit only from the paths specified on the
 230        command line, disregarding any contents that have been
 231        staged so far. This is the default mode of operation of
 232        'git commit' if any paths are given on the command line,
 233        in which case this option can be omitted.
 234        If this option is specified together with '--amend', then
 235        no paths need to be specified, which can be used to amend
 236        the last commit without committing changes that have
 237        already been staged.
 238
 239-u[<mode>]::
 240--untracked-files[=<mode>]::
 241        Show untracked files.
 242+
 243The mode parameter is optional (defaults to 'all'), and is used to
 244specify the handling of untracked files; when -u is not used, the
 245default is 'normal', i.e. show untracked files and directories.
 246+
 247The possible options are:
 248+
 249        - 'no'     - Show no untracked files
 250        - 'normal' - Shows untracked files and directories
 251        - 'all'    - Also shows individual files in untracked directories.
 252+
 253The default can be changed using the status.showUntrackedFiles
 254configuration variable documented in linkgit:git-config[1].
 255
 256-v::
 257--verbose::
 258        Show unified diff between the HEAD commit and what
 259        would be committed at the bottom of the commit message
 260        template.  Note that this diff output doesn't have its
 261        lines prefixed with '#'.
 262
 263-q::
 264--quiet::
 265        Suppress commit summary message.
 266
 267--dry-run::
 268        Do not create a commit, but show a list of paths that are
 269        to be committed, paths with local changes that will be left
 270        uncommitted and paths that are untracked.
 271
 272--status::
 273        Include the output of linkgit:git-status[1] in the commit
 274        message template when using an editor to prepare the commit
 275        message.  Defaults to on, but can be used to override
 276        configuration variable commit.status.
 277
 278--no-status::
 279        Do not include the output of linkgit:git-status[1] in the
 280        commit message template when using an editor to prepare the
 281        default commit message.
 282
 283\--::
 284        Do not interpret any more arguments as options.
 285
 286<file>...::
 287        When files are given on the command line, the command
 288        commits the contents of the named files, without
 289        recording the changes already staged.  The contents of
 290        these files are also staged for the next commit on top
 291        of what have been staged before.
 292
 293:git-commit: 1
 294include::date-formats.txt[]
 295
 296EXAMPLES
 297--------
 298When recording your own work, the contents of modified files in
 299your working tree are temporarily stored to a staging area
 300called the "index" with 'git add'.  A file can be
 301reverted back, only in the index but not in the working tree,
 302to that of the last commit with `git reset HEAD -- <file>`,
 303which effectively reverts 'git add' and prevents the changes to
 304this file from participating in the next commit.  After building
 305the state to be committed incrementally with these commands,
 306`git commit` (without any pathname parameter) is used to record what
 307has been staged so far.  This is the most basic form of the
 308command.  An example:
 309
 310------------
 311$ edit hello.c
 312$ git rm goodbye.c
 313$ git add hello.c
 314$ git commit
 315------------
 316
 317Instead of staging files after each individual change, you can
 318tell `git commit` to notice the changes to the files whose
 319contents are tracked in
 320your working tree and do corresponding `git add` and `git rm`
 321for you.  That is, this example does the same as the earlier
 322example if there is no other change in your working tree:
 323
 324------------
 325$ edit hello.c
 326$ rm goodbye.c
 327$ git commit -a
 328------------
 329
 330The command `git commit -a` first looks at your working tree,
 331notices that you have modified hello.c and removed goodbye.c,
 332and performs necessary `git add` and `git rm` for you.
 333
 334After staging changes to many files, you can alter the order the
 335changes are recorded in, by giving pathnames to `git commit`.
 336When pathnames are given, the command makes a commit that
 337only records the changes made to the named paths:
 338
 339------------
 340$ edit hello.c hello.h
 341$ git add hello.c hello.h
 342$ edit Makefile
 343$ git commit Makefile
 344------------
 345
 346This makes a commit that records the modification to `Makefile`.
 347The changes staged for `hello.c` and `hello.h` are not included
 348in the resulting commit.  However, their changes are not lost --
 349they are still staged and merely held back.  After the above
 350sequence, if you do:
 351
 352------------
 353$ git commit
 354------------
 355
 356this second commit would record the changes to `hello.c` and
 357`hello.h` as expected.
 358
 359After a merge (initiated by 'git merge' or 'git pull') stops
 360because of conflicts, cleanly merged
 361paths are already staged to be committed for you, and paths that
 362conflicted are left in unmerged state.  You would have to first
 363check which paths are conflicting with 'git status'
 364and after fixing them manually in your working tree, you would
 365stage the result as usual with 'git add':
 366
 367------------
 368$ git status | grep unmerged
 369unmerged: hello.c
 370$ edit hello.c
 371$ git add hello.c
 372------------
 373
 374After resolving conflicts and staging the result, `git ls-files -u`
 375would stop mentioning the conflicted path.  When you are done,
 376run `git commit` to finally record the merge:
 377
 378------------
 379$ git commit
 380------------
 381
 382As with the case to record your own changes, you can use `-a`
 383option to save typing.  One difference is that during a merge
 384resolution, you cannot use `git commit` with pathnames to
 385alter the order the changes are committed, because the merge
 386should be recorded as a single commit.  In fact, the command
 387refuses to run when given pathnames (but see `-i` option).
 388
 389
 390DISCUSSION
 391----------
 392
 393Though not required, it's a good idea to begin the commit message
 394with a single short (less than 50 character) line summarizing the
 395change, followed by a blank line and then a more thorough description.
 396The text up to the first blank line in a commit message is treated
 397as the commit title, and that title is used throughout git.
 398For example, linkgit:git-format-patch[1] turns a commit into email, and it uses
 399the title on the Subject line and the rest of the commit in the body.
 400
 401include::i18n.txt[]
 402
 403ENVIRONMENT AND CONFIGURATION VARIABLES
 404---------------------------------------
 405The editor used to edit the commit log message will be chosen from the
 406GIT_EDITOR environment variable, the core.editor configuration variable, the
 407VISUAL environment variable, or the EDITOR environment variable (in that
 408order).  See linkgit:git-var[1] for details.
 409
 410HOOKS
 411-----
 412This command can run `commit-msg`, `prepare-commit-msg`, `pre-commit`,
 413and `post-commit` hooks.  See linkgit:githooks[5] for more
 414information.
 415
 416FILES
 417-----
 418
 419`$GIT_DIR/COMMIT_EDITMSG`::
 420        This file contains the commit message of a commit in progress.
 421        If `git commit` exits due to an error before creating a commit,
 422        any commit message that has been provided by the user (e.g., in
 423        an editor session) will be available in this file, but will be
 424        overwritten by the next invocation of `git commit`.
 425
 426SEE ALSO
 427--------
 428linkgit:git-add[1],
 429linkgit:git-rm[1],
 430linkgit:git-mv[1],
 431linkgit:git-merge[1],
 432linkgit:git-commit-tree[1]
 433
 434GIT
 435---
 436Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite