NAME
----
-git-format-patch - Some git command not yet documented.
+git-format-patch - Prepare patches for e-mail submission
SYNOPSIS
--------
-'git-format-patch' [ --option ] <args>...
+[verse]
+'git-format-patch' [-n | -k] [-o <dir> | --stdout] [--thread]
+ [--attach[=<boundary>] | --inline[=<boundary>]]
+ [-s | --signoff] [<common diff options>]
+ [--start-number <n>] [--numbered-files]
+ [--in-reply-to=Message-Id] [--suffix=.<sfx>]
+ [--ignore-if-in-upstream]
+ [--subject-prefix=Subject-Prefix]
+ [ <since> | <revision range> ]
DESCRIPTION
-----------
-Does something not yet documented.
+Prepare each commit with its patch in
+one file per commit, formatted to resemble UNIX mailbox format.
+The output of this command is convenient for e-mail submission or
+for use with gitlink:git-am[1].
+
+There are two ways to specify which commits to operate on.
+
+1. A single commit, <since>, specifies that the commits leading
+ to the tip of the current branch that are not in the history
+ that leads to the <since> to be output.
+
+2. Generic <revision range> expression (see "SPECIFYING
+ REVISIONS" section in gitlink:git-rev-parse[1]) means the
+ commits in the specified range.
+
+A single commit, when interpreted as a <revision range>
+expression, means "everything that leads to that commit", but
+if you write 'git format-patch <commit>', the previous rule
+applies to that command line and you do not get "everything
+since the beginning of the time". If you want to format
+everything since project inception to one commit, say "git
+format-patch \--root <commit>" to make it clear that it is the
+latter case.
+
+By default, each output file is numbered sequentially from 1, and uses the
+first line of the commit message (massaged for pathname safety) as
+the filename. With the --numbered-files option, the output file names
+will only be numbers, without the first line of the commit appended.
+The names of the output files are printed to standard
+output, unless the --stdout option is specified.
+
+If -o is specified, output files are created in <dir>. Otherwise
+they are created in the current working directory.
+
+If -n is specified, instead of "[PATCH] Subject", the first line
+is formatted as "[PATCH n/m] Subject".
+
+If given --thread, git-format-patch will generate In-Reply-To and
+References headers to make the second and subsequent patch mails appear
+as replies to the first mail; this also generates a Message-Id header to
+reference.
OPTIONS
-------
---option::
- Some option not yet documented.
+include::diff-options.txt[]
+
+-<n>::
+ Limits the number of patches to prepare.
+
+-o|--output-directory <dir>::
+ Use <dir> to store the resulting files, instead of the
+ current working directory.
+
+-n|--numbered::
+ Name output in '[PATCH n/m]' format.
+
+--start-number <n>::
+ Start numbering the patches at <n> instead of 1.
+
+--numbered-files::
+ Output file names will be a simple number sequence
+ without the default first line of the commit appended.
+ Mutually exclusive with the --stdout option.
+
+-k|--keep-subject::
+ Do not strip/add '[PATCH]' from the first line of the
+ commit log message.
+
+-s|--signoff::
+ Add `Signed-off-by:` line to the commit message, using
+ the committer identity of yourself.
+
+--stdout::
+ Print all commits to the standard output in mbox format,
+ instead of creating a file for each one.
+
+--attach[=<boundary>]::
+ Create multipart/mixed attachment, the first part of
+ which is the commit message and the patch itself in the
+ second part, with "Content-Disposition: attachment".
+
+--inline[=<boundary>]::
+ Create multipart/mixed attachment, the first part of
+ which is the commit message and the patch itself in the
+ second part, with "Content-Disposition: inline".
-<args>...::
- Some argument not yet documented.
+--thread::
+ Add In-Reply-To and References headers to make the second and
+ subsequent mails appear as replies to the first. Also generates
+ the Message-Id header to reference.
+
+--in-reply-to=Message-Id::
+ Make the first mail (or all the mails with --no-thread) appear as a
+ reply to the given Message-Id, which avoids breaking threads to
+ provide a new patch series.
+
+--ignore-if-in-upstream::
+ Do not include a patch that matches a commit in
+ <until>..<since>. This will examine all patches reachable
+ from <since> but not from <until> and compare them with the
+ patches being generated, and any patch that matches is
+ ignored.
+
+--subject-prefix=<Subject-Prefix>::
+ Instead of the standard '[PATCH]' prefix in the subject
+ line, instead use '[<Subject-Prefix>]'. This
+ allows for useful naming of a patch series, and can be
+ combined with the --numbered option.
+
+--suffix=.<sfx>::
+ Instead of using `.patch` as the suffix for generated
+ filenames, use specified suffix. A common alternative is
+ `--suffix=.txt`.
++
+Note that you would need to include the leading dot `.` if you
+want a filename like `0001-description-of-my-change.patch`, and
+the first letter does not have to be a dot. Leaving it empty would
+not add any suffix.
+
+CONFIGURATION
+-------------
+You can specify extra mail header lines to be added to each
+message in the repository configuration. You can also specify
+new defaults for the subject prefix and file suffix.
+
+------------
+[format]
+ headers = "Organization: git-foo\n"
+ subjectprefix = CHANGE
+ suffix = .txt
+------------
+
+
+EXAMPLES
+--------
+
+git-format-patch -k --stdout R1..R2 | git-am -3 -k::
+ Extract commits between revisions R1 and R2, and apply
+ them on top of the current branch using `git-am` to
+ cherry-pick them.
+
+git-format-patch origin::
+ Extract all commits which are in the current branch but
+ not in the origin branch. For each commit a separate file
+ is created in the current directory.
+
+git-format-patch \--root origin::
+ Extract all commits which that leads to 'origin' since the
+ inception of the project.
+
+git-format-patch -M -B origin::
+ The same as the previous one. Additionally, it detects
+ and handles renames and complete rewrites intelligently to
+ produce a renaming patch. A renaming patch reduces the
+ amount of text output, and generally makes it easier to
+ review it. Note that the "patch" program does not
+ understand renaming patches, so use it only when you know
+ the recipient uses git to apply your patch.
+
+git-format-patch -3::
+ Extract three topmost commits from the current branch
+ and format them as e-mailable patches.
+
+See Also
+--------
+gitlink:git-am[1], gitlink:git-send-email[1]
Author
GIT
---
-Part of the link:git.html[git] suite
-
+Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite