SYNOPSIS
--------
[verse]
-'git-format-patch' [-n | -k] [-o <dir> | --stdout] [--attach]
- [-s | --signoff] [--diff-options] [--start-number <n>]
- <since>[..<until>]
+'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
-----------
-Prepare each commit between <since> and <until> with its patch in
+Prepare each commit with its patch in
one file per commit, formatted to resemble UNIX mailbox format.
-If ..<until> is not specified, the head of the current working
-tree is implied.
-
The output of this command is convenient for e-mail submission or
for use with gitlink:git-am[1].
-Each output file is numbered sequentially from 1, and uses the
+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. The names of the output files are printed to standard
+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
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
-------
+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.
--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.
Print all commits to the standard output in mbox format,
instead of creating a file for each one.
---attach::
- Create attachments instead of inlining patches.
-
+--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".
+
+--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 as follows:
+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
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
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
--------
GIT
---
Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite
-