SYNOPSIS
--------
[verse]
-'git-submodule' [--quiet] [-b branch] add <repository> [<path>]
-'git-submodule' [--quiet] [--cached] [status|init|update] [--] [<path>...]
+'git submodule' [--quiet] add [<options>] [--] <repository> [<path>]
+'git submodule' [--quiet] status [--cached] [--recursive] [--] [<path>...]
+'git submodule' [--quiet] init [--] [<path>...]
+'git submodule' [--quiet] deinit [-f|--force] (--all|[--] <path>...)
+'git submodule' [--quiet] update [<options>] [--] [<path>...]
+'git submodule' [--quiet] summary [<options>] [--] [<path>...]
+'git submodule' [--quiet] foreach [--recursive] <command>
+'git submodule' [--quiet] sync [--recursive] [--] [<path>...]
+'git submodule' [--quiet] absorbgitdirs [--] [<path>...]
+DESCRIPTION
+-----------
+Inspects, updates and manages submodules.
+
+A submodule allows you to keep another Git repository in a subdirectory
+of your repository. The other repository has its own history, which does not
+interfere with the history of the current repository. This can be used to
+have external dependencies such as third party libraries for example.
+
+When cloning or pulling a repository containing submodules however,
+these will not be checked out by default; the 'init' and 'update'
+subcommands will maintain submodules checked out and at
+appropriate revision in your working tree.
+
+Submodules are composed from a so-called `gitlink` tree entry
+in the main repository that refers to a particular commit object
+within the inner repository that is completely separate.
+A record in the `.gitmodules` (see linkgit:gitmodules[5]) file at the
+root of the source tree assigns a logical name to the submodule and
+describes the default URL the submodule shall be cloned from.
+The logical name can be used for overriding this URL within your
+local repository configuration (see 'submodule init').
+
+Submodules are not to be confused with remotes, which are other
+repositories of the same project; submodules are meant for
+different projects you would like to make part of your source tree,
+while the history of the two projects still stays completely
+independent and you cannot modify the contents of the submodule
+from within the main project.
+If you want to merge the project histories and want to treat the
+aggregated whole as a single project from then on, you may want to
+add a remote for the other project and use the 'subtree' merge strategy,
+instead of treating the other project as a submodule. Directories
+that come from both projects can be cloned and checked out as a whole
+if you choose to go that route.
+
COMMANDS
--------
-add::
+add [-b <branch>] [-f|--force] [--name <name>] [--reference <repository>] [--depth <depth>] [--] <repository> [<path>]::
Add the given repository as a submodule at the given path
- to the changeset to be committed next. In particular, the
- repository is cloned at the specified path, added to the
- changeset and registered in .gitmodules. If no path is
- specified, the path is deduced from the repository specification.
- If the repository url begins with ./ or ../, it is stored as
- given but resolved as a relative path from the main project's
- url when cloning.
-
-status::
+ to the changeset to be committed next to the current
+ project: the current project is termed the "superproject".
++
+This requires at least one argument: <repository>. The optional
+argument <path> is the relative location for the cloned submodule
+to exist in the superproject. If <path> is not given, the
+"humanish" part of the source repository is used ("repo" for
+"/path/to/repo.git" and "foo" for "host.xz:foo/.git").
+The <path> is also used as the submodule's logical name in its
+configuration entries unless `--name` is used to specify a logical name.
++
+<repository> is the URL of the new submodule's origin repository.
+This may be either an absolute URL, or (if it begins with ./
+or ../), the location relative to the superproject's default remote
+repository (Please note that to specify a repository 'foo.git'
+which is located right next to a superproject 'bar.git', you'll
+have to use '../foo.git' instead of './foo.git' - as one might expect
+when following the rules for relative URLs - because the evaluation
+of relative URLs in Git is identical to that of relative directories).
++
+The default remote is the remote of the remote tracking branch
+of the current branch. If no such remote tracking branch exists or
+the HEAD is detached, "origin" is assumed to be the default remote.
+If the superproject doesn't have a default remote configured
+the superproject is its own authoritative upstream and the current
+working directory is used instead.
++
+<path> is the relative location for the cloned submodule to
+exist in the superproject. If <path> does not exist, then the
+submodule is created by cloning from the named URL. If <path> does
+exist and is already a valid Git repository, then this is added
+to the changeset without cloning. This second form is provided
+to ease creating a new submodule from scratch, and presumes
+the user will later push the submodule to the given URL.
++
+In either case, the given URL is recorded into .gitmodules for
+use by subsequent users cloning the superproject. If the URL is
+given relative to the superproject's repository, the presumption
+is the superproject and submodule repositories will be kept
+together in the same relative location, and only the
+superproject's URL needs to be provided: git-submodule will correctly
+locate the submodule using the relative URL in .gitmodules.
+
+status [--cached] [--recursive] [--] [<path>...]::
Show the status of the submodules. This will print the SHA-1 of the
currently checked out commit for each submodule, along with the
- submodule path and the output of gitlink:git-describe[1] for the
+ submodule path and the output of 'git describe' for the
SHA-1. Each SHA-1 will be prefixed with `-` if the submodule is not
- initialized and `+` if the currently checked out submodule commit
+ initialized, `+` if the currently checked out submodule commit
does not match the SHA-1 found in the index of the containing
- repository. This command is the default command for git-submodule.
+ repository and `U` if the submodule has merge conflicts.
++
+If `--recursive` is specified, this command will recurse into nested
+submodules, and show their status as well.
++
+If you are only interested in changes of the currently initialized
+submodules with respect to the commit recorded in the index or the HEAD,
+linkgit:git-status[1] and linkgit:git-diff[1] will provide that information
+too (and can also report changes to a submodule's work tree).
+
+init [--] [<path>...]::
+ Initialize the submodules recorded in the index (which were
+ added and committed elsewhere) by setting `submodule.$name.url`
+ in .git/config. It uses the same setting from .gitmodules as
+ a template. If the URL is relative, it will be resolved using
+ the default remote. If there is no default remote, the current
+ repository will be assumed to be upstream.
++
+Optional <path> arguments limit which submodules will be initialized.
+If no path is specified and submodule.active has been configured, submodules
+configured to be active will be initialized, otherwise all submodules are
+initialized.
++
+When present, it will also copy the value of `submodule.$name.update`.
+This command does not alter existing information in .git/config.
+You can then customize the submodule clone URLs in .git/config
+for your local setup and proceed to `git submodule update`;
+you can also just use `git submodule update --init` without
+the explicit 'init' step if you do not intend to customize
+any submodule locations.
++
+See the add subcommand for the defintion of default remote.
+
+deinit [-f|--force] (--all|[--] <path>...)::
+ Unregister the given submodules, i.e. remove the whole
+ `submodule.$name` section from .git/config together with their work
+ tree. Further calls to `git submodule update`, `git submodule foreach`
+ and `git submodule sync` will skip any unregistered submodules until
+ they are initialized again, so use this command if you don't want to
+ have a local checkout of the submodule in your working tree anymore. If
+ you really want to remove a submodule from the repository and commit
+ that use linkgit:git-rm[1] instead.
++
+When the command is run without pathspec, it errors out,
+instead of deinit-ing everything, to prevent mistakes.
++
+If `--force` is specified, the submodule's working tree will
+be removed even if it contains local modifications.
+
+update [--init] [--remote] [-N|--no-fetch] [--[no-]recommend-shallow] [-f|--force] [--checkout|--rebase|--merge] [--reference <repository>] [--depth <depth>] [--recursive] [--jobs <n>] [--] [<path>...]::
++
+--
+Update the registered submodules to match what the superproject
+expects by cloning missing submodules and updating the working tree of
+the submodules. The "updating" can be done in several ways depending
+on command line options and the value of `submodule.<name>.update`
+configuration variable. The command line option takes precedence over
+the configuration variable. if neither is given, a checkout is performed.
+update procedures supported both from the command line as well as setting
+`submodule.<name>.update`:
-init::
- Initialize the submodules, i.e. register in .git/config each submodule
- name and url found in .gitmodules. The key used in .git/config is
- `submodule.$name.url`. This command does not alter existing information
- in .git/config.
+ checkout;; the commit recorded in the superproject will be
+ checked out in the submodule on a detached HEAD.
++
+If `--force` is specified, the submodule will be checked out (using
+`git checkout --force` if appropriate), even if the commit specified
+in the index of the containing repository already matches the commit
+checked out in the submodule.
-update::
- Update the registered submodules, i.e. clone missing submodules and
- checkout the commit specified in the index of the containing repository.
- This will make the submodules HEAD be detached.
+ rebase;; the current branch of the submodule will be rebased
+ onto the commit recorded in the superproject.
+ merge;; the commit recorded in the superproject will be merged
+ into the current branch in the submodule.
+
+The following procedures are only available via the `submodule.<name>.update`
+configuration variable:
+
+ custom command;; arbitrary shell command that takes a single
+ argument (the sha1 of the commit recorded in the
+ superproject) is executed. When `submodule.<name>.update`
+ is set to '!command', the remainder after the exclamation mark
+ is the custom command.
+
+ none;; the submodule is not updated.
+
+If the submodule is not yet initialized, and you just want to use the
+setting as stored in .gitmodules, you can automatically initialize the
+submodule with the `--init` option.
+
+If `--recursive` is specified, this command will recurse into the
+registered submodules, and update any nested submodules within.
+--
+summary [--cached|--files] [(-n|--summary-limit) <n>] [commit] [--] [<path>...]::
+ Show commit summary between the given commit (defaults to HEAD) and
+ working tree/index. For a submodule in question, a series of commits
+ in the submodule between the given super project commit and the
+ index or working tree (switched by `--cached`) are shown. If the option
+ `--files` is given, show the series of commits in the submodule between
+ the index of the super project and the working tree of the submodule
+ (this option doesn't allow to use the `--cached` option or to provide an
+ explicit commit).
++
+Using the `--submodule=log` option with linkgit:git-diff[1] will provide that
+information too.
+
+foreach [--recursive] <command>::
+ Evaluates an arbitrary shell command in each checked out submodule.
+ The command has access to the variables $name, $path, $sha1 and
+ $toplevel:
+ $name is the name of the relevant submodule section in .gitmodules,
+ $path is the name of the submodule directory relative to the
+ superproject, $sha1 is the commit as recorded in the superproject,
+ and $toplevel is the absolute path to the top-level of the superproject.
+ Any submodules defined in the superproject but not checked out are
+ ignored by this command. Unless given `--quiet`, foreach prints the name
+ of each submodule before evaluating the command.
+ If `--recursive` is given, submodules are traversed recursively (i.e.
+ the given shell command is evaluated in nested submodules as well).
+ A non-zero return from the command in any submodule causes
+ the processing to terminate. This can be overridden by adding '|| :'
+ to the end of the command.
++
+As an example, the command below will show the path and currently
+checked out commit for each submodule:
++
+--------------
+git submodule foreach 'echo $path `git rev-parse HEAD`'
+--------------
+
+sync [--recursive] [--] [<path>...]::
+ Synchronizes submodules' remote URL configuration setting
+ to the value specified in .gitmodules. It will only affect those
+ submodules which already have a URL entry in .git/config (that is the
+ case when they are initialized or freshly added). This is useful when
+ submodule URLs change upstream and you need to update your local
+ repositories accordingly.
++
+"git submodule sync" synchronizes all submodules while
+"git submodule sync \-- A" synchronizes submodule "A" only.
++
+If `--recursive` is specified, this command will recurse into the
+registered submodules, and sync any nested submodules within.
+
+absorbgitdirs::
+ If a git directory of a submodule is inside the submodule,
+ move the git directory of the submodule into its superprojects
+ `$GIT_DIR/modules` path and then connect the git directory and
+ its working directory by setting the `core.worktree` and adding
+ a .git file pointing to the git directory embedded in the
+ superprojects git directory.
++
+A repository that was cloned independently and later added as a submodule or
+old setups have the submodules git directory inside the submodule instead of
+embedded into the superprojects git directory.
++
+This command is recursive by default.
OPTIONS
-------
--q, --quiet::
+-q::
+--quiet::
Only print error messages.
--b, --branch::
+--all::
+ This option is only valid for the deinit command. Unregister all
+ submodules in the working tree.
+
+-b::
+--branch::
Branch of repository to add as submodule.
+ The name of the branch is recorded as `submodule.<name>.branch` in
+ `.gitmodules` for `update --remote`. A special value of `.` is used to
+ indicate that the name of the branch in the submodule should be the
+ same name as the current branch in the current repository.
+
+-f::
+--force::
+ This option is only valid for add, deinit and update commands.
+ When running add, allow adding an otherwise ignored submodule path.
+ When running deinit the submodule working trees will be removed even
+ if they contain local changes.
+ When running update (only effective with the checkout procedure),
+ throw away local changes in submodules when switching to a
+ different commit; and always run a checkout operation in the
+ submodule, even if the commit listed in the index of the
+ containing repository matches the commit checked out in the
+ submodule.
--cached::
- Display the SHA-1 stored in the index, not the SHA-1 of the currently
- checked out submodule commit. This option is only valid for the
- status command.
+ This option is only valid for status and summary commands. These
+ commands typically use the commit found in the submodule HEAD, but
+ with this option, the commit stored in the index is used instead.
+
+--files::
+ This option is only valid for the summary command. This command
+ compares the commit in the index with that in the submodule HEAD
+ when this option is used.
+
+-n::
+--summary-limit::
+ This option is only valid for the summary command.
+ Limit the summary size (number of commits shown in total).
+ Giving 0 will disable the summary; a negative number means unlimited
+ (the default). This limit only applies to modified submodules. The
+ size is always limited to 1 for added/deleted/typechanged submodules.
+
+--remote::
+ This option is only valid for the update command. Instead of using
+ the superproject's recorded SHA-1 to update the submodule, use the
+ status of the submodule's remote-tracking branch. The remote used
+ is branch's remote (`branch.<name>.remote`), defaulting to `origin`.
+ The remote branch used defaults to `master`, but the branch name may
+ be overridden by setting the `submodule.<name>.branch` option in
+ either `.gitmodules` or `.git/config` (with `.git/config` taking
+ precedence).
++
+This works for any of the supported update procedures (`--checkout`,
+`--rebase`, etc.). The only change is the source of the target SHA-1.
+For example, `submodule update --remote --merge` will merge upstream
+submodule changes into the submodules, while `submodule update
+--merge` will merge superproject gitlink changes into the submodules.
++
+In order to ensure a current tracking branch state, `update --remote`
+fetches the submodule's remote repository before calculating the
+SHA-1. If you don't want to fetch, you should use `submodule update
+--remote --no-fetch`.
++
+Use this option to integrate changes from the upstream subproject with
+your submodule's current HEAD. Alternatively, you can run `git pull`
+from the submodule, which is equivalent except for the remote branch
+name: `update --remote` uses the default upstream repository and
+`submodule.<name>.branch`, while `git pull` uses the submodule's
+`branch.<name>.merge`. Prefer `submodule.<name>.branch` if you want
+to distribute the default upstream branch with the superproject and
+`branch.<name>.merge` if you want a more native feel while working in
+the submodule itself.
+
+-N::
+--no-fetch::
+ This option is only valid for the update command.
+ Don't fetch new objects from the remote site.
+
+--checkout::
+ This option is only valid for the update command.
+ Checkout the commit recorded in the superproject on a detached HEAD
+ in the submodule. This is the default behavior, the main use of
+ this option is to override `submodule.$name.update` when set to
+ a value other than `checkout`.
+ If the key `submodule.$name.update` is either not explicitly set or
+ set to `checkout`, this option is implicit.
+
+--merge::
+ This option is only valid for the update command.
+ Merge the commit recorded in the superproject into the current branch
+ of the submodule. If this option is given, the submodule's HEAD will
+ not be detached. If a merge failure prevents this process, you will
+ have to resolve the resulting conflicts within the submodule with the
+ usual conflict resolution tools.
+ If the key `submodule.$name.update` is set to `merge`, this option is
+ implicit.
+
+--rebase::
+ This option is only valid for the update command.
+ Rebase the current branch onto the commit recorded in the
+ superproject. If this option is given, the submodule's HEAD will not
+ be detached. If a merge failure prevents this process, you will have
+ to resolve these failures with linkgit:git-rebase[1].
+ If the key `submodule.$name.update` is set to `rebase`, this option is
+ implicit.
+
+--init::
+ This option is only valid for the update command.
+ Initialize all submodules for which "git submodule init" has not been
+ called so far before updating.
-<path>::
- Path to submodule(s). When specified this will restrict the command
+--name::
+ This option is only valid for the add command. It sets the submodule's
+ name to the given string instead of defaulting to its path. The name
+ must be valid as a directory name and may not end with a '/'.
+
+--reference <repository>::
+ This option is only valid for add and update commands. These
+ commands sometimes need to clone a remote repository. In this case,
+ this option will be passed to the linkgit:git-clone[1] command.
++
+*NOTE*: Do *not* use this option unless you have read the note
+for linkgit:git-clone[1]'s `--reference` and `--shared` options carefully.
+
+--recursive::
+ This option is only valid for foreach, update, status and sync commands.
+ Traverse submodules recursively. The operation is performed not
+ only in the submodules of the current repo, but also
+ in any nested submodules inside those submodules (and so on).
+
+--depth::
+ This option is valid for add and update commands. Create a 'shallow'
+ clone with a history truncated to the specified number of revisions.
+ See linkgit:git-clone[1]
+
+--[no-]recommend-shallow::
+ This option is only valid for the update command.
+ The initial clone of a submodule will use the recommended
+ `submodule.<name>.shallow` as provided by the .gitmodules file
+ by default. To ignore the suggestions use `--no-recommend-shallow`.
+
+-j <n>::
+--jobs <n>::
+ This option is only valid for the update command.
+ Clone new submodules in parallel with as many jobs.
+ Defaults to the `submodule.fetchJobs` option.
+
+<path>...::
+ Paths to submodule(s). When specified this will restrict the command
to only operate on the submodules found at the specified paths.
+ (This argument is required with add).
FILES
-----
When initializing submodules, a .gitmodules file in the top-level directory
of the containing repository is used to find the url of each submodule.
-This file should be formatted in the same way as $GIR_DIR/config. The key
-to each submodule url is "submodule.$name.url". See gitlink:gitmodules[5]
+This file should be formatted in the same way as `$GIT_DIR/config`. The key
+to each submodule url is "submodule.$name.url". See linkgit:gitmodules[5]
for details.
-
-AUTHOR
-------
-Written by Lars Hjemli <hjemli@gmail.com>
-
GIT
---
-Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite
+Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite