--------
[verse]
'git add' [-n] [-v] [--force | -f] [--interactive | -i] [--patch | -p]
- [--all | [--update | -u]] [--intent-to-add | -N]
- [--refresh] [--ignore-errors] [--] <filepattern>...
+ [--edit | -e] [--all | [--update | -u]] [--intent-to-add | -N]
+ [--refresh] [--ignore-errors] [--ignore-missing] [--]
+ [<filepattern>...]
DESCRIPTION
-----------
-This command adds the current content of new or modified files to the
-index, thus staging that content for inclusion in the next commit.
+This command updates the index using the current content found in
+the working tree, to prepare the content staged for the next commit.
+It typically adds the current content of existing paths as a whole,
+but with some options it can also be used to add content with
+only part of the changes made to the working tree files applied, or
+remove paths that do not exist in the working tree anymore.
The "index" holds a snapshot of the content of the working tree, and it
is this snapshot that is taken as the contents of the next commit. Thus
after making any changes to the working directory, and before running
-the commit command, you must use the 'add' command to add any new or
+the commit command, you must use the `add` command to add any new or
modified files to the index.
This command can be performed multiple times before a commit. It only
adds the content of the specified file(s) at the time the add command is
run; if you want subsequent changes included in the next commit, then
-you must run 'git add' again to add the new content to the index.
+you must run `git add` again to add the new content to the index.
-The 'git status' command can be used to obtain a summary of which
+The `git status` command can be used to obtain a summary of which
files have changes that are staged for the next commit.
-The 'git add' command will not add ignored files by default. If any
-ignored files were explicitly specified on the command line, 'git add'
+The `git add` command will not add ignored files by default. If any
+ignored files were explicitly specified on the command line, `git add`
will fail with a list of ignored files. Ignored files reached by
directory recursion or filename globbing performed by Git (quote your
-globs before the shell) will be silently ignored. The 'add' command can
+globs before the shell) will be silently ignored. The 'git add' command can
be used to add ignored files with the `-f` (force) option.
Please see linkgit:git-commit[1] for alternative ways to add content to a
-n::
--dry-run::
- Don't actually add the file(s), just show if they exist.
+ Don't actually add the file(s), just show if they exist and/or will
+ be ignored.
-v::
--verbose::
-p::
--patch::
- Similar to Interactive mode but the initial command loop is
- bypassed and the 'patch' subcommand is invoked using each of
- the specified filepatterns before exiting.
+ Interactively choose hunks of patch between the index and the
+ work tree and add them to the index. This gives the user a chance
+ to review the difference before adding modified contents to the
+ index.
++
+This effectively runs `add --interactive`, but bypasses the
+initial command menu and directly jumps to the `patch` subcommand.
+See ``Interactive mode'' for details.
+
+-e, \--edit::
+ Open the diff vs. the index in an editor and let the user
+ edit it. After the editor was closed, adjust the hunk headers
+ and apply the patch to the index.
++
+The intent of this option is to pick and choose lines of the patch to
+apply, or even to modify the contents of lines to be staged. This can be
+quicker and more flexible than using the interactive hunk selector.
+However, it is easy to confuse oneself and create a patch that does not
+apply to the index. See EDITING PATCHES below.
-u::
--update::
- Update only files that git already knows about, staging modified
- content for commit and marking deleted files for removal. This
- is similar
- to what "git commit -a" does in preparation for making a commit,
- except that the update is limited to paths specified on the
- command line. If no paths are specified, all tracked files in the
- current directory and its subdirectories are updated.
+ Only match <filepattern> against already tracked files in
+ the index rather than the working tree. That means that it
+ will never stage new files, but that it will stage modified
+ new contents of tracked files and that it will remove files
+ from the index if the corresponding files in the working tree
+ have been removed.
++
+If no <filepattern> is given, default to "."; in other words,
+update all tracked files in the current directory and its
+subdirectories.
-A::
--all::
- Update files that git already knows about (same as '\--update')
- and add all untracked files that are not ignored by '.gitignore'
- mechanism.
-
+ Like `-u`, but match <filepattern> against files in the
+ working tree in addition to the index. That means that it
+ will find new files as well as staging modified content and
+ removing files that are no longer in the working tree.
-N::
--intent-to-add::
Record only the fact that the path will be added later. An entry
for the path is placed in the index with no content. This is
useful for, among other things, showing the unstaged content of
- such files with 'git diff' and committing them with 'git commit
- -a'.
+ such files with `git diff` and committing them with `git commit
+ -a`.
--refresh::
Don't add the file(s), but only refresh their stat()
If some files could not be added because of errors indexing
them, do not abort the operation, but continue adding the
others. The command shall still exit with non-zero status.
+ The configuration variable `add.ignoreErrors` can be set to
+ true to make this the default behaviour.
+
+--ignore-missing::
+ This option can only be used together with --dry-run. By using
+ this option the user can check if any of the given files would
+ be ignored, no matter if they are already present in the work
+ tree or not.
\--::
This option can be used to separate command-line options from
Configuration
-------------
-The optional configuration variable 'core.excludesfile' indicates a path to a
+The optional configuration variable `core.excludesfile` indicates a path to a
file containing patterns of file names to exclude from git-add, similar to
$GIT_DIR/info/exclude. Patterns in the exclude file are used in addition to
those in info/exclude. See linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5].
EXAMPLES
--------
-* Adds content from all `\*.txt` files under `Documentation` directory
+* Adds content from all `*.txt` files under `Documentation` directory
and its subdirectories:
+
------------
-$ git add Documentation/\\*.txt
+$ git add Documentation/\*.txt
------------
+
-Note that the asterisk `\*` is quoted from the shell in this
+Note that the asterisk `*` is quoted from the shell in this
example; this lets the command include the files from
subdirectories of `Documentation/` directory.
What now> 1
------------
-You also could say "s" or "sta" or "status" above as long as the
+You also could say `s` or `sta` or `status` above as long as the
choice is unique.
The main command loop has 6 subcommands (plus help and quit).
status::
This shows the change between HEAD and index (i.e. what will be
- committed if you say "git commit"), and between index and
+ committed if you say `git commit`), and between index and
working tree files (i.e. what you could stage further before
- "git commit" using "git-add") for each path. A sample output
+ `git commit` using `git add`) for each path. A sample output
looks like this:
+
------------
difference between indexed copy and the working tree
version (if the working tree version were also different,
'binary' would have been shown in place of 'nothing'). The
-other file, git-add--interactive.perl, has 403 lines added
+other file, git-add{litdd}interactive.perl, has 403 lines added
and 35 lines deleted if you commit what is in the index, but
working tree file has further modifications (one addition and
one deletion).
This lets you choose one path out of a 'status' like selection.
After choosing the path, it presents the diff between the index
and the working tree file and asks you if you want to stage
- the change of each hunk. You can say:
+ the change of each hunk. You can select one of the following
+ options and type return:
y - stage this hunk
n - do not stage this hunk
- q - quit, do not stage this hunk nor any of the remaining ones
- a - stage this and all the remaining hunks in the file
- d - do not stage this hunk nor any of the remaining hunks in the file
+ q - quit; do not stage this hunk nor any of the remaining ones
+ a - stage this hunk and all later hunks in the file
+ d - do not stage this hunk nor any of the later hunks in the file
g - select a hunk to go to
/ - search for a hunk matching the given regex
j - leave this hunk undecided, see next undecided hunk
+
After deciding the fate for all hunks, if there is any hunk
that was chosen, the index is updated with the selected hunks.
++
+You can omit having to type return here, by setting the configuration
+variable `interactive.singlekey` to `true`.
diff::
This lets you review what will be committed (i.e. between
HEAD and index).
+
+EDITING PATCHES
+---------------
+
+Invoking `git add -e` or selecting `e` from the interactive hunk
+selector will open a patch in your editor; after the editor exits, the
+result is applied to the index. You are free to make arbitrary changes
+to the patch, but note that some changes may have confusing results, or
+even result in a patch that cannot be applied. If you want to abort the
+operation entirely (i.e., stage nothing new in the index), simply delete
+all lines of the patch. The list below describes some common things you
+may see in a patch, and which editing operations make sense on them.
+
+--
+added content::
+
+Added content is represented by lines beginning with "{plus}". You can
+prevent staging any addition lines by deleting them.
+
+removed content::
+
+Removed content is represented by lines beginning with "-". You can
+prevent staging their removal by converting the "-" to a " " (space).
+
+modified content::
+
+Modified content is represented by "-" lines (removing the old content)
+followed by "{plus}" lines (adding the replacement content). You can
+prevent staging the modification by converting "-" lines to " ", and
+removing "{plus}" lines. Beware that modifying only half of the pair is
+likely to introduce confusing changes to the index.
+--
+
+There are also more complex operations that can be performed. But beware
+that because the patch is applied only to the index and not the working
+tree, the working tree will appear to "undo" the change in the index.
+For example, introducing a new line into the index that is in neither
+the HEAD nor the working tree will stage the new line for commit, but
+the line will appear to be reverted in the working tree.
+
+Avoid using these constructs, or do so with extreme caution.
+
+--
+removing untouched content::
+
+Content which does not differ between the index and working tree may be
+shown on context lines, beginning with a " " (space). You can stage
+context lines for removal by converting the space to a "-". The
+resulting working tree file will appear to re-add the content.
+
+modifying existing content::
+
+One can also modify context lines by staging them for removal (by
+converting " " to "-") and adding a "{plus}" line with the new content.
+Similarly, one can modify "{plus}" lines for existing additions or
+modifications. In all cases, the new modification will appear reverted
+in the working tree.
+
+new content::
+
+You may also add new content that does not exist in the patch; simply
+add new lines, each starting with "{plus}". The addition will appear
+reverted in the working tree.
+--
+
+There are also several operations which should be avoided entirely, as
+they will make the patch impossible to apply:
+
+* adding context (" ") or removal ("-") lines
+* deleting context or removal lines
+* modifying the contents of context or removal lines
+
SEE ALSO
--------
linkgit:git-status[1]
linkgit:git-commit[1]
linkgit:git-update-index[1]
-Author
-------
-Written by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>
-
-Documentation
---------------
-Documentation by Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
-
GIT
---
Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite