NAME
----
-git-notes - Add/inspect object notes
+git-notes - Add or inspect object notes
SYNOPSIS
--------
DESCRIPTION
-----------
-This command allows you to add/remove notes to/from objects, without
-changing the objects themselves.
+Adds, removes, or reads notes attached to objects, without touching
+the objects themselves.
-A typical use of notes is to extend a commit message without having
-to change the commit itself. Such commit notes can be shown by `git log`
-along with the original commit message. To discern these notes from the
+By default, notes are saved to and read from `refs/notes/commits`, but
+this default can be overridden. See the OPTIONS, CONFIGURATION, and
+ENVIRONMENT sections below. If this ref does not exist, it will be
+quietly created when it is first needed to store a note.
+
+A typical use of notes is to supplement a commit message without
+changing the commit itself. Notes can be shown by 'git log' along with
+the original commit message. To distinguish these notes from the
message stored in the commit object, the notes are indented like the
message, after an unindented line saying "Notes (<refname>):" (or
"Notes:" for `refs/notes/commits`).
-This command always manipulates the notes specified in "core.notesRef"
-(see linkgit:git-config[1]), which can be overridden by GIT_NOTES_REF.
-To change which notes are shown by 'git-log', see the
-"notes.displayRef" configuration.
+To change which notes are shown by 'git log', see the
+"notes.displayRef" configuration in linkgit:git-log[1].
-See the description of "notes.rewrite.<command>" in
-linkgit:git-config[1] for a way of carrying your notes across commands
-that rewrite commits.
+See the "notes.rewrite.<command>" configuration for a way to carry
+notes across commands that rewrite commits.
SUBCOMMANDS
the user can further edit the note message.
--ref <ref>::
- Manipulate the notes tree in <ref>. This overrides both
- GIT_NOTES_REF and the "core.notesRef" configuration. The ref
+ Manipulate the notes tree in <ref>. This overrides
+ 'GIT_NOTES_REF' and the "core.notesRef" configuration. The ref
is taken to be in `refs/notes/` if it is not qualified.
-------------
core.notesRef::
- When showing commit messages, also show notes which are stored in
- the given ref. The ref must be fully qualified. If the given
- ref does not exist, it is not an error but means that no
- notes should be printed.
-+
-This setting defaults to "refs/notes/commits", and it can be overridden by
-the 'GIT_NOTES_REF' environment variable. See linkgit:git-notes[1].
+ Notes ref to read and manipulate instead of
+ `refs/notes/commits`. Must be an unabbreviated ref name.
+ This setting can be overridden through the environment and
+ command line.
notes.displayRef::
- The (fully qualified) refname from which to show notes when
- showing commit messages. The value of this variable can be set
- to a glob, in which case notes from all matching refs will be
- shown. You may also specify this configuration variable
- several times. A warning will be issued for refs that do not
- exist, but a glob that does not match any refs is silently
- ignored.
-+
-This setting can be overridden with the `GIT_NOTES_DISPLAY_REF`
-environment variable, which must be a colon separated list of refs or
-globs.
-+
-The effective value of "core.notesRef" (possibly overridden by
-GIT_NOTES_REF) is also implicitly added to the list of refs to be
-displayed.
+ Which ref (or refs, if a glob or specified more than once), in
+ addition to the default set by `core.notesRef` or
+ 'GIT_NOTES_REF', to read notes from when showing commit
+ messages with the 'git log' family of commands.
+ This setting can be overridden on the command line or by the
+ 'GIT_NOTES_DISPLAY_REF' environment variable.
+ See linkgit:git-log[1].
notes.rewrite.<command>::
When rewriting commits with <command> (currently `amend` or
- `rebase`) and this variable is set to `true`, git
- automatically copies your notes from the original to the
- rewritten commit. Defaults to `true`, but see
- "notes.rewriteRef" below.
+ `rebase`), if this variable is `false`, git will not copy
+ notes from the original to the rewritten commit. Defaults to
+ `true`. See also "`notes.rewriteRef`" below.
++
+This setting can be overridden by the 'GIT_NOTES_REWRITE_REF'
+environment variable.
notes.rewriteMode::
- When copying notes during a rewrite (see the
- "notes.rewrite.<command>" option), determines what to do if
- the target commit already has a note. Must be one of
- `overwrite`, `concatenate`, or `ignore`. Defaults to
- `concatenate`.
+ When copying notes during a rewrite, what to do if the target
+ commit already has a note. Must be one of `overwrite`,
+ `concatenate`, and `ignore`. Defaults to `concatenate`.
+
This setting can be overridden with the `GIT_NOTES_REWRITE_MODE`
environment variable.
notes.rewriteRef::
When copying notes during a rewrite, specifies the (fully
- qualified) ref whose notes should be copied. The ref may be a
- glob, in which case notes in all matching refs will be copied.
- You may also specify this configuration several times.
+ qualified) ref whose notes should be copied. May be a glob,
+ in which case notes in all matching refs will be copied. You
+ may also specify this configuration several times.
+
Does not have a default value; you must configure this variable to
enable note rewriting.
+
-This setting can be overridden with the `GIT_NOTES_REWRITE_REF`
-environment variable, which must be a colon separated list of refs or
-globs.
+Can be overridden with the 'GIT_NOTES_REWRITE_REF' environment variable.
+
+
+ENVIRONMENT
+-----------
+
+'GIT_NOTES_REF'::
+ Which ref to manipulate notes from, instead of `refs/notes/commits`.
+ This overrides the `core.notesRef` setting.
+
+'GIT_NOTES_DISPLAY_REF'::
+ Colon-delimited list of refs or globs indicating which refs,
+ in addition to the default from `core.notesRef` or
+ 'GIT_NOTES_REF', to read notes from when showing commit
+ messages.
+ This overrides the `notes.displayRef` setting.
++
+A warning will be issued for refs that do not exist, but a glob that
+does not match any refs is silently ignored.
+
+'GIT_NOTES_REWRITE_MODE'::
+ When copying notes during a rewrite, what to do if the target
+ commit already has a note.
+ Must be one of `overwrite`, `concatenate`, and `ignore`.
+ This overrides the `core.rewriteMode` setting.
+
+'GIT_NOTES_REWRITE_REF'::
+ When rewriting commits, which notes to copy from the original
+ to the rewritten commit. Must be a colon-delimited list of
+ refs or globs.
++
+If not set in the environment, the list of notes to copy depends
+on the `notes.rewrite.<command>` and `notes.rewriteRef` settings.
+
Author
------