6 git-tag - Create, list, delete or verify a tag object signed with GPG
12 'git tag' [-a | -s | -u <keyid>] [-f] [-m <msg> | -F <file>]
13 <tagname> [<commit> | <object>]
14 'git tag' -d <tagname>...
15 'git tag' [-n[<num>]] -l [--contains <commit>] [--points-at <object>]
16 [--column[=<options>] | --no-column] [--create-reflog] [--sort=<key>]
17 [--format=<format>] [--[no-]merged [<commit>]] [<pattern>...]
18 'git tag' -v <tagname>...
23 Add a tag reference in `refs/tags/`, unless `-d/-l/-v` is given
24 to delete, list or verify tags.
26 Unless `-f` is given, the named tag must not yet exist.
28 If one of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <keyid>` is passed, the command
29 creates a 'tag' object, and requires a tag message. Unless
30 `-m <msg>` or `-F <file>` is given, an editor is started for the user to type
33 If `-m <msg>` or `-F <file>` is given and `-a`, `-s`, and `-u <keyid>`
34 are absent, `-a` is implied.
36 Otherwise just a tag reference for the SHA-1 object name of the commit object is
37 created (i.e. a lightweight tag).
39 A GnuPG signed tag object will be created when `-s` or `-u
40 <keyid>` is used. When `-u <keyid>` is not used, the
41 committer identity for the current user is used to find the
42 GnuPG key for signing. The configuration variable `gpg.program`
43 is used to specify custom GnuPG binary.
45 Tag objects (created with `-a`, `-s`, or `-u`) are called "annotated"
46 tags; they contain a creation date, the tagger name and e-mail, a
47 tagging message, and an optional GnuPG signature. Whereas a
48 "lightweight" tag is simply a name for an object (usually a commit
51 Annotated tags are meant for release while lightweight tags are meant
52 for private or temporary object labels. For this reason, some git
53 commands for naming objects (like `git describe`) will ignore
54 lightweight tags by default.
61 Make an unsigned, annotated tag object
65 Make a GPG-signed tag, using the default e-mail address's key.
68 --local-user=<keyid>::
69 Make a GPG-signed tag, using the given key.
73 Replace an existing tag with the given name (instead of failing)
77 Delete existing tags with the given names.
81 Verify the gpg signature of the given tag names.
84 <num> specifies how many lines from the annotation, if any,
85 are printed when using -l.
86 The default is not to print any annotation lines.
87 If no number is given to `-n`, only the first line is printed.
88 If the tag is not annotated, the commit message is displayed instead.
92 List tags with names that match the given pattern (or all if no
93 pattern is given). Running "git tag" without arguments also
94 lists all tags. The pattern is a shell wildcard (i.e., matched
95 using fnmatch(3)). Multiple patterns may be given; if any of
96 them matches, the tag is shown.
99 Sort based on the key given. Prefix `-` to sort in
100 descending order of the value. You may use the --sort=<key> option
101 multiple times, in which case the last key becomes the primary
102 key. Also supports "version:refname" or "v:refname" (tag
103 names are treated as versions). The "version:refname" sort
104 order can also be affected by the
105 "versionsort.prereleaseSuffix" configuration variable.
106 The keys supported are the same as those in `git for-each-ref`.
107 Sort order defaults to the value configured for the `tag.sort`
108 variable if it exists, or lexicographic order otherwise. See
109 linkgit:git-config[1].
111 --column[=<options>]::
113 Display tag listing in columns. See configuration variable
114 column.tag for option syntax.`--column` and `--no-column`
115 without options are equivalent to 'always' and 'never' respectively.
117 This option is only applicable when listing tags without annotation lines.
119 --contains [<commit>]::
120 Only list tags which contain the specified commit (HEAD if not
123 --points-at <object>::
124 Only list tags of the given object.
128 Use the given tag message (instead of prompting).
129 If multiple `-m` options are given, their values are
130 concatenated as separate paragraphs.
131 Implies `-a` if none of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <keyid>`
136 Take the tag message from the given file. Use '-' to
137 read the message from the standard input.
138 Implies `-a` if none of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <keyid>`
142 This option sets how the tag message is cleaned up.
143 The '<mode>' can be one of 'verbatim', 'whitespace' and 'strip'. The
144 'strip' mode is default. The 'verbatim' mode does not change message at
145 all, 'whitespace' removes just leading/trailing whitespace lines and
146 'strip' removes both whitespace and commentary.
149 Create a reflog for the tag.
152 The name of the tag to create, delete, or describe.
153 The new tag name must pass all checks defined by
154 linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1]. Some of these checks
155 may restrict the characters allowed in a tag name.
159 The object that the new tag will refer to, usually a commit.
163 A string that interpolates `%(fieldname)` from the object
164 pointed at by a ref being shown. The format is the same as
165 that of linkgit:git-for-each-ref[1]. When unspecified,
166 defaults to `%(refname:strip=2)`.
168 --[no-]merged [<commit>]::
169 Only list tags whose tips are reachable, or not reachable
170 if `--no-merged` is used, from the specified commit ('HEAD'
175 By default, 'git tag' in sign-with-default mode (-s) will use your
176 committer identity (of the form `Your Name <your@email.address>`) to
177 find a key. If you want to use a different default key, you can specify
178 it in the repository configuration as follows:
180 -------------------------------------
182 signingKey = <gpg-keyid>
183 -------------------------------------
192 What should you do when you tag a wrong commit and you would
195 If you never pushed anything out, just re-tag it. Use "-f" to
196 replace the old one. And you're done.
198 But if you have pushed things out (or others could just read
199 your repository directly), then others will have already seen
200 the old tag. In that case you can do one of two things:
203 Just admit you screwed up, and use a different name. Others have
204 already seen one tag-name, and if you keep the same name, you
205 may be in the situation that two people both have "version X",
206 but they actually have 'different' "X"'s. So just call it "X.1"
210 You really want to call the new version "X" too, 'even though'
211 others have already seen the old one. So just use 'git tag -f'
212 again, as if you hadn't already published the old one.
214 However, Git does *not* (and it should not) change tags behind
215 users back. So if somebody already got the old tag, doing a
216 'git pull' on your tree shouldn't just make them overwrite the old
219 If somebody got a release tag from you, you cannot just change
220 the tag for them by updating your own one. This is a big
221 security issue, in that people MUST be able to trust their
222 tag-names. If you really want to do the insane thing, you need
223 to just fess up to it, and tell people that you messed up. You
224 can do that by making a very public announcement saying:
227 Ok, I messed up, and I pushed out an earlier version tagged as X. I
228 then fixed something, and retagged the *fixed* tree as X again.
230 If you got the wrong tag, and want the new one, please delete
231 the old one and fetch the new one by doing:
234 git fetch origin tag X
236 to get my updated tag.
238 You can test which tag you have by doing
242 which should return 0123456789abcdef.. if you have the new version.
244 Sorry for the inconvenience.
247 Does this seem a bit complicated? It *should* be. There is no
248 way that it would be correct to just "fix" it automatically.
249 People need to know that their tags might have been changed.
252 On Automatic following
253 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
255 If you are following somebody else's tree, you are most likely
256 using remote-tracking branches (`refs/heads/origin` in traditional
257 layout, or `refs/remotes/origin/master` in the separate-remote
258 layout). You usually want the tags from the other end.
260 On the other hand, if you are fetching because you would want a
261 one-shot merge from somebody else, you typically do not want to
262 get tags from there. This happens more often for people near
263 the toplevel but not limited to them. Mere mortals when pulling
264 from each other do not necessarily want to automatically get
265 private anchor point tags from the other person.
267 Often, "please pull" messages on the mailing list just provide
268 two pieces of information: a repo URL and a branch name; this
269 is designed to be easily cut&pasted at the end of a 'git fetch'
273 Linus, please pull from
275 git://git..../proj.git master
277 to get the following updates...
283 $ git pull git://git..../proj.git master
286 In such a case, you do not want to automatically follow the other
289 One important aspect of Git is its distributed nature, which
290 largely means there is no inherent "upstream" or
291 "downstream" in the system. On the face of it, the above
292 example might seem to indicate that the tag namespace is owned
293 by the upper echelon of people and that tags only flow downwards, but
294 that is not the case. It only shows that the usage pattern
295 determines who are interested in whose tags.
297 A one-shot pull is a sign that a commit history is now crossing
298 the boundary between one circle of people (e.g. "people who are
299 primarily interested in the networking part of the kernel") who may
300 have their own set of tags (e.g. "this is the third release
301 candidate from the networking group to be proposed for general
302 consumption with 2.6.21 release") to another circle of people
303 (e.g. "people who integrate various subsystem improvements").
304 The latter are usually not interested in the detailed tags used
305 internally in the former group (that is what "internal" means).
306 That is why it is desirable not to follow tags automatically in
309 It may well be that among networking people, they may want to
310 exchange the tags internal to their group, but in that workflow
311 they are most likely tracking each other's progress by
312 having remote-tracking branches. Again, the heuristic to automatically
313 follow such tags is a good thing.
319 If you have imported some changes from another VCS and would like
320 to add tags for major releases of your work, it is useful to be able
321 to specify the date to embed inside of the tag object; such data in
322 the tag object affects, for example, the ordering of tags in the
325 To set the date used in future tag objects, set the environment
326 variable GIT_COMMITTER_DATE (see the later discussion of possible
327 values; the most common form is "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM").
332 $ GIT_COMMITTER_DATE="2006-10-02 10:31" git tag -s v1.0.1
335 include::date-formats.txt[]
339 linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1].
340 linkgit:git-config[1].
344 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite