6 git-submodule - Initialize, update or inspect submodules
12 'git submodule' [--quiet] add [-b <branch>] [-f|--force] [--name <name>]
13 [--reference <repository>] [--depth <depth>] [--] <repository> [<path>]
14 'git submodule' [--quiet] status [--cached] [--recursive] [--] [<path>...]
15 'git submodule' [--quiet] init [--] [<path>...]
16 'git submodule' [--quiet] deinit [-f|--force] (--all|[--] <path>...)
17 'git submodule' [--quiet] update [--init] [--remote] [-N|--no-fetch]
18 [--[no-]recommend-shallow] [-f|--force] [--rebase|--merge]
19 [--reference <repository>] [--depth <depth>] [--recursive]
20 [--jobs <n>] [--] [<path>...]
21 'git submodule' [--quiet] summary [--cached|--files] [(-n|--summary-limit) <n>]
22 [commit] [--] [<path>...]
23 'git submodule' [--quiet] foreach [--recursive] <command>
24 'git submodule' [--quiet] sync [--recursive] [--] [<path>...]
25 'git submodule' [--quiet] absorbgitdirs [--] [<path>...]
30 Inspects, updates and manages submodules.
32 A submodule allows you to keep another Git repository in a subdirectory
33 of your repository. The other repository has its own history, which does not
34 interfere with the history of the current repository. This can be used to
35 have external dependencies such as third party libraries for example.
37 When cloning or pulling a repository containing submodules however,
38 these will not be checked out by default; the 'init' and 'update'
39 subcommands will maintain submodules checked out and at
40 appropriate revision in your working tree.
42 Submodules are composed from a so-called `gitlink` tree entry
43 in the main repository that refers to a particular commit object
44 within the inner repository that is completely separate.
45 A record in the `.gitmodules` (see linkgit:gitmodules[5]) file at the
46 root of the source tree assigns a logical name to the submodule and
47 describes the default URL the submodule shall be cloned from.
48 The logical name can be used for overriding this URL within your
49 local repository configuration (see 'submodule init').
51 Submodules are not to be confused with remotes, which are other
52 repositories of the same project; submodules are meant for
53 different projects you would like to make part of your source tree,
54 while the history of the two projects still stays completely
55 independent and you cannot modify the contents of the submodule
56 from within the main project.
57 If you want to merge the project histories and want to treat the
58 aggregated whole as a single project from then on, you may want to
59 add a remote for the other project and use the 'subtree' merge strategy,
60 instead of treating the other project as a submodule. Directories
61 that come from both projects can be cloned and checked out as a whole
62 if you choose to go that route.
67 Add the given repository as a submodule at the given path
68 to the changeset to be committed next to the current
69 project: the current project is termed the "superproject".
71 This requires at least one argument: <repository>. The optional
72 argument <path> is the relative location for the cloned submodule
73 to exist in the superproject. If <path> is not given, the
74 "humanish" part of the source repository is used ("repo" for
75 "/path/to/repo.git" and "foo" for "host.xz:foo/.git").
76 The <path> is also used as the submodule's logical name in its
77 configuration entries unless `--name` is used to specify a logical name.
79 <repository> is the URL of the new submodule's origin repository.
80 This may be either an absolute URL, or (if it begins with ./
81 or ../), the location relative to the superproject's origin
82 repository (Please note that to specify a repository 'foo.git'
83 which is located right next to a superproject 'bar.git', you'll
84 have to use '../foo.git' instead of './foo.git' - as one might expect
85 when following the rules for relative URLs - because the evaluation
86 of relative URLs in Git is identical to that of relative directories).
87 If the superproject doesn't have an origin configured
88 the superproject is its own authoritative upstream and the current
89 working directory is used instead.
91 <path> is the relative location for the cloned submodule to
92 exist in the superproject. If <path> does not exist, then the
93 submodule is created by cloning from the named URL. If <path> does
94 exist and is already a valid Git repository, then this is added
95 to the changeset without cloning. This second form is provided
96 to ease creating a new submodule from scratch, and presumes
97 the user will later push the submodule to the given URL.
99 In either case, the given URL is recorded into .gitmodules for
100 use by subsequent users cloning the superproject. If the URL is
101 given relative to the superproject's repository, the presumption
102 is the superproject and submodule repositories will be kept
103 together in the same relative location, and only the
104 superproject's URL needs to be provided: git-submodule will correctly
105 locate the submodule using the relative URL in .gitmodules.
108 Show the status of the submodules. This will print the SHA-1 of the
109 currently checked out commit for each submodule, along with the
110 submodule path and the output of 'git describe' for the
111 SHA-1. Each SHA-1 will be prefixed with `-` if the submodule is not
112 initialized, `+` if the currently checked out submodule commit
113 does not match the SHA-1 found in the index of the containing
114 repository and `U` if the submodule has merge conflicts.
116 If `--recursive` is specified, this command will recurse into nested
117 submodules, and show their status as well.
119 If you are only interested in changes of the currently initialized
120 submodules with respect to the commit recorded in the index or the HEAD,
121 linkgit:git-status[1] and linkgit:git-diff[1] will provide that information
122 too (and can also report changes to a submodule's work tree).
125 Initialize the submodules recorded in the index (which were
126 added and committed elsewhere) by copying submodule
127 names and urls from .gitmodules to .git/config.
128 Optional <path> arguments limit which submodules will be initialized.
129 It will also copy the value of `submodule.$name.update` into
131 The key used in .git/config is `submodule.$name.url`.
132 This command does not alter existing information in .git/config.
133 You can then customize the submodule clone URLs in .git/config
134 for your local setup and proceed to `git submodule update`;
135 you can also just use `git submodule update --init` without
136 the explicit 'init' step if you do not intend to customize
137 any submodule locations.
140 Unregister the given submodules, i.e. remove the whole
141 `submodule.$name` section from .git/config together with their work
142 tree. Further calls to `git submodule update`, `git submodule foreach`
143 and `git submodule sync` will skip any unregistered submodules until
144 they are initialized again, so use this command if you don't want to
145 have a local checkout of the submodule in your working tree anymore. If
146 you really want to remove a submodule from the repository and commit
147 that use linkgit:git-rm[1] instead.
149 When the command is run without pathspec, it errors out,
150 instead of deinit-ing everything, to prevent mistakes.
152 If `--force` is specified, the submodule's working tree will
153 be removed even if it contains local modifications.
158 Update the registered submodules to match what the superproject
159 expects by cloning missing submodules and updating the working tree of
160 the submodules. The "updating" can be done in several ways depending
161 on command line options and the value of `submodule.<name>.update`
162 configuration variable. Supported update procedures are:
164 checkout;; the commit recorded in the superproject will be
165 checked out in the submodule on a detached HEAD. This is
166 done when `--checkout` option is given, or no option is
167 given, and `submodule.<name>.update` is unset, or if it is
170 If `--force` is specified, the submodule will be checked out (using
171 `git checkout --force` if appropriate), even if the commit specified
172 in the index of the containing repository already matches the commit
173 checked out in the submodule.
175 rebase;; the current branch of the submodule will be rebased
176 onto the commit recorded in the superproject. This is done
177 when `--rebase` option is given, or no option is given, and
178 `submodule.<name>.update` is set to 'rebase'.
180 merge;; the commit recorded in the superproject will be merged
181 into the current branch in the submodule. This is done
182 when `--merge` option is given, or no option is given, and
183 `submodule.<name>.update` is set to 'merge'.
185 custom command;; arbitrary shell command that takes a single
186 argument (the sha1 of the commit recorded in the
187 superproject) is executed. This is done when no option is
188 given, and `submodule.<name>.update` has the form of
191 When no option is given and `submodule.<name>.update` is set to 'none',
192 the submodule is not updated.
194 If the submodule is not yet initialized, and you just want to use the
195 setting as stored in .gitmodules, you can automatically initialize the
196 submodule with the `--init` option.
198 If `--recursive` is specified, this command will recurse into the
199 registered submodules, and update any nested submodules within.
202 Show commit summary between the given commit (defaults to HEAD) and
203 working tree/index. For a submodule in question, a series of commits
204 in the submodule between the given super project commit and the
205 index or working tree (switched by `--cached`) are shown. If the option
206 `--files` is given, show the series of commits in the submodule between
207 the index of the super project and the working tree of the submodule
208 (this option doesn't allow to use the `--cached` option or to provide an
211 Using the `--submodule=log` option with linkgit:git-diff[1] will provide that
215 Evaluates an arbitrary shell command in each checked out submodule.
216 The command has access to the variables $name, $path, $sha1 and
218 $name is the name of the relevant submodule section in .gitmodules,
219 $path is the name of the submodule directory relative to the
220 superproject, $sha1 is the commit as recorded in the superproject,
221 and $toplevel is the absolute path to the top-level of the superproject.
222 Any submodules defined in the superproject but not checked out are
223 ignored by this command. Unless given `--quiet`, foreach prints the name
224 of each submodule before evaluating the command.
225 If `--recursive` is given, submodules are traversed recursively (i.e.
226 the given shell command is evaluated in nested submodules as well).
227 A non-zero return from the command in any submodule causes
228 the processing to terminate. This can be overridden by adding '|| :'
229 to the end of the command.
231 As an example, +git submodule foreach \'echo $path {backtick}git
232 rev-parse HEAD{backtick}'+ will show the path and currently checked out
233 commit for each submodule.
236 Synchronizes submodules' remote URL configuration setting
237 to the value specified in .gitmodules. It will only affect those
238 submodules which already have a URL entry in .git/config (that is the
239 case when they are initialized or freshly added). This is useful when
240 submodule URLs change upstream and you need to update your local
241 repositories accordingly.
243 "git submodule sync" synchronizes all submodules while
244 "git submodule sync \-- A" synchronizes submodule "A" only.
246 If `--recursive` is specified, this command will recurse into the
247 registered submodules, and sync any nested submodules within.
250 If a git directory of a submodule is inside the submodule,
251 move the git directory of the submodule into its superprojects
252 `$GIT_DIR/modules` path and then connect the git directory and
253 its working directory by setting the `core.worktree` and adding
254 a .git file pointing to the git directory embedded in the
255 superprojects git directory.
257 A repository that was cloned independently and later added as a submodule or
258 old setups have the submodules git directory inside the submodule instead of
259 embedded into the superprojects git directory.
261 This command is recursive by default.
267 Only print error messages.
270 This option is only valid for the deinit command. Unregister all
271 submodules in the working tree.
275 Branch of repository to add as submodule.
276 The name of the branch is recorded as `submodule.<name>.branch` in
277 `.gitmodules` for `update --remote`. A special value of `.` is used to
278 indicate that the name of the branch in the submodule should be the
279 same name as the current branch in the current repository.
283 This option is only valid for add, deinit and update commands.
284 When running add, allow adding an otherwise ignored submodule path.
285 When running deinit the submodule working trees will be removed even
286 if they contain local changes.
287 When running update (only effective with the checkout procedure),
288 throw away local changes in submodules when switching to a
289 different commit; and always run a checkout operation in the
290 submodule, even if the commit listed in the index of the
291 containing repository matches the commit checked out in the
295 This option is only valid for status and summary commands. These
296 commands typically use the commit found in the submodule HEAD, but
297 with this option, the commit stored in the index is used instead.
300 This option is only valid for the summary command. This command
301 compares the commit in the index with that in the submodule HEAD
302 when this option is used.
306 This option is only valid for the summary command.
307 Limit the summary size (number of commits shown in total).
308 Giving 0 will disable the summary; a negative number means unlimited
309 (the default). This limit only applies to modified submodules. The
310 size is always limited to 1 for added/deleted/typechanged submodules.
313 This option is only valid for the update command. Instead of using
314 the superproject's recorded SHA-1 to update the submodule, use the
315 status of the submodule's remote-tracking branch. The remote used
316 is branch's remote (`branch.<name>.remote`), defaulting to `origin`.
317 The remote branch used defaults to `master`, but the branch name may
318 be overridden by setting the `submodule.<name>.branch` option in
319 either `.gitmodules` or `.git/config` (with `.git/config` taking
322 This works for any of the supported update procedures (`--checkout`,
323 `--rebase`, etc.). The only change is the source of the target SHA-1.
324 For example, `submodule update --remote --merge` will merge upstream
325 submodule changes into the submodules, while `submodule update
326 --merge` will merge superproject gitlink changes into the submodules.
328 In order to ensure a current tracking branch state, `update --remote`
329 fetches the submodule's remote repository before calculating the
330 SHA-1. If you don't want to fetch, you should use `submodule update
331 --remote --no-fetch`.
333 Use this option to integrate changes from the upstream subproject with
334 your submodule's current HEAD. Alternatively, you can run `git pull`
335 from the submodule, which is equivalent except for the remote branch
336 name: `update --remote` uses the default upstream repository and
337 `submodule.<name>.branch`, while `git pull` uses the submodule's
338 `branch.<name>.merge`. Prefer `submodule.<name>.branch` if you want
339 to distribute the default upstream branch with the superproject and
340 `branch.<name>.merge` if you want a more native feel while working in
341 the submodule itself.
345 This option is only valid for the update command.
346 Don't fetch new objects from the remote site.
349 This option is only valid for the update command.
350 Checkout the commit recorded in the superproject on a detached HEAD
351 in the submodule. This is the default behavior, the main use of
352 this option is to override `submodule.$name.update` when set to
353 a value other than `checkout`.
354 If the key `submodule.$name.update` is either not explicitly set or
355 set to `checkout`, this option is implicit.
358 This option is only valid for the update command.
359 Merge the commit recorded in the superproject into the current branch
360 of the submodule. If this option is given, the submodule's HEAD will
361 not be detached. If a merge failure prevents this process, you will
362 have to resolve the resulting conflicts within the submodule with the
363 usual conflict resolution tools.
364 If the key `submodule.$name.update` is set to `merge`, this option is
368 This option is only valid for the update command.
369 Rebase the current branch onto the commit recorded in the
370 superproject. If this option is given, the submodule's HEAD will not
371 be detached. If a merge failure prevents this process, you will have
372 to resolve these failures with linkgit:git-rebase[1].
373 If the key `submodule.$name.update` is set to `rebase`, this option is
377 This option is only valid for the update command.
378 Initialize all submodules for which "git submodule init" has not been
379 called so far before updating.
382 This option is only valid for the add command. It sets the submodule's
383 name to the given string instead of defaulting to its path. The name
384 must be valid as a directory name and may not end with a '/'.
386 --reference <repository>::
387 This option is only valid for add and update commands. These
388 commands sometimes need to clone a remote repository. In this case,
389 this option will be passed to the linkgit:git-clone[1] command.
391 *NOTE*: Do *not* use this option unless you have read the note
392 for linkgit:git-clone[1]'s `--reference` and `--shared` options carefully.
395 This option is only valid for foreach, update, status and sync commands.
396 Traverse submodules recursively. The operation is performed not
397 only in the submodules of the current repo, but also
398 in any nested submodules inside those submodules (and so on).
401 This option is valid for add and update commands. Create a 'shallow'
402 clone with a history truncated to the specified number of revisions.
403 See linkgit:git-clone[1]
405 --[no-]recommend-shallow::
406 This option is only valid for the update command.
407 The initial clone of a submodule will use the recommended
408 `submodule.<name>.shallow` as provided by the .gitmodules file
409 by default. To ignore the suggestions use `--no-recommend-shallow`.
413 This option is only valid for the update command.
414 Clone new submodules in parallel with as many jobs.
415 Defaults to the `submodule.fetchJobs` option.
418 Paths to submodule(s). When specified this will restrict the command
419 to only operate on the submodules found at the specified paths.
420 (This argument is required with add).
424 When initializing submodules, a .gitmodules file in the top-level directory
425 of the containing repository is used to find the url of each submodule.
426 This file should be formatted in the same way as `$GIT_DIR/config`. The key
427 to each submodule url is "submodule.$name.url". See linkgit:gitmodules[5]
432 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite