6 git-add - Add file contents to the index
11 'git add' [-n] [-v] [--force | -f] [--interactive | -i] [--patch | -p]
12 [--edit | -e] [--[no-]all | --[no-]ignore-removal | [--update | -u]]
13 [--intent-to-add | -N] [--refresh] [--ignore-errors] [--ignore-missing]
18 This command updates the index using the current content found in
19 the working tree, to prepare the content staged for the next commit.
20 It typically adds the current content of existing paths as a whole,
21 but with some options it can also be used to add content with
22 only part of the changes made to the working tree files applied, or
23 remove paths that do not exist in the working tree anymore.
25 The "index" holds a snapshot of the content of the working tree, and it
26 is this snapshot that is taken as the contents of the next commit. Thus
27 after making any changes to the working directory, and before running
28 the commit command, you must use the `add` command to add any new or
29 modified files to the index.
31 This command can be performed multiple times before a commit. It only
32 adds the content of the specified file(s) at the time the add command is
33 run; if you want subsequent changes included in the next commit, then
34 you must run `git add` again to add the new content to the index.
36 The `git status` command can be used to obtain a summary of which
37 files have changes that are staged for the next commit.
39 The `git add` command will not add ignored files by default. If any
40 ignored files were explicitly specified on the command line, `git add`
41 will fail with a list of ignored files. Ignored files reached by
42 directory recursion or filename globbing performed by Git (quote your
43 globs before the shell) will be silently ignored. The 'git add' command can
44 be used to add ignored files with the `-f` (force) option.
46 Please see linkgit:git-commit[1] for alternative ways to add content to a
53 Files to add content from. Fileglobs (e.g. `*.c`) can
54 be given to add all matching files. Also a
55 leading directory name (e.g. `dir` to add `dir/file1`
56 and `dir/file2`) can be given to add all files in the
57 directory, recursively.
61 Don't actually add the file(s), just show if they exist and/or will
70 Allow adding otherwise ignored files.
74 Add modified contents in the working tree interactively to
75 the index. Optional path arguments may be supplied to limit
76 operation to a subset of the working tree. See ``Interactive
81 Interactively choose hunks of patch between the index and the
82 work tree and add them to the index. This gives the user a chance
83 to review the difference before adding modified contents to the
86 This effectively runs `add --interactive`, but bypasses the
87 initial command menu and directly jumps to the `patch` subcommand.
88 See ``Interactive mode'' for details.
91 Open the diff vs. the index in an editor and let the user
92 edit it. After the editor was closed, adjust the hunk headers
93 and apply the patch to the index.
95 The intent of this option is to pick and choose lines of the patch to
96 apply, or even to modify the contents of lines to be staged. This can be
97 quicker and more flexible than using the interactive hunk selector.
98 However, it is easy to confuse oneself and create a patch that does not
99 apply to the index. See EDITING PATCHES below.
103 Update the index just where it already has an entry matching
104 <pathspec>. This removes as well as modifies index entries to
105 match the working tree, but adds no new files.
107 If no <pathspec> is given, the current version of Git defaults to
108 "."; in other words, update all tracked files in the current directory
109 and its subdirectories. This default will change in a future version
110 of Git, hence the form without <pathspec> should not be used.
114 --no-ignore-removal::
115 Update the index not only where the working tree has a file
116 matching <pathspec> but also where the index already has an
117 entry. This adds, modifies, and removes index entries to
118 match the working tree.
120 If no <pathspec> is given, the current version of Git defaults to
121 "."; in other words, update all files in the current directory
122 and its subdirectories. This default will change in a future version
123 of Git, hence the form without <pathspec> should not be used.
127 Update the index by adding new files that are unknown to the
128 index and files modified in the working tree, but ignore
129 files that have been removed from the working tree. This
130 option is a no-op when no <pathspec> is used.
132 This option is primarily to help the current users of Git, whose
133 "git add <pathspec>..." ignores removed files. In future versions
134 of Git, "git add <pathspec>..." will be a synonym to "git add -A
135 <pathspec>..." and "git add --ignore-removal <pathspec>..." will behave like
136 today's "git add <pathspec>...", ignoring removed files.
140 Record only the fact that the path will be added later. An entry
141 for the path is placed in the index with no content. This is
142 useful for, among other things, showing the unstaged content of
143 such files with `git diff` and committing them with `git commit
147 Don't add the file(s), but only refresh their stat()
148 information in the index.
151 If some files could not be added because of errors indexing
152 them, do not abort the operation, but continue adding the
153 others. The command shall still exit with non-zero status.
154 The configuration variable `add.ignoreErrors` can be set to
155 true to make this the default behaviour.
158 This option can only be used together with --dry-run. By using
159 this option the user can check if any of the given files would
160 be ignored, no matter if they are already present in the work
164 This option can be used to separate command-line options from
165 the list of files, (useful when filenames might be mistaken
166 for command-line options).
172 The optional configuration variable `core.excludesfile` indicates a path to a
173 file containing patterns of file names to exclude from git-add, similar to
174 $GIT_DIR/info/exclude. Patterns in the exclude file are used in addition to
175 those in info/exclude. See linkgit:gitignore[5].
181 * Adds content from all `*.txt` files under `Documentation` directory
182 and its subdirectories:
185 $ git add Documentation/\*.txt
188 Note that the asterisk `*` is quoted from the shell in this
189 example; this lets the command include the files from
190 subdirectories of `Documentation/` directory.
192 * Considers adding content from all git-*.sh scripts:
198 Because this example lets the shell expand the asterisk (i.e. you are
199 listing the files explicitly), it does not consider
204 When the command enters the interactive mode, it shows the
205 output of the 'status' subcommand, and then goes into its
206 interactive command loop.
208 The command loop shows the list of subcommands available, and
209 gives a prompt "What now> ". In general, when the prompt ends
210 with a single '>', you can pick only one of the choices given
211 and type return, like this:
215 1: status 2: update 3: revert 4: add untracked
216 5: patch 6: diff 7: quit 8: help
220 You also could say `s` or `sta` or `status` above as long as the
223 The main command loop has 6 subcommands (plus help and quit).
227 This shows the change between HEAD and index (i.e. what will be
228 committed if you say `git commit`), and between index and
229 working tree files (i.e. what you could stage further before
230 `git commit` using `git add`) for each path. A sample output
235 1: binary nothing foo.png
236 2: +403/-35 +1/-1 git-add--interactive.perl
239 It shows that foo.png has differences from HEAD (but that is
240 binary so line count cannot be shown) and there is no
241 difference between indexed copy and the working tree
242 version (if the working tree version were also different,
243 'binary' would have been shown in place of 'nothing'). The
244 other file, git-add{litdd}interactive.perl, has 403 lines added
245 and 35 lines deleted if you commit what is in the index, but
246 working tree file has further modifications (one addition and
251 This shows the status information and issues an "Update>>"
252 prompt. When the prompt ends with double '>>', you can
253 make more than one selection, concatenated with whitespace or
254 comma. Also you can say ranges. E.g. "2-5 7,9" to choose
255 2,3,4,5,7,9 from the list. If the second number in a range is
256 omitted, all remaining patches are taken. E.g. "7-" to choose
257 7,8,9 from the list. You can say '*' to choose everything.
259 What you chose are then highlighted with '*',
264 1: binary nothing foo.png
265 * 2: +403/-35 +1/-1 git-add--interactive.perl
268 To remove selection, prefix the input with `-`
275 After making the selection, answer with an empty line to stage the
276 contents of working tree files for selected paths in the index.
280 This has a very similar UI to 'update', and the staged
281 information for selected paths are reverted to that of the
282 HEAD version. Reverting new paths makes them untracked.
286 This has a very similar UI to 'update' and
287 'revert', and lets you add untracked paths to the index.
291 This lets you choose one path out of a 'status' like selection.
292 After choosing the path, it presents the diff between the index
293 and the working tree file and asks you if you want to stage
294 the change of each hunk. You can select one of the following
295 options and type return:
298 n - do not stage this hunk
299 q - quit; do not stage this hunk nor any of the remaining ones
300 a - stage this hunk and all later hunks in the file
301 d - do not stage this hunk nor any of the later hunks in the file
302 g - select a hunk to go to
303 / - search for a hunk matching the given regex
304 j - leave this hunk undecided, see next undecided hunk
305 J - leave this hunk undecided, see next hunk
306 k - leave this hunk undecided, see previous undecided hunk
307 K - leave this hunk undecided, see previous hunk
308 s - split the current hunk into smaller hunks
309 e - manually edit the current hunk
312 After deciding the fate for all hunks, if there is any hunk
313 that was chosen, the index is updated with the selected hunks.
315 You can omit having to type return here, by setting the configuration
316 variable `interactive.singlekey` to `true`.
320 This lets you review what will be committed (i.e. between
327 Invoking `git add -e` or selecting `e` from the interactive hunk
328 selector will open a patch in your editor; after the editor exits, the
329 result is applied to the index. You are free to make arbitrary changes
330 to the patch, but note that some changes may have confusing results, or
331 even result in a patch that cannot be applied. If you want to abort the
332 operation entirely (i.e., stage nothing new in the index), simply delete
333 all lines of the patch. The list below describes some common things you
334 may see in a patch, and which editing operations make sense on them.
339 Added content is represented by lines beginning with "{plus}". You can
340 prevent staging any addition lines by deleting them.
344 Removed content is represented by lines beginning with "-". You can
345 prevent staging their removal by converting the "-" to a " " (space).
349 Modified content is represented by "-" lines (removing the old content)
350 followed by "{plus}" lines (adding the replacement content). You can
351 prevent staging the modification by converting "-" lines to " ", and
352 removing "{plus}" lines. Beware that modifying only half of the pair is
353 likely to introduce confusing changes to the index.
356 There are also more complex operations that can be performed. But beware
357 that because the patch is applied only to the index and not the working
358 tree, the working tree will appear to "undo" the change in the index.
359 For example, introducing a new line into the index that is in neither
360 the HEAD nor the working tree will stage the new line for commit, but
361 the line will appear to be reverted in the working tree.
363 Avoid using these constructs, or do so with extreme caution.
366 removing untouched content::
368 Content which does not differ between the index and working tree may be
369 shown on context lines, beginning with a " " (space). You can stage
370 context lines for removal by converting the space to a "-". The
371 resulting working tree file will appear to re-add the content.
373 modifying existing content::
375 One can also modify context lines by staging them for removal (by
376 converting " " to "-") and adding a "{plus}" line with the new content.
377 Similarly, one can modify "{plus}" lines for existing additions or
378 modifications. In all cases, the new modification will appear reverted
383 You may also add new content that does not exist in the patch; simply
384 add new lines, each starting with "{plus}". The addition will appear
385 reverted in the working tree.
388 There are also several operations which should be avoided entirely, as
389 they will make the patch impossible to apply:
391 * adding context (" ") or removal ("-") lines
392 * deleting context or removal lines
393 * modifying the contents of context or removal lines
397 linkgit:git-status[1]
401 linkgit:git-commit[1]
402 linkgit:git-update-index[1]
406 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite