6 git-format-patch - Prepare patches for e-mail submission
12 'git-format-patch' [-n | -k] [-o <dir> | --stdout] [--thread]
13 [--attach[=<boundary>] | --inline[=<boundary>]]
14 [-s | --signoff] [<common diff options>] [--start-number <n>]
15 [--in-reply-to=Message-Id] [--suffix=.<sfx>]
16 [--ignore-if-in-upstream]
17 [--subject-prefix=Subject-Prefix]
23 Prepare each commit between <since> and <until> with its patch in
24 one file per commit, formatted to resemble UNIX mailbox format.
25 If ..<until> is not specified, the head of the current working
26 tree is implied. For a more complete list of ways to spell
27 <since> and <until>, see "SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in
28 gitlink:git-rev-parse[1].
30 The output of this command is convenient for e-mail submission or
31 for use with gitlink:git-am[1].
33 Each output file is numbered sequentially from 1, and uses the
34 first line of the commit message (massaged for pathname safety) as
35 the filename. The names of the output files are printed to standard
36 output, unless the --stdout option is specified.
38 If -o is specified, output files are created in <dir>. Otherwise
39 they are created in the current working directory.
41 If -n is specified, instead of "[PATCH] Subject", the first line
42 is formatted as "[PATCH n/m] Subject".
44 If given --thread, git-format-patch will generate In-Reply-To and
45 References headers to make the second and subsequent patch mails appear
46 as replies to the first mail; this also generates a Message-Id header to
51 include::diff-options.txt[]
54 Limits the number of patches to prepare.
56 -o|--output-directory <dir>::
57 Use <dir> to store the resulting files, instead of the
58 current working directory.
61 Name output in '[PATCH n/m]' format.
64 Start numbering the patches at <n> instead of 1.
67 Do not strip/add '[PATCH]' from the first line of the
71 Add `Signed-off-by:` line to the commit message, using
72 the committer identity of yourself.
75 Print all commits to the standard output in mbox format,
76 instead of creating a file for each one.
78 --attach[=<boundary>]::
79 Create multipart/mixed attachment, the first part of
80 which is the commit message and the patch itself in the
81 second part, with "Content-Disposition: attachment".
83 --inline[=<boundary>]::
84 Create multipart/mixed attachment, the first part of
85 which is the commit message and the patch itself in the
86 second part, with "Content-Disposition: inline".
89 Add In-Reply-To and References headers to make the second and
90 subsequent mails appear as replies to the first. Also generates
91 the Message-Id header to reference.
93 --in-reply-to=Message-Id::
94 Make the first mail (or all the mails with --no-thread) appear as a
95 reply to the given Message-Id, which avoids breaking threads to
96 provide a new patch series.
98 --ignore-if-in-upstream::
99 Do not include a patch that matches a commit in
100 <until>..<since>. This will examine all patches reachable
101 from <since> but not from <until> and compare them with the
102 patches being generated, and any patch that matches is
105 --subject-prefix=<Subject-Prefix>::
106 Instead of the standard '[PATCH]' prefix in the subject
107 line, instead use '[<Subject-Prefix>]'. This
108 allows for useful naming of a patch series, and can be
109 combined with the --numbered option.
112 Instead of using `.patch` as the suffix for generated
113 filenames, use specifed suffix. A common alternative is
116 Note that you would need to include the leading dot `.` if you
117 want a filename like `0001-description-of-my-change.patch`, and
118 the first letter does not have to be a dot. Leaving it empty would
123 You can specify extra mail header lines to be added to each
124 message in the repository configuration. Also you can specify
125 the default suffix different from the built-in one:
129 headers = "Organization: git-foo\n"
137 git-format-patch -k --stdout R1..R2 | git-am -3 -k::
138 Extract commits between revisions R1 and R2, and apply
139 them on top of the current branch using `git-am` to
142 git-format-patch origin::
143 Extract all commits which are in the current branch but
144 not in the origin branch. For each commit a separate file
145 is created in the current directory.
147 git-format-patch -M -B origin::
148 The same as the previous one. Additionally, it detects
149 and handles renames and complete rewrites intelligently to
150 produce a renaming patch. A renaming patch reduces the
151 amount of text output, and generally makes it easier to
152 review it. Note that the "patch" program does not
153 understand renaming patches, so use it only when you know
154 the recipient uses git to apply your patch.
156 git-format-patch -3::
157 Extract three topmost commits from the current branch
158 and format them as e-mailable patches.
162 gitlink:git-am[1], gitlink:git-send-email[1]
167 Written by Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net>
171 Documentation by Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
175 Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite