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]
22 Prepare each commit between <since> and <until> with its patch in
23 one file per commit, formatted to resemble UNIX mailbox format.
24 If ..<until> is not specified, the head of the current working
25 tree is implied. For a more complete list of ways to spell
26 <since> and <until>, see "SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in
27 gitlink:git-rev-parse[1].
29 The output of this command is convenient for e-mail submission or
30 for use with gitlink:git-am[1].
32 Each output file is numbered sequentially from 1, and uses the
33 first line of the commit message (massaged for pathname safety) as
34 the filename. The names of the output files are printed to standard
35 output, unless the --stdout option is specified.
37 If -o is specified, output files are created in <dir>. Otherwise
38 they are created in the current working directory.
40 If -n is specified, instead of "[PATCH] Subject", the first line
41 is formatted as "[PATCH n/m] Subject".
43 If given --thread, git-format-patch will generate In-Reply-To and
44 References headers to make the second and subsequent patch mails appear
45 as replies to the first mail; this also generates a Message-Id header to
50 include::diff-options.txt[]
52 -o|--output-directory <dir>::
53 Use <dir> to store the resulting files, instead of the
54 current working directory.
57 Name output in '[PATCH n/m]' format.
60 Start numbering the patches at <n> instead of 1.
63 Do not strip/add '[PATCH]' from the first line of the
67 Add `Signed-off-by:` line to the commit message, using
68 the committer identity of yourself.
71 Print all commits to the standard output in mbox format,
72 instead of creating a file for each one.
74 --attach[=<boundary>]::
75 Create multipart/mixed attachment, the first part of
76 which is the commit message and the patch itself in the
77 second part, with "Content-Disposition: attachment".
79 --inline[=<boundary>]::
80 Create multipart/mixed attachment, the first part of
81 which is the commit message and the patch itself in the
82 second part, with "Content-Disposition: inline".
85 Add In-Reply-To and References headers to make the second and
86 subsequent mails appear as replies to the first. Also generates
87 the Message-Id header to reference.
89 --in-reply-to=Message-Id::
90 Make the first mail (or all the mails with --no-thread) appear as a
91 reply to the given Message-Id, which avoids breaking threads to
92 provide a new patch series.
94 --ignore-if-in-upstream::
95 Do not include a patch that matches a commit in
96 <until>..<since>. This will examine all patches reachable
97 from <since> but not from <until> and compare them with the
98 patches being generated, and any patch that matches is
102 Instead of using `.patch` as the suffix for generated
103 filenames, use specifed suffix. A common alternative is
106 Note that you would need to include the leading dot `.` if you
107 want a filename like `0001-description-of-my-change.patch`, and
108 the first letter does not have to be a dot. Leaving it empty would
113 You can specify extra mail header lines to be added to each
114 message in the repository configuration. Also you can specify
115 the default suffix different from the built-in one:
119 headers = "Organization: git-foo\n"
127 git-format-patch -k --stdout R1..R2 | git-am -3 -k::
128 Extract commits between revisions R1 and R2, and apply
129 them on top of the current branch using `git-am` to
132 git-format-patch origin::
133 Extract all commits which are in the current branch but
134 not in the origin branch. For each commit a separate file
135 is created in the current directory.
137 git-format-patch -M -B origin::
138 The same as the previous one. Additionally, it detects
139 and handles renames and complete rewrites intelligently to
140 produce a renaming patch. A renaming patch reduces the
141 amount of text output, and generally makes it easier to
142 review it. Note that the "patch" program does not
143 understand renaming patches, so use it only when you know
144 the recipient uses git to apply your patch.
146 git-format-patch -3::
147 Extract three topmost commits from the current branch
148 and format them as e-mailable patches.
152 gitlink:git-am[1], gitlink:git-send-email[1]
157 Written by Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net>
161 Documentation by Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
165 Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite