6 git-format-patch - Prepare patches for e-mail submission
12 'git-format-patch' [-n | -k] [-o <dir> | --stdout] [--attach] [--thread]
13 [-s | --signoff] [--diff-options] [--start-number <n>]
14 [--in-reply-to=Message-Id] [--suffix=.<sfx>]
20 Prepare each commit between <since> and <until> with its patch in
21 one file per commit, formatted to resemble UNIX mailbox format.
22 If ..<until> is not specified, the head of the current working
23 tree is implied. For a more complete list of ways to spell
24 <since> and <until>, see "SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in
25 gitlink:git-rev-parse[1].
27 The output of this command is convenient for e-mail submission or
28 for use with gitlink:git-am[1].
30 Each output file is numbered sequentially from 1, and uses the
31 first line of the commit message (massaged for pathname safety) as
32 the filename. The names of the output files are printed to standard
33 output, unless the --stdout option is specified.
35 If -o is specified, output files are created in <dir>. Otherwise
36 they are created in the current working directory.
38 If -n is specified, instead of "[PATCH] Subject", the first line
39 is formatted as "[PATCH n/m] Subject".
41 If given --thread, git-format-patch will generate In-Reply-To and
42 References headers to make the second and subsequent patch mails appear
43 as replies to the first mail; this also generates a Message-Id header to
48 -o|--output-directory <dir>::
49 Use <dir> to store the resulting files, instead of the
50 current working directory.
53 Name output in '[PATCH n/m]' format.
56 Start numbering the patches at <n> instead of 1.
59 Do not strip/add '[PATCH]' from the first line of the
63 Add `Signed-off-by:` line to the commit message, using
64 the committer identity of yourself.
67 Print all commits to the standard output in mbox format,
68 instead of creating a file for each one.
71 Create attachments instead of inlining patches.
74 Add In-Reply-To and References headers to make the second and
75 subsequent mails appear as replies to the first. Also generates
76 the Message-Id header to reference.
78 --in-reply-to=Message-Id::
79 Make the first mail (or all the mails with --no-thread) appear as a
80 reply to the given Message-Id, which avoids breaking threads to
81 provide a new patch series.
84 Instead of using `.patch` as the suffix for generated
85 filenames, use specifed suffix. A common alternative is
88 Note that you would need to include the leading dot `.` if you
89 want a filename like `0001-description-of-my-change.patch`, and
90 the first letter does not have to be a dot. Leaving it empty would
95 You can specify extra mail header lines to be added to each
96 message in the repository configuration. Also you can specify
97 the default suffix different from the built-in one:
101 headers = "Organization: git-foo\n"
109 git-format-patch -k --stdout R1..R2 | git-am -3 -k::
110 Extract commits between revisions R1 and R2, and apply
111 them on top of the current branch using `git-am` to
114 git-format-patch origin::
115 Extract all commits which are in the current branch but
116 not in the origin branch. For each commit a separate file
117 is created in the current directory.
119 git-format-patch -M -B origin::
120 The same as the previous one. Additionally, it detects
121 and handles renames and complete rewrites intelligently to
122 produce a renaming patch. A renaming patch reduces the
123 amount of text output, and generally makes it easier to
124 review it. Note that the "patch" program does not
125 understand renaming patches, so use it only when you know
126 the recipient uses git to apply your patch.
128 git-format-patch -3::
129 Extract three topmost commits from the current branch
130 and format them as e-mailable patches.
134 gitlink:git-am[1], gitlink:git-send-email[1]
139 Written by Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net>
143 Documentation by Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
147 Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite