6 git-tag - Create, list, delete or verify a tag object signed with GPG
12 'git tag' [-a | -s | -u <keyid>] [-f] [-m <msg> | -F <file>]
13 <tagname> [<commit> | <object>]
14 'git tag' -d <tagname>...
15 'git tag' [-n[<num>]] -l [--contains <commit>] [--points-at <object>]
16 [--column[=<options>] | --no-column] [--create-reflog] [--sort=<key>]
17 [--format=<format>] [--[no-]merged [<commit>]] [<pattern>...]
18 'git tag' -v [--format=<format>] <tagname>...
23 Add a tag reference in `refs/tags/`, unless `-d/-l/-v` is given
24 to delete, list or verify tags.
26 Unless `-f` is given, the named tag must not yet exist.
28 If one of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <keyid>` is passed, the command
29 creates a 'tag' object, and requires a tag message. Unless
30 `-m <msg>` or `-F <file>` is given, an editor is started for the user to type
33 If `-m <msg>` or `-F <file>` is given and `-a`, `-s`, and `-u <keyid>`
34 are absent, `-a` is implied.
36 Otherwise just a tag reference for the SHA-1 object name of the commit object is
37 created (i.e. a lightweight tag).
39 A GnuPG signed tag object will be created when `-s` or `-u
40 <keyid>` is used. When `-u <keyid>` is not used, the
41 committer identity for the current user is used to find the
42 GnuPG key for signing. The configuration variable `gpg.program`
43 is used to specify custom GnuPG binary.
45 Tag objects (created with `-a`, `-s`, or `-u`) are called "annotated"
46 tags; they contain a creation date, the tagger name and e-mail, a
47 tagging message, and an optional GnuPG signature. Whereas a
48 "lightweight" tag is simply a name for an object (usually a commit
51 Annotated tags are meant for release while lightweight tags are meant
52 for private or temporary object labels. For this reason, some git
53 commands for naming objects (like `git describe`) will ignore
54 lightweight tags by default.
61 Make an unsigned, annotated tag object
65 Make a GPG-signed tag, using the default e-mail address's key.
68 --local-user=<keyid>::
69 Make a GPG-signed tag, using the given key.
73 Replace an existing tag with the given name (instead of failing)
77 Delete existing tags with the given names.
81 Verify the GPG signature of the given tag names.
84 <num> specifies how many lines from the annotation, if any,
85 are printed when using -l. Implies `--list`.
87 The default is not to print any annotation lines.
88 If no number is given to `-n`, only the first line is printed.
89 If the tag is not annotated, the commit message is displayed instead.
93 List tags. With optional `<pattern>...`, e.g. `git tag --list
94 'v-*'`, list only the tags that match the pattern(s).
96 Running "git tag" without arguments also lists all tags. The pattern
97 is a shell wildcard (i.e., matched using fnmatch(3)). Multiple
98 patterns may be given; if any of them matches, the tag is shown.
100 This option is implicitly supplied if any other list-like option such
101 as `--contains` is provided. See the documentation for each of those
105 Sort based on the key given. Prefix `-` to sort in
106 descending order of the value. You may use the --sort=<key> option
107 multiple times, in which case the last key becomes the primary
108 key. Also supports "version:refname" or "v:refname" (tag
109 names are treated as versions). The "version:refname" sort
110 order can also be affected by the "versionsort.suffix"
111 configuration variable.
112 The keys supported are the same as those in `git for-each-ref`.
113 Sort order defaults to the value configured for the `tag.sort`
114 variable if it exists, or lexicographic order otherwise. See
115 linkgit:git-config[1].
119 Sorting and filtering tags are case insensitive.
121 --column[=<options>]::
123 Display tag listing in columns. See configuration variable
124 column.tag for option syntax.`--column` and `--no-column`
125 without options are equivalent to 'always' and 'never' respectively.
127 This option is only applicable when listing tags without annotation lines.
129 --contains [<commit>]::
130 Only list tags which contain the specified commit (HEAD if not
131 specified). Implies `--list`.
133 --merged [<commit>]::
134 Only list tags whose commits are reachable from the specified
135 commit (`HEAD` if not specified), incompatible with `--no-merged`.
137 --no-merged [<commit>]::
138 Only list tags whose commits are not reachable from the specified
139 commit (`HEAD` if not specified), incompatible with `--merged`.
141 --points-at <object>::
142 Only list tags of the given object (HEAD if not
143 specified). Implies `--list`.
147 Use the given tag message (instead of prompting).
148 If multiple `-m` options are given, their values are
149 concatenated as separate paragraphs.
150 Implies `-a` if none of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <keyid>`
155 Take the tag message from the given file. Use '-' to
156 read the message from the standard input.
157 Implies `-a` if none of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <keyid>`
161 This option sets how the tag message is cleaned up.
162 The '<mode>' can be one of 'verbatim', 'whitespace' and 'strip'. The
163 'strip' mode is default. The 'verbatim' mode does not change message at
164 all, 'whitespace' removes just leading/trailing whitespace lines and
165 'strip' removes both whitespace and commentary.
168 Create a reflog for the tag. To globally enable reflogs for tags, see
169 `core.logAllRefUpdates` in linkgit:git-config[1].
170 The negated form `--no-create-reflog` only overrides an earlier
171 `--create-reflog`, but currently does not negate the setting of
172 `core.logallrefupdates`.
175 The name of the tag to create, delete, or describe.
176 The new tag name must pass all checks defined by
177 linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1]. Some of these checks
178 may restrict the characters allowed in a tag name.
182 The object that the new tag will refer to, usually a commit.
186 A string that interpolates `%(fieldname)` from the object
187 pointed at by a ref being shown. The format is the same as
188 that of linkgit:git-for-each-ref[1]. When unspecified,
189 defaults to `%(refname:strip=2)`.
193 By default, 'git tag' in sign-with-default mode (-s) will use your
194 committer identity (of the form `Your Name <your@email.address>`) to
195 find a key. If you want to use a different default key, you can specify
196 it in the repository configuration as follows:
198 -------------------------------------
200 signingKey = <gpg-keyid>
201 -------------------------------------
210 What should you do when you tag a wrong commit and you would
213 If you never pushed anything out, just re-tag it. Use "-f" to
214 replace the old one. And you're done.
216 But if you have pushed things out (or others could just read
217 your repository directly), then others will have already seen
218 the old tag. In that case you can do one of two things:
221 Just admit you screwed up, and use a different name. Others have
222 already seen one tag-name, and if you keep the same name, you
223 may be in the situation that two people both have "version X",
224 but they actually have 'different' "X"'s. So just call it "X.1"
228 You really want to call the new version "X" too, 'even though'
229 others have already seen the old one. So just use 'git tag -f'
230 again, as if you hadn't already published the old one.
232 However, Git does *not* (and it should not) change tags behind
233 users back. So if somebody already got the old tag, doing a
234 'git pull' on your tree shouldn't just make them overwrite the old
237 If somebody got a release tag from you, you cannot just change
238 the tag for them by updating your own one. This is a big
239 security issue, in that people MUST be able to trust their
240 tag-names. If you really want to do the insane thing, you need
241 to just fess up to it, and tell people that you messed up. You
242 can do that by making a very public announcement saying:
245 Ok, I messed up, and I pushed out an earlier version tagged as X. I
246 then fixed something, and retagged the *fixed* tree as X again.
248 If you got the wrong tag, and want the new one, please delete
249 the old one and fetch the new one by doing:
252 git fetch origin tag X
254 to get my updated tag.
256 You can test which tag you have by doing
260 which should return 0123456789abcdef.. if you have the new version.
262 Sorry for the inconvenience.
265 Does this seem a bit complicated? It *should* be. There is no
266 way that it would be correct to just "fix" it automatically.
267 People need to know that their tags might have been changed.
270 On Automatic following
271 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
273 If you are following somebody else's tree, you are most likely
274 using remote-tracking branches (eg. `refs/remotes/origin/master`).
275 You usually want the tags from the other end.
277 On the other hand, if you are fetching because you would want a
278 one-shot merge from somebody else, you typically do not want to
279 get tags from there. This happens more often for people near
280 the toplevel but not limited to them. Mere mortals when pulling
281 from each other do not necessarily want to automatically get
282 private anchor point tags from the other person.
284 Often, "please pull" messages on the mailing list just provide
285 two pieces of information: a repo URL and a branch name; this
286 is designed to be easily cut&pasted at the end of a 'git fetch'
290 Linus, please pull from
292 git://git..../proj.git master
294 to get the following updates...
300 $ git pull git://git..../proj.git master
303 In such a case, you do not want to automatically follow the other
306 One important aspect of Git is its distributed nature, which
307 largely means there is no inherent "upstream" or
308 "downstream" in the system. On the face of it, the above
309 example might seem to indicate that the tag namespace is owned
310 by the upper echelon of people and that tags only flow downwards, but
311 that is not the case. It only shows that the usage pattern
312 determines who are interested in whose tags.
314 A one-shot pull is a sign that a commit history is now crossing
315 the boundary between one circle of people (e.g. "people who are
316 primarily interested in the networking part of the kernel") who may
317 have their own set of tags (e.g. "this is the third release
318 candidate from the networking group to be proposed for general
319 consumption with 2.6.21 release") to another circle of people
320 (e.g. "people who integrate various subsystem improvements").
321 The latter are usually not interested in the detailed tags used
322 internally in the former group (that is what "internal" means).
323 That is why it is desirable not to follow tags automatically in
326 It may well be that among networking people, they may want to
327 exchange the tags internal to their group, but in that workflow
328 they are most likely tracking each other's progress by
329 having remote-tracking branches. Again, the heuristic to automatically
330 follow such tags is a good thing.
336 If you have imported some changes from another VCS and would like
337 to add tags for major releases of your work, it is useful to be able
338 to specify the date to embed inside of the tag object; such data in
339 the tag object affects, for example, the ordering of tags in the
342 To set the date used in future tag objects, set the environment
343 variable GIT_COMMITTER_DATE (see the later discussion of possible
344 values; the most common form is "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM").
349 $ GIT_COMMITTER_DATE="2006-10-02 10:31" git tag -s v1.0.1
352 include::date-formats.txt[]
356 linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1].
357 linkgit:git-config[1].
361 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite
projects / git / blob