6 git-add - Add file contents to the index
11 'git add' [-n] [-v] [--force | -f] [--interactive | -i] [--patch | -p]
12 [--edit | -e] [--all | [--update | -u]] [--intent-to-add | -N]
13 [--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 Update the index not only where the working tree has a file
115 matching <pathspec> but also where the index already has an
116 entry. This adds, modifies, and removes index entries to
117 match the working tree.
119 If no <pathspec> is given, the current version of Git defaults to
120 "."; in other words, update all files in the current directory
121 and its subdirectories. This default will change in a future version
122 of Git, hence the form without <pathspec> should not be used.
126 Record only the fact that the path will be added later. An entry
127 for the path is placed in the index with no content. This is
128 useful for, among other things, showing the unstaged content of
129 such files with `git diff` and committing them with `git commit
133 Don't add the file(s), but only refresh their stat()
134 information in the index.
137 If some files could not be added because of errors indexing
138 them, do not abort the operation, but continue adding the
139 others. The command shall still exit with non-zero status.
140 The configuration variable `add.ignoreErrors` can be set to
141 true to make this the default behaviour.
144 This option can only be used together with --dry-run. By using
145 this option the user can check if any of the given files would
146 be ignored, no matter if they are already present in the work
150 This option can be used to separate command-line options from
151 the list of files, (useful when filenames might be mistaken
152 for command-line options).
158 The optional configuration variable `core.excludesfile` indicates a path to a
159 file containing patterns of file names to exclude from git-add, similar to
160 $GIT_DIR/info/exclude. Patterns in the exclude file are used in addition to
161 those in info/exclude. See linkgit:gitignore[5].
167 * Adds content from all `*.txt` files under `Documentation` directory
168 and its subdirectories:
171 $ git add Documentation/\*.txt
174 Note that the asterisk `*` is quoted from the shell in this
175 example; this lets the command include the files from
176 subdirectories of `Documentation/` directory.
178 * Considers adding content from all git-*.sh scripts:
184 Because this example lets the shell expand the asterisk (i.e. you are
185 listing the files explicitly), it does not consider
190 When the command enters the interactive mode, it shows the
191 output of the 'status' subcommand, and then goes into its
192 interactive command loop.
194 The command loop shows the list of subcommands available, and
195 gives a prompt "What now> ". In general, when the prompt ends
196 with a single '>', you can pick only one of the choices given
197 and type return, like this:
201 1: status 2: update 3: revert 4: add untracked
202 5: patch 6: diff 7: quit 8: help
206 You also could say `s` or `sta` or `status` above as long as the
209 The main command loop has 6 subcommands (plus help and quit).
213 This shows the change between HEAD and index (i.e. what will be
214 committed if you say `git commit`), and between index and
215 working tree files (i.e. what you could stage further before
216 `git commit` using `git add`) for each path. A sample output
221 1: binary nothing foo.png
222 2: +403/-35 +1/-1 git-add--interactive.perl
225 It shows that foo.png has differences from HEAD (but that is
226 binary so line count cannot be shown) and there is no
227 difference between indexed copy and the working tree
228 version (if the working tree version were also different,
229 'binary' would have been shown in place of 'nothing'). The
230 other file, git-add{litdd}interactive.perl, has 403 lines added
231 and 35 lines deleted if you commit what is in the index, but
232 working tree file has further modifications (one addition and
237 This shows the status information and issues an "Update>>"
238 prompt. When the prompt ends with double '>>', you can
239 make more than one selection, concatenated with whitespace or
240 comma. Also you can say ranges. E.g. "2-5 7,9" to choose
241 2,3,4,5,7,9 from the list. If the second number in a range is
242 omitted, all remaining patches are taken. E.g. "7-" to choose
243 7,8,9 from the list. You can say '*' to choose everything.
245 What you chose are then highlighted with '*',
250 1: binary nothing foo.png
251 * 2: +403/-35 +1/-1 git-add--interactive.perl
254 To remove selection, prefix the input with `-`
261 After making the selection, answer with an empty line to stage the
262 contents of working tree files for selected paths in the index.
266 This has a very similar UI to 'update', and the staged
267 information for selected paths are reverted to that of the
268 HEAD version. Reverting new paths makes them untracked.
272 This has a very similar UI to 'update' and
273 'revert', and lets you add untracked paths to the index.
277 This lets you choose one path out of a 'status' like selection.
278 After choosing the path, it presents the diff between the index
279 and the working tree file and asks you if you want to stage
280 the change of each hunk. You can select one of the following
281 options and type return:
284 n - do not stage this hunk
285 q - quit; do not stage this hunk nor any of the remaining ones
286 a - stage this hunk and all later hunks in the file
287 d - do not stage this hunk nor any of the later hunks in the file
288 g - select a hunk to go to
289 / - search for a hunk matching the given regex
290 j - leave this hunk undecided, see next undecided hunk
291 J - leave this hunk undecided, see next hunk
292 k - leave this hunk undecided, see previous undecided hunk
293 K - leave this hunk undecided, see previous hunk
294 s - split the current hunk into smaller hunks
295 e - manually edit the current hunk
298 After deciding the fate for all hunks, if there is any hunk
299 that was chosen, the index is updated with the selected hunks.
301 You can omit having to type return here, by setting the configuration
302 variable `interactive.singlekey` to `true`.
306 This lets you review what will be committed (i.e. between
313 Invoking `git add -e` or selecting `e` from the interactive hunk
314 selector will open a patch in your editor; after the editor exits, the
315 result is applied to the index. You are free to make arbitrary changes
316 to the patch, but note that some changes may have confusing results, or
317 even result in a patch that cannot be applied. If you want to abort the
318 operation entirely (i.e., stage nothing new in the index), simply delete
319 all lines of the patch. The list below describes some common things you
320 may see in a patch, and which editing operations make sense on them.
325 Added content is represented by lines beginning with "{plus}". You can
326 prevent staging any addition lines by deleting them.
330 Removed content is represented by lines beginning with "-". You can
331 prevent staging their removal by converting the "-" to a " " (space).
335 Modified content is represented by "-" lines (removing the old content)
336 followed by "{plus}" lines (adding the replacement content). You can
337 prevent staging the modification by converting "-" lines to " ", and
338 removing "{plus}" lines. Beware that modifying only half of the pair is
339 likely to introduce confusing changes to the index.
342 There are also more complex operations that can be performed. But beware
343 that because the patch is applied only to the index and not the working
344 tree, the working tree will appear to "undo" the change in the index.
345 For example, introducing a new line into the index that is in neither
346 the HEAD nor the working tree will stage the new line for commit, but
347 the line will appear to be reverted in the working tree.
349 Avoid using these constructs, or do so with extreme caution.
352 removing untouched content::
354 Content which does not differ between the index and working tree may be
355 shown on context lines, beginning with a " " (space). You can stage
356 context lines for removal by converting the space to a "-". The
357 resulting working tree file will appear to re-add the content.
359 modifying existing content::
361 One can also modify context lines by staging them for removal (by
362 converting " " to "-") and adding a "{plus}" line with the new content.
363 Similarly, one can modify "{plus}" lines for existing additions or
364 modifications. In all cases, the new modification will appear reverted
369 You may also add new content that does not exist in the patch; simply
370 add new lines, each starting with "{plus}". The addition will appear
371 reverted in the working tree.
374 There are also several operations which should be avoided entirely, as
375 they will make the patch impossible to apply:
377 * adding context (" ") or removal ("-") lines
378 * deleting context or removal lines
379 * modifying the contents of context or removal lines
383 linkgit:git-status[1]
387 linkgit:git-commit[1]
388 linkgit:git-update-index[1]
392 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite
projects / git / blob