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>] [--no-contains <commit>]
16 [--points-at <object>] [--column[=<options>] | --no-column]
17 [--create-reflog] [--sort=<key>] [--format=<format>]
18 [--[no-]merged [<commit>]] [<pattern>...]
19 'git tag' -v [--format=<format>] <tagname>...
24 Add a tag reference in `refs/tags/`, unless `-d/-l/-v` is given
25 to delete, list or verify tags.
27 Unless `-f` is given, the named tag must not yet exist.
29 If one of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <keyid>` is passed, the command
30 creates a 'tag' object, and requires a tag message. Unless
31 `-m <msg>` or `-F <file>` is given, an editor is started for the user to type
34 If `-m <msg>` or `-F <file>` is given and `-a`, `-s`, and `-u <keyid>`
35 are absent, `-a` is implied.
37 Otherwise just a tag reference for the SHA-1 object name of the commit object is
38 created (i.e. a lightweight tag).
40 A GnuPG signed tag object will be created when `-s` or `-u
41 <keyid>` is used. When `-u <keyid>` is not used, the
42 committer identity for the current user is used to find the
43 GnuPG key for signing. The configuration variable `gpg.program`
44 is used to specify custom GnuPG binary.
46 Tag objects (created with `-a`, `-s`, or `-u`) are called "annotated"
47 tags; they contain a creation date, the tagger name and e-mail, a
48 tagging message, and an optional GnuPG signature. Whereas a
49 "lightweight" tag is simply a name for an object (usually a commit
52 Annotated tags are meant for release while lightweight tags are meant
53 for private or temporary object labels. For this reason, some git
54 commands for naming objects (like `git describe`) will ignore
55 lightweight tags by default.
62 Make an unsigned, annotated tag object
66 Make a GPG-signed tag, using the default e-mail address's key.
69 --local-user=<keyid>::
70 Make a GPG-signed tag, using the given key.
74 Replace an existing tag with the given name (instead of failing)
78 Delete existing tags with the given names.
82 Verify the GPG signature of the given tag names.
85 <num> specifies how many lines from the annotation, if any,
86 are printed when using -l. Implies `--list`.
88 The default is not to print any annotation lines.
89 If no number is given to `-n`, only the first line is printed.
90 If the tag is not annotated, the commit message is displayed instead.
94 List tags. With optional `<pattern>...`, e.g. `git tag --list
95 'v-*'`, list only the tags that match the pattern(s).
97 Running "git tag" without arguments also lists all tags. The pattern
98 is a shell wildcard (i.e., matched using fnmatch(3)). Multiple
99 patterns may be given; if any of them matches, the tag is shown.
101 This option is implicitly supplied if any other list-like option such
102 as `--contains` is provided. See the documentation for each of those
106 Sort based on the key given. Prefix `-` to sort in
107 descending order of the value. You may use the --sort=<key> option
108 multiple times, in which case the last key becomes the primary
109 key. Also supports "version:refname" or "v:refname" (tag
110 names are treated as versions). The "version:refname" sort
111 order can also be affected by the "versionsort.suffix"
112 configuration variable.
113 The keys supported are the same as those in `git for-each-ref`.
114 Sort order defaults to the value configured for the `tag.sort`
115 variable if it exists, or lexicographic order otherwise. See
116 linkgit:git-config[1].
120 Sorting and filtering tags are case insensitive.
122 --column[=<options>]::
124 Display tag listing in columns. See configuration variable
125 column.tag for option syntax.`--column` and `--no-column`
126 without options are equivalent to 'always' and 'never' respectively.
128 This option is only applicable when listing tags without annotation lines.
130 --contains [<commit>]::
131 Only list tags which contain the specified commit (HEAD if not
132 specified). Implies `--list`.
134 --no-contains [<commit>]::
135 Only list tags which don't contain the specified commit (HEAD if
136 not specified). Implies `--list`.
138 --merged [<commit>]::
139 Only list tags whose commits are reachable from the specified
140 commit (`HEAD` if not specified), incompatible with `--no-merged`.
142 --no-merged [<commit>]::
143 Only list tags whose commits are not reachable from the specified
144 commit (`HEAD` if not specified), incompatible with `--merged`.
146 --points-at <object>::
147 Only list tags of the given object (HEAD if not
148 specified). Implies `--list`.
152 Use the given tag message (instead of prompting).
153 If multiple `-m` options are given, their values are
154 concatenated as separate paragraphs.
155 Implies `-a` if none of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <keyid>`
160 Take the tag message from the given file. Use '-' to
161 read the message from the standard input.
162 Implies `-a` if none of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <keyid>`
166 This option sets how the tag message is cleaned up.
167 The '<mode>' can be one of 'verbatim', 'whitespace' and 'strip'. The
168 'strip' mode is default. The 'verbatim' mode does not change message at
169 all, 'whitespace' removes just leading/trailing whitespace lines and
170 'strip' removes both whitespace and commentary.
173 Create a reflog for the tag. To globally enable reflogs for tags, see
174 `core.logAllRefUpdates` in linkgit:git-config[1].
175 The negated form `--no-create-reflog` only overrides an earlier
176 `--create-reflog`, but currently does not negate the setting of
177 `core.logallrefupdates`.
180 The name of the tag to create, delete, or describe.
181 The new tag name must pass all checks defined by
182 linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1]. Some of these checks
183 may restrict the characters allowed in a tag name.
187 The object that the new tag will refer to, usually a commit.
191 A string that interpolates `%(fieldname)` from the object
192 pointed at by a ref being shown. The format is the same as
193 that of linkgit:git-for-each-ref[1]. When unspecified,
194 defaults to `%(refname:strip=2)`.
198 By default, 'git tag' in sign-with-default mode (-s) will use your
199 committer identity (of the form `Your Name <your@email.address>`) to
200 find a key. If you want to use a different default key, you can specify
201 it in the repository configuration as follows:
203 -------------------------------------
205 signingKey = <gpg-keyid>
206 -------------------------------------
208 `pager.tag` is only respected when listing tags, i.e., when `-l` is
209 used or implied. The default is to use a pager.
210 See linkgit:git-config[1].
218 What should you do when you tag a wrong commit and you would
221 If you never pushed anything out, just re-tag it. Use "-f" to
222 replace the old one. And you're done.
224 But if you have pushed things out (or others could just read
225 your repository directly), then others will have already seen
226 the old tag. In that case you can do one of two things:
229 Just admit you screwed up, and use a different name. Others have
230 already seen one tag-name, and if you keep the same name, you
231 may be in the situation that two people both have "version X",
232 but they actually have 'different' "X"'s. So just call it "X.1"
236 You really want to call the new version "X" too, 'even though'
237 others have already seen the old one. So just use 'git tag -f'
238 again, as if you hadn't already published the old one.
240 However, Git does *not* (and it should not) change tags behind
241 users back. So if somebody already got the old tag, doing a
242 'git pull' on your tree shouldn't just make them overwrite the old
245 If somebody got a release tag from you, you cannot just change
246 the tag for them by updating your own one. This is a big
247 security issue, in that people MUST be able to trust their
248 tag-names. If you really want to do the insane thing, you need
249 to just fess up to it, and tell people that you messed up. You
250 can do that by making a very public announcement saying:
253 Ok, I messed up, and I pushed out an earlier version tagged as X. I
254 then fixed something, and retagged the *fixed* tree as X again.
256 If you got the wrong tag, and want the new one, please delete
257 the old one and fetch the new one by doing:
260 git fetch origin tag X
262 to get my updated tag.
264 You can test which tag you have by doing
268 which should return 0123456789abcdef.. if you have the new version.
270 Sorry for the inconvenience.
273 Does this seem a bit complicated? It *should* be. There is no
274 way that it would be correct to just "fix" it automatically.
275 People need to know that their tags might have been changed.
278 On Automatic following
279 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
281 If you are following somebody else's tree, you are most likely
282 using remote-tracking branches (eg. `refs/remotes/origin/master`).
283 You usually want the tags from the other end.
285 On the other hand, if you are fetching because you would want a
286 one-shot merge from somebody else, you typically do not want to
287 get tags from there. This happens more often for people near
288 the toplevel but not limited to them. Mere mortals when pulling
289 from each other do not necessarily want to automatically get
290 private anchor point tags from the other person.
292 Often, "please pull" messages on the mailing list just provide
293 two pieces of information: a repo URL and a branch name; this
294 is designed to be easily cut&pasted at the end of a 'git fetch'
298 Linus, please pull from
300 git://git..../proj.git master
302 to get the following updates...
308 $ git pull git://git..../proj.git master
311 In such a case, you do not want to automatically follow the other
314 One important aspect of Git is its distributed nature, which
315 largely means there is no inherent "upstream" or
316 "downstream" in the system. On the face of it, the above
317 example might seem to indicate that the tag namespace is owned
318 by the upper echelon of people and that tags only flow downwards, but
319 that is not the case. It only shows that the usage pattern
320 determines who are interested in whose tags.
322 A one-shot pull is a sign that a commit history is now crossing
323 the boundary between one circle of people (e.g. "people who are
324 primarily interested in the networking part of the kernel") who may
325 have their own set of tags (e.g. "this is the third release
326 candidate from the networking group to be proposed for general
327 consumption with 2.6.21 release") to another circle of people
328 (e.g. "people who integrate various subsystem improvements").
329 The latter are usually not interested in the detailed tags used
330 internally in the former group (that is what "internal" means).
331 That is why it is desirable not to follow tags automatically in
334 It may well be that among networking people, they may want to
335 exchange the tags internal to their group, but in that workflow
336 they are most likely tracking each other's progress by
337 having remote-tracking branches. Again, the heuristic to automatically
338 follow such tags is a good thing.
344 If you have imported some changes from another VCS and would like
345 to add tags for major releases of your work, it is useful to be able
346 to specify the date to embed inside of the tag object; such data in
347 the tag object affects, for example, the ordering of tags in the
350 To set the date used in future tag objects, set the environment
351 variable GIT_COMMITTER_DATE (see the later discussion of possible
352 values; the most common form is "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM").
357 $ GIT_COMMITTER_DATE="2006-10-02 10:31" git tag -s v1.0.1
360 include::date-formats.txt[]
364 linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1].
365 linkgit:git-config[1].
369 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite