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.
86 The default is not to print any annotation lines.
87 If no number is given to `-n`, only the first line is printed.
88 If the tag is not annotated, the commit message is displayed instead.
92 List tags with names that match the given pattern (or all if no
93 pattern is given). Running "git tag" without arguments also
94 lists all tags. The pattern is a shell wildcard (i.e., matched
95 using fnmatch(3)). Multiple patterns may be given; if any of
96 them matches, the tag is shown.
99 Sort based on the key given. Prefix `-` to sort in
100 descending order of the value. You may use the --sort=<key> option
101 multiple times, in which case the last key becomes the primary
102 key. Also supports "version:refname" or "v:refname" (tag
103 names are treated as versions). The "version:refname" sort
104 order can also be affected by the "versionsort.suffix"
105 configuration variable.
106 The keys supported are the same as those in `git for-each-ref`.
107 Sort order defaults to the value configured for the `tag.sort`
108 variable if it exists, or lexicographic order otherwise. See
109 linkgit:git-config[1].
113 Sorting and filtering tags are case insensitive.
115 --column[=<options>]::
117 Display tag listing in columns. See configuration variable
118 column.tag for option syntax.`--column` and `--no-column`
119 without options are equivalent to 'always' and 'never' respectively.
121 This option is only applicable when listing tags without annotation lines.
123 --contains [<commit>]::
124 Only list tags which contain the specified commit (HEAD if not
127 --points-at <object>::
128 Only list tags of the given object.
132 Use the given tag message (instead of prompting).
133 If multiple `-m` options are given, their values are
134 concatenated as separate paragraphs.
135 Implies `-a` if none of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <keyid>`
140 Take the tag message from the given file. Use '-' to
141 read the message from the standard input.
142 Implies `-a` if none of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <keyid>`
146 This option sets how the tag message is cleaned up.
147 The '<mode>' can be one of 'verbatim', 'whitespace' and 'strip'. The
148 'strip' mode is default. The 'verbatim' mode does not change message at
149 all, 'whitespace' removes just leading/trailing whitespace lines and
150 'strip' removes both whitespace and commentary.
153 Create a reflog for the tag.
156 The name of the tag to create, delete, or describe.
157 The new tag name must pass all checks defined by
158 linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1]. Some of these checks
159 may restrict the characters allowed in a tag name.
163 The object that the new tag will refer to, usually a commit.
167 A string that interpolates `%(fieldname)` from the object
168 pointed at by a ref being shown. The format is the same as
169 that of linkgit:git-for-each-ref[1]. When unspecified,
170 defaults to `%(refname:strip=2)`.
172 --[no-]merged [<commit>]::
173 Only list tags whose tips are reachable, or not reachable
174 if `--no-merged` is used, from the specified commit (`HEAD`
179 By default, 'git tag' in sign-with-default mode (-s) will use your
180 committer identity (of the form `Your Name <your@email.address>`) to
181 find a key. If you want to use a different default key, you can specify
182 it in the repository configuration as follows:
184 -------------------------------------
186 signingKey = <gpg-keyid>
187 -------------------------------------
196 What should you do when you tag a wrong commit and you would
199 If you never pushed anything out, just re-tag it. Use "-f" to
200 replace the old one. And you're done.
202 But if you have pushed things out (or others could just read
203 your repository directly), then others will have already seen
204 the old tag. In that case you can do one of two things:
207 Just admit you screwed up, and use a different name. Others have
208 already seen one tag-name, and if you keep the same name, you
209 may be in the situation that two people both have "version X",
210 but they actually have 'different' "X"'s. So just call it "X.1"
214 You really want to call the new version "X" too, 'even though'
215 others have already seen the old one. So just use 'git tag -f'
216 again, as if you hadn't already published the old one.
218 However, Git does *not* (and it should not) change tags behind
219 users back. So if somebody already got the old tag, doing a
220 'git pull' on your tree shouldn't just make them overwrite the old
223 If somebody got a release tag from you, you cannot just change
224 the tag for them by updating your own one. This is a big
225 security issue, in that people MUST be able to trust their
226 tag-names. If you really want to do the insane thing, you need
227 to just fess up to it, and tell people that you messed up. You
228 can do that by making a very public announcement saying:
231 Ok, I messed up, and I pushed out an earlier version tagged as X. I
232 then fixed something, and retagged the *fixed* tree as X again.
234 If you got the wrong tag, and want the new one, please delete
235 the old one and fetch the new one by doing:
238 git fetch origin tag X
240 to get my updated tag.
242 You can test which tag you have by doing
246 which should return 0123456789abcdef.. if you have the new version.
248 Sorry for the inconvenience.
251 Does this seem a bit complicated? It *should* be. There is no
252 way that it would be correct to just "fix" it automatically.
253 People need to know that their tags might have been changed.
256 On Automatic following
257 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
259 If you are following somebody else's tree, you are most likely
260 using remote-tracking branches (eg. `refs/remotes/origin/master`).
261 You usually want the tags from the other end.
263 On the other hand, if you are fetching because you would want a
264 one-shot merge from somebody else, you typically do not want to
265 get tags from there. This happens more often for people near
266 the toplevel but not limited to them. Mere mortals when pulling
267 from each other do not necessarily want to automatically get
268 private anchor point tags from the other person.
270 Often, "please pull" messages on the mailing list just provide
271 two pieces of information: a repo URL and a branch name; this
272 is designed to be easily cut&pasted at the end of a 'git fetch'
276 Linus, please pull from
278 git://git..../proj.git master
280 to get the following updates...
286 $ git pull git://git..../proj.git master
289 In such a case, you do not want to automatically follow the other
292 One important aspect of Git is its distributed nature, which
293 largely means there is no inherent "upstream" or
294 "downstream" in the system. On the face of it, the above
295 example might seem to indicate that the tag namespace is owned
296 by the upper echelon of people and that tags only flow downwards, but
297 that is not the case. It only shows that the usage pattern
298 determines who are interested in whose tags.
300 A one-shot pull is a sign that a commit history is now crossing
301 the boundary between one circle of people (e.g. "people who are
302 primarily interested in the networking part of the kernel") who may
303 have their own set of tags (e.g. "this is the third release
304 candidate from the networking group to be proposed for general
305 consumption with 2.6.21 release") to another circle of people
306 (e.g. "people who integrate various subsystem improvements").
307 The latter are usually not interested in the detailed tags used
308 internally in the former group (that is what "internal" means).
309 That is why it is desirable not to follow tags automatically in
312 It may well be that among networking people, they may want to
313 exchange the tags internal to their group, but in that workflow
314 they are most likely tracking each other's progress by
315 having remote-tracking branches. Again, the heuristic to automatically
316 follow such tags is a good thing.
322 If you have imported some changes from another VCS and would like
323 to add tags for major releases of your work, it is useful to be able
324 to specify the date to embed inside of the tag object; such data in
325 the tag object affects, for example, the ordering of tags in the
328 To set the date used in future tag objects, set the environment
329 variable GIT_COMMITTER_DATE (see the later discussion of possible
330 values; the most common form is "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM").
335 $ GIT_COMMITTER_DATE="2006-10-02 10:31" git tag -s v1.0.1
338 include::date-formats.txt[]
342 linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1].
343 linkgit:git-config[1].
347 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite
projects / git / blob