6 git-format-patch - Prepare patches for e-mail submission
12 'git format-patch' [-k] [(-o|--output-directory) <dir> | --stdout]
13 [--no-thread | --thread[=<style>]]
14 [(--attach|--inline)[=<boundary>] | --no-attach]
16 [--signature=<signature> | --no-signature]
17 [-n | --numbered | -N | --no-numbered]
18 [--start-number <n>] [--numbered-files]
19 [--in-reply-to=Message-Id] [--suffix=.<sfx>]
20 [--ignore-if-in-upstream]
21 [--subject-prefix=Subject-Prefix]
22 [--to=<email>] [--cc=<email>]
23 [--cover-letter] [--quiet]
24 [<common diff options>]
25 [ <since> | <revision range> ]
30 Prepare each commit with its patch in
31 one file per commit, formatted to resemble UNIX mailbox format.
32 The output of this command is convenient for e-mail submission or
33 for use with 'git am'.
35 There are two ways to specify which commits to operate on.
37 1. A single commit, <since>, specifies that the commits leading
38 to the tip of the current branch that are not in the history
39 that leads to the <since> to be output.
41 2. Generic <revision range> expression (see "SPECIFYING
42 REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7]) means the
43 commits in the specified range.
45 The first rule takes precedence in the case of a single <commit>. To
46 apply the second rule, i.e., format everything since the beginning of
47 history up until <commit>, use the '\--root' option: `git format-patch
48 \--root <commit>`. If you want to format only <commit> itself, you
49 can do this with `git format-patch -1 <commit>`.
51 By default, each output file is numbered sequentially from 1, and uses the
52 first line of the commit message (massaged for pathname safety) as
53 the filename. With the `--numbered-files` option, the output file names
54 will only be numbers, without the first line of the commit appended.
55 The names of the output files are printed to standard
56 output, unless the `--stdout` option is specified.
58 If `-o` is specified, output files are created in <dir>. Otherwise
59 they are created in the current working directory.
61 By default, the subject of a single patch is "[PATCH] First Line" and
62 the subject when multiple patches are output is "[PATCH n/m] First
63 Line". To force 1/1 to be added for a single patch, use `-n`. To omit
64 patch numbers from the subject, use `-N`.
66 If given `--thread`, `git-format-patch` will generate `In-Reply-To` and
67 `References` headers to make the second and subsequent patch mails appear
68 as replies to the first mail; this also generates a `Message-Id` header to
74 include::diff-options.txt[]
77 Prepare patches from the topmost <n> commits.
80 --output-directory <dir>::
81 Use <dir> to store the resulting files, instead of the
82 current working directory.
86 Name output in '[PATCH n/m]' format, even with a single patch.
90 Name output in '[PATCH]' format.
93 Start numbering the patches at <n> instead of 1.
96 Output file names will be a simple number sequence
97 without the default first line of the commit appended.
101 Do not strip/add '[PATCH]' from the first line of the
106 Add `Signed-off-by:` line to the commit message, using
107 the committer identity of yourself.
110 Print all commits to the standard output in mbox format,
111 instead of creating a file for each one.
113 --attach[=<boundary>]::
114 Create multipart/mixed attachment, the first part of
115 which is the commit message and the patch itself in the
116 second part, with `Content-Disposition: attachment`.
119 Disable the creation of an attachment, overriding the
120 configuration setting.
122 --inline[=<boundary>]::
123 Create multipart/mixed attachment, the first part of
124 which is the commit message and the patch itself in the
125 second part, with `Content-Disposition: inline`.
129 Controls addition of `In-Reply-To` and `References` headers to
130 make the second and subsequent mails appear as replies to the
131 first. Also controls generation of the `Message-Id` header to
134 The optional <style> argument can be either `shallow` or `deep`.
135 'shallow' threading makes every mail a reply to the head of the
136 series, where the head is chosen from the cover letter, the
137 `\--in-reply-to`, and the first patch mail, in this order. 'deep'
138 threading makes every mail a reply to the previous one.
140 The default is `--no-thread`, unless the 'format.thread' configuration
141 is set. If `--thread` is specified without a style, it defaults to the
142 style specified by 'format.thread' if any, or else `shallow`.
144 Beware that the default for 'git send-email' is to thread emails
145 itself. If you want `git format-patch` to take care of threading, you
146 will want to ensure that threading is disabled for `git send-email`.
148 --in-reply-to=Message-Id::
149 Make the first mail (or all the mails with `--no-thread`) appear as a
150 reply to the given Message-Id, which avoids breaking threads to
151 provide a new patch series.
153 --ignore-if-in-upstream::
154 Do not include a patch that matches a commit in
155 <until>..<since>. This will examine all patches reachable
156 from <since> but not from <until> and compare them with the
157 patches being generated, and any patch that matches is
160 --subject-prefix=<Subject-Prefix>::
161 Instead of the standard '[PATCH]' prefix in the subject
162 line, instead use '[<Subject-Prefix>]'. This
163 allows for useful naming of a patch series, and can be
164 combined with the `--numbered` option.
167 Add a `To:` header to the email headers. This is in addition
168 to any configured headers, and may be used multiple times.
169 The negated form `--no-to` discards all `To:` headers added so
170 far (from config or command line).
173 Add a `Cc:` header to the email headers. This is in addition
174 to any configured headers, and may be used multiple times.
175 The negated form `--no-cc` discards all `Cc:` headers added so
176 far (from config or command line).
178 --add-header=<header>::
179 Add an arbitrary header to the email headers. This is in addition
180 to any configured headers, and may be used multiple times.
181 For example, `--add-header="Organization: git-foo"`.
182 The negated form `--no-add-header` discards *all* (`To:`,
183 `Cc:`, and custom) headers added so far from config or command
187 In addition to the patches, generate a cover letter file
188 containing the shortlog and the overall diffstat. You can
189 fill in a description in the file before sending it out.
191 --[no]-signature=<signature>::
192 Add a signature to each message produced. Per RFC 3676 the signature
193 is separated from the body by a line with '-- ' on it. If the
194 signature option is omitted the signature defaults to the git version
198 Instead of using `.patch` as the suffix for generated
199 filenames, use specified suffix. A common alternative is
200 `--suffix=.txt`. Leaving this empty will remove the `.patch`
203 Note that the leading character does not have to be a dot; for example,
204 you can use `--suffix=-patch` to get `0001-description-of-my-change-patch`.
207 Do not print the names of the generated files to standard output.
210 Do not output contents of changes in binary files, instead
211 display a notice that those files changed. Patches generated
212 using this option cannot be applied properly, but they are
213 still useful for code review.
216 Treat the revision argument as a <revision range>, even if it
217 is just a single commit (that would normally be treated as a
218 <since>). Note that root commits included in the specified
219 range are always formatted as creation patches, independently
224 You can specify extra mail header lines to be added to each message,
225 defaults for the subject prefix and file suffix, number patches when
226 outputting more than one patch, add "To" or "Cc:" headers, configure
227 attachments, and sign off patches with configuration variables.
231 headers = "Organization: git-foo\n"
232 subjectprefix = CHANGE
237 attach [ = mime-boundary-string ]
245 The patch produced by 'git format-patch' is in UNIX mailbox format,
246 with a fixed "magic" time stamp to indicate that the file is output
247 from format-patch rather than a real mailbox, like so:
250 From 8f72bad1baf19a53459661343e21d6491c3908d3 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
251 From: Tony Luck <tony.luck@intel.com>
252 Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2010 11:42:54 -0700
253 Subject: [PATCH] =?UTF-8?q?[IA64]=20Put=20ia64=20config=20files=20on=20the=20?=
254 =?UTF-8?q?Uwe=20Kleine-K=C3=B6nig=20diet?=
256 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
257 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
259 arch/arm config files were slimmed down using a python script
260 (See commit c2330e286f68f1c408b4aa6515ba49d57f05beae comment)
262 Do the same for ia64 so we can have sleek & trim looking
266 Typically it will be placed in a MUA's drafts folder, edited to add
267 timely commentary that should not go in the changelog after the three
268 dashes, and then sent as a message whose body, in our example, starts
269 with "arch/arm config files were...". On the receiving end, readers
270 can save interesting patches in a UNIX mailbox and apply them with
273 When a patch is part of an ongoing discussion, the patch generated by
274 'git format-patch' can be tweaked to take advantage of the 'git am
275 --scissors' feature. After your response to the discussion comes a
276 line that consists solely of "`-- >8 --`" (scissors and perforation),
277 followed by the patch with unnecessary header fields removed:
281 > So we should do such-and-such.
283 Makes sense to me. How about this patch?
286 Subject: [IA64] Put ia64 config files on the Uwe Kleine-König diet
288 arch/arm config files were slimmed down using a python script
292 When sending a patch this way, most often you are sending your own
293 patch, so in addition to the "`From $SHA1 $magic_timestamp`" marker you
294 should omit `From:` and `Date:` lines from the patch file. The patch
295 title is likely to be different from the subject of the discussion the
296 patch is in response to, so it is likely that you would want to keep
297 the Subject: line, like the example above.
299 Checking for patch corruption
300 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
301 Many mailers if not set up properly will corrupt whitespace. Here are
302 two common types of corruption:
304 * Empty context lines that do not have _any_ whitespace.
306 * Non-empty context lines that have one extra whitespace at the
309 One way to test if your MUA is set up correctly is:
311 * Send the patch to yourself, exactly the way you would, except
312 with To: and Cc: lines that do not contain the list and
315 * Save that patch to a file in UNIX mailbox format. Call it a.patch,
320 $ git fetch <project> master:test-apply
321 $ git checkout test-apply
325 If it does not apply correctly, there can be various reasons.
327 * The patch itself does not apply cleanly. That is _bad_ but
328 does not have much to do with your MUA. You might want to rebase
329 the patch with linkgit:git-rebase[1] before regenerating it in
332 * The MUA corrupted your patch; "am" would complain that
333 the patch does not apply. Look in the .git/rebase-apply/ subdirectory and
334 see what 'patch' file contains and check for the common
335 corruption patterns mentioned above.
337 * While at it, check the 'info' and 'final-commit' files as well.
338 If what is in 'final-commit' is not exactly what you would want to
339 see in the commit log message, it is very likely that the
340 receiver would end up hand editing the log message when applying
341 your patch. Things like "Hi, this is my first patch.\n" in the
342 patch e-mail should come after the three-dash line that signals
343 the end of the commit message.
347 Here are some hints on how to successfully submit patches inline using
352 GMail does not have any way to turn off line wrapping in the web
353 interface, so it will mangle any emails that you send. You can however
354 use "git send-email" and send your patches through the GMail SMTP server, or
355 use any IMAP email client to connect to the google IMAP server and forward
356 the emails through that.
358 For hints on using 'git send-email' to send your patches through the
359 GMail SMTP server, see the EXAMPLE section of linkgit:git-send-email[1].
361 For hints on submission using the IMAP interface, see the EXAMPLE
362 section of linkgit:git-imap-send[1].
366 By default, Thunderbird will both wrap emails as well as flag
367 them as being 'format=flowed', both of which will make the
368 resulting email unusable by git.
370 There are three different approaches: use an add-on to turn off line wraps,
371 configure Thunderbird to not mangle patches, or use
372 an external editor to keep Thunderbird from mangling the patches.
377 Install the Toggle Word Wrap add-on that is available from
378 https://addons.mozilla.org/thunderbird/addon/toggle-word-wrap/
379 It adds a menu entry "Enable Word Wrap" in the composer's "Options" menu
380 that you can tick off. Now you can compose the message as you otherwise do
381 (cut + paste, 'git format-patch' | 'git imap-send', etc), but you have to
382 insert line breaks manually in any text that you type.
384 Approach #2 (configuration)
385 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
388 1. Configure your mail server composition as plain text:
389 Edit...Account Settings...Composition & Addressing,
390 uncheck "Compose Messages in HTML".
392 2. Configure your general composition window to not wrap.
395 Edit..Preferences..Composition, wrap plain text messages at 0
398 Edit..Preferences..Advanced..Config Editor. Search for
399 "mail.wrap_long_lines".
400 Toggle it to make sure it is set to `false`.
402 3. Disable the use of format=flowed:
403 Edit..Preferences..Advanced..Config Editor. Search for
404 "mailnews.send_plaintext_flowed".
405 Toggle it to make sure it is set to `false`.
407 After that is done, you should be able to compose email as you
408 otherwise would (cut + paste, 'git format-patch' | 'git imap-send', etc),
409 and the patches will not be mangled.
411 Approach #3 (external editor)
412 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
414 The following Thunderbird extensions are needed:
415 AboutConfig from http://aboutconfig.mozdev.org/ and
416 External Editor from http://globs.org/articles.php?lng=en&pg=8
418 1. Prepare the patch as a text file using your method of choice.
420 2. Before opening a compose window, use Edit->Account Settings to
421 uncheck the "Compose messages in HTML format" setting in the
422 "Composition & Addressing" panel of the account to be used to
425 3. In the main Thunderbird window, 'before' you open the compose
426 window for the patch, use Tools->about:config to set the
427 following to the indicated values:
430 mailnews.send_plaintext_flowed => false
431 mailnews.wraplength => 0
434 4. Open a compose window and click the external editor icon.
436 5. In the external editor window, read in the patch file and exit
439 Side note: it may be possible to do step 2 with
440 about:config and the following settings but no one's tried yet.
443 mail.html_compose => false
444 mail.identity.default.compose_html => false
445 mail.identity.id?.compose_html => false
448 There is a script in contrib/thunderbird-patch-inline which can help
449 you include patches with Thunderbird in an easy way. To use it, do the
450 steps above and then use the script as the external editor.
454 This should help you to submit patches inline using KMail.
456 1. Prepare the patch as a text file.
458 2. Click on New Mail.
460 3. Go under "Options" in the Composer window and be sure that
461 "Word wrap" is not set.
463 4. Use Message -> Insert file... and insert the patch.
465 5. Back in the compose window: add whatever other text you wish to the
466 message, complete the addressing and subject fields, and press send.
472 * Extract commits between revisions R1 and R2, and apply them on top of
473 the current branch using 'git am' to cherry-pick them:
476 $ git format-patch -k --stdout R1..R2 | git am -3 -k
479 * Extract all commits which are in the current branch but not in the
483 $ git format-patch origin
486 For each commit a separate file is created in the current directory.
488 * Extract all commits that lead to 'origin' since the inception of the
492 $ git format-patch --root origin
495 * The same as the previous one:
498 $ git format-patch -M -B origin
501 Additionally, it detects and handles renames and complete rewrites
502 intelligently to produce a renaming patch. A renaming patch reduces
503 the amount of text output, and generally makes it easier to review.
504 Note that non-git "patch" programs won't understand renaming patches, so
505 use it only when you know the recipient uses git to apply your patch.
507 * Extract three topmost commits from the current branch and format them
508 as e-mailable patches:
511 $ git format-patch -3
516 linkgit:git-am[1], linkgit:git-send-email[1]
520 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite
projects / git / blob