6 git-tag - Create, list, delete or verify a tag object signed with GPG
12 'git tag' [-a | -s | -u <key-id>] [-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>] [<pattern>...]
17 'git tag' -v <tagname>...
22 Add a tag reference in `refs/tags/`, unless `-d/-l/-v` is given
23 to delete, list or verify tags.
25 Unless `-f` is given, the named tag must not yet exist.
27 If one of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <key-id>` is passed, the command
28 creates a 'tag' object, and requires a tag message. Unless
29 `-m <msg>` or `-F <file>` is given, an editor is started for the user to type
32 If `-m <msg>` or `-F <file>` is given and `-a`, `-s`, and `-u <key-id>`
33 are absent, `-a` is implied.
35 Otherwise just a tag reference for the SHA-1 object name of the commit object is
36 created (i.e. a lightweight tag).
38 A GnuPG signed tag object will be created when `-s` or `-u
39 <key-id>` is used. When `-u <key-id>` is not used, the
40 committer identity for the current user is used to find the
41 GnuPG key for signing. The configuration variable `gpg.program`
42 is used to specify custom GnuPG binary.
44 Tag objects (created with `-a`, `-s`, or `-u`) are called "annotated"
45 tags; they contain a creation date, the tagger name and e-mail, a
46 tagging message, and an optional GnuPG signature. Whereas a
47 "lightweight" tag is simply a name for an object (usually a commit
50 Annotated tags are meant for release while lightweight tags are meant
51 for private or temporary object labels. For this reason, some git
52 commands for naming objects (like `git describe`) will ignore
53 lightweight tags by default.
60 Make an unsigned, annotated tag object
64 Make a GPG-signed tag, using the default e-mail address's key.
67 --local-user=<key-id>::
68 Make a GPG-signed tag, using the given key.
72 Replace an existing tag with the given name (instead of failing)
76 Delete existing tags with the given names.
80 Verify the gpg signature of the given tag names.
83 <num> specifies how many lines from the annotation, if any,
84 are printed when using -l.
85 The default is not to print any annotation lines.
86 If no number is given to `-n`, only the first line is printed.
87 If the tag is not annotated, the commit message is displayed instead.
91 List tags with names that match the given pattern (or all if no
92 pattern is given). Running "git tag" without arguments also
93 lists all tags. The pattern is a shell wildcard (i.e., matched
94 using fnmatch(3)). Multiple patterns may be given; if any of
95 them matches, the tag is shown.
98 Sort based on the key given. Prefix `-` to sort in
99 descending order of the value. You may use the --sort=<key> option
100 multiple times, in which case the last key becomes the primary
101 key. Also supports "version:refname" or "v:refname" (tag
102 names are treated as versions). The "version:refname" sort
103 order can also be affected by the
104 "versionsort.prereleaseSuffix" configuration variable.
105 The keys supported are the same as those in `git for-each-ref`.
106 Sort order defaults to the value configured for the 'tag.sort'
107 variable if it exists, or lexicographic order otherwise. See
108 linkgit:git-config[1].
110 --column[=<options>]::
112 Display tag listing in columns. See configuration variable
113 column.tag for option syntax.`--column` and `--no-column`
114 without options are equivalent to 'always' and 'never' respectively.
116 This option is only applicable when listing tags without annotation lines.
118 --contains [<commit>]::
119 Only list tags which contain the specified commit (HEAD if not
122 --points-at <object>::
123 Only list tags of the given object.
127 Use the given tag message (instead of prompting).
128 If multiple `-m` options are given, their values are
129 concatenated as separate paragraphs.
130 Implies `-a` if none of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <key-id>`
135 Take the tag message from the given file. Use '-' to
136 read the message from the standard input.
137 Implies `-a` if none of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <key-id>`
141 This option sets how the tag message is cleaned up.
142 The '<mode>' can be one of 'verbatim', 'whitespace' and 'strip'. The
143 'strip' mode is default. The 'verbatim' mode does not change message at
144 all, 'whitespace' removes just leading/trailing whitespace lines and
145 'strip' removes both whitespace and commentary.
148 Create a reflog for the tag.
151 The name of the tag to create, delete, or describe.
152 The new tag name must pass all checks defined by
153 linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1]. Some of these checks
154 may restrict the characters allowed in a tag name.
158 The object that the new tag will refer to, usually a commit.
164 By default, 'git tag' in sign-with-default mode (-s) will use your
165 committer identity (of the form `Your Name <your@email.address>`) to
166 find a key. If you want to use a different default key, you can specify
167 it in the repository configuration as follows:
169 -------------------------------------
171 signingKey = <gpg-key-id>
172 -------------------------------------
181 What should you do when you tag a wrong commit and you would
184 If you never pushed anything out, just re-tag it. Use "-f" to
185 replace the old one. And you're done.
187 But if you have pushed things out (or others could just read
188 your repository directly), then others will have already seen
189 the old tag. In that case you can do one of two things:
192 Just admit you screwed up, and use a different name. Others have
193 already seen one tag-name, and if you keep the same name, you
194 may be in the situation that two people both have "version X",
195 but they actually have 'different' "X"'s. So just call it "X.1"
199 You really want to call the new version "X" too, 'even though'
200 others have already seen the old one. So just use 'git tag -f'
201 again, as if you hadn't already published the old one.
203 However, Git does *not* (and it should not) change tags behind
204 users back. So if somebody already got the old tag, doing a
205 'git pull' on your tree shouldn't just make them overwrite the old
208 If somebody got a release tag from you, you cannot just change
209 the tag for them by updating your own one. This is a big
210 security issue, in that people MUST be able to trust their
211 tag-names. If you really want to do the insane thing, you need
212 to just fess up to it, and tell people that you messed up. You
213 can do that by making a very public announcement saying:
216 Ok, I messed up, and I pushed out an earlier version tagged as X. I
217 then fixed something, and retagged the *fixed* tree as X again.
219 If you got the wrong tag, and want the new one, please delete
220 the old one and fetch the new one by doing:
223 git fetch origin tag X
225 to get my updated tag.
227 You can test which tag you have by doing
231 which should return 0123456789abcdef.. if you have the new version.
233 Sorry for the inconvenience.
236 Does this seem a bit complicated? It *should* be. There is no
237 way that it would be correct to just "fix" it automatically.
238 People need to know that their tags might have been changed.
241 On Automatic following
242 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
244 If you are following somebody else's tree, you are most likely
245 using remote-tracking branches (`refs/heads/origin` in traditional
246 layout, or `refs/remotes/origin/master` in the separate-remote
247 layout). You usually want the tags from the other end.
249 On the other hand, if you are fetching because you would want a
250 one-shot merge from somebody else, you typically do not want to
251 get tags from there. This happens more often for people near
252 the toplevel but not limited to them. Mere mortals when pulling
253 from each other do not necessarily want to automatically get
254 private anchor point tags from the other person.
256 Often, "please pull" messages on the mailing list just provide
257 two pieces of information: a repo URL and a branch name; this
258 is designed to be easily cut&pasted at the end of a 'git fetch'
262 Linus, please pull from
264 git://git..../proj.git master
266 to get the following updates...
272 $ git pull git://git..../proj.git master
275 In such a case, you do not want to automatically follow the other
278 One important aspect of Git is its distributed nature, which
279 largely means there is no inherent "upstream" or
280 "downstream" in the system. On the face of it, the above
281 example might seem to indicate that the tag namespace is owned
282 by the upper echelon of people and that tags only flow downwards, but
283 that is not the case. It only shows that the usage pattern
284 determines who are interested in whose tags.
286 A one-shot pull is a sign that a commit history is now crossing
287 the boundary between one circle of people (e.g. "people who are
288 primarily interested in the networking part of the kernel") who may
289 have their own set of tags (e.g. "this is the third release
290 candidate from the networking group to be proposed for general
291 consumption with 2.6.21 release") to another circle of people
292 (e.g. "people who integrate various subsystem improvements").
293 The latter are usually not interested in the detailed tags used
294 internally in the former group (that is what "internal" means).
295 That is why it is desirable not to follow tags automatically in
298 It may well be that among networking people, they may want to
299 exchange the tags internal to their group, but in that workflow
300 they are most likely tracking each other's progress by
301 having remote-tracking branches. Again, the heuristic to automatically
302 follow such tags is a good thing.
308 If you have imported some changes from another VCS and would like
309 to add tags for major releases of your work, it is useful to be able
310 to specify the date to embed inside of the tag object; such data in
311 the tag object affects, for example, the ordering of tags in the
314 To set the date used in future tag objects, set the environment
315 variable GIT_COMMITTER_DATE (see the later discussion of possible
316 values; the most common form is "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM").
321 $ GIT_COMMITTER_DATE="2006-10-02 10:31" git tag -s v1.0.1
324 include::date-formats.txt[]
328 linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1].
329 linkgit:git-config[1].
333 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite
projects / git / blob