git-notes(1) ============ NAME ---- git-notes - Add/inspect object notes SYNOPSIS -------- [verse] 'git notes' [list []] 'git notes' add [-f] [-F | -m | (-c | -C) ] [] 'git notes' copy [-f] ( --stdin | ) 'git notes' append [-F | -m | (-c | -C) ] [] 'git notes' edit [] 'git notes' show [] 'git notes' remove [] 'git notes' prune DESCRIPTION ----------- This command allows you to add/remove notes to/from objects, without changing the objects themselves. By default, notes are saved to and read from `refs/notes/commits`, but this default can be overridden. See the OPTIONS, CONFIGURATION, and ENVIRONMENT sections below. If this ref does not exist, it will be quietly created when it is first needed to store a note. A typical use of notes is to extend a commit message without having to change the commit itself. Such commit notes can be shown by `git log` along with the original commit message. To discern these notes from the message stored in the commit object, the notes are indented like the message, after an unindented line saying "Notes ():" (or "Notes:" for `refs/notes/commits`). To change which notes are shown by 'git-log', see the "notes.displayRef" configuration. See the description of "notes.rewrite." in linkgit:git-config[1] for a way of carrying your notes across commands that rewrite commits. SUBCOMMANDS ----------- list:: List the notes object for a given object. If no object is given, show a list of all note objects and the objects they annotate (in the format " "). This is the default subcommand if no subcommand is given. add:: Add notes for a given object (defaults to HEAD). Abort if the object already has notes (use `-f` to overwrite an existing note). copy:: Copy the notes for the first object onto the second object. Abort if the second object already has notes, or if the first object has none (use -f to overwrite existing notes to the second object). This subcommand is equivalent to: `git notes add [-f] -C $(git notes list ) ` + In `\--stdin` mode, take lines in the format + ---------- SP [ SP ] LF ---------- + on standard input, and copy the notes from each to its corresponding . (The optional `` is ignored so that the command can read the input given to the `post-rewrite` hook.) append:: Append to the notes of an existing object (defaults to HEAD). Creates a new notes object if needed. edit:: Edit the notes for a given object (defaults to HEAD). show:: Show the notes for a given object (defaults to HEAD). remove:: Remove the notes for a given object (defaults to HEAD). This is equivalent to specifying an empty note message to the `edit` subcommand. prune:: Remove all notes for non-existing/unreachable objects. OPTIONS ------- -f:: --force:: When adding notes to an object that already has notes, overwrite the existing notes (instead of aborting). -m :: --message=:: Use the given note message (instead of prompting). If multiple `-m` options are given, their values are concatenated as separate paragraphs. Lines starting with `#` and empty lines other than a single line between paragraphs will be stripped out. -F :: --file=:: Take the note message from the given file. Use '-' to read the note message from the standard input. Lines starting with `#` and empty lines other than a single line between paragraphs will be stripped out. -C :: --reuse-message=:: Take the note message from the given blob object (for example, another note). -c :: --reedit-message=:: Like '-C', but with '-c' the editor is invoked, so that the user can further edit the note message. --ref :: Manipulate the notes tree in . This overrides 'GIT_NOTES_REF' and the "core.notesRef" configuration. The ref is taken to be in `refs/notes/` if it is not qualified. DISCUSSION ---------- Commit notes are blobs containing extra information about an object (usually information to supplement a commit's message). These blobs are taken from notes refs. A notes ref is usually a branch which contains "files" whose paths are the object names for the objects they describe, with some directory separators included for performance reasons footnote:[Permitted pathnames have the form 'ab'`/`'cd'`/`'ef'`/`'...'`/`'abcdef...': a sequence of directory names of two hexadecimal digits each followed by a filename with the rest of the object ID.]. Every notes change creates a new commit at the specified notes ref. You can therefore inspect the history of the notes by invoking, e.g., `git log -p notes/commits`. Currently the commit message only records which operation triggered the update, and the commit authorship is determined according to the usual rules (see linkgit:git-commit[1]). These details may change in the future. It is also permitted for a notes ref to point directly to a tree object, in which case the history of the notes can be read with `git log -p -g `. EXAMPLES -------- You can use notes to add annotations with information that was not available at the time a commit was written. ------------ $ git notes add -m 'Tested-by: Johannes Sixt ' 72a144e2 $ git show -s 72a144e [...] Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano Notes: Tested-by: Johannes Sixt ------------ In principle, a note is a regular Git blob, and any kind of (non-)format is accepted. You can binary-safely create notes from arbitrary files using 'git hash-object': ------------ $ cc *.c $ blob=$(git hash-object -w a.out) $ git notes --ref=built add -C "$blob" HEAD ------------ Of course, it doesn't make much sense to display non-text-format notes with 'git log', so if you use such notes, you'll probably need to write some special-purpose tools to do something useful with them. CONFIGURATION ------------- core.notesRef:: Notes ref to read and manipulate instead of `refs/notes/commits`. Must be an unabbreviated ref name. This setting can be overridden through the environment and command line. notes.displayRef:: The (fully qualified) refname from which to show notes when showing commit messages. The value of this variable can be set to a glob, in which case notes from all matching refs will be shown. You may also specify this configuration variable several times. A warning will be issued for refs that do not exist, but a glob that does not match any refs is silently ignored. + This setting can be overridden with the `GIT_NOTES_DISPLAY_REF` environment variable, which must be a colon separated list of refs or globs. + The effective value of "core.notesRef" (possibly overridden by GIT_NOTES_REF) is also implicitly added to the list of refs to be displayed. notes.rewrite.:: When rewriting commits with (currently `amend` or `rebase`) and this variable is set to `true`, git automatically copies your notes from the original to the rewritten commit. Defaults to `true`, but see "notes.rewriteRef" below. notes.rewriteMode:: When copying notes during a rewrite (see the "notes.rewrite." option), determines what to do if the target commit already has a note. Must be one of `overwrite`, `concatenate`, or `ignore`. Defaults to `concatenate`. + This setting can be overridden with the `GIT_NOTES_REWRITE_MODE` environment variable. notes.rewriteRef:: When copying notes during a rewrite, specifies the (fully qualified) ref whose notes should be copied. The ref may be a glob, in which case notes in all matching refs will be copied. You may also specify this configuration several times. + Does not have a default value; you must configure this variable to enable note rewriting. + This setting can be overridden with the `GIT_NOTES_REWRITE_REF` environment variable, which must be a colon separated list of refs or globs. ENVIRONMENT ----------- 'GIT_NOTES_REF':: Which ref to manipulate notes from, instead of `refs/notes/commits`. This overrides the `core.notesRef` setting. Author ------ Written by Johannes Schindelin and Johan Herland Documentation ------------- Documentation by Johannes Schindelin and Johan Herland GIT --- Part of the linkgit:git[7] suite