Documentation/git-tag.txt - jrn/git - Git at Google

 git-tag(1)
 ==========

 NAME
 ----
 git-tag - Create, list, delete or verify a tag object signed with GPG


 SYNOPSIS
 --------
 [verse]
 'git tag' [-a | -s | -u <key-id>] [-f] [-m <msg> | -F <file>]
 	<tagname> [<commit> | <object>]
 'git tag' -d <tagname>...
 'git tag' [-n[<num>]] -l [--contains <commit>] [--points-at <object>]
 	[<pattern>...]
 'git tag' -v <tagname>...

 DESCRIPTION
 -----------

 Add a tag reference in `.git/refs/tags/`, unless `-d/-l/-v` is given
 to delete, list or verify tags.

 Unless `-f` is given, the tag to be created must not yet exist in the
 `.git/refs/tags/` directory.

 If one of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <key-id>` is passed, the command
 creates a 'tag' object, and requires a tag message.  Unless
 `-m <msg>` or `-F <file>` is given, an editor is started for the user to type
 in the tag message.

 If `-m <msg>` or `-F <file>` is given and `-a`, `-s`, and `-u <key-id>`
 are absent, `-a` is implied.

 Otherwise just a tag reference for the SHA1 object name of the commit object is
 created (i.e. a lightweight tag).

 A GnuPG signed tag object will be created when `-s` or `-u
 <key-id>` is used.  When `-u <key-id>` is not used, the
 committer identity for the current user is used to find the
 GnuPG key for signing. 	The configuration variable `gpg.program`
 is used to specify custom GnuPG binary.


 OPTIONS
 -------
 -a::
 --annotate::
 	Make an unsigned, annotated tag object

 -s::
 --sign::
 	Make a GPG-signed tag, using the default e-mail address's key.

 -u <key-id>::
 --local-user=<key-id>::
 	Make a GPG-signed tag, using the given key.

 -f::
 --force::
 	Replace an existing tag with the given name (instead of failing)

 -d::
 --delete::
 	Delete existing tags with the given names.

 -v::
 --verify::
 	Verify the gpg signature of the given tag names.

 -n<num>::
 	<num> specifies how many lines from the annotation, if any,
 	are printed when using -l.
 	The default is not to print any annotation lines.
 	If no number is given to `-n`, only the first line is printed.
 	If the tag is not annotated, the commit message is displayed instead.

 -l <pattern>::
 --list <pattern>::
 	List tags with names that match the given pattern (or all if no
 	pattern is given).  Running "git tag" without arguments also
 	lists all tags. The pattern is a shell wildcard (i.e., matched
 	using fnmatch(3)).  Multiple patterns may be given; if any of
 	them matches, the tag is shown.

 --contains <commit>::
 	Only list tags which contain the specified commit.

 --points-at <object>::
 	Only list tags of the given object.

 -m <msg>::
 --message=<msg>::
 	Use the given tag message (instead of prompting).
 	If multiple `-m` options are given, their values are
 	concatenated as separate paragraphs.
 	Implies `-a` if none of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <key-id>`
 	is given.

 -F <file>::
 --file=<file>::
 	Take the tag message from the given file.  Use '-' to
 	read the message from the standard input.
 	Implies `-a` if none of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <key-id>`
 	is given.

 --cleanup=<mode>::
 	This option sets how the tag message is cleaned up.
 	The  '<mode>' can be one of 'verbatim', 'whitespace' and 'strip'.  The
 	'strip' mode is default. The 'verbatim' mode does not change message at
 	all, 'whitespace' removes just leading/trailing whitespace lines and
 	'strip' removes both whitespace and commentary.

 <tagname>::
 	The name of the tag to create, delete, or describe.
 	The new tag name must pass all checks defined by
 	linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1].  Some of these checks
 	may restrict the characters allowed in a tag name.

 CONFIGURATION
 -------------
 By default, 'git tag' in sign-with-default mode (-s) will use your
 committer identity (of the form "Your Name <your@email.address>") to
 find a key.  If you want to use a different default key, you can specify
 it in the repository configuration as follows:

 -------------------------------------
 [user]
     signingkey = <gpg-key-id>
 -------------------------------------


 DISCUSSION
 ----------

 On Re-tagging
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 What should you do when you tag a wrong commit and you would
 want to re-tag?

 If you never pushed anything out, just re-tag it. Use "-f" to
 replace the old one. And you're done.

 But if you have pushed things out (or others could just read
 your repository directly), then others will have already seen
 the old tag. In that case you can do one of two things:

 . The sane thing.
 Just admit you screwed up, and use a different name. Others have
 already seen one tag-name, and if you keep the same name, you
 may be in the situation that two people both have "version X",
 but they actually have 'different' "X"'s.  So just call it "X.1"
 and be done with it.

 . The insane thing.
 You really want to call the new version "X" too, 'even though'
 others have already seen the old one. So just use 'git tag -f'
 again, as if you hadn't already published the old one.

 However, Git does *not* (and it should not) change tags behind
 users back. So if somebody already got the old tag, doing a
 'git pull' on your tree shouldn't just make them overwrite the old
 one.

 If somebody got a release tag from you, you cannot just change
 the tag for them by updating your own one. This is a big
 security issue, in that people MUST be able to trust their
 tag-names.  If you really want to do the insane thing, you need
 to just fess up to it, and tell people that you messed up. You
 can do that by making a very public announcement saying:

 ------------
 Ok, I messed up, and I pushed out an earlier version tagged as X. I
 then fixed something, and retagged the *fixed* tree as X again.

 If you got the wrong tag, and want the new one, please delete
 the old one and fetch the new one by doing:

 	git tag -d X
 	git fetch origin tag X

 to get my updated tag.

 You can test which tag you have by doing

 	git rev-parse X

 which should return 0123456789abcdef.. if you have the new version.

 Sorry for the inconvenience.
 ------------

 Does this seem a bit complicated?  It *should* be. There is no
 way that it would be correct to just "fix" it automatically.
 People need to know that their tags might have been changed.


 On Automatic following
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 If you are following somebody else's tree, you are most likely
 using remote-tracking branches (`refs/heads/origin` in traditional
 layout, or `refs/remotes/origin/master` in the separate-remote
 layout).  You usually want the tags from the other end.

 On the other hand, if you are fetching because you would want a
 one-shot merge from somebody else, you typically do not want to
 get tags from there.  This happens more often for people near
 the toplevel but not limited to them.  Mere mortals when pulling
 from each other do not necessarily want to automatically get
 private anchor point tags from the other person.

 Often, "please pull" messages on the mailing list just provide
 two pieces of information: a repo URL and a branch name; this
 is designed to be easily cut&pasted at the end of a 'git fetch'
 command line:

 ------------
 Linus, please pull from

 	git://git..../proj.git master

 to get the following updates...
 ------------

 becomes:

 ------------
 $ git pull git://git..../proj.git master
 ------------

 In such a case, you do not want to automatically follow the other
 person's tags.

 One important aspect of git is its distributed nature, which
 largely means there is no inherent "upstream" or
 "downstream" in the system.  On the face of it, the above
 example might seem to indicate that the tag namespace is owned
 by the upper echelon of people and that tags only flow downwards, but
 that is not the case.  It only shows that the usage pattern
 determines who are interested in whose tags.

 A one-shot pull is a sign that a commit history is now crossing
 the boundary between one circle of people (e.g. "people who are
 primarily interested in the networking part of the kernel") who may
 have their own set of tags (e.g. "this is the third release
 candidate from the networking group to be proposed for general
 consumption with 2.6.21 release") to another circle of people
 (e.g. "people who integrate various subsystem improvements").
 The latter are usually not interested in the detailed tags used
 internally in the former group (that is what "internal" means).
 That is why it is desirable not to follow tags automatically in
 this case.

 It may well be that among networking people, they may want to
 exchange the tags internal to their group, but in that workflow
 they are most likely tracking each other's progress by
 having remote-tracking branches.  Again, the heuristic to automatically
 follow such tags is a good thing.


 On Backdating Tags
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 If you have imported some changes from another VCS and would like
 to add tags for major releases of your work, it is useful to be able
 to specify the date to embed inside of the tag object; such data in
 the tag object affects, for example, the ordering of tags in the
 gitweb interface.

 To set the date used in future tag objects, set the environment
 variable GIT_COMMITTER_DATE (see the later discussion of possible
 values; the most common form is "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM").

 For example:

 ------------
 $ GIT_COMMITTER_DATE="2006-10-02 10:31" git tag -s v1.0.1
 ------------

 include::date-formats.txt[]

 SEE ALSO
 --------
 linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1].

 GIT
 ---
 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite
	git-tag(1)
	==========

	NAME
	----
	git-tag - Create, list, delete or verify a tag object signed with GPG


	SYNOPSIS
	--------
	[verse]
	'git tag' [-a \| -s \| -u <key-id>] [-f] [-m <msg> \| -F <file>]
	<tagname> [<commit> \| <object>]
	'git tag' -d <tagname>...
	'git tag' [-n[<num>]] -l [--contains <commit>] [--points-at <object>]
	[<pattern>...]
	'git tag' -v <tagname>...

	DESCRIPTION
	-----------

	Add a tag reference in `.git/refs/tags/`, unless `-d/-l/-v` is given
	to delete, list or verify tags.

	Unless `-f` is given, the tag to be created must not yet exist in the
	`.git/refs/tags/` directory.

	If one of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <key-id>` is passed, the command
	creates a 'tag' object, and requires a tag message. Unless
	`-m <msg>` or `-F <file>` is given, an editor is started for the user to type
	in the tag message.

	If `-m <msg>` or `-F <file>` is given and `-a`, `-s`, and `-u <key-id>`
	are absent, `-a` is implied.

	Otherwise just a tag reference for the SHA1 object name of the commit object is
	created (i.e. a lightweight tag).

	A GnuPG signed tag object will be created when `-s` or `-u
	<key-id>` is used. When `-u <key-id>` is not used, the
	committer identity for the current user is used to find the
	GnuPG key for signing. The configuration variable `gpg.program`
	is used to specify custom GnuPG binary.


	OPTIONS
	-------
	-a::
	--annotate::
	Make an unsigned, annotated tag object

	-s::
	--sign::
	Make a GPG-signed tag, using the default e-mail address's key.

	-u <key-id>::
	--local-user=<key-id>::
	Make a GPG-signed tag, using the given key.

	-f::
	--force::
	Replace an existing tag with the given name (instead of failing)

	-d::
	--delete::
	Delete existing tags with the given names.

	-v::
	--verify::
	Verify the gpg signature of the given tag names.

	-n<num>::
	<num> specifies how many lines from the annotation, if any,
	are printed when using -l.
	The default is not to print any annotation lines.
	If no number is given to `-n`, only the first line is printed.
	If the tag is not annotated, the commit message is displayed instead.

	-l <pattern>::
	--list <pattern>::
	List tags with names that match the given pattern (or all if no
	pattern is given). Running "git tag" without arguments also
	lists all tags. The pattern is a shell wildcard (i.e., matched
	using fnmatch(3)). Multiple patterns may be given; if any of
	them matches, the tag is shown.

	--contains <commit>::
	Only list tags which contain the specified commit.

	--points-at <object>::
	Only list tags of the given object.

	-m <msg>::
	--message=<msg>::
	Use the given tag message (instead of prompting).
	If multiple `-m` options are given, their values are
	concatenated as separate paragraphs.
	Implies `-a` if none of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <key-id>`
	is given.

	-F <file>::
	--file=<file>::
	Take the tag message from the given file. Use '-' to
	read the message from the standard input.
	Implies `-a` if none of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <key-id>`
	is given.

	--cleanup=<mode>::
	This option sets how the tag message is cleaned up.
	The '<mode>' can be one of 'verbatim', 'whitespace' and 'strip'. The
	'strip' mode is default. The 'verbatim' mode does not change message at
	all, 'whitespace' removes just leading/trailing whitespace lines and
	'strip' removes both whitespace and commentary.

	<tagname>::
	The name of the tag to create, delete, or describe.
	The new tag name must pass all checks defined by
	linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1]. Some of these checks
	may restrict the characters allowed in a tag name.

	CONFIGURATION
	-------------
	By default, 'git tag' in sign-with-default mode (-s) will use your
	committer identity (of the form "Your Name <your@email.address>") to
	find a key. If you want to use a different default key, you can specify
	it in the repository configuration as follows:

	-------------------------------------
	[user]
	signingkey = <gpg-key-id>
	-------------------------------------


	DISCUSSION
	----------

	On Re-tagging
	~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	What should you do when you tag a wrong commit and you would
	want to re-tag?

	If you never pushed anything out, just re-tag it. Use "-f" to
	replace the old one. And you're done.

	But if you have pushed things out (or others could just read
	your repository directly), then others will have already seen
	the old tag. In that case you can do one of two things:

	. The sane thing.
	Just admit you screwed up, and use a different name. Others have
	already seen one tag-name, and if you keep the same name, you
	may be in the situation that two people both have "version X",
	but they actually have 'different' "X"'s. So just call it "X.1"
	and be done with it.

	. The insane thing.
	You really want to call the new version "X" too, 'even though'
	others have already seen the old one. So just use 'git tag -f'
	again, as if you hadn't already published the old one.

	However, Git does not (and it should not) change tags behind
	users back. So if somebody already got the old tag, doing a
	'git pull' on your tree shouldn't just make them overwrite the old
	one.

	If somebody got a release tag from you, you cannot just change
	the tag for them by updating your own one. This is a big
	security issue, in that people MUST be able to trust their
	tag-names. If you really want to do the insane thing, you need
	to just fess up to it, and tell people that you messed up. You
	can do that by making a very public announcement saying:

	------------
	Ok, I messed up, and I pushed out an earlier version tagged as X. I
	then fixed something, and retagged the fixed tree as X again.

	If you got the wrong tag, and want the new one, please delete
	the old one and fetch the new one by doing:

	git tag -d X
	git fetch origin tag X

	to get my updated tag.

	You can test which tag you have by doing

	git rev-parse X

	which should return 0123456789abcdef.. if you have the new version.

	Sorry for the inconvenience.
	------------

	Does this seem a bit complicated? It should be. There is no
	way that it would be correct to just "fix" it automatically.
	People need to know that their tags might have been changed.


	On Automatic following
	~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	If you are following somebody else's tree, you are most likely
	using remote-tracking branches (`refs/heads/origin` in traditional
	layout, or `refs/remotes/origin/master` in the separate-remote
	layout). You usually want the tags from the other end.

	On the other hand, if you are fetching because you would want a
	one-shot merge from somebody else, you typically do not want to
	get tags from there. This happens more often for people near
	the toplevel but not limited to them. Mere mortals when pulling
	from each other do not necessarily want to automatically get
	private anchor point tags from the other person.

	Often, "please pull" messages on the mailing list just provide
	two pieces of information: a repo URL and a branch name; this
	is designed to be easily cut&pasted at the end of a 'git fetch'
	command line:

	------------
	Linus, please pull from

	git://git..../proj.git master

	to get the following updates...
	------------

	becomes:

	------------
	$ git pull git://git..../proj.git master
	------------

	In such a case, you do not want to automatically follow the other
	person's tags.

	One important aspect of git is its distributed nature, which
	largely means there is no inherent "upstream" or
	"downstream" in the system. On the face of it, the above
	example might seem to indicate that the tag namespace is owned
	by the upper echelon of people and that tags only flow downwards, but
	that is not the case. It only shows that the usage pattern
	determines who are interested in whose tags.

	A one-shot pull is a sign that a commit history is now crossing
	the boundary between one circle of people (e.g. "people who are
	primarily interested in the networking part of the kernel") who may
	have their own set of tags (e.g. "this is the third release
	candidate from the networking group to be proposed for general
	consumption with 2.6.21 release") to another circle of people
	(e.g. "people who integrate various subsystem improvements").
	The latter are usually not interested in the detailed tags used
	internally in the former group (that is what "internal" means).
	That is why it is desirable not to follow tags automatically in
	this case.

	It may well be that among networking people, they may want to
	exchange the tags internal to their group, but in that workflow
	they are most likely tracking each other's progress by
	having remote-tracking branches. Again, the heuristic to automatically
	follow such tags is a good thing.


	On Backdating Tags
	~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	If you have imported some changes from another VCS and would like
	to add tags for major releases of your work, it is useful to be able
	to specify the date to embed inside of the tag object; such data in
	the tag object affects, for example, the ordering of tags in the
	gitweb interface.

	To set the date used in future tag objects, set the environment
	variable GIT_COMMITTER_DATE (see the later discussion of possible
	values; the most common form is "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM").

	For example:

	------------
	$ GIT_COMMITTER_DATE="2006-10-02 10:31" git tag -s v1.0.1
	------------

	include::date-formats.txt[]

	SEE ALSO
	--------
	linkgit:git-check-ref-format[1].

	GIT
	---
	Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite