\input texinfo.tex @c -*-texinfo-*-
@c %**start of header
@setfilename magit.info
@settitle Magit User Manual
@documentencoding utf-8
@c %**end of header
@dircategory Emacs
@direntry
* Magit: (magit). Using Git from Emacs with Magit.
@end direntry
@copying
Copyright @copyright{} 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 Magit contributors. (See
the header of magit.el for the lengthy list of Magit contributors.)
@quotation
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or
any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover
Texts.
@end quotation
@end copying
@node Top
@top Magit User Manual
Magit is an interface to the version control system Git, implemented
as an extension to Emacs. Magit supports GNU Emacs version 22 or
later. It may work with other emacsen, but Magit developers do not
intend to investigate and fix bugs that only appear in unsupported
versions. Patches to fix bugs in other emacsen or volunteers to
maintain compatibility are still welcome.
@menu
* Introduction::
* Acknowledgments::
* Sections::
* Status::
* Untracked files::
* Staging and Committing::
* History::
* Reflogs::
* Commit Buffer::
* Diffing::
* Tagging::
* Resetting::
* Stashing::
* Branching::
* The Branch Manager::
* Wazzup::
* Merging::
* Rebasing::
* Rewriting::
* Pushing and Pulling::
* Bisecting::
* Submodules::
* Using Magit Extensions::
* Using Git Directly::
* Customization::
* Frequently Asked Questions::
@end menu
@node Introduction
@chapter Introduction
With Magit, you can inspect and modify your Git repositories with
Emacs. You can review and commit the changes you have made to the
tracked files, for example, and you can browse the history of past
changes. There is support for cherry picking, reverting, merging,
rebasing, and other common Git operations.
Magit is not a complete interface to Git; it just aims to make the
most common Git operations convenient. Thus, Magit will likely not
save you from learning Git itself.
This manual provides a tour of all Magit features. It does not give an
introduction to version control in general, or to Git in particular.
The main entry point to Magit is @kbd{M-x magit-status}, which will
put you in Magit's status buffer. You will be using it frequently, so
it is probably a good idea to bind @code{magit-status} to a key of
your choice.
In addition to the status buffer, Magit will also create buffers that
show lists of commits, buffers with diffs, and other kinds of buffers.
All these buffers are in @code{magit-mode} and have the same key
bindings. Not all commands make sense in all contexts, but a given
key will always do the same thing in all Magit buffers.
Naturally, Magit runs the @code{git} command to do most of the work.
The @code{*magit-process*} buffer contains the transcript of the most
recent command. You can switch to it with @kbd{$}.
@node Acknowledgments
@chapter Acknowledgments
Marius Vollmer started the whole project. Thanks !
From day one of the first Magit announcement, John Wiegley has
contributed numerous fixes, UI improvements, and new features.
Thanks!
Linh Dang and Christian Neukirchen also contributed from day one.
Thanks!
Phil Hagelberg joined a few days later. Thanks!
Alex Ott contributed support for git svn. Thanks!
Marcin Bachry contributed bug fixes and support for decorated logs.
Thanks!
Alexey Voinov fixed bugs. Thanks!
Rémi Vanicat helped with Tramp support. Thanks!
@node Sections
@chapter Sections
All Magit buffers are structured into nested 'sections'. These
sections can be hidden and shown individually. When a section is
hidden, only its first line is shown and all its children are
completely invisible.
The most fine-grained way to control the visibility of sections is the
@kbd{TAB} key. It will to toggle the current section (the section
that contains point) between being hidden and being shown.
Typing @kbd{S-TAB} toggles the visibility of the children of the
current section. When all of them are shown, they will all be hidden.
Otherwise, when some or all are hidden, they will all be shown.
The digit keys @kbd{1}, @kbd{2}, @kbd{3}, and @kbd{4} control the
visibility of sections based on levels. Hitting @kbd{2}, for example,
will show sections on levels one and two, and will hide sections on
level 3. However, only sections that are a parent or child of the
current section are affected.
For example, when the current section is on level 3 and you hit
@kbd{1}, the grand-parent of the current section (which is on level
one) will be shown, and the parent of the current section (level 2)
will be hidden. The visibility of no other section will be changed.
This sounds a bit complicated, but you'll figure it out.
Using @kbd{M-1}, @kbd{M-2}, @kbd{M-3}, and @kbd{M-4} is similar to the
unmodified digits, but now all sections on the respective level are
affected, regardless of whether or not they are related to the current
section.
For example, @kbd{M-1} will only show the first lines of the top-level
sections and will hide everything else. Typing @kbd{M-4} on the other
hand will show everything.
Because of the way the status buffer is set up, some changes to
section visibility are more common than others. Files are on level 2
and diff hunks are on level 4. Thus, you can type @kbd{2} to collapse
the diff of the current file, and @kbd{M-2} to collapse all files.
This returns the status buffer to its default setup and is a quick way
to unclutter it after drilling down into the modified files.
Because @kbd{2} and @kbd{M-2} are so common in the status buffer, they
are bound to additional, more mnemonic keys: @kbd{M-h} (hide) and
@kbd{M-H} (hide all). Likewise @kbd{4} and @kbd{M-4} are also
available as @kbd{M-s} (show) and @kbd{M-S} (show all).
In other buffers than the status buffer, @kbd{M-h}, @kbd{M-H},
@kbd{M-s}, and @kbd{M-S} might work on different levels than on 2 and
4, but they keep their general meaning: @kbd{M-H} hides all detail,
and @kbd{M-S} shows everything.
@node Status
@chapter Status
Running @kbd{M-x magit-status} displays the main interface of Magit,
the status buffer. You can have multiple status buffers active at the
same time, each associated with its own Git repository.
When invoking @kbd{M-x magit-status} from within a Git repository, it
will switch to the status buffer of that repository. Otherwise, it
will prompt for a directory. With a prefix argument, it will always
prompt.
You can set @code{magit-repo-dirs} to customize how
@code{magit-status} asks for the repository to work on. When
@code{magit-repo-dirs} is nil, @code{magit-status} will simply ask for
a directory.
If you specify a directory that is not a Git repository, @kbd{M-x
magit-status} will offer to initialize it as one.
When @code{magit-repo-dirs} is not nil, it is treated as a list of
directory names, and @code{magit-status} will find all Git
repositories in those directories and offer them for completion.
(Magit will only look @code{magit-repo-dirs-depth} levels deep,
however.)
With two prefix arguments, @code{magit-status} will always prompt for
a raw directory.
Thus, you would normally set @code{magit-repo-dirs} to the places
where you keep most of your Git repositories and switch between them
with @kbd{C-u M-x magit-status}. If you want to go to a repository
outside of your normal working areas, or if you want to create a new
repository, you would use @kbd{C-u C-u M-x magit-status}.
You need to explicitly refresh the status buffer when you have made
changes to the repository from outside of Emacs. You can type @kbd{g}
in the status buffer itself, or just use @kbd{M-x magit-status}
instead of @kbd{C-x b} when switching to it. You also need to refresh
the status buffer in this way after saving a file in Emacs.
The header at the top of the status buffer shows a short summary of
the repository state: where it is located, which branch is checked
out, etc. Below the header are a number of sections that show details
about the working tree and the staging area. You can hide and show
them as described in the previous section.
The first section shows @emph{Untracked files}, if there are any. See
@ref{Untracked files} for more details.
The next two sections show your local changes. They are explained
fully in the next chapter, @ref{Staging and Committing}.
If the current branch is associated with a remote tracking branch, the
status buffer shows the differences between the current branch and the
tracking branch. See @ref{Pushing and Pulling} for more information.
During a history rewriting session, the status buffer shows the
@emph{Pending changes} and @emph{Pending commits} sections. See
@ref{Rewriting} for more details.
@node Untracked files
@chapter Untracked files
Untracked files are shown in the @emph{Untracked files} section.
You can add an untracked file to the staging area with @kbd{s}. If
point is on the @emph{Untracked files} section title when you hit
@kbd{s}, all untracked files are staged.
Typing @kbd{C-u S} anywhere will also stage all untracked files,
together with all changes to the tracked files.
You can instruct Git to ignore them by typing @kbd{i}. This will add
the filename to the @code{.gitignore} file. Typing @kbd{C-u i} will
ask you for the name of the file to ignore. This is useful to ignore
whole directories, for example. The @kbd{I} command is similar to
@kbd{i} but will add the file to @code{.git/info/exclude} instead.
To delete an untracked file forever, use @kbd{k}. If point is on the
@emph{Untracked files} section title when you hit @kbd{k}, all
untracked files are deleted.
@node Staging and Committing
@chapter Staging and Committing
Comitting with Git is a two step process: first you add the changes
you want to commit to a 'staging area', and then you commit them to
the repository. This allows you to only commit a subset of your local
changes.
Magit allows you to ignore the staging area if you wish. As long as
your staging area is unused, Magit will show your uncomitted changes
in a section named @emph{Changes}.
When the staging area is in use, Magit uses two sections:
@emph{Unstaged changes} and @emph{Staged changes}. The @emph{Staged
changes} section shows the changes that will be included in the next
commit, while the @emph{Unstaged changes} section shows the changes
that will be left out.
To move an unstaged hunk into the staging area, move point into the
hunk and type @kbd{s}. Likewise, to unstage a hunk, move point into
it and type @kbd{u}. If point is in a diff header when you type
@kbd{s} or @kbd{u}, all hunks belonging to that diff are moved at the
same time.
If the region is active when you type @kbd{s} or @kbd{u}, only the
changes in the region are staged or unstaged. (This works line by
line: if the beginning of a line is in the region it is included in
the changes, otherwise it is not.)
To change the size of the hunks, you can type @kbd{+} or @kbd{-} to
increase and decrease, respectively. Typing @kbd{0} will
reset the hunk size to the default.
Typing @kbd{C-u s} will ask you for a name of a file to be staged, for
example to stage files that are hidden.
To move all hunks of all diffs into the staging area in one go, type
@kbd{S}. To unstage everything, type @kbd{U}.
Typing @kbd{C-u S} will stage all untracked files in addition to the
changes to tracked files.
You can discard uncommitted changes by moving point into a hunk and
typing @kbd{k}. The changes to discard are selected as with @kbd{s}
and @kbd{u}.
Before committing, you should write a short description of the
changes.
Type @kbd{c} to pop up a buffer where you can write your change
description. Once you are happy with the description, type @kbd{C-c
C-c} in that buffer to perform the commit.
If you want to write changes in a @file{ChangeLog} file, you can use
@kbd{C-x 4 a} on a diff hunk.
Typing @kbd{c} when the staging area is unused is a special situation.
Normally, the next commit would be empty, but you can configure Magit
to do something more useful by customizing the
@code{magit-commit-all-when-nothing-staged} variable. One choice is
to instruct the subsequent @kbd{C-c C-c} to commit all changes.
Another choice is stage everything at the time of hitting @kbd{c}.
You can type @kbd{C-c C-a} in the buffer with the change description
to toggle a flag that determines whether the next commit will
@emph{amend} the current commit in HEAD.
Typing @kbd{C-c C-s} will toggle the @code{--signoff} option. The
default is determined by the @code{magit-commit-signoff} customization
variable.
Typing @kbd{C-c C-e} will toggle the @code{--allow-empty} option. This
allows you to make commits that serve as notes, without including any
changes.
Typing @kbd{C-c C-t} will toggle the option to specify the name and
email address for the commit's author. The default is determined by
the @code{user.name} and @code{user.email} git configuration settings.
If you change your mind and don't want to go ahead with your commit
while you are in the @code{*magit-log-edit*} buffer, you can just
switch to another buffer, continue editing there, staging and
unstaging things until you are happy, and then return to the
@code{*magit-log-edit*} buffer, maybe via @kbd{C-x b}, or by hitting
@kbd{c} again in a Magit buffer.
If you want to erase the @code{*magit-log-edit*} buffer and bury it,
you can hit @kbd{C-c C-k} in it.
Typing @kbd{C} will also pop up the change description buffer, but in
addition, it will try to insert a ChangeLog-style entry for the change
that point is in.
@node History
@chapter History
To show the repository history of your current head, type @kbd{l l}. A
new buffer will be shown that displays the history in a terse form.
The first paragraph of each commit message is displayed, next to a
representation of the relationships between commits.
To show the repository history between two branches or between any two
points of the history, type @kbd{l r l}. You will be prompted to enter
references for starting point and ending point of the history range; you
can use auto-completion to specify them. A typical use case for ranged
history log display would be @kbd{l r l master RET new-feature RET} that
will display commits on the new-feature branch that are not in master;
these commits can then be inspected and cherry-picked, for example.
More thorough filtering can be done by supplying @kbd{l} with one or
more suffix arguments, as displayed in its popup. @kbd{=g} ('Grep')
for example, limits the output to commits of which the log message
matches a specific string/regex.
Typing @kbd{l L} (or @kbd{l C-u L}) will show the log in a more verbose
form.
Magit will show only @code{magit-log-cutoff-length} entries. @kbd{e}
will show twice as many entries. @kbd{C-u e} will show all entries,
and given a numeric prefix argument, @kbd{e} will add this number of
entries.
You can move point to a commit and then cause various things to happen
with it. (The following commands work in any list of commits, such as
the one shown in the @emph{Unpushed commits} section.)
Typing @kbd{RET} will pop up more information about the current commit
and move point into the new buffer. @xref{Commit Buffer}. Typing
@kbd{SPC} and @kbd{DEL} will also show the information, but will
scroll the new buffer up or down (respectively) when typed again.
Typing @kbd{a} will apply the current commit to your current branch.
This is useful when you are browsing the history of some other branch
and you want to `cherry-pick' some changes from it. A typical
situation is applying selected bug fixes from the development version
of a program to a release branch. The cherry-picked changes will not
be committed automatically; you need to do that explicitly.
Typing @kbd{A} will cherry-pick the current commit and will also
commit the changes automatically when there have not been any
conflicts.
Typing @kbd{v} will revert the current commit. Thus, it will apply
the changes made by that commit in reverse. This is obviously useful
to cleanly undo changes that turned out to be wrong. As with @kbd{a},
you need to commit the changes explicitly.
Typing @kbd{C-w} will copy the sha1 of the current commit into the
kill ring.
Typing @kbd{=} will show the differences from the current commit to
the @dfn{marked} commit.
You can mark the current commit by typing @kbd{.}. When the current
commit is already marked, typing @kbd{.} will unmark it. To unmark
the marked commit no matter where point is, use @kbd{C-u .}.
Some commands, such as @kbd{=}, will use the current commit and the
marked commit as implicit arguments. Other commands will offer the
marked commit as a default when prompting for their arguments.
@node Reflogs
@chapter Reflogs
You can use @kbd{l h} and @kbd{l H} to browse your @emph{reflog}, the
local history of changes made to your repository heads. Typing
@kbd{H} will ask for a head, while @kbd{l h} will show the reflog of
@code{HEAD}.
The resulting buffer is just like the buffer produced by @kbd{l l} and
@kbd{l L} that shows the commit history.
@node Commit Buffer
@chapter Commit Buffer
When you view a commit (perhaps by selecting it in the log buffer,
@ref{History}), the ``commit buffer'' is displayed, showing you
information about the commit and letting you interact with it.
By placing your cursor within the diff or hunk and typing @kbd{a}, you
can apply the same patch to your working copy. This is useful when
you want to copy a change from another branch, but don't necessarily
want to cherry-pick the whole commit.
By typing @kbd{v} you can apply the patch in reverse, removing all the
lines that were added and adding all the lines that were removed.
This is a convenient way to remove a change after determining that it
introduced a bug.
If the commit message refers to any other commits in the repository by
their unique hash, the hash will be highlighted and you will be able
to visit the referenced commit either by clicking on it or by moving
your cursor onto it and pressing @kbd{RET}.
The commit buffer maintains a history of the commits it has shown.
After visiting a referenced commit you can type @kbd{C-c C-b} to get
back to where you came from. To go forward in the history, type
@kbd{C-c C-f}. There are also @code{[back]} and @code{[forward]}
buttons at the bottom of the buffer.
@node Diffing
@chapter Diffing
Magit typically shows diffs in the ``unified'' format.
In any buffer that shows a diff, you can type @kbd{e} anywhere within
the diff to show the two versions of the file in Ediff. If the diff
is of a file in the status buffer that needs to be merged, you will be
able to use Ediff as an interactive merge tool. Otherwise, Ediff will
simply show the two versions of the file.
To show the changes from your working tree to another revision, type
@kbd{d}. To show the changes between two arbitrary revisions, type
@kbd{D}.
You can use @kbd{a} within the diff output to apply the changes to
your working tree. As usual when point is in a diff header for a
file, all changes for that file are applied, and when it is in a hunk,
only that hunk is. When the region is active, the applied changes are
restricted to that region.
Typing @kbd{v} will apply the selected changes in reverse.
@node Tagging
@chapter Tagging
Typing @kbd{t t} will make a lighweight tag. Typing @kbd{t a} will
make an annotated tag. It will put you in the normal
@code{*magit-log-edit} buffer for writing commit messages, but typing
@kbd{C-c C-c} in it will make the tag instead. This is controlled by
the @code{Tag} field that will be added to the @code{*magit-log-edit*}
buffer. You can edit it, if you like.
@node Resetting
@chapter Resetting
Once you have added a commit to your local repository, you can not
change that commit anymore in any way. But you can reset your current
head to an earlier commit and start over.
If you have published your history already, rewriting it in this way
can be confusing and should be avoided. However, rewriting your local
history is fine and it is often cleaner to fix mistakes this way than
by reverting commits (with @kbd{v}, for example).
Typing @kbd{x} will ask for a revision and reset your current head to
it. No changes will be made to your working tree and staging area.
Thus, the @emph{Staged changes} section in the status buffer will show
the changes that you have removed from your commit history. You can
commit the changes again as if you had just made them, thus rewriting
history.
Typing @kbd{x} while point is in a line that describes a commit will
offer this commit as the default revision to reset to. Thus, you can
move point to one of the commits in the @emph{Unpushed commits}
section and hit @kbd{x RET} to reset your current head to it.
Type @kbd{X} to reset your working tree and staging area to the most
recently committed state. This will discard your local modifications,
so be careful.
You can give a prefix to @kbd{x} if you want to reset both the current
head and your working tree to a given commit. This is the same as
first using an unprefixed @kbd{x} to reset only the head, and then
using @kbd{X}.
@node Stashing
@chapter Stashing
You can create a new stash with @kbd{z z}. Your stashes will be listed
in the status buffer, and you can apply them with @kbd{a} and pop them
with @kbd{A}. To drop a stash, use @kbd{k}.
With a prefix argument, both @kbd{a} and @kbd{A} will attempt to
reinstate the index as well as the working tree from the stash.
Typing @kbd{z -k z} will create a stash just like @kbd{z z}, but will
leave the changes in your working tree and index. This makes it easier
to, for example, test multiple variations of the same change.
If you just want to make quick snapshots in between edits, you can use
@kbd{z s}, which automatically enters a timestamp as description, and
keeps your working tree and index intact by default.
You can visit and show stashes in the usual way: Typing @kbd{SPC} and
@kbd{DEL} will pop up a buffer with the description of the stash and
scroll it, typing @kbd{RET} will move point into that buffer. Using
@kbd{C-u RET} will move point into that buffer in other window.
@node Branching
@chapter Branching
The current branch is indicated in the header of the status buffer.
You can switch to a different branch by typing @kbd{b b}. This will
immediately checkout the branch into your working copy, so you
shouldn't have any local modifications when switching branches.
If you try to switch to a remote branch, Magit will offer to create a
local tracking branch for it instead. This way, you can easily start
working on new branches that have appeared in a remote repository.
Typing @kbd{b b} while point is at a commit description will offer
that commit as the default to switch to. This will result in a
detached head.
Typing @kbd{b m} will let you rename a branch. Unless a branch with the same
name already exists, obviously...
To create a new branch and switch to it immediately, type @kbd{b n}.
To delete a branch, type @kbd{b d}. If you're currently on that
branch, Magit will offer to switch to the 'master' branch.
Deleting a branch is only possible if it's already fully merged into
HEAD or its upstream branch. Unless you type @kbd{b D}, that is.
Here be dragons...
Typing @kbd{b v} will list the local and remote branches in a new buffer
called @code{*magit-branches*} from which you can work with them. See
@ref{The Branch Manager} for more details.
@node The Branch Manager
@chapter The Branch Manager
The Branch Manager is a separate buffer called @code{*magit-branches*}
with its own local key map. The buffer contains both local and remote
branches. The current local branch is marked by a ``*'' in front of
the name.
To check out a branch, move your cursor to the desired branch and
press @kbd{RET}.
Typing @kbd{k} will delete the branch in the current line, and
@kbd{C-u k} deletes it even if it hasn't been merged into the current
local branch. Deleting works for both local and remote branches.
By typing @kbd{T} on a local branch, you can change which remote branch it's set to track.
@node Wazzup
@chapter Wazzup
Typing @kbd{w} will show a summary of how your other branches relate
to the current branch.
For each branch, you will get a section that lists the commits in that
branch that are not in the current branch. The sections are initially
collapsed; you need to explicitly open them with @kbd{TAB} (or
similar) to show the lists of commits.
When point is on a @emph{N unmerged commits in ...} title, the
corresponding branch will be offered as the default for a merge.
Hitting @kbd{i} on a branch title will ignore this branch in the
wazzup view. You can use @kbd{C-u w} to show all branches, including
the ignored ones. Hitting @kbd{i} on an already ignored branch in
that view will unignore it.
@node Merging
@chapter Merging
Magit offers two ways to merge branches: manual and automatic. A
manual merge will apply all changes to your working tree and staging
area, but will not commit them, while an automatic merge will go ahead
and commit them immediately.
Type @kbd{m m} to initiate merge.
After initiating a merge, the header of the status buffer might remind
you that the next commit will be a merge commit (with more than one
parent). If you want to abort a manual merge, just do a hard reset to
HEAD with @kbd{X}.
Merges can fail if the two branches you want to merge introduce
conflicting changes. In that case, the automatic merge stops before the
commit, essentially falling back to a manual merge. You need to resolve
the conflicts for example with @kbd{e} and stage the resolved files, for
example with @kbd{S}.
You can not stage individual hunks one by one as you resolve them, you
can only stage whole files once all conflicts in them have been
resolved.
@node Rebasing
@chapter Rebasing
Typing @kbd{R} in the status buffer will initiate a rebase or, if one
is already in progress, ask you how to continue.
When a rebase is stopped in the middle because of a conflict, the
header of the status buffer will indicate how far along you are in the
series of commits that are being replayed. When that happens, you
should resolve the conflicts and stage everything and hit @kbd{R c} to
continue the rebase. Alternatively, hitting @kbd{c} or @kbd{C} while
in the middle of a rebase will also ask you whether to continue the
rebase.
Of course, you can initiate a rebase in any number of ways, by
configuring @code{git pull} to rebase instead of merge, for example.
Such a rebase can be finished with @kbd{R} as well.
@node Rewriting
@chapter Rewriting
As hinted at earlier, you can rewrite your commit history. For
example, you can reset the current head to an earlier commit with
@kbd{x}. This leaves the working tree unchanged, and the status
buffer will show all the changes that have been made since that new
value of the current head. You can commit these changes again,
possibly splitting them into multiple commits as you go along.
Amending your last commit is a common special case of rewriting
history like this.
Another common way to rewrite history is to reset the head to an
earlier commit, and then to cherry pick the previous commits in a
different order. You could pick them from the reflog, for example.
Magit has several commands that can simplify the book keeping
associated with rewriting. These commands all start with the @kbd{r}
prefix key.
Typing @kbd{r b} will start a rewrite operation. You will be prompted
for a @emph{base} commit. This commit and all subsequent commits up
until the current head are then put in a list of @emph{Pending
commits}, after which the current head will be reset to the
@emph{parent} of the base commit. This can be configured to behave
like @code{git rebase}, i.e. exclude the selected base commit from the
rewrite operation, with the @code{magit-rewrite-inclusive} variable.
You would then typically use @kbd{a} and @kbd{A} to cherry pick
commits from the list of pending commits in the desired order, until
all have been applied. Magit shows which commits have been applied by
changing their marker from @code{*} to @code{.}.
Using @kbd{A} will immediately commit the commit (as usual). If you
want to combine multiple previous commits into a single new one, use
@kbd{a} to apply them all to your working tree, and then commit them
together.
Magit has no explicit support for rewriting merge commits. It will
happily include merge commits in the list of pending commits, but
there is no way of replaying them automatically. You have to redo the
merge explicitly.
You can also use @kbd{v} to revert a commit when you have changed your
mind. This will change the @code{.} mark back to @code{*}.
Once you are done with the rewrite, type @kbd{r s} to remove the book
keeping information from the status buffer.
If you rather wish to start over, type @kbd{r a}. This will abort the
rewriting, resetting the current head back to the value it had before
the rewrite was started with @kbd{r s}.
Typing @kbd{r f} will @emph{finish} the rewrite: it will apply all
unused commits one after the other, as if you would us @kbd{A} with
all of them.
You can change the @kbd{*} and @kbd{.} marks of a pending commit
explicitly with @kbd{r *} and @kbd{r .}.
In addition to a list of pending commits, the status buffer will show
the @emph{Pending changes}. This section shows the diff between the
original head and the current head. You can use it to review the
changes that you still need to rewrite, and you can apply hunks from
it, like from any other diff.
@node Pushing and Pulling
@chapter Pushing and Pulling
Magit will run @code{git push} when you type @kbd{P P}. If you give
a prefix argument to @kbd{P P}, you will be prompted for the repository
to push to. When no default remote repository has been configured yet
for the current branch, you will be prompted as well. Typing @kbd{P P}
will only push the current branch to the remote. In other words, it
will run @code{git push <remote> <branch>}. The branch will be created
in the remote if it doesn't exist already. The local branch will be
configured so that it pulls from the new remote branch. If you give
a double prefix argument to @kbd{P P}, you will be prompted in addition
for the target branch to push to. In other words, it will run @code{git
push <remote> <branch>:<target>}.
Typing @kbd{f f} will run @code{git fetch}. It will prompt for the name
of the remote to update if there is no default one. Typing @kbd{f o}
will always prompt for the remote. Typing @kbd{F F} will run @code{git
pull}. When you don't have a default branch configured to be pulled
into the current one, you will be asked for it.
If there is a default remote repository for the current branch, Magit
will show that repository in the status buffer header.
In this case, the status buffer will also have a @emph{Unpushed
commits} section that shows the commits on your current head that are
not in the branch named @code{<remote>/<branch>}. This section works
just like the history buffer: you can see details about a commit with
@kbd{RET}, compare two of them with @kbd{.} and @kbd{=}, and you can
reset your current head to one of them with @kbd{x}, for example. If
you want to push the changes then type @kbd{P P}.
When the remote branch has changes that are not in the current branch,
Magit shows them in a section called @emph{Unpulled changes}. Typing
@kbd{F F} will fetch and merge them into the current branch.
@node Submodules
@chapter Submodules
@table @kbd
@item M u
Update the submodules, with a prefix argument it will initializing.
@item M i
Initialize the submodules.
@item M b
Update and initialize the submodules in one go.
@item M s
Synchronizes submodules' remote URL configuration setting to the value
specified in .gitmodules.
@end table
@node Bisecting
@chapter Bisecting
Magit supports bisecting by showing how many revisions and steps are
left to be tested in the status buffer. You can control the bisect
session from both the status and from log buffers with the @kbd{B} key
menu.
Typing @kbd{B s} will start a bisect session. You will be prompted
for a revision that is known to be bad (defaults to @emph{HEAD}) and
for a revision that is known to be good (defaults to the revision at
point if there is one). git will select a revision for you to test,
and Magit will update its status buffer accordingly.
You can tell git that the current revision is good with @kbd{B g},
that it is bad with @kbd{B b} or that git should skip it with @kbd{B
k}. You can also tell git to go into full automatic mode by giving it
the name of a script to run for each revision to test with @kbd{B u}.
The current status can be shown as a log with @kbd{B l}. It contains
the revisions that have already been tested and your decisions about
their state.
The revisions left to test can be visualized in gitk with @kbd{B v}.
When you're finished bisecting you have to reset the session with
@kbd{B r}.
@node Using Magit Extensions
@chapter Magit Extensions
@menu
* Activating extensions::
* Interfacing with Subversion::
* Interfacing with Topgit::
* Interfacing with StGit::
* Developing Extensions::
@end menu
@node Activating extensions
@section Activating extensions
Magit comes with a couple of shipped extensions that allow interaction
with @code{git-svn}, @code{topgit} and @code{stgit}. See following
sections for specific details on how to use them.
Extensions can be activated globally or on a per-repository basis. Since
those extensions are implemented as minor modes, one can use for example
@kbd{M-x magit-topgit-mode} to toggle the @code{topgit} extension,
making the corresponding section and commands (un)available.
In order to do that automatically (and for every repository), one can
use for example:
@example
(add-hook 'magit-mode-hook 'turn-on-magit-topgit)
@end example
Magit also allows configuring different extensions, based on the git
repository configuration.
@example
(add-hook 'magit-mode-hook 'magit-load-config-extensions)
@end example
This will read git configuration variables and activate the
relevant extensions.
For example, after running the following commands, the @code{topgit}
extension will be loaded for every repository, while the @code{svn} one
will be loaded only for the current one.
@example
$ git config --global --add magit.extension topgit
$ git config --add magit.extension svn
@end example
Note the @code{--add} flag, which means that each extension gets its own
line in the @code{config} file.
@node Interfacing with Subversion
@section Interfacing with Subversion
Typing @kbd{N r} runs @code{git svn rebase}, typing @kbd{N c} runs
@code{git svn dcommit} and typing @kbd{N f} runs @code{git svn fetch}.
@kbd{N s} will prompt you for a (numeric, Subversion) revision and
then search for a corresponding Git sha1 for the commit. This is
limited to the path of the remote Subversion repository. With a prefix
(@kbd{C-u N s} the user will also be prompted for a branch to search
in.
@node Interfacing with Topgit
@section Interfacing with Topgit
Topgit (http://repo.or.cz/r/topgit.git) is a patch queue manager that
aims at being close as possible to raw Git, which makes it easy to use
with Magit. In particular, it does not require to use a different set of
commands for ``commit'', ``update'',… operations.
@file{magit-topgit.el} provides basic integration with Magit, mostly by
providing a ``Topics'' section.
Topgit branches can be created the regular way, by using a ``t/'' prefix
by convention. So, creating a ``t/foo'' branch will actually populate
the ``Topics'' section with one more branch after committing
@file{.topdeps} and @file{.topmsg}.
Also, the way we pull (see @ref{Pushing and Pulling}) such a branch is
slightly different, since it requires updating the various dependencies
of that branch. This should be mostly transparent, except in case
of conflicts.
@node Interfacing with StGit
@section Interfacing with StGit
StGit (http://www.procode.org/stgit) is a Python application providing
similar functionality to Quilt (i.e. pushing/popping patches to/from a
stack) on top of Git. These operations are performed using Git commands
and the patches are stored as Git commit objects, allowing easy merging
of the StGit patches into other repositories using standard Git
functionality.
@file{magit-stgit.el} provides basic integration with Magit, mostly by
providing a ``Series'' section, whose patches can be seen as regular
commits through the ``visit'' action.
You can change the current patch in a series with the ``apply'' action,
as well as you can delete them using the ``discard'' action.
Additionally, the @code{magit-stgit-refresh} and
@code{magit-stgit-rebase} commands let you perform the respective StGit
operations.
@node Developing Extensions
@section Developing Extensions
Magit provides a generic mechanism to allow cooperation with Git-related
systems, such as foreign VCS, patch systems,…
In particular it allows to:
@itemize @bullet
@item
Define sections to display specific informations about the current state
of the repository, and place them relatively to existing sections.
@code{magit-define-inserter} automagically defines two hooks called
@code{magit-before-insert-SECTION-hook} and
@code{magit-after-insert-SECTION-hook} that allow to generate and place
more sections.
In the following example, we use the builtin ``stashes'' section to
place our own ``foo'' one.
@example
(magit-define-inserter foo ()
(magit-git-section 'foo
"Foo:" 'foo-wash-function
"foo" "arg1" "arg2"))
(add-hook 'magit-after-insert-stashes-hook 'magit-insert-foo)
@end example
@item
Define new types of objects in those sections.
The function @code{foo-wash-function} defined above post-processes each
line of the output of the ``git foo arg1 arg2'' command, and is able to
associate a type to certain lines.
A simple implementation could be:
@example
(defun foo-wash-function ()
(let ((foo (buffer-substring (line-beginning-position) (line-end-position))))
(goto-char (line-beginning-position))
(magit-with-section foo 'foo
(magit-set-section-info foo)
(forward-line))))
@end example
In this case, every line of the command output is transformed into an
object of type @code{'foo}.
@item
Alter behavior of generic commands to dispatch them correctly to the
relevant system, optionally making use of the newly defined types.
@example
(magit-add-action (item info "discard")
((foo)
(do-something-meaningful-for-discarding-a-foo)))
@end example
This will alter the behavior of @kbd{k}, when applied to those objects.
@item
Plug a different logic into basic commands, to reflect the presence of
the extension.
@code{magit-define-command} automagically defines
a @code{magit-CMD-command-hook} that can contain a list of functions to
call before the actual core code. Execution stops after the first hook
that returns a non-nil value. This leaves room for extension logic.
@example
(add-hook 'magit-create-branch-command-hook 'foo-create-branch)
@end example
The function @code{foo-create-branch} will be called each time an
attempt is made to create a branch, and can, for example, react to
a certain name convention.
@item
Define new commands and associated menu.
This part is not really specific to extensions, except that menus take
place in the ``Extensions'' submenu.
@end itemize
It is suggested that Magit extensions authors stick to the convention of
making extensions minor modes. This has many advantages, including the
fact that users are able to toggle extensions, and that it's easy to
configure a specific set of extensions for a given repository.
Shipped extensions can serve as an example of how to develop
new extensions.
Basically a @code{foo} extension should provide a @code{magit-foo-mode}
minor mode, as well as a @code{turn-on-magit-foo} function. The main
task of the minor mode is to register/unregister the various hooks that
the extension requires. The registered actions on the other hand can be
left alone and activated globally, since they can be run only on
displayed items, which won't happen when the minor mode is off.
Don't forget to call @code{magit-refresh} when the minor mode is toggled
interactively, so that the relevant sections can be shown or hidden.
@node Using Git Directly
@chapter Using Git Directly
For situations when Magit doesn't do everything you need, you can run
raw Git commands using @kbd{:}. This will prompt for a Git command, run
it, and refresh the status buffer. The output can be viewed by typing
@kbd{$}.
@node Customization
@chapter Customization
The following variables can be used to adapt Magit to your workflow:
@table @code
@item magit-git-executable
The name of the Git executable.
@item magit-git-standard-options
Standard options when running Git.
@item magit-repo-dirs
Directories containing Git repositories.
Magit will look into these directories for Git repositories and offer
them as choices for @code{magit-status}.
@item magit-repo-dirs-depth
The maximum depth to look for Git repos.
When looking for a Git repository below the directories in
@code{magit-repo-dirs}, Magit will only descend this many levels deep.
@item magit-save-some-buffers
Non-nil means that @code{magit-status} will save modified buffers
before running. Setting this to @code{t} will ask which buffers to
save, setting it to @code{'dontask} will save all modified buffers
without asking.
@item magit-save-some-buffers-predicate
Specifies a predicate function on @code{magit-save-some-buffers} to
determine which unsaved buffers should be prompted for saving.
@item magit-commit-all-when-nothing-staged
Determines what @code{magit-log-edit} does when nothing is staged.
Setting this to @code{nil} will make it do nothing, setting it to
@code{t} will arrange things so that the actual commit command will
use the @code{--all} option, setting it to @code{'ask} will first ask
for confirmation whether to do this, and setting it to
@code{'ask-stage} will cause all changes to be staged, after a
confirmation.
@item magit-commit-signoff
When performing @code{git commit} adds @code{--signoff}.
@item magit-log-cutoff-length
The maximum number of commits to show in the @code{log} and
@code{whazzup} buffers.
@item magit-log-infinite-length
Number of log used to show as maximum for
@code{magit-log-cutoff-length}.
@item magit-log-auto-more
Insert more log entries automatically when moving past the last entry.
Only considered when moving past the last entry with @code{magit-goto-next-section}.
@item magit-process-popup-time
Popup the process buffer if a command takes longer than this many
seconds.
@item magit-revert-item-confirm
Require acknowledgment before reverting an item.
@item magit-log-edit-confirm-cancellation
Require acknowledgment before canceling the log edit buffer.
@item magit-remote-ref-format
What format to use for autocompleting refs, in pariticular for
remotes.
Autocompletion is used by functions like @code{magit-checkout},
@code{magit-interactive-rebase} and others which offer branch name
completion.
The value @code{'name-then-remote} means remotes will be of the form
@code{name (remote)}, while the value @code{'remote-slash-name} means
that they'll be of the form @code{remote/name}. I.e. something that's
listed as @code{remotes/upstream/next} by @code{git branch -l -a} will
be @code{upstream/next}.
@item magit-process-connection-type
Connection type used for the git process.
@code{nil} mean pipe, it is usually faster and more efficient, and
work on cygwin. @code{t} mean pty, it enable magit to prompt for
passphrase when needed.
@item magit-completing-read-function
Function to be called when requesting input from the user.
@item magit-create-branch-behaviour
Where magit will create a new branch if not supplied a branchname or
ref.
The value @code{'at-head} means a new branch will be created at the
tip of your current branch, while the value @code{'at-point} means
magit will try to find a valid reference at point...
@item magit-status-buffer-switch-function
Function for @code{magit-status} to use for switching to the status
buffer.
The function is given one argument, the status buffer.
@item magit-rewrite-inclusive
Whether magit includes the selected base commit in a rewrite
operation.
@code{t} means both the selected commit as well as any subsequent
commits will be rewritten. This is magit's default behaviour,
equivalent to @code{git rebase -i $@{REV~1@}}
@verbatim
A'---B'---C'---D'
^
@end verbatim
@code{nil} means the selected commit will be literally used as
@code{base}, so only subsequent commits will be rewritten. This is
consistent with git-rebase, equivalent to @code{git rebase -i
$@{REV@}}, yet more cumbersome to use from the status buffer.
@verbatim
A---B'---C'---D'
^
@end verbatim
@item magit-topgit-executable
The name of the TopGit executable.
@item magit-topgit-branch-prefix
Convention prefix for topic branch creation.
@end table
@node Frequently Asked Questions
@chapter Frequently Asked Questions
@menu
* FAQ - Changes::
* FAQ 1 - Troubleshooting::
* FAQ 2 - Display issues::
@end menu
@node FAQ - Changes
@section Changes
@itemize @bullet
@item
v1.1: Changed the way extensions work. Previously, they were enabled
unconditionally once the library was loaded. Now they are minor modes
that need to be activated explicitly (potentially on a per-repository
basis). See @ref{Activating extensions}.
@end itemize
@node FAQ 1 - Troubleshooting
@section Troubleshooting
@menu
* FAQ 1-1:: How do I get raw error messages from git?
@end menu
@node FAQ 1-1
@subsection Question 1.1
How do I get raw error messages from git?
@subsubheading Answer
If a command goes wrong, you can hit @kbd{$} to access the git process
buffer. There, the entire trace for the latest operation is available.
@node FAQ 2 - Display issues
@section Display issues
@menu
* FAQ 2-1:: How do I fix international characters display?
@end menu
@node FAQ 2-1
@subsection Question 2.1
How do I fix international characters display?
@subsubheading Answer
Please make sure your Magit buffer uses a compatible coding system.
In the particular case of file names, git itself quotes them by
default. You can disable this with one of the following approaches:
@example
$ git config core.quotepath false
@end example
or
@example
(setq magit-git-standard-options (append magit-git-standard-options
'("-c" "core.quotepath=false")))
@end example
The latter might not work in old versions of git.
@bye
