2 .\" Title: git-submodule
3 .\" Author: [FIXME: author] [see http://www.docbook.org/tdg5/en/html/author]
4 .\" Generator: DocBook XSL Stylesheets vsnapshot <http://docbook.sf.net/>
7 .\" Source: Git 2.44.0.rc1.17.g3e0d3cd5c7
10 .TH "GIT\-SUBMODULE" "1" "2024\-02\-15" "Git 2\&.44\&.0\&.rc1\&.17\&.g3" "Git Manual"
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31 git-submodule \- Initialize, update or inspect submodules
35 \fIgit submodule\fR [\-\-quiet] [\-\-cached]
36 \fIgit submodule\fR [\-\-quiet] add [<options>] [\-\-] <repository> [<path>]
37 \fIgit submodule\fR [\-\-quiet] status [\-\-cached] [\-\-recursive] [\-\-] [<path>\&...]
38 \fIgit submodule\fR [\-\-quiet] init [\-\-] [<path>\&...]
39 \fIgit submodule\fR [\-\-quiet] deinit [\-f|\-\-force] (\-\-all|[\-\-] <path>\&...)
40 \fIgit submodule\fR [\-\-quiet] update [<options>] [\-\-] [<path>\&...]
41 \fIgit submodule\fR [\-\-quiet] set\-branch [<options>] [\-\-] <path>
42 \fIgit submodule\fR [\-\-quiet] set\-url [\-\-] <path> <newurl>
43 \fIgit submodule\fR [\-\-quiet] summary [<options>] [\-\-] [<path>\&...]
44 \fIgit submodule\fR [\-\-quiet] foreach [\-\-recursive] <command>
45 \fIgit submodule\fR [\-\-quiet] sync [\-\-recursive] [\-\-] [<path>\&...]
46 \fIgit submodule\fR [\-\-quiet] absorbgitdirs [\-\-] [<path>\&...]
51 Inspects, updates and manages submodules\&.
53 For more information about submodules, see \fBgitsubmodules\fR(7)\&.
56 With no arguments, shows the status of existing submodules\&. Several subcommands are available to perform operations on the submodules\&.
58 add [\-b <branch>] [\-f|\-\-force] [\-\-name <name>] [\-\-reference <repository>] [\-\-depth <depth>] [\-\-] <repository> [<path>]
60 Add the given repository as a submodule at the given path to the changeset to be committed next to the current project: the current project is termed the "superproject"\&.
62 <repository> is the URL of the new submodule\(cqs origin repository\&. This may be either an absolute URL, or (if it begins with \&./ or \&.\&./), the location relative to the superproject\(cqs default remote repository (Please note that to specify a repository
64 which is located right next to a superproject
65 \fIbar\&.git\fR, you\(cqll have to use
66 \fB\&.\&./foo\&.git\fR
69 \- as one might expect when following the rules for relative URLs \- because the evaluation of relative URLs in Git is identical to that of relative directories)\&.
71 The default remote is the remote of the remote\-tracking branch of the current branch\&. If no such remote\-tracking branch exists or the HEAD is detached, "origin" is assumed to be the default remote\&. If the superproject doesn\(cqt have a default remote configured the superproject is its own authoritative upstream and the current working directory is used instead\&.
73 The optional argument <path> is the relative location for the cloned submodule to exist in the superproject\&. If <path> is not given, the canonical part of the source repository is used ("repo" for "/path/to/repo\&.git" and "foo" for "host\&.xz:foo/\&.git")\&. If <path> exists and is already a valid Git repository, then it is staged for commit without cloning\&. The <path> is also used as the submodule\(cqs logical name in its configuration entries unless
75 is used to specify a logical name\&.
77 The given URL is recorded into
79 for use by subsequent users cloning the superproject\&. If the URL is given relative to the superproject\(cqs repository, the presumption is the superproject and submodule repositories will be kept together in the same relative location, and only the superproject\(cqs URL needs to be provided\&. git\-submodule will correctly locate the submodule using the relative URL in
80 \fB\&.gitmodules\fR\&.
83 status [\-\-cached] [\-\-recursive] [\-\-] [<path>\&...]
85 Show the status of the submodules\&. This will print the SHA\-1 of the currently checked out commit for each submodule, along with the submodule path and the output of
87 for the SHA\-1\&. Each SHA\-1 will possibly be prefixed with
89 if the submodule is not initialized,
91 if the currently checked out submodule commit does not match the SHA\-1 found in the index of the containing repository and
93 if the submodule has merge conflicts\&.
97 is specified, this command will instead print the SHA\-1 recorded in the superproject for each submodule\&.
101 is specified, this command will recurse into nested submodules, and show their status as well\&.
103 If you are only interested in changes of the currently initialized submodules with respect to the commit recorded in the index or the HEAD,
107 will provide that information too (and can also report changes to a submodule\(cqs work tree)\&.
110 init [\-\-] [<path>\&...]
112 Initialize the submodules recorded in the index (which were added and committed elsewhere) by setting
113 \fBsubmodule\&.$name\&.url\fR
115 \fB\&.git/config\fR, using the same setting from
117 as a template\&. If the URL is relative, it will be resolved using the default remote\&. If there is no default remote, the current repository will be assumed to be upstream\&.
119 Optional <path> arguments limit which submodules will be initialized\&. If no path is specified and submodule\&.active has been configured, submodules configured to be active will be initialized, otherwise all submodules are initialized\&.
121 It will also copy the value of
122 \fBsubmodule\&.$name\&.update\fR, if present in the
125 \fB\&.git/config\fR, but (1) this command does not alter existing information in
126 \fB\&.git/config\fR, and (2)
127 \fBsubmodule\&.$name\&.update\fR
128 that is set to a custom command is
130 copied for security reasons\&.
132 You can then customize the submodule clone URLs in
134 for your local setup and proceed to
135 \fBgit submodule update\fR; you can also just use
136 \fBgit submodule update \-\-init\fR
139 step if you do not intend to customize any submodule locations\&.
141 See the add subcommand for the definition of default remote\&.
144 deinit [\-f|\-\-force] (\-\-all|[\-\-] <path>\&...)
146 Unregister the given submodules, i\&.e\&. remove the whole
147 \fBsubmodule\&.$name\fR
148 section from \&.git/config together with their work tree\&. Further calls to
149 \fBgit submodule update\fR,
150 \fBgit submodule foreach\fR
152 \fBgit submodule sync\fR
153 will skip any unregistered submodules until they are initialized again, so use this command if you don\(cqt want to have a local checkout of the submodule in your working tree anymore\&.
155 When the command is run without pathspec, it errors out, instead of deinit\-ing everything, to prevent mistakes\&.
159 is specified, the submodule\(cqs working tree will be removed even if it contains local modifications\&.
161 If you really want to remove a submodule from the repository and commit that use
164 \fBgitsubmodules\fR(7)
165 for removal options\&.
168 update [\-\-init] [\-\-remote] [\-N|\-\-no\-fetch] [\-\-[no\-]recommend\-shallow] [\-f|\-\-force] [\-\-checkout|\-\-rebase|\-\-merge] [\-\-reference <repository>] [\-\-depth <depth>] [\-\-recursive] [\-\-jobs <n>] [\-\-[no\-]single\-branch] [\-\-filter <filter\-spec>] [\-\-] [<path>\&...]
170 Update the registered submodules to match what the superproject expects by cloning missing submodules, fetching missing commits in submodules and updating the working tree of the submodules\&. The "updating" can be done in several ways depending on command line options and the value of
171 \fBsubmodule\&.<name>\&.update\fR
172 configuration variable\&. The command line option takes precedence over the configuration variable\&. If neither is given, a
174 is performed\&. (note: what is in
176 file is irrelevant at this point; see
177 \fBgit submodule init\fR
182 procedures supported both from the command line as well as through the
183 \fBsubmodule\&.<name>\&.update\fR
188 the commit recorded in the superproject will be checked out in the submodule on a detached HEAD\&.
192 is specified, the submodule will be checked out (using
193 \fBgit checkout \-\-force\fR), even if the commit specified in the index of the containing repository already matches the commit checked out in the submodule\&.
198 the current branch of the submodule will be rebased onto the commit recorded in the superproject\&.
203 the commit recorded in the superproject will be merged into the current branch in the submodule\&.
206 The following update procedures have additional limitations:
210 mechanism for running arbitrary commands with the commit ID as an argument\&. Specifically, if the
211 \fBsubmodule\&.<name>\&.update\fR
212 configuration variable is set to
213 \fB!custom command\fR, the object name of the commit recorded in the superproject for the submodule is appended to the
215 string and executed\&. Note that this mechanism is not supported in the
217 file or on the command line\&.
222 the submodule is not updated\&. This update procedure is not allowed on the command line\&.
225 If the submodule is not yet initialized, and you just want to use the setting as stored in
226 \fB\&.gitmodules\fR, you can automatically initialize the submodule with the
232 is specified, this command will recurse into the registered submodules, and update any nested submodules within\&.
235 \fB\-\-filter <filter\-spec>\fR
236 is specified, the given partial clone filter will be applied to the submodule\&. See
237 \fBgit-rev-list\fR(1)
238 for details on filter specifications\&.
241 set\-branch (\-b|\-\-branch) <branch> [\-\-] <path>, set\-branch (\-d|\-\-default) [\-\-] <path>
243 Sets the default remote tracking branch for the submodule\&. The
245 option allows the remote branch to be specified\&. The
247 option removes the submodule\&.<name>\&.branch configuration key, which causes the tracking branch to default to the remote
251 set\-url [\-\-] <path> <newurl>
253 Sets the URL of the specified submodule to <newurl>\&. Then, it will automatically synchronize the submodule\(cqs new remote URL configuration\&.
256 summary [\-\-cached|\-\-files] [(\-n|\-\-summary\-limit) <n>] [commit] [\-\-] [<path>\&...]
258 Show commit summary between the given commit (defaults to HEAD) and working tree/index\&. For a submodule in question, a series of commits in the submodule between the given super project commit and the index or working tree (switched by
259 \fB\-\-cached\fR) are shown\&. If the option
261 is given, show the series of commits in the submodule between the index of the super project and the working tree of the submodule (this option doesn\(cqt allow to use the
263 option or to provide an explicit commit)\&.
266 \fB\-\-submodule=log\fR
269 will provide that information too\&.
272 foreach [\-\-recursive] <command>
274 Evaluates an arbitrary shell command in each checked out submodule\&. The command has access to the variables $name, $sm_path, $displaypath, $sha1 and $toplevel: $name is the name of the relevant submodule section in
275 \fB\&.gitmodules\fR, $sm_path is the path of the submodule as recorded in the immediate superproject, $displaypath contains the relative path from the current working directory to the submodules root directory, $sha1 is the commit as recorded in the immediate superproject, and $toplevel is the absolute path to the top\-level of the immediate superproject\&. Note that to avoid conflicts with
279 variable is now a deprecated synonym of
281 variable\&. Any submodules defined in the superproject but not checked out are ignored by this command\&. Unless given
282 \fB\-\-quiet\fR, foreach prints the name of each submodule before evaluating the command\&. If
284 is given, submodules are traversed recursively (i\&.e\&. the given shell command is evaluated in nested submodules as well)\&. A non\-zero return from the command in any submodule causes the processing to terminate\&. This can be overridden by adding
286 to the end of the command\&.
288 As an example, the command below will show the path and currently checked out commit for each submodule:
294 git submodule foreach \*(Aqecho $sm_path `git rev\-parse HEAD`\*(Aq
302 sync [\-\-recursive] [\-\-] [<path>\&...]
304 Synchronizes submodules\*(Aq remote URL configuration setting to the value specified in
305 \fB\&.gitmodules\fR\&. It will only affect those submodules which already have a URL entry in \&.git/config (that is the case when they are initialized or freshly added)\&. This is useful when submodule URLs change upstream and you need to update your local repositories accordingly\&.
307 \fBgit submodule sync\fR
308 synchronizes all submodules while
309 \fBgit submodule sync \-\- A\fR
310 synchronizes submodule "A" only\&.
314 is specified, this command will recurse into the registered submodules, and sync any nested submodules within\&.
319 If a git directory of a submodule is inside the submodule, move the git directory of the submodule into its superproject\(cqs
320 \fB$GIT_DIR/modules\fR
321 path and then connect the git directory and its working directory by setting the
322 \fBcore\&.worktree\fR
323 and adding a \&.git file pointing to the git directory embedded in the superprojects git directory\&.
325 A repository that was cloned independently and later added as a submodule or old setups have the submodules git directory inside the submodule instead of embedded into the superprojects git directory\&.
327 This command is recursive by default\&.
333 Only print error messages\&.
338 This option is only valid for add and update commands\&. Progress status is reported on the standard error stream by default when it is attached to a terminal, unless \-q is specified\&. This flag forces progress status even if the standard error stream is not directed to a terminal\&.
343 This option is only valid for the deinit command\&. Unregister all submodules in the working tree\&.
346 \-b <branch>, \-\-branch <branch>
348 Branch of repository to add as submodule\&. The name of the branch is recorded as
349 \fBsubmodule\&.<name>\&.branch\fR
353 \fBupdate \-\-remote\fR\&. A special value of
355 is used to indicate that the name of the branch in the submodule should be the same name as the current branch in the current repository\&. If the option is not specified, it defaults to the remote
361 This option is only valid for add, deinit and update commands\&. When running add, allow adding an otherwise ignored submodule path\&. When running deinit the submodule working trees will be removed even if they contain local changes\&. When running update (only effective with the checkout procedure), throw away local changes in submodules when switching to a different commit; and always run a checkout operation in the submodule, even if the commit listed in the index of the containing repository matches the commit checked out in the submodule\&.
366 This option is only valid for status and summary commands\&. These commands typically use the commit found in the submodule HEAD, but with this option, the commit stored in the index is used instead\&.
371 This option is only valid for the summary command\&. This command compares the commit in the index with that in the submodule HEAD when this option is used\&.
374 \-n, \-\-summary\-limit
376 This option is only valid for the summary command\&. Limit the summary size (number of commits shown in total)\&. Giving 0 will disable the summary; a negative number means unlimited (the default)\&. This limit only applies to modified submodules\&. The size is always limited to 1 for added/deleted/typechanged submodules\&.
381 This option is only valid for the update command\&. Instead of using the superproject\(cqs recorded SHA\-1 to update the submodule, use the status of the submodule\(cqs remote\-tracking branch\&. The remote used is branch\(cqs remote (\fBbranch\&.<name>\&.remote\fR), defaulting to
382 \fBorigin\fR\&. The remote branch used defaults to the remote
383 \fBHEAD\fR, but the branch name may be overridden by setting the
384 \fBsubmodule\&.<name>\&.branch\fR
391 taking precedence)\&.
393 This works for any of the supported update procedures (\fB\-\-checkout\fR,
394 \fB\-\-rebase\fR, etc\&.)\&. The only change is the source of the target SHA\-1\&. For example,
395 \fBsubmodule update \-\-remote \-\-merge\fR
396 will merge upstream submodule changes into the submodules, while
397 \fBsubmodule update \-\-merge\fR
398 will merge superproject gitlink changes into the submodules\&.
400 In order to ensure a current tracking branch state,
401 \fBupdate \-\-remote\fR
402 fetches the submodule\(cqs remote repository before calculating the SHA\-1\&. If you don\(cqt want to fetch, you should use
403 \fBsubmodule update \-\-remote \-\-no\-fetch\fR\&.
405 Use this option to integrate changes from the upstream subproject with your submodule\(cqs current HEAD\&. Alternatively, you can run
407 from the submodule, which is equivalent except for the remote branch name:
408 \fBupdate \-\-remote\fR
409 uses the default upstream repository and
410 \fBsubmodule\&.<name>\&.branch\fR, while
412 uses the submodule\(cqs
413 \fBbranch\&.<name>\&.merge\fR\&. Prefer
414 \fBsubmodule\&.<name>\&.branch\fR
415 if you want to distribute the default upstream branch with the superproject and
416 \fBbranch\&.<name>\&.merge\fR
417 if you want a more native feel while working in the submodule itself\&.
422 This option is only valid for the update command\&. Don\(cqt fetch new objects from the remote site\&.
427 This option is only valid for the update command\&. Checkout the commit recorded in the superproject on a detached HEAD in the submodule\&. This is the default behavior, the main use of this option is to override
428 \fBsubmodule\&.$name\&.update\fR
429 when set to a value other than
430 \fBcheckout\fR\&. If the key
431 \fBsubmodule\&.$name\&.update\fR
432 is either not explicitly set or set to
433 \fBcheckout\fR, this option is implicit\&.
438 This option is only valid for the update command\&. Merge the commit recorded in the superproject into the current branch of the submodule\&. If this option is given, the submodule\(cqs HEAD will not be detached\&. If a merge failure prevents this process, you will have to resolve the resulting conflicts within the submodule with the usual conflict resolution tools\&. If the key
439 \fBsubmodule\&.$name\&.update\fR
441 \fBmerge\fR, this option is implicit\&.
446 This option is only valid for the update command\&. Rebase the current branch onto the commit recorded in the superproject\&. If this option is given, the submodule\(cqs HEAD will not be detached\&. If a merge failure prevents this process, you will have to resolve these failures with
447 \fBgit-rebase\fR(1)\&. If the key
448 \fBsubmodule\&.$name\&.update\fR
450 \fBrebase\fR, this option is implicit\&.
455 This option is only valid for the update command\&. Initialize all submodules for which "git submodule init" has not been called so far before updating\&.
460 This option is only valid for the add command\&. It sets the submodule\(cqs name to the given string instead of defaulting to its path\&. The name must be valid as a directory name and may not end with a
464 \-\-reference <repository>
466 This option is only valid for add and update commands\&. These commands sometimes need to clone a remote repository\&. In this case, this option will be passed to the
472 use this option unless you have read the note for
473 \fBgit-clone\fR(1)\*(Aqs
475 \fB\-\-shared\fR, and
482 This option is only valid for add and update commands\&. These commands sometimes need to clone a remote repository\&. In this case, this option will be passed to the
486 \fBNOTE\fR: see the NOTE for the
493 This option is only valid for foreach, update, status and sync commands\&. Traverse submodules recursively\&. The operation is performed not only in the submodules of the current repo, but also in any nested submodules inside those submodules (and so on)\&.
498 This option is valid for add and update commands\&. Create a
500 clone with a history truncated to the specified number of revisions\&. See
504 \-\-[no\-]recommend\-shallow
506 This option is only valid for the update command\&. The initial clone of a submodule will use the recommended
507 \fBsubmodule\&.<name>\&.shallow\fR
510 file by default\&. To ignore the suggestions use
511 \fB\-\-no\-recommend\-shallow\fR\&.
514 \-j <n>, \-\-jobs <n>
516 This option is only valid for the update command\&. Clone new submodules in parallel with as many jobs\&. Defaults to the
517 \fBsubmodule\&.fetchJobs\fR
521 \-\-[no\-]single\-branch
523 This option is only valid for the update command\&. Clone only one branch during update: HEAD or one specified by \-\-branch\&.
528 Paths to submodule(s)\&. When specified this will restrict the command to only operate on the submodules found at the specified paths\&. (This argument is required with add)\&.
532 When initializing submodules, a \fB\&.gitmodules\fR file in the top\-level directory of the containing repository is used to find the url of each submodule\&. This file should be formatted in the same way as \fB$GIT_DIR/config\fR\&. The key to each submodule url is "submodule\&.$name\&.url"\&. See \fBgitmodules\fR(5) for details\&.
535 \fBgitsubmodules\fR(7), \fBgitmodules\fR(5)\&.
538 Part of the \fBgit\fR(1) suite