6 git-submodule - Initialize, update or inspect submodules
12 'git submodule' [--quiet] [--cached]
13 'git submodule' [--quiet] add [<options>] [--] <repository> [<path>]
14 'git submodule' [--quiet] status [--cached] [--recursive] [--] [<path>...]
15 'git submodule' [--quiet] init [--] [<path>...]
16 'git submodule' [--quiet] deinit [-f|--force] (--all|[--] <path>...)
17 'git submodule' [--quiet] update [<options>] [--] [<path>...]
18 'git submodule' [--quiet] set-branch [<options>] [--] <path>
19 'git submodule' [--quiet] set-url [--] <path> <newurl>
20 'git submodule' [--quiet] summary [<options>] [--] [<path>...]
21 'git submodule' [--quiet] foreach [--recursive] <command>
22 'git submodule' [--quiet] sync [--recursive] [--] [<path>...]
23 'git submodule' [--quiet] absorbgitdirs [--] [<path>...]
28 Inspects, updates and manages submodules.
30 For more information about submodules, see linkgit:gitsubmodules[7].
34 With no arguments, shows the status of existing submodules. Several
35 subcommands are available to perform operations on the submodules.
37 add [-b <branch>] [-f|--force] [--name <name>] [--reference <repository>] [--ref-format <format>] [--depth <depth>] [--] <repository> [<path>]::
38 Add the given repository as a submodule at the given path
39 to the changeset to be committed next to the current
40 project: the current project is termed the "superproject".
42 <repository> is the URL of the new submodule's origin repository.
43 This may be either an absolute URL, or (if it begins with ./
44 or ../), the location relative to the superproject's default remote
45 repository (Please note that to specify a repository 'foo.git'
46 which is located right next to a superproject 'bar.git', you'll
47 have to use `../foo.git` instead of `./foo.git` - as one might expect
48 when following the rules for relative URLs - because the evaluation
49 of relative URLs in Git is identical to that of relative directories).
51 The default remote is the remote of the remote-tracking branch
52 of the current branch. If no such remote-tracking branch exists or
53 the HEAD is detached, "origin" is assumed to be the default remote.
54 If the superproject doesn't have a default remote configured
55 the superproject is its own authoritative upstream and the current
56 working directory is used instead.
58 The optional argument <path> is the relative location for the cloned
59 submodule to exist in the superproject. If <path> is not given, the
60 canonical part of the source repository is used ("repo" for
61 "/path/to/repo.git" and "foo" for "host.xz:foo/.git"). If <path>
62 exists and is already a valid Git repository, then it is staged
63 for commit without cloning. The <path> is also used as the submodule's
64 logical name in its configuration entries unless `--name` is used
65 to specify a logical name.
67 The given URL is recorded into `.gitmodules` for use by subsequent users
68 cloning the superproject. If the URL is given relative to the
69 superproject's repository, the presumption is the superproject and
70 submodule repositories will be kept together in the same relative
71 location, and only the superproject's URL needs to be provided.
72 git-submodule will correctly locate the submodule using the relative
75 If `--ref-format <format>` is specified, the ref storage format of newly
76 cloned submodules will be set accordingly.
78 status [--cached] [--recursive] [--] [<path>...]::
79 Show the status of the submodules. This will print the SHA-1 of the
80 currently checked out commit for each submodule, along with the
81 submodule path and the output of 'git describe' for the
82 SHA-1. Each SHA-1 will possibly be prefixed with `-` if the submodule is
83 not initialized, `+` if the currently checked out submodule commit
84 does not match the SHA-1 found in the index of the containing
85 repository and `U` if the submodule has merge conflicts.
87 If `--cached` is specified, this command will instead print the SHA-1
88 recorded in the superproject for each submodule.
90 If `--recursive` is specified, this command will recurse into nested
91 submodules, and show their status as well.
93 If you are only interested in changes of the currently initialized
94 submodules with respect to the commit recorded in the index or the HEAD,
95 linkgit:git-status[1] and linkgit:git-diff[1] will provide that information
96 too (and can also report changes to a submodule's work tree).
98 init [--] [<path>...]::
99 Initialize the submodules recorded in the index (which were
100 added and committed elsewhere) by setting `submodule.$name.url`
101 in `.git/config`, using the same setting from `.gitmodules` as
102 a template. If the URL is relative, it will be resolved using
103 the default remote. If there is no default remote, the current
104 repository will be assumed to be upstream.
106 Optional <path> arguments limit which submodules will be initialized.
107 If no path is specified and submodule.active has been configured, submodules
108 configured to be active will be initialized, otherwise all submodules are
111 It will also copy the value of `submodule.$name.update`, if present in
112 the `.gitmodules` file, to `.git/config`, but (1) this command does not
113 alter existing information in `.git/config`, and (2) `submodule.$name.update`
114 that is set to a custom command is *not* copied for security reasons.
116 You can then customize the submodule clone URLs in `.git/config`
117 for your local setup and proceed to `git submodule update`;
118 you can also just use `git submodule update --init` without
119 the explicit 'init' step if you do not intend to customize
120 any submodule locations.
122 See the add subcommand for the definition of default remote.
124 deinit [-f|--force] (--all|[--] <path>...)::
125 Unregister the given submodules, i.e. remove the whole
126 `submodule.$name` section from .git/config together with their work
127 tree. Further calls to `git submodule update`, `git submodule foreach`
128 and `git submodule sync` will skip any unregistered submodules until
129 they are initialized again, so use this command if you don't want to
130 have a local checkout of the submodule in your working tree anymore.
132 When the command is run without pathspec, it errors out,
133 instead of deinit-ing everything, to prevent mistakes.
135 If `--force` is specified, the submodule's working tree will
136 be removed even if it contains local modifications.
138 If you really want to remove a submodule from the repository and commit
139 that use linkgit:git-rm[1] instead. See linkgit:gitsubmodules[7] for removal
142 update [--init] [--remote] [-N|--no-fetch] [--[no-]recommend-shallow] [-f|--force] [--checkout|--rebase|--merge] [--reference <repository>] [--ref-format <format>] [--depth <depth>] [--recursive] [--jobs <n>] [--[no-]single-branch] [--filter <filter-spec>] [--] [<path>...]::
145 Update the registered submodules to match what the superproject
146 expects by cloning missing submodules, fetching missing commits
147 in submodules and updating the working tree of
148 the submodules. The "updating" can be done in several ways depending
149 on command line options and the value of `submodule.<name>.update`
150 configuration variable. The command line option takes precedence over
151 the configuration variable. If neither is given, a 'checkout' is performed.
152 (note: what is in `.gitmodules` file is irrelevant at this point;
153 see `git submodule init` above for how `.gitmodules` is used).
154 The 'update' procedures supported both from the command line as well as
155 through the `submodule.<name>.update` configuration are:
157 checkout;; the commit recorded in the superproject will be
158 checked out in the submodule on a detached HEAD.
160 If `--force` is specified, the submodule will be checked out (using
161 `git checkout --force`), even if the commit specified
162 in the index of the containing repository already matches the commit
163 checked out in the submodule.
165 rebase;; the current branch of the submodule will be rebased
166 onto the commit recorded in the superproject.
168 merge;; the commit recorded in the superproject will be merged
169 into the current branch in the submodule.
171 The following update procedures have additional limitations:
173 custom command;; mechanism for running arbitrary commands with the
174 commit ID as an argument. Specifically, if the
175 `submodule.<name>.update` configuration variable is set to
176 `!custom command`, the object name of the commit recorded in the
177 superproject for the submodule is appended to the `custom command`
178 string and executed. Note that this mechanism is not supported in
179 the `.gitmodules` file or on the command line.
181 none;; the submodule is not updated. This update procedure is not
182 allowed on the command line.
184 If the submodule is not yet initialized, and you just want to use the
185 setting as stored in `.gitmodules`, you can automatically initialize the
186 submodule with the `--init` option.
188 If `--recursive` is specified, this command will recurse into the
189 registered submodules, and update any nested submodules within.
191 If `--ref-format <format>` is specified, the ref storage format of newly
192 cloned submodules will be set accordingly.
194 If `--filter <filter-spec>` is specified, the given partial clone filter will be
195 applied to the submodule. See linkgit:git-rev-list[1] for details on filter
198 set-branch (-b|--branch) <branch> [--] <path>::
199 set-branch (-d|--default) [--] <path>::
200 Sets the default remote tracking branch for the submodule. The
201 `--branch` option allows the remote branch to be specified. The
202 `--default` option removes the submodule.<name>.branch configuration
203 key, which causes the tracking branch to default to the remote 'HEAD'.
205 set-url [--] <path> <newurl>::
206 Sets the URL of the specified submodule to <newurl>. Then, it will
207 automatically synchronize the submodule's new remote URL
210 summary [--cached|--files] [(-n|--summary-limit) <n>] [commit] [--] [<path>...]::
211 Show commit summary between the given commit (defaults to HEAD) and
212 working tree/index. For a submodule in question, a series of commits
213 in the submodule between the given super project commit and the
214 index or working tree (switched by `--cached`) are shown. If the option
215 `--files` is given, show the series of commits in the submodule between
216 the index of the super project and the working tree of the submodule
217 (this option doesn't allow to use the `--cached` option or to provide an
220 Using the `--submodule=log` option with linkgit:git-diff[1] will provide that
223 foreach [--recursive] <command>::
224 Evaluates an arbitrary shell command in each checked out submodule.
225 The command has access to the variables $name, $sm_path, $displaypath,
227 $name is the name of the relevant submodule section in `.gitmodules`,
228 $sm_path is the path of the submodule as recorded in the immediate
229 superproject, $displaypath contains the relative path from the
230 current working directory to the submodules root directory,
231 $sha1 is the commit as recorded in the immediate
232 superproject, and $toplevel is the absolute path to the top-level
233 of the immediate superproject.
234 Note that to avoid conflicts with '$PATH' on Windows, the '$path'
235 variable is now a deprecated synonym of '$sm_path' variable.
236 Any submodules defined in the superproject but not checked out are
237 ignored by this command. Unless given `--quiet`, foreach prints the name
238 of each submodule before evaluating the command.
239 If `--recursive` is given, submodules are traversed recursively (i.e.
240 the given shell command is evaluated in nested submodules as well).
241 A non-zero return from the command in any submodule causes
242 the processing to terminate. This can be overridden by adding '|| :'
243 to the end of the command.
245 As an example, the command below will show the path and currently
246 checked out commit for each submodule:
249 git submodule foreach 'echo $sm_path `git rev-parse HEAD`'
252 sync [--recursive] [--] [<path>...]::
253 Synchronizes submodules' remote URL configuration setting
254 to the value specified in `.gitmodules`. It will only affect those
255 submodules which already have a URL entry in .git/config (that is the
256 case when they are initialized or freshly added). This is useful when
257 submodule URLs change upstream and you need to update your local
258 repositories accordingly.
260 `git submodule sync` synchronizes all submodules while
261 `git submodule sync -- A` synchronizes submodule "A" only.
263 If `--recursive` is specified, this command will recurse into the
264 registered submodules, and sync any nested submodules within.
267 If a git directory of a submodule is inside the submodule,
268 move the git directory of the submodule into its superproject's
269 `$GIT_DIR/modules` path and then connect the git directory and
270 its working directory by setting the `core.worktree` and adding
271 a .git file pointing to the git directory embedded in the
272 superprojects git directory.
274 A repository that was cloned independently and later added as a submodule or
275 old setups have the submodules git directory inside the submodule instead of
276 embedded into the superprojects git directory.
278 This command is recursive by default.
284 Only print error messages.
287 This option is only valid for add and update commands.
288 Progress status is reported on the standard error stream
289 by default when it is attached to a terminal, unless -q
290 is specified. This flag forces progress status even if the
291 standard error stream is not directed to a terminal.
294 This option is only valid for the deinit command. Unregister all
295 submodules in the working tree.
299 Branch of repository to add as submodule.
300 The name of the branch is recorded as `submodule.<name>.branch` in
301 `.gitmodules` for `update --remote`. A special value of `.` is used to
302 indicate that the name of the branch in the submodule should be the
303 same name as the current branch in the current repository. If the
304 option is not specified, it defaults to the remote 'HEAD'.
308 This option is only valid for add, deinit and update commands.
309 When running add, allow adding an otherwise ignored submodule path.
310 When running deinit the submodule working trees will be removed even
311 if they contain local changes.
312 When running update (only effective with the checkout procedure),
313 throw away local changes in submodules when switching to a
314 different commit; and always run a checkout operation in the
315 submodule, even if the commit listed in the index of the
316 containing repository matches the commit checked out in the
320 This option is only valid for status and summary commands. These
321 commands typically use the commit found in the submodule HEAD, but
322 with this option, the commit stored in the index is used instead.
325 This option is only valid for the summary command. This command
326 compares the commit in the index with that in the submodule HEAD
327 when this option is used.
331 This option is only valid for the summary command.
332 Limit the summary size (number of commits shown in total).
333 Giving 0 will disable the summary; a negative number means unlimited
334 (the default). This limit only applies to modified submodules. The
335 size is always limited to 1 for added/deleted/typechanged submodules.
338 This option is only valid for the update command. Instead of using
339 the superproject's recorded SHA-1 to update the submodule, use the
340 status of the submodule's remote-tracking branch. The remote used
341 is branch's remote (`branch.<name>.remote`), defaulting to `origin`.
342 The remote branch used defaults to the remote `HEAD`, but the branch
343 name may be overridden by setting the `submodule.<name>.branch`
344 option in either `.gitmodules` or `.git/config` (with `.git/config`
347 This works for any of the supported update procedures (`--checkout`,
348 `--rebase`, etc.). The only change is the source of the target SHA-1.
349 For example, `submodule update --remote --merge` will merge upstream
350 submodule changes into the submodules, while `submodule update
351 --merge` will merge superproject gitlink changes into the submodules.
353 In order to ensure a current tracking branch state, `update --remote`
354 fetches the submodule's remote repository before calculating the
355 SHA-1. If you don't want to fetch, you should use `submodule update
356 --remote --no-fetch`.
358 Use this option to integrate changes from the upstream subproject with
359 your submodule's current HEAD. Alternatively, you can run `git pull`
360 from the submodule, which is equivalent except for the remote branch
361 name: `update --remote` uses the default upstream repository and
362 `submodule.<name>.branch`, while `git pull` uses the submodule's
363 `branch.<name>.merge`. Prefer `submodule.<name>.branch` if you want
364 to distribute the default upstream branch with the superproject and
365 `branch.<name>.merge` if you want a more native feel while working in
366 the submodule itself.
370 This option is only valid for the update command.
371 Don't fetch new objects from the remote site.
374 This option is only valid for the update command.
375 Checkout the commit recorded in the superproject on a detached HEAD
376 in the submodule. This is the default behavior, the main use of
377 this option is to override `submodule.$name.update` when set to
378 a value other than `checkout`.
379 If the key `submodule.$name.update` is either not explicitly set or
380 set to `checkout`, this option is implicit.
383 This option is only valid for the update command.
384 Merge the commit recorded in the superproject into the current branch
385 of the submodule. If this option is given, the submodule's HEAD will
386 not be detached. If a merge failure prevents this process, you will
387 have to resolve the resulting conflicts within the submodule with the
388 usual conflict resolution tools.
389 If the key `submodule.$name.update` is set to `merge`, this option is
393 This option is only valid for the update command.
394 Rebase the current branch onto the commit recorded in the
395 superproject. If this option is given, the submodule's HEAD will not
396 be detached. If a merge failure prevents this process, you will have
397 to resolve these failures with linkgit:git-rebase[1].
398 If the key `submodule.$name.update` is set to `rebase`, this option is
402 This option is only valid for the update command.
403 Initialize all submodules for which "git submodule init" has not been
404 called so far before updating.
407 This option is only valid for the add command. It sets the submodule's
408 name to the given string instead of defaulting to its path. The name
409 must be valid as a directory name and may not end with a '/'.
411 --reference <repository>::
412 This option is only valid for add and update commands. These
413 commands sometimes need to clone a remote repository. In this case,
414 this option will be passed to the linkgit:git-clone[1] command.
416 *NOTE*: Do *not* use this option unless you have read the note
417 for linkgit:git-clone[1]'s `--reference`, `--shared`, and `--dissociate`
421 This option is only valid for add and update commands. These
422 commands sometimes need to clone a remote repository. In this case,
423 this option will be passed to the linkgit:git-clone[1] command.
425 *NOTE*: see the NOTE for the `--reference` option.
428 This option is only valid for foreach, update, status and sync commands.
429 Traverse submodules recursively. The operation is performed not
430 only in the submodules of the current repo, but also
431 in any nested submodules inside those submodules (and so on).
434 This option is valid for add and update commands. Create a 'shallow'
435 clone with a history truncated to the specified number of revisions.
436 See linkgit:git-clone[1]
438 --[no-]recommend-shallow::
439 This option is only valid for the update command.
440 The initial clone of a submodule will use the recommended
441 `submodule.<name>.shallow` as provided by the `.gitmodules` file
442 by default. To ignore the suggestions use `--no-recommend-shallow`.
446 This option is only valid for the update command.
447 Clone new submodules in parallel with as many jobs.
448 Defaults to the `submodule.fetchJobs` option.
450 --[no-]single-branch::
451 This option is only valid for the update command.
452 Clone only one branch during update: HEAD or one specified by --branch.
455 Paths to submodule(s). When specified this will restrict the command
456 to only operate on the submodules found at the specified paths.
457 (This argument is required with add).
461 When initializing submodules, a `.gitmodules` file in the top-level directory
462 of the containing repository is used to find the url of each submodule.
463 This file should be formatted in the same way as `$GIT_DIR/config`. The key
464 to each submodule url is "submodule.$name.url". See linkgit:gitmodules[5]
469 linkgit:gitsubmodules[7], linkgit:gitmodules[5].
473 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite