1B4(5) B4(5)
2
6 B4 - Work with code submissions in a public-inbox archive
7
9 b4 {mbox,am,attest,pr,ty,diff} [options]
10
12 This is a helper utility to work with patches and pull requests made
13 available via a public-inbox archive like lore.kernel.org. It is writ‐
14 ten to make it easier to participate in a patch-based workflows, like
15 those used in the Linux kernel development.
16 The name "b4" was chosen for ease of typing and because B-4 was the
18 precursor to Lore and Data in the Star Trek universe.
19
21 • b4 mbox: Download a thread as an mbox file
22 • b4 am: Create an mbox file that is ready to git-am
24 • b4 pr: Work with pull requests
26 • b4 diff: Show range-diff style diffs between patch versions
28 • b4 ty: Create templated replies for processed patches and pull re‐
30 quests
31 • b4 attest: (EXPERIMENTAL) Add cryptographic attestation to patches
33 • b4 kr (EXPERIMENTAL) Operate on patatt-compatible keyrings
35
37 -h, --help
38 show this help message and exit
39 -d, --debug
41 Add more debugging info to the output (default: False)
42 -q, --quiet
44 Output critical information only (default: False)
45
47 b4 mbox
48 usage: b4 mbox [-h] [-o OUTDIR] [-p USEPROJECT] [-c] [-n WANTNAME] [-m
49 LOCALMBOX] [msgid]
50 positional arguments:
52 msgid Message ID to process, or pipe a raw mes‐
53 sage
54 optional arguments:
56 -h, --help
58 show this help message and exit
59 -o OUTDIR, --outdir OUTDIR
61 Output into this directory (or use - to output mailbox
62 contents to stdout)
63 -p USEPROJECT, --use-project USEPROJECT
65 Use a specific project instead of guessing (linux-mm,
66 linux-hardening, etc)
67 -c, --check-newer-revisions
69 Check if newer patch revisions exist
70 -n WANTNAME, --mbox-name WANTNAME
72 Filename to name the mbox file
73 -m LOCALMBOX, --use-local-mbox LOCALMBOX
75 Instead of grabbing a thread from lore, process this mbox
76 file (or use - for stdin)
77 -C, --no-cache
79 Do not use local cache
80 -f, --filter-dupes
82 When adding messages to existing maildir, filter out du‐
83 plicates
84 -M, --save-as-maildir
86 Save as maildir (avoids mbox format ambiguities)
87 Example: b4 mbox 20200313231252.64999-1-keescook@chromium.org
89 b4 am
91 usage: b4 am [-h] [-o OUTDIR] [-p USEPROJECT] [-c] [-n WANTNAME] [-m
92 LOCALMBOX] [-v WANTVER] [-t] [-T] [-s] [-l] [-Q] [msgid]
93 positional arguments:
95 msgid Message ID to process, or pipe a raw mes‐
96 sage
97 optional arguments:
99 -h, --help
101 show this help message and exit
102 -o OUTDIR, --outdir OUTDIR
104 Output into this directory (or use - to output mailbox
105 contents to stdout)
106 -p USEPROJECT, --use-project USEPROJECT
108 Use a specific project instead of guessing (linux-mm,
109 linux-hardening, etc)
110 -c, --check-newer-revisions
112 Check if newer patch revisions exist
113 -n WANTNAME, --mbox-name WANTNAME
115 Filename to name the mbox file
116 -m LOCALMBOX, --use-local-mbox LOCALMBOX
118 Instead of grabbing a thread from lore, process this mbox
119 file (or use - for stdin)
120 -M, --save-as-maildir
122 Save as maildir (avoids mbox format ambiguities)
123 -C, --no-cache
125 Do not use local cache
126 -v WANTVER, --use-version WANTVER
128 Get a specific version of the patch/series
129 -t, --apply-cover-trailers
131 Apply trailers sent to the cover letter to all patches
132 -S, --sloppy-trailers
134 Apply trailers without email address match checking
135 -T, --no-add-trailers
137 Do not add or sort any trailers
138 -s, --add-my-sob
140 Add your own signed-off-by to every patch
141 -l, --add-link
143 Add a lore.kernel.org/r/ link to every patch
144 -Q, --quilt-ready
146 Save patches in a quilt-ready folder
147 -P CHERRYPICK, --cherry-pick CHERRYPICK
149 Cherry-pick a subset of patches (e.g. "-P 1-2,4,6-", "-P
150 _" to use just the msgid specified, or "-P *globbing*" to
151 match on commit subject)
152 -g, --guess-base
154 Try to guess the base of the series (if not specified)
155 -3, --prep-3way
157 Prepare for a 3-way merge (tries to ensure that all index
158 blobs exist by making a fake commit range)
159 --cc-trailers
161 Copy all Cc'd addresses into Cc: trailers, if not already
162 present
163 --no-cover
165 Do not save the cover letter (on by default when using -o
166 -)
167 --no-partial-reroll
169 Do not reroll partial series when detected
170 Example: b4 am 20200313231252.64999-1-keescook@chromium.org
172 b4 attest
174 usage: b4 attest [-h] patchfile [patchfile ...]
175 positional arguments:
177 patchfile Patches to attest
178 Example: b4 attest outgoing/*.patch
180 b4 pr
182 usage: command.py pr [-h] [-g GITDIR] [-b BRANCH] [-c] [-e] [-o OUTM‐
183 BOX] [msgid]
184 positional arguments:
186 msgid Message ID to process, or pipe a raw mes‐
187 sage
188 optional arguments:
190 -h, --help
192 show this help message and exit
193 -g GITDIR, --gitdir GITDIR
195 Operate on this git tree instead of current dir
196 -b BRANCH, --branch BRANCH
198 Check out FETCH_HEAD into this branch after fetching
199 -c, --check
201 Check if pull request has already been applied
202 -e, --explode
204 Convert a pull request into an mbox full of patches
205 -o OUTMBOX, --output-mbox OUTMBOX
207 Save exploded messages into this mailbox (default: ms‐
208 gid.mbx)
209 -l, --retrieve-links
211 Attempt to retrieve any Link: URLs (use with -e)
212 -f MAILFROM, --from-addr MAILFROM
214 Use this From: in exploded messages (use with -e)
215 Example: b4 pr 202003292120.2BDCB41@keescook
217 b4 ty
219 usage: b4 ty [-h] [-g GITDIR] [-o OUTDIR] [-l] [-s SEND [SEND ...]] [-d
220 DISCARD [DISCARD ...]] [-a] [-b BRANCH] [--since SINCE]
221 optional arguments:
223 -h, --help
225 show this help message and exit
226 -g GITDIR, --gitdir GITDIR
228 Operate on this git tree instead of current dir
229 -o OUTDIR, --outdir OUTDIR
231 Write thanks files into this dir (default=.)
232 -l, --list
234 List pull requests and patch series you have retrieved
235 -s SEND, --send SEND
237 Generate thankyous for specific entries from -l (e.g.:
238 1,3-5,7-; or "all")
239 -d DISCARD, --discard DISCARD
241 Discard specific messages from -l (e.g.: 1,3-5,7-; or
242 "all")
243 -a, --auto
245 Use the Auto-Thankanator to figure out what got ap‐
246 plied/merged
247 -b BRANCH, --branch BRANCH
249 The branch to check against, instead of current
250 --since SINCE
252 The --since option to use when auto-matching patches (de‐
253 fault=1.week)
254 Example: b4 ty --auto
256 b4 diff
258 usage: b4 diff [-h] [-g GITDIR] [-p USEPROJECT] [-C] [-v WANTVERS
259 [WANTVERS ...]] [-n] [-o OUTDIFF] [-c] [-m AMBOX AMBOX] [msgid]
260 positional arguments:
262 msgid Message ID to process, pipe a raw message,
263 or use -m
264 optional arguments:
266 -h, --help
268 show this help message and exit
269 -g GITDIR, --gitdir GITDIR
271 Operate on this git tree instead of current dir
272 -p USEPROJECT, --use-project USEPROJECT
274 Use a specific project instead of guessing (linux-mm,
275 linux-hardening, etc)
276 -C, --no-cache
278 Do not use local cache
279 -v WANTVERS [WANTVERS ...], --compare-versions WANTVERS [WANTVERS
281 ...]
282 Compare specific versions instead of latest and one before
283 that, e.g. -v 3 5
284 -n, --no-diff
286 Do not generate a diff, just show the command to do it
287 -o OUTDIFF, --output-diff OUTDIFF
289 Save diff into this file instead of outputting to stdout
290 -c, --color
292 Force color output even when writing to file
293 -m AMBOX AMBOX, --compare-am-mboxes AMBOX AMBOX
295 Compare two mbx files prepared with "b4 am"
296 Example: b4 diff 20200526205322.23465-1-mic@digikod.net
298 b4 kr
300 usage: b4 kr [-h] [-p USEPROJECT] [-m LOCALMBOX] [-C] [--show-keys]
301 [msgid]
302 positional arguments:
304 msgid Message ID to process, or pipe a raw mes‐
305 sage
306 optional arguments:
308 -h, --help
310 show this help message and exit
311 -p USEPROJECT, --use-project USEPROJECT
313 Use a specific project instead of guessing (linux-mm,
314 linux-hardening, etc)
315 -m LOCALMBOX, --use-local-mbox LOCALMBOX
317 Instead of grabbing a thread from lore, process this mbox
318 file (or - for stdin)
319 -C, --no-cache
321 Do not use local cache
322 --show-keys
324 Show all developer keys from the thread
325 Example: b4 kr --show-keys
327 20210521184811.617875-1-konstantin@linuxfoundation.org
328
330 B4 configuration is handled via git-config(1), so you can store it in
331 either the toplevel $HOME/.gitconfig file, or in a per-repository
332 .git/config file if your workflow changes per project.
333 Default configuration, with explanations:
335 [b4]
337 # Where to look up threads by message id
338 midmask = https://lore.kernel.org/r/%s
339 #
340 # When recording Link: trailers, use this mask
341 linkmask = https://lore.kernel.org/r/%s
342 #
343 # When duplicate messages exist, use the following order to decide
344 # which list-id is likely to have the least mangled version. Default
345 # preference is listed below, in the order of lists most likely to
346 # preserve proper DKIM validation. Use shell-style globbing and
347 # separate multiple entries with commas. Must end with ,*
348 listid-preference = *.feeds.kernel.org,*.linux.dev,*.kernel.org,*
349 #
350 # Set to "yes" to save maildirs instead of mailboxes
351 # This will help avoid mboxo/mboxrd format inconsistencies between
352 # public-inbox, python, and git
353 save-maildirs = no
354 #
355 # When processing thread trailers, sort them in this order.
356 # Can use shell-globbing and must end with ,*
357 # Some sorting orders:
358 #trailer-order=link*,fixes*,cc*,reported*,suggested*,original*,co-*,tested*,reviewed*,acked*,signed-off*,*
359 #trailer-order = fixes*,reported*,suggested*,original*,co-*,signed-off*,tested*,reviewed*,acked*,cc*,link*,*
360 trailer-order = _preserve_
361 #
362 # Attestation-checking configuration parameters
363 # off: do not bother checking attestation
364 # check: print an attaboy when attestation is found
365 # softfail: print a warning when no attestation found
366 # hardfail: exit with an error when no attestation found
367 attestation-policy = softfail
368 #
369 # Perform DKIM attestation?
370 attestation-check-dkim = yes
371 #
372 # When showing attestation check results, do you like "fancy" (color, unicode)
373 # or simple markers?
374 attestation-checkmarks = fancy
375 #
376 # How long before we consider attestation to be too old?
377 attestation-staleness-days = 30
378 #
379 # You can point this at a non-default home dir, if you like, or leave out to
380 # use the OS default.
381 attestation-gnupghome = None
382 #
383 # If this is not set, we'll use what we find in
384 # git-config for gpg.program; and if that's not set,
385 # we'll use "gpg" and hope for the best
386 gpgbin = None
387 #
388 # How long to keep downloaded threads in cache (minutes)?
389 cache-expire = 10
390 # Used when creating summaries for b4 ty, and can be set to a value like
391 # thanks-commit-url-mask = https://git.kernel.org/username/c/%.12s
392 # See this page for more info on convenient git.kernel.org shorterners:
393 # https://korg.wiki.kernel.org/userdoc/git-url-shorterners
394 thanks-commit-url-mask = None
395 # See thanks-pr-template.example. If not set, a default template will be used.
396 thanks-pr-template = None
397 # See thanks-am-template.example. If not set, a default template will be used.
398 thanks-am-template = None
399
401 Please email tools@linux.kernel.org with support requests, or browse
402 the list archive at https://lore.kernel.org/tools.
403
405 mricon@kernel.org
406 License: GPLv2+
408
410 The Linux Foundation and contributors
4110.8.0 2021-09-01 B4(5)