1GIT-SUBMODULE(1) Git Manual GIT-SUBMODULE(1)
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6 git-submodule - Initialize, update or inspect submodules
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9 git submodule [--quiet] [--cached]
10 git submodule [--quiet] add [<options>] [--] <repository> [<path>]
11 git submodule [--quiet] status [--cached] [--recursive] [--] [<path>...]
12 git submodule [--quiet] init [--] [<path>...]
13 git submodule [--quiet] deinit [-f|--force] (--all|[--] <path>...)
14 git submodule [--quiet] update [<options>] [--] [<path>...]
15 git submodule [--quiet] set-branch [<options>] [--] <path>
16 git submodule [--quiet] set-url [--] <path> <newurl>
17 git submodule [--quiet] summary [<options>] [--] [<path>...]
18 git submodule [--quiet] foreach [--recursive] <command>
19 git submodule [--quiet] sync [--recursive] [--] [<path>...]
20 git submodule [--quiet] absorbgitdirs [--] [<path>...]
21
23 Inspects, updates and manages submodules.
24 For more information about submodules, see gitsubmodules(7).
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28 With no arguments, shows the status of existing submodules. Several
29 subcommands are available to perform operations on the submodules.
30 add [-b <branch>] [-f|--force] [--name <name>] [--reference
32 <repository>] [--depth <depth>] [--] <repository> [<path>]
33 Add the given repository as a submodule at the given path to the
34 changeset to be committed next to the current project: the current
35 project is termed the "superproject".
36 <repository> is the URL of the new submodule’s origin repository.
38 This may be either an absolute URL, or (if it begins with ./ or
39 ../), the location relative to the superproject’s default remote
40 repository (Please note that to specify a repository foo.git which
41 is located right next to a superproject bar.git, you’ll have to use
42 ../foo.git instead of ./foo.git - as one might expect when
43 following the rules for relative URLs - because the evaluation of
44 relative URLs in Git is identical to that of relative directories).
45 The default remote is the remote of the remote-tracking branch of
47 the current branch. If no such remote-tracking branch exists or the
48 HEAD is detached, "origin" is assumed to be the default remote. If
49 the superproject doesn’t have a default remote configured the
50 superproject is its own authoritative upstream and the current
51 working directory is used instead.
52 The optional argument <path> is the relative location for the
54 cloned submodule to exist in the superproject. If <path> is not
55 given, the canonical part of the source repository is used ("repo"
56 for "/path/to/repo.git" and "foo" for "host.xz:foo/.git"). If
57 <path> exists and is already a valid Git repository, then it is
58 staged for commit without cloning. The <path> is also used as the
59 submodule’s logical name in its configuration entries unless --name
60 is used to specify a logical name.
61 The given URL is recorded into .gitmodules for use by subsequent
63 users cloning the superproject. If the URL is given relative to the
64 superproject’s repository, the presumption is the superproject and
65 submodule repositories will be kept together in the same relative
66 location, and only the superproject’s URL needs to be provided.
67 git-submodule will correctly locate the submodule using the
68 relative URL in .gitmodules.
69 status [--cached] [--recursive] [--] [<path>...]
71 Show the status of the submodules. This will print the SHA-1 of the
72 currently checked out commit for each submodule, along with the
73 submodule path and the output of git describe for the SHA-1. Each
74 SHA-1 will possibly be prefixed with - if the submodule is not
75 initialized, + if the currently checked out submodule commit does
76 not match the SHA-1 found in the index of the containing repository
77 and U if the submodule has merge conflicts.
78 If --cached is specified, this command will instead print the SHA-1
80 recorded in the superproject for each submodule.
81 If --recursive is specified, this command will recurse into nested
83 submodules, and show their status as well.
84 If you are only interested in changes of the currently initialized
86 submodules with respect to the commit recorded in the index or the
87 HEAD, git-status(1) and git-diff(1) will provide that information
88 too (and can also report changes to a submodule’s work tree).
89 init [--] [<path>...]
91 Initialize the submodules recorded in the index (which were added
92 and committed elsewhere) by setting submodule.$name.url in
93 .git/config. It uses the same setting from .gitmodules as a
94 template. If the URL is relative, it will be resolved using the
95 default remote. If there is no default remote, the current
96 repository will be assumed to be upstream.
97 Optional <path> arguments limit which submodules will be
99 initialized. If no path is specified and submodule.active has been
100 configured, submodules configured to be active will be initialized,
101 otherwise all submodules are initialized.
102 When present, it will also copy the value of
104 submodule.$name.update. This command does not alter existing
105 information in .git/config. You can then customize the submodule
106 clone URLs in .git/config for your local setup and proceed to git
107 submodule update; you can also just use git submodule update --init
108 without the explicit init step if you do not intend to customize
109 any submodule locations.
110 See the add subcommand for the definition of default remote.
112 deinit [-f|--force] (--all|[--] <path>...)
114 Unregister the given submodules, i.e. remove the whole
115 submodule.$name section from .git/config together with their work
116 tree. Further calls to git submodule update, git submodule foreach
117 and git submodule sync will skip any unregistered submodules until
118 they are initialized again, so use this command if you don’t want
119 to have a local checkout of the submodule in your working tree
120 anymore.
121 When the command is run without pathspec, it errors out, instead of
123 deinit-ing everything, to prevent mistakes.
124 If --force is specified, the submodule’s working tree will be
126 removed even if it contains local modifications.
127 If you really want to remove a submodule from the repository and
129 commit that use git-rm(1) instead. See gitsubmodules(7) for removal
130 options.
131 update [--init] [--remote] [-N|--no-fetch] [--[no-]recommend-shallow]
133 [-f|--force] [--checkout|--rebase|--merge] [--reference <repository>]
134 [--depth <depth>] [--recursive] [--jobs <n>] [--[no-]single-branch]
135 [--filter <filter spec>] [--] [<path>...]
136 Update the registered submodules to match what the superproject
137 expects by cloning missing submodules, fetching missing commits in
138 submodules and updating the working tree of the submodules. The
139 "updating" can be done in several ways depending on command line
140 options and the value of submodule.<name>.update configuration
141 variable. The command line option takes precedence over the
142 configuration variable. If neither is given, a checkout is
143 performed. The update procedures supported both from the command
144 line as well as through the submodule.<name>.update configuration
145 are:
146 checkout
148 the commit recorded in the superproject will be checked out in
149 the submodule on a detached HEAD.
150 If --force is specified, the submodule will be checked out
152 (using git checkout --force), even if the commit specified in
153 the index of the containing repository already matches the
154 commit checked out in the submodule.
155 rebase
157 the current branch of the submodule will be rebased onto the
158 commit recorded in the superproject.
159 merge
161 the commit recorded in the superproject will be merged into the
162 current branch in the submodule.
163 The following update procedures are only available via the
165 submodule.<name>.update configuration variable:
166 custom command
168 arbitrary shell command that takes a single argument (the sha1
169 of the commit recorded in the superproject) is executed. When
170 submodule.<name>.update is set to !command, the remainder after
171 the exclamation mark is the custom command.
172 none
174 the submodule is not updated.
175 If the submodule is not yet initialized, and you just want to use
177 the setting as stored in .gitmodules, you can automatically
178 initialize the submodule with the --init option.
179 If --recursive is specified, this command will recurse into the
181 registered submodules, and update any nested submodules within.
182 If --filter <filter spec> is specified, the given partial clone
184 filter will be applied to the submodule. See git-rev-list(1) for
185 details on filter specifications.
186 set-branch (-b|--branch) <branch> [--] <path>, set-branch
188 (-d|--default) [--] <path>
189 Sets the default remote tracking branch for the submodule. The
190 --branch option allows the remote branch to be specified. The
191 --default option removes the submodule.<name>.branch configuration
192 key, which causes the tracking branch to default to the remote
193 HEAD.
194 set-url [--] <path> <newurl>
196 Sets the URL of the specified submodule to <newurl>. Then, it will
197 automatically synchronize the submodule’s new remote URL
198 configuration.
199 summary [--cached|--files] [(-n|--summary-limit) <n>] [commit] [--]
201 [<path>...]
202 Show commit summary between the given commit (defaults to HEAD) and
203 working tree/index. For a submodule in question, a series of
204 commits in the submodule between the given super project commit and
205 the index or working tree (switched by --cached) are shown. If the
206 option --files is given, show the series of commits in the
207 submodule between the index of the super project and the working
208 tree of the submodule (this option doesn’t allow to use the
209 --cached option or to provide an explicit commit).
210 Using the --submodule=log option with git-diff(1) will provide that
212 information too.
213 foreach [--recursive] <command>
215 Evaluates an arbitrary shell command in each checked out submodule.
216 The command has access to the variables $name, $sm_path,
217 $displaypath, $sha1 and $toplevel: $name is the name of the
218 relevant submodule section in .gitmodules, $sm_path is the path of
219 the submodule as recorded in the immediate superproject,
220 $displaypath contains the relative path from the current working
221 directory to the submodules root directory, $sha1 is the commit as
222 recorded in the immediate superproject, and $toplevel is the
223 absolute path to the top-level of the immediate superproject. Note
224 that to avoid conflicts with $PATH on Windows, the $path variable
225 is now a deprecated synonym of $sm_path variable. Any submodules
226 defined in the superproject but not checked out are ignored by this
227 command. Unless given --quiet, foreach prints the name of each
228 submodule before evaluating the command. If --recursive is given,
229 submodules are traversed recursively (i.e. the given shell command
230 is evaluated in nested submodules as well). A non-zero return from
231 the command in any submodule causes the processing to terminate.
232 This can be overridden by adding || : to the end of the command.
233 As an example, the command below will show the path and currently
235 checked out commit for each submodule:
236 git submodule foreach 'echo $sm_path `git rev-parse HEAD`'
238 sync [--recursive] [--] [<path>...]
240 Synchronizes submodules' remote URL configuration setting to the
241 value specified in .gitmodules. It will only affect those
242 submodules which already have a URL entry in .git/config (that is
243 the case when they are initialized or freshly added). This is
244 useful when submodule URLs change upstream and you need to update
245 your local repositories accordingly.
246 git submodule sync synchronizes all submodules while git submodule
248 sync -- A synchronizes submodule "A" only.
249 If --recursive is specified, this command will recurse into the
251 registered submodules, and sync any nested submodules within.
252 absorbgitdirs
254 If a git directory of a submodule is inside the submodule, move the
255 git directory of the submodule into its superproject’s
256 $GIT_DIR/modules path and then connect the git directory and its
257 working directory by setting the core.worktree and adding a .git
258 file pointing to the git directory embedded in the superprojects
259 git directory.
260 A repository that was cloned independently and later added as a
262 submodule or old setups have the submodules git directory inside
263 the submodule instead of embedded into the superprojects git
264 directory.
265 This command is recursive by default.
267
269 -q, --quiet
270 Only print error messages.
271 --progress
273 This option is only valid for add and update commands. Progress
274 status is reported on the standard error stream by default when it
275 is attached to a terminal, unless -q is specified. This flag forces
276 progress status even if the standard error stream is not directed
277 to a terminal.
278 --all
280 This option is only valid for the deinit command. Unregister all
281 submodules in the working tree.
282 -b <branch>, --branch <branch>
284 Branch of repository to add as submodule. The name of the branch is
285 recorded as submodule.<name>.branch in .gitmodules for update
286 --remote. A special value of . is used to indicate that the name
287 of the branch in the submodule should be the same name as the
288 current branch in the current repository. If the option is not
289 specified, it defaults to the remote HEAD.
290 -f, --force
292 This option is only valid for add, deinit and update commands. When
293 running add, allow adding an otherwise ignored submodule path. When
294 running deinit the submodule working trees will be removed even if
295 they contain local changes. When running update (only effective
296 with the checkout procedure), throw away local changes in
297 submodules when switching to a different commit; and always run a
298 checkout operation in the submodule, even if the commit listed in
299 the index of the containing repository matches the commit checked
300 out in the submodule.
301 --cached
303 This option is only valid for status and summary commands. These
304 commands typically use the commit found in the submodule HEAD, but
305 with this option, the commit stored in the index is used instead.
306 --files
308 This option is only valid for the summary command. This command
309 compares the commit in the index with that in the submodule HEAD
310 when this option is used.
311 -n, --summary-limit
313 This option is only valid for the summary command. Limit the
314 summary size (number of commits shown in total). Giving 0 will
315 disable the summary; a negative number means unlimited (the
316 default). This limit only applies to modified submodules. The size
317 is always limited to 1 for added/deleted/typechanged submodules.
318 --remote
320 This option is only valid for the update command. Instead of using
321 the superproject’s recorded SHA-1 to update the submodule, use the
322 status of the submodule’s remote-tracking branch. The remote used
323 is branch’s remote (branch.<name>.remote), defaulting to origin.
324 The remote branch used defaults to the remote HEAD, but the branch
325 name may be overridden by setting the submodule.<name>.branch
326 option in either .gitmodules or .git/config (with .git/config
327 taking precedence).
328 This works for any of the supported update procedures (--checkout,
330 --rebase, etc.). The only change is the source of the target SHA-1.
331 For example, submodule update --remote --merge will merge upstream
332 submodule changes into the submodules, while submodule update
333 --merge will merge superproject gitlink changes into the
334 submodules.
335 In order to ensure a current tracking branch state, update --remote
337 fetches the submodule’s remote repository before calculating the
338 SHA-1. If you don’t want to fetch, you should use submodule update
339 --remote --no-fetch.
340 Use this option to integrate changes from the upstream subproject
342 with your submodule’s current HEAD. Alternatively, you can run git
343 pull from the submodule, which is equivalent except for the remote
344 branch name: update --remote uses the default upstream repository
345 and submodule.<name>.branch, while git pull uses the submodule’s
346 branch.<name>.merge. Prefer submodule.<name>.branch if you want to
347 distribute the default upstream branch with the superproject and
348 branch.<name>.merge if you want a more native feel while working in
349 the submodule itself.
350 -N, --no-fetch
352 This option is only valid for the update command. Don’t fetch new
353 objects from the remote site.
354 --checkout
356 This option is only valid for the update command. Checkout the
357 commit recorded in the superproject on a detached HEAD in the
358 submodule. This is the default behavior, the main use of this
359 option is to override submodule.$name.update when set to a value
360 other than checkout. If the key submodule.$name.update is either
361 not explicitly set or set to checkout, this option is implicit.
362 --merge
364 This option is only valid for the update command. Merge the commit
365 recorded in the superproject into the current branch of the
366 submodule. If this option is given, the submodule’s HEAD will not
367 be detached. If a merge failure prevents this process, you will
368 have to resolve the resulting conflicts within the submodule with
369 the usual conflict resolution tools. If the key
370 submodule.$name.update is set to merge, this option is implicit.
371 --rebase
373 This option is only valid for the update command. Rebase the
374 current branch onto the commit recorded in the superproject. If
375 this option is given, the submodule’s HEAD will not be detached. If
376 a merge failure prevents this process, you will have to resolve
377 these failures with git-rebase(1). If the key
378 submodule.$name.update is set to rebase, this option is implicit.
379 --init
381 This option is only valid for the update command. Initialize all
382 submodules for which "git submodule init" has not been called so
383 far before updating.
384 --name
386 This option is only valid for the add command. It sets the
387 submodule’s name to the given string instead of defaulting to its
388 path. The name must be valid as a directory name and may not end
389 with a /.
390 --reference <repository>
392 This option is only valid for add and update commands. These
393 commands sometimes need to clone a remote repository. In this case,
394 this option will be passed to the git-clone(1) command.
395 NOTE: Do not use this option unless you have read the note for git-
397 clone(1)'s --reference, --shared, and --dissociate options
398 carefully.
399 --dissociate
401 This option is only valid for add and update commands. These
402 commands sometimes need to clone a remote repository. In this case,
403 this option will be passed to the git-clone(1) command.
404 NOTE: see the NOTE for the --reference option.
406 --recursive
408 This option is only valid for foreach, update, status and sync
409 commands. Traverse submodules recursively. The operation is
410 performed not only in the submodules of the current repo, but also
411 in any nested submodules inside those submodules (and so on).
412 --depth
414 This option is valid for add and update commands. Create a shallow
415 clone with a history truncated to the specified number of
416 revisions. See git-clone(1)
417 --[no-]recommend-shallow
419 This option is only valid for the update command. The initial clone
420 of a submodule will use the recommended submodule.<name>.shallow as
421 provided by the .gitmodules file by default. To ignore the
422 suggestions use --no-recommend-shallow.
423 -j <n>, --jobs <n>
425 This option is only valid for the update command. Clone new
426 submodules in parallel with as many jobs. Defaults to the
427 submodule.fetchJobs option.
428 --[no-]single-branch
430 This option is only valid for the update command. Clone only one
431 branch during update: HEAD or one specified by --branch.
432 <path>...
434 Paths to submodule(s). When specified this will restrict the
435 command to only operate on the submodules found at the specified
436 paths. (This argument is required with add).
437
439 When initializing submodules, a .gitmodules file in the top-level
440 directory of the containing repository is used to find the url of each
441 submodule. This file should be formatted in the same way as
442 $GIT_DIR/config. The key to each submodule url is
443 "submodule.$name.url". See gitmodules(5) for details.
444
446 gitsubmodules(7), gitmodules(5).
447
449 Part of the git(1) suite
450Git 2.39.1 2023-01-13 GIT-SUBMODULE(1)