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).
26
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.$name.url in
93 .git/config, using the same setting from .gitmodules as a template.
94 If the URL is relative, it will be resolved using the default
95 remote. If there is no default remote, the current repository will
96 be assumed to be upstream.
97 Optional <path> arguments limit which submodules will be
99 initialized. If no path is specified and submodule.active has been
100 configured, submodules configured to be active will be initialized,
101 otherwise all submodules are initialized.
102 It will also copy the value of submodule.$name.update, if present
104 in the .gitmodules file, to .git/config, but (1) this command does
105 not alter existing information in .git/config, and (2)
106 submodule.$name.update that is set to a custom command is not
107 copied for security reasons.
108 You can then customize the submodule clone URLs in .git/config for
110 your local setup and proceed to git submodule update; you can also
111 just use git submodule update --init without the explicit init step
112 if you do not intend to customize any submodule locations.
113 See the add subcommand for the definition of default remote.
115 deinit [-f|--force] (--all|[--] <path>...)
117 Unregister the given submodules, i.e. remove the whole
118 submodule.$name section from .git/config together with their work
119 tree. Further calls to git submodule update, git submodule foreach
120 and git submodule sync will skip any unregistered submodules until
121 they are initialized again, so use this command if you don’t want
122 to have a local checkout of the submodule in your working tree
123 anymore.
124 When the command is run without pathspec, it errors out, instead of
126 deinit-ing everything, to prevent mistakes.
127 If --force is specified, the submodule’s working tree will be
129 removed even if it contains local modifications.
130 If you really want to remove a submodule from the repository and
132 commit that use git-rm(1) instead. See gitsubmodules(7) for removal
133 options.
134 update [--init] [--remote] [-N|--no-fetch] [--[no-]recommend-shallow]
136 [-f|--force] [--checkout|--rebase|--merge] [--reference <repository>]
137 [--depth <depth>] [--recursive] [--jobs <n>] [--[no-]single-branch]
138 [--filter <filter spec>] [--] [<path>...]
139 Update the registered submodules to match what the superproject
140 expects by cloning missing submodules, fetching missing commits in
141 submodules and updating the working tree of the submodules. The
142 "updating" can be done in several ways depending on command line
143 options and the value of submodule.<name>.update configuration
144 variable. The command line option takes precedence over the
145 configuration variable. If neither is given, a checkout is
146 performed. (note: what is in .gitmodules file is irrelevant at this
147 point; see git submodule init above for how .gitmodules is used).
148 The update procedures supported both from the command line as well
149 as through the submodule.<name>.update configuration are:
150 checkout
152 the commit recorded in the superproject will be checked out in
153 the submodule on a detached HEAD.
154 If --force is specified, the submodule will be checked out
156 (using git checkout --force), even if the commit specified in
157 the index of the containing repository already matches the
158 commit checked out in the submodule.
159 rebase
161 the current branch of the submodule will be rebased onto the
162 commit recorded in the superproject.
163 merge
165 the commit recorded in the superproject will be merged into the
166 current branch in the submodule.
167 The following update procedures have additional limitations:
169 custom command
171 mechanism for running arbitrary commands with the commit ID as
172 an argument. Specifically, if the submodule.<name>.update
173 configuration variable is set to !custom command, the object
174 name of the commit recorded in the superproject for the
175 submodule is appended to the custom command string and
176 executed. Note that this mechanism is not supported in the
177 .gitmodules file or on the command line.
178 none
180 the submodule is not updated. This update procedure is not
181 allowed on the command line.
182 If the submodule is not yet initialized, and you just want to use
184 the setting as stored in .gitmodules, you can automatically
185 initialize the submodule with the --init option.
186 If --recursive is specified, this command will recurse into the
188 registered submodules, and update any nested submodules within.
189 If --filter <filter spec> is specified, the given partial clone
191 filter will be applied to the submodule. See git-rev-list(1) for
192 details on filter specifications.
193 set-branch (-b|--branch) <branch> [--] <path>, set-branch
195 (-d|--default) [--] <path>
196 Sets the default remote tracking branch for the submodule. The
197 --branch option allows the remote branch to be specified. The
198 --default option removes the submodule.<name>.branch configuration
199 key, which causes the tracking branch to default to the remote
200 HEAD.
201 set-url [--] <path> <newurl>
203 Sets the URL of the specified submodule to <newurl>. Then, it will
204 automatically synchronize the submodule’s new remote URL
205 configuration.
206 summary [--cached|--files] [(-n|--summary-limit) <n>] [commit] [--]
208 [<path>...]
209 Show commit summary between the given commit (defaults to HEAD) and
210 working tree/index. For a submodule in question, a series of
211 commits in the submodule between the given super project commit and
212 the index or working tree (switched by --cached) are shown. If the
213 option --files is given, show the series of commits in the
214 submodule between the index of the super project and the working
215 tree of the submodule (this option doesn’t allow to use the
216 --cached option or to provide an explicit commit).
217 Using the --submodule=log option with git-diff(1) will provide that
219 information too.
220 foreach [--recursive] <command>
222 Evaluates an arbitrary shell command in each checked out submodule.
223 The command has access to the variables $name, $sm_path,
224 $displaypath, $sha1 and $toplevel: $name is the name of the
225 relevant submodule section in .gitmodules, $sm_path is the path of
226 the submodule as recorded in the immediate superproject,
227 $displaypath contains the relative path from the current working
228 directory to the submodules root directory, $sha1 is the commit as
229 recorded in the immediate superproject, and $toplevel is the
230 absolute path to the top-level of the immediate superproject. Note
231 that to avoid conflicts with $PATH on Windows, the $path variable
232 is now a deprecated synonym of $sm_path variable. Any submodules
233 defined in the superproject but not checked out are ignored by this
234 command. Unless given --quiet, foreach prints the name of each
235 submodule before evaluating the command. If --recursive is given,
236 submodules are traversed recursively (i.e. the given shell command
237 is evaluated in nested submodules as well). A non-zero return from
238 the command in any submodule causes the processing to terminate.
239 This can be overridden by adding || : to the end of the command.
240 As an example, the command below will show the path and currently
242 checked out commit for each submodule:
243 git submodule foreach 'echo $sm_path `git rev-parse HEAD`'
245 sync [--recursive] [--] [<path>...]
247 Synchronizes submodules' remote URL configuration setting to the
248 value specified in .gitmodules. It will only affect those
249 submodules which already have a URL entry in .git/config (that is
250 the case when they are initialized or freshly added). This is
251 useful when submodule URLs change upstream and you need to update
252 your local repositories accordingly.
253 git submodule sync synchronizes all submodules while git submodule
255 sync -- A synchronizes submodule "A" only.
256 If --recursive is specified, this command will recurse into the
258 registered submodules, and sync any nested submodules within.
259 absorbgitdirs
261 If a git directory of a submodule is inside the submodule, move the
262 git directory of the submodule into its superproject’s
263 $GIT_DIR/modules path and then connect the git directory and its
264 working directory by setting the core.worktree and adding a .git
265 file pointing to the git directory embedded in the superprojects
266 git directory.
267 A repository that was cloned independently and later added as a
269 submodule or old setups have the submodules git directory inside
270 the submodule instead of embedded into the superprojects git
271 directory.
272 This command is recursive by default.
274
276 -q, --quiet
277 Only print error messages.
278 --progress
280 This option is only valid for add and update commands. Progress
281 status is reported on the standard error stream by default when it
282 is attached to a terminal, unless -q is specified. This flag forces
283 progress status even if the standard error stream is not directed
284 to a terminal.
285 --all
287 This option is only valid for the deinit command. Unregister all
288 submodules in the working tree.
289 -b <branch>, --branch <branch>
291 Branch of repository to add as submodule. The name of the branch is
292 recorded as submodule.<name>.branch in .gitmodules for update
293 --remote. A special value of . is used to indicate that the name
294 of the branch in the submodule should be the same name as the
295 current branch in the current repository. If the option is not
296 specified, it defaults to the remote HEAD.
297 -f, --force
299 This option is only valid for add, deinit and update commands. When
300 running add, allow adding an otherwise ignored submodule path. When
301 running deinit the submodule working trees will be removed even if
302 they contain local changes. When running update (only effective
303 with the checkout procedure), throw away local changes in
304 submodules when switching to a different commit; and always run a
305 checkout operation in the submodule, even if the commit listed in
306 the index of the containing repository matches the commit checked
307 out in the submodule.
308 --cached
310 This option is only valid for status and summary commands. These
311 commands typically use the commit found in the submodule HEAD, but
312 with this option, the commit stored in the index is used instead.
313 --files
315 This option is only valid for the summary command. This command
316 compares the commit in the index with that in the submodule HEAD
317 when this option is used.
318 -n, --summary-limit
320 This option is only valid for the summary command. Limit the
321 summary size (number of commits shown in total). Giving 0 will
322 disable the summary; a negative number means unlimited (the
323 default). This limit only applies to modified submodules. The size
324 is always limited to 1 for added/deleted/typechanged submodules.
325 --remote
327 This option is only valid for the update command. Instead of using
328 the superproject’s recorded SHA-1 to update the submodule, use the
329 status of the submodule’s remote-tracking branch. The remote used
330 is branch’s remote (branch.<name>.remote), defaulting to origin.
331 The remote branch used defaults to the remote HEAD, but the branch
332 name may be overridden by setting the submodule.<name>.branch
333 option in either .gitmodules or .git/config (with .git/config
334 taking precedence).
335 This works for any of the supported update procedures (--checkout,
337 --rebase, etc.). The only change is the source of the target SHA-1.
338 For example, submodule update --remote --merge will merge upstream
339 submodule changes into the submodules, while submodule update
340 --merge will merge superproject gitlink changes into the
341 submodules.
342 In order to ensure a current tracking branch state, update --remote
344 fetches the submodule’s remote repository before calculating the
345 SHA-1. If you don’t want to fetch, you should use submodule update
346 --remote --no-fetch.
347 Use this option to integrate changes from the upstream subproject
349 with your submodule’s current HEAD. Alternatively, you can run git
350 pull from the submodule, which is equivalent except for the remote
351 branch name: update --remote uses the default upstream repository
352 and submodule.<name>.branch, while git pull uses the submodule’s
353 branch.<name>.merge. Prefer submodule.<name>.branch if you want to
354 distribute the default upstream branch with the superproject and
355 branch.<name>.merge if you want a more native feel while working in
356 the submodule itself.
357 -N, --no-fetch
359 This option is only valid for the update command. Don’t fetch new
360 objects from the remote site.
361 --checkout
363 This option is only valid for the update command. Checkout the
364 commit recorded in the superproject on a detached HEAD in the
365 submodule. This is the default behavior, the main use of this
366 option is to override submodule.$name.update when set to a value
367 other than checkout. If the key submodule.$name.update is either
368 not explicitly set or set to checkout, this option is implicit.
369 --merge
371 This option is only valid for the update command. Merge the commit
372 recorded in the superproject into the current branch of the
373 submodule. If this option is given, the submodule’s HEAD will not
374 be detached. If a merge failure prevents this process, you will
375 have to resolve the resulting conflicts within the submodule with
376 the usual conflict resolution tools. If the key
377 submodule.$name.update is set to merge, this option is implicit.
378 --rebase
380 This option is only valid for the update command. Rebase the
381 current branch onto the commit recorded in the superproject. If
382 this option is given, the submodule’s HEAD will not be detached. If
383 a merge failure prevents this process, you will have to resolve
384 these failures with git-rebase(1). If the key
385 submodule.$name.update is set to rebase, this option is implicit.
386 --init
388 This option is only valid for the update command. Initialize all
389 submodules for which "git submodule init" has not been called so
390 far before updating.
391 --name
393 This option is only valid for the add command. It sets the
394 submodule’s name to the given string instead of defaulting to its
395 path. The name must be valid as a directory name and may not end
396 with a /.
397 --reference <repository>
399 This option is only valid for add and update commands. These
400 commands sometimes need to clone a remote repository. In this case,
401 this option will be passed to the git-clone(1) command.
402 NOTE: Do not use this option unless you have read the note for git-
404 clone(1)'s --reference, --shared, and --dissociate options
405 carefully.
406 --dissociate
408 This option is only valid for add and update commands. These
409 commands sometimes need to clone a remote repository. In this case,
410 this option will be passed to the git-clone(1) command.
411 NOTE: see the NOTE for the --reference option.
413 --recursive
415 This option is only valid for foreach, update, status and sync
416 commands. Traverse submodules recursively. The operation is
417 performed not only in the submodules of the current repo, but also
418 in any nested submodules inside those submodules (and so on).
419 --depth
421 This option is valid for add and update commands. Create a shallow
422 clone with a history truncated to the specified number of
423 revisions. See git-clone(1)
424 --[no-]recommend-shallow
426 This option is only valid for the update command. The initial clone
427 of a submodule will use the recommended submodule.<name>.shallow as
428 provided by the .gitmodules file by default. To ignore the
429 suggestions use --no-recommend-shallow.
430 -j <n>, --jobs <n>
432 This option is only valid for the update command. Clone new
433 submodules in parallel with as many jobs. Defaults to the
434 submodule.fetchJobs option.
435 --[no-]single-branch
437 This option is only valid for the update command. Clone only one
438 branch during update: HEAD or one specified by --branch.
439 <path>...
441 Paths to submodule(s). When specified this will restrict the
442 command to only operate on the submodules found at the specified
443 paths. (This argument is required with add).
444
446 When initializing submodules, a .gitmodules file in the top-level
447 directory of the containing repository is used to find the url of each
448 submodule. This file should be formatted in the same way as
449 $GIT_DIR/config. The key to each submodule url is
450 "submodule.$name.url". See gitmodules(5) for details.
451
453 gitsubmodules(7), gitmodules(5).
454
456 Part of the git(1) suite
457Git 2.43.0 11/20/2023 GIT-SUBMODULE(1)