# git-tag

## NAME



           git-tag - Create, list, delete or verify a tag object signed with
           GPG
    


## SYNOPSIS



           _git tag_ [-a | -s | -u <key-id>] [-f] [-m <msg> | -F <file>] [-e]
                   [(--trailer <token>[(=|:)<value>])...]
                   <tagname> [<commit> | <object>]
           _git tag_ -d <tagname>...
           _git tag_ [-n[<num>]] -l [--contains <commit>] [--no-contains <commit>]
                   [--points-at <object>] [--column[=<options>] | --no-column]
                   [--create-reflog] [--sort=<key>] [--format=<format>]
                   [--merged <commit>] [--no-merged <commit>] [<pattern>...]
           _git tag_ -v [--format=<format>] <tagname>...
    


## DESCRIPTION



           Add a tag reference in **refs/tags/** , unless **-d/-l/-v** is given to
           delete, list or verify tags.
    
           Unless **-f** is given, the named tag must not yet exist.
    
           If one of **-a** , **-s** , or **-u** _< key-id>_ is passed, the command creates a
           _tag_ object, and requires a tag message. Unless **-m** _< msg>_ or **-F**
           _< file>_ is given, an editor is started for the user to type in the
           tag message.
    
           If **-m** _< msg>_ or **-F** _< file>_ or **--trailer** _< token>_[**=**_< value>_] is given
           and **-a** , **-s** , and **-u** _< key-id>_ are absent, **-a** is implied.
    
           Otherwise, a tag reference that points directly at the given
           object (i.e., a lightweight tag) is created.
    
           A GnuPG signed tag object will be created when **-s** or **-u** _< key-id>_
           is used. When **-u** _< key-id>_ is not used, the committer identity for
           the current user is used to find the GnuPG key for signing. The
           configuration variable **gpg.program** is used to specify custom GnuPG
           binary.
    
           Tag objects (created with **-a** , **-s** , or **-u**) are called "annotated"
           tags; they contain a creation date, the tagger name and e-mail, a
           tagging message, and an optional GnuPG signature. Whereas a
           "lightweight" tag is simply a name for an object (usually a commit
           object).
    
           Annotated tags are meant for release while lightweight tags are
           meant for private or temporary object labels. For this reason,
           some git commands for naming objects (like **git describe**) will
           ignore lightweight tags by default.
    


## OPTIONS



           -a, --annotate
               Make an unsigned, annotated tag object
    
           -s, --sign
               Make a GPG-signed tag, using the default e-mail address’s key.
               The default behavior of tag GPG-signing is controlled by
               **tag.gpgSign** configuration variable if it exists, or disabled
               otherwise. See git-config(1).
    
           --no-sign
               Override **tag.gpgSign** configuration variable that is set to
               force each and every tag to be signed.
    
           -u <key-id>, --local-user=<key-id>
               Make a GPG-signed tag, using the given key.
    
           -f, --force
               Replace an existing tag with the given name (instead of
               failing)
    
           -d, --delete
               Delete existing tags with the given names.
    
           -v, --verify
               Verify the GPG signature of the given tag names.
    
           -n<num>
               <num> specifies how many lines from the annotation, if any,
               are printed when using -l. Implies **--list**.
    
               The default is not to print any annotation lines. If no number
               is given to **-n** , only the first line is printed. If the tag is
               not annotated, the commit message is displayed instead.
    
           -l, --list
               List tags. With optional _< pattern>_..., e.g.  **git tag --list**
               'v-*', list only the tags that match the pattern(s).
    
               Running "git tag" without arguments also lists all tags. The
               pattern is a shell wildcard (i.e., matched using fnmatch(3)).
               Multiple patterns may be given; if any of them matches, the
               tag is shown.
    
               This option is implicitly supplied if any other list-like
               option such as **--contains** is provided. See the documentation
               for each of those options for details.
    
           --sort=<key>
               Sort based on the key given. Prefix **-** to sort in descending
               order of the value. You may use the --sort=<key> option
               multiple times, in which case the last key becomes the primary
               key. Also supports "version:refname" or "v:refname" (tag names
               are treated as versions). The "version:refname" sort order can
               also be affected by the "versionsort.suffix" configuration
               variable. The keys supported are the same as those in **git**
               **for-each-ref**. Sort order defaults to the value configured for
               the **tag.sort** variable if it exists, or lexicographic order
               otherwise. See git-config(1).
    
           --color[=<when>]
               Respect any colors specified in the **--format** option. The
               _< when>_ field must be one of **always** , **never** , or **auto**(if _< when>_
               is absent, behave as if **always** was given).
    
           -i, --ignore-case
               Sorting and filtering tags are case insensitive.
    
           --omit-empty
               Do not print a newline after formatted refs where the format
               expands to the empty string.
    
           --column[=<options>], --no-column
               Display tag listing in columns. See configuration variable
               **column.tag** for option syntax.  **--column** and **--no-column**
               without options are equivalent to _always_ and _never_
               respectively.
    
               This option is only applicable when listing tags without
               annotation lines.
    
           --contains [<commit>]
               Only list tags which contain the specified commit (HEAD if not
               specified). Implies **--list**.
    
           --no-contains [<commit>]
               Only list tags which don’t contain the specified commit (HEAD
               if not specified). Implies **--list**.
    
           --merged [<commit>]
               Only list tags whose commits are reachable from the specified
               commit (**HEAD** if not specified).
    
           --no-merged [<commit>]
               Only list tags whose commits are not reachable from the
               specified commit (**HEAD** if not specified).
    
           --points-at <object>
               Only list tags of the given object (HEAD if not specified).
               Implies **--list**.
    
           -m <msg>, --message=<msg>
               Use the given tag message (instead of prompting). If multiple
               **-m** options are given, their values are concatenated as
               separate paragraphs. Implies **-a** if none of **-a** , **-s** , or **-u**
               _< key-id>_ is given.
    
           -F <file>, --file=<file>
               Take the tag message from the given file. Use _-_ to read the
               message from the standard input. Implies **-a** if none of **-a** , **-s** ,
               or **-u** _< key-id>_ is given.
    
           --trailer <token>[(=|:)<value>]
               Specify a (<token>, <value>) pair that should be applied as a
               trailer. (e.g.  **git tag --trailer** "Custom-Key: **value** " will add
               a "Custom-Key" trailer to the tag message.) The **trailer.***
               configuration variables (git-interpret-trailers(1)) can be
               used to define if a duplicated trailer is omitted, where in
               the run of trailers each trailer would appear, and other
               details. The trailers can be extracted in **git tag --list** ,
               using **--format=** "%(**trailers**)" placeholder.
    
           -e, --edit
               The message taken from file with **-F** and command line with **-m**
               are usually used as the tag message unmodified. This option
               lets you further edit the message taken from these sources.
    
           --cleanup=<mode>
               This option sets how the tag message is cleaned up. The _< mode>_
               can be one of _verbatim_ , _whitespace_ and _strip_. The _strip_ mode
               is default. The _verbatim_ mode does not change message at all,
               _whitespace_ removes just leading/trailing whitespace lines and
               _strip_ removes both whitespace and commentary.
    
           --create-reflog
               Create a reflog for the tag. To globally enable reflogs for
               tags, see **core.logAllRefUpdates** in git-config(1). The negated
               form **--no-create-reflog** only overrides an earlier
               **--create-reflog** , but currently does not negate the setting of
               **core.logAllRefUpdates**.
    
           --format=<format>
               A string that interpolates **%**(**fieldname**) from a tag ref being
               shown and the object it points at. The format is the same as
               that of git-for-each-ref(1). When unspecified, defaults to
               **%**(**refname:strip=2**).
    
           <tagname>
               The name of the tag to create, delete, or describe. The new
               tag name must pass all checks defined by
               git-check-ref-format(1). Some of these checks may restrict the
               characters allowed in a tag name.
    
           <commit>, <object>
               The object that the new tag will refer to, usually a commit.
               Defaults to HEAD.
    


## CONFIGURATION



           By default, _git tag_ in sign-with-default mode (-s) will use your
           committer identity (of the form **Your Name** <your@email.address>) to
           find a key. If you want to use a different default key, you can
           specify it in the repository configuration as follows:
    
               [user]
                   signingKey = <gpg-key-id>
    
           **pager.tag** is only respected when listing tags, i.e., when **-l** is
           used or implied. The default is to use a pager. See git-config(1).
    


## DISCUSSION



       **On Re-tagging**
           What should you do when you tag a wrong commit and you would want
           to re-tag?
    
           If you never pushed anything out, just re-tag it. Use "-f" to
           replace the old one. And you’re done.
    
           But if you have pushed things out (or others could just read your
           repository directly), then others will have already seen the old
           tag. In that case you can do one of two things:
    
            1. The sane thing. Just admit you screwed up, and use a different
               name. Others have already seen one tag-name, and if you keep
               the same name, you may be in the situation that two people
               both have "version X", but they actually have _different_ "X"'s.
               So just call it "X.1" and be done with it.
    
            2. The insane thing. You really want to call the new version "X"
               too, _even though_ others have already seen the old one. So just
               use _git tag -f_ again, as if you hadn’t already published the
               old one.
    
           However, Git does **not**(and it should not) change tags behind users
           back. So if somebody already got the old tag, doing a _git pull_ on
           your tree shouldn’t just make them overwrite the old one.
    
           If somebody got a release tag from you, you cannot just change the
           tag for them by updating your own one. This is a big security
           issue, in that people MUST be able to trust their tag-names. If
           you really want to do the insane thing, you need to just fess up
           to it, and tell people that you messed up. You can do that by
           making a very public announcement saying:
    
               Ok, I messed up, and I pushed out an earlier version tagged as X. I
               then fixed something, and retagged the *fixed* tree as X again.
    
               If you got the wrong tag, and want the new one, please delete
               the old one and fetch the new one by doing:
    
                       git tag -d X
                       git fetch origin tag X
    
               to get my updated tag.
    
               You can test which tag you have by doing
    
                       git rev-parse X
    
               which should return 0123456789abcdef.. if you have the new version.
    
               Sorry for the inconvenience.
    
           Does this seem a bit complicated? It **should** be. There is no way
           that it would be correct to just "fix" it automatically. People
           need to know that their tags might have been changed.
    
       **On Automatic following**
           If you are following somebody else’s tree, you are most likely
           using remote-tracking branches (eg. **refs/remotes/origin/master**).
           You usually want the tags from the other end.
    
           On the other hand, if you are fetching because you would want a
           one-shot merge from somebody else, you typically do not want to
           get tags from there. This happens more often for people near the
           toplevel but not limited to them. Mere mortals when pulling from
           each other do not necessarily want to automatically get private
           anchor point tags from the other person.
    
           Often, "please pull" messages on the mailing list just provide two
           pieces of information: a repo URL and a branch name; this is
           designed to be easily cut&pasted at the end of a _git fetch_ command
           line:
    
               Linus, please pull from
    
                       git://git..../proj.git master
    
               to get the following updates...
    
           becomes:
    
               $ git pull git://git..../proj.git master
    
           In such a case, you do not want to automatically follow the other
           person’s tags.
    
           One important aspect of Git is its distributed nature, which
           largely means there is no inherent "upstream" or "downstream" in
           the system. On the face of it, the above example might seem to
           indicate that the tag namespace is owned by the upper echelon of
           people and that tags only flow downwards, but that is not the
           case. It only shows that the usage pattern determines who are
           interested in whose tags.
    
           A one-shot pull is a sign that a commit history is now crossing
           the boundary between one circle of people (e.g. "people who are
           primarily interested in the networking part of the kernel") who
           may have their own set of tags (e.g. "this is the third release
           candidate from the networking group to be proposed for general
           consumption with 2.6.21 release") to another circle of people
           (e.g. "people who integrate various subsystem improvements"). The
           latter are usually not interested in the detailed tags used
           internally in the former group (that is what "internal" means).
           That is why it is desirable not to follow tags automatically in
           this case.
    
           It may well be that among networking people, they may want to
           exchange the tags internal to their group, but in that workflow
           they are most likely tracking each other’s progress by having
           remote-tracking branches. Again, the heuristic to automatically
           follow such tags is a good thing.
    
       **On Backdating Tags**
           If you have imported some changes from another VCS and would like
           to add tags for major releases of your work, it is useful to be
           able to specify the date to embed inside of the tag object; such
           data in the tag object affects, for example, the ordering of tags
           in the gitweb interface.
    
           To set the date used in future tag objects, set the environment
           variable GIT_COMMITTER_DATE (see the later discussion of possible
           values; the most common form is "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM").
    
           For example:
    
               $ GIT_COMMITTER_DATE="2006-10-02 10:31" git tag -s v1.0.1
    


## DATE FORMATS



           The **GIT_AUTHOR_DATE** and **GIT_COMMITTER_DATE** environment variables
           support the following date formats:
    
           Git internal format
               It is _< unix-timestamp> <time-zone-offset>_, where
               _< unix-timestamp>_ is the number of seconds since the UNIX
               epoch.  _< time-zone-offset>_ is a positive or negative offset
               from UTC. For example CET (which is 1 hour ahead of UTC) is
               **+0100**.
    
           RFC 2822
               The standard date format as described by RFC 2822, for example
               **Thu** , **07 Apr 2005 22:13:13 +0200**.
    
           ISO 8601
               Time and date specified by the ISO 8601 standard, for example
               **2005-04-07T22:13:13**. The parser accepts a space instead of the
               **T** character as well. Fractional parts of a second will be
               ignored, for example **2005-04-07T22:13:13.019** will be treated
               as **2005-04-07T22:13:13**.
    
                   **Note**
                   In addition, the date part is accepted in the following
                   formats: **YYYY.MM.DD** , **MM/DD/YYYY** and **DD.MM.YYYY**.
    


## FILES



           **$GIT_DIR/TAG_EDITMSG**
               This file contains the message of an in-progress annotated
               tag. If **git tag** exits due to an error before creating an
               annotated tag then the tag message that has been provided by
               the user in an editor session will be available in this file,
               but may be overwritten by the next invocation of **git tag**.
    


## NOTES



           When combining multiple **--contains** and **--no-contains** filters, only
           references that contain at least one of the **--contains** commits and
           contain none of the **--no-contains** commits are shown.
    
           When combining multiple **--merged** and **--no-merged** filters, only
           references that are reachable from at least one of the **--merged**
           commits and from none of the **--no-merged** commits are shown.
    


## GIT



           Part of the git(1) suite
    


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