The ability to provide a commit message for git commit --fixup and its
variations is limited:
* Plain --fixup only allows using the -m flag
* The amend/reword --fixup variants only allow supplying the message
using an editor
For amend/reword, the -m and -F flags are rejected: -m is caught by a
die() in prepare_to_commit(), and -F is caught by
die_for_incompatible_opt4() which groups -F with --fixup as mutually
exclusive. This makes these modes poorly suited for non-interactive
workflows -- notably when using AI coding agents.
When support to use the -m option was introduced in [1] it was noted
that there could be support for other options but at the time the use
case was deemed too niche. Later, when the amend suboption was
introduced in [2] -m support for amend fixups was discussed but not
pursued, and -F was already caught by the higher-layer incompatibility
check grouping it with --fixup.
The rejections of these options hark back to when --fixup was
introduced in [3] and as noted in [1] -- there's nothing inherently
preventing support for them. The current patchwork of which flags
work with which --fixup variants has no strong logic to it, and
allowing all of them simplifies both the code and the interface.
Allow -m and -F to supply the message body for all --fixup variations,
mirroring the flow of a regular commit. -c and -C, which are blocked
by the same incompatibility check, are handled in the next commit.
1. 30884c9afc (commit: add support for --fixup <commit> -m"<extra
message>", 2017-12-22)
2. 494d314a05 (commit: add amend suboption to --fixup to create amend!
commit, 2021-03-15)
3. d71b8ba7c9 (commit: --fixup option for use with rebase --autosquash,
2010-11-02)
Helped-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Suggested-by: Phillip Wood <phillip.wood123@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Erik Cervin-Edin <erik@cervined.in>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Erik Cervin-Edin committedMay 26, 2026 at 12:47 UTC30eb1e6579559f5fc3127b32c5e9b55b5b418cd6
3 files changed+69-39
Documentation/git-commit.adoc
+10-8
index 8329c1034b..61efd29e66 100644--- a/Documentation/git-commit.adoc+++ b/Documentation/git-commit.adoc@@ -103,20 +103,21 @@ include::diff-context-options.adoc[] The commit created by plain `--fixup=<commit>` has a title composed of "fixup!" followed by the title of _<commit>_, and is recognized specially by `git rebase --autosquash`. The `-m`-option may be used to supplement the log message of the created-commit, but the additional commentary will be thrown away once the-"fixup!" commit is squashed into _<commit>_ by+or `-F` option may be used to supplement the log message+of the created commit, but the additional commentary will be thrown+away once the "fixup!" commit is squashed into _<commit>_ by `git rebase --autosquash`. + The commit created by `--fixup=amend:<commit>` is similar but its title is instead prefixed with "amend!". The log message of _<commit>_ is copied into the log message of the "amend!" commit and-opened in an editor so it can be refined. When `git rebase---autosquash` squashes the "amend!" commit into _<commit>_, the-log message of _<commit>_ is replaced by the refined log message-from the "amend!" commit. It is an error for the "amend!" commit's-log message to be empty unless `--allow-empty-message` is-specified.+opened in an editor so it can be refined. The replacement message may+also be supplied directly using `-m` or `-F`, bypassing the+need to open an editor. When `git rebase+--autosquash` squashes the "amend!" commit into _<commit>_, the log+message of _<commit>_ is replaced by the refined log message from the+"amend!" commit. It is an error for the "amend!" commit's log message+to be empty unless `--allow-empty-message` is specified. + `--fixup=reword:<commit>` is shorthand for `--fixup=amend:<commit> --only`. It creates an "amend!" commit with only a log message
builtin/commit.c
+17-17
index 28f6174503..3f1fca2919 100644--- a/builtin/commit.c+++ b/builtin/commit.c@@ -804,18 +804,18 @@ static int prepare_to_commit(const char *index_file, const char *prefix, if (have_option_m && !fixup_message) { strbuf_addbuf(&sb, &message); hook_arg1 = "message";- } else if (logfile && !strcmp(logfile, "-")) {+ } else if (logfile && !fixup_message && !strcmp(logfile, "-")) { if (isatty(0)) fprintf(stderr, _("(reading log message from standard input)\n")); if (strbuf_read(&sb, 0, 0) < 0) die_errno(_("could not read log from standard input")); hook_arg1 = "message";- } else if (logfile) {+ } else if (logfile && !fixup_message) { if (strbuf_read_file(&sb, logfile, 0) < 0) die_errno(_("could not read log file '%s'"), logfile); hook_arg1 = "message";- } else if (use_message) {+ } else if (use_message && !fixup_message) { const char *buffer; buffer = strstr(use_message_buffer, "\n\n"); if (buffer)@@ -837,20 +837,21 @@ static int prepare_to_commit(const char *index_file, const char *prefix, hook_arg1 = "message"; /*- * Only `-m` commit message option is checked here, as- * it supports `--fixup` to append the commit message.- *- * The other commit message options `-c`/`-C`/`-F` are- * incompatible with all the forms of `--fixup` and- * have already errored out while parsing the `git commit`- * options.+ * Only `-m` and `-F` are handled here. `-c`/`-C` are+ * incompatible with --fixup and have already errored out+ * during option parsing. */- if (have_option_m && !strcmp(fixup_prefix, "fixup"))+ if (have_option_m) { strbuf_addbuf(&sb, &message);-- if (!strcmp(fixup_prefix, "amend")) {- if (have_option_m)- die(_("options '%s' and '%s:%s' cannot be used together"), "-m", "--fixup", fixup_message);+ } else if (logfile && !strcmp(logfile, "-")) {+ if (isatty(0))+ fprintf(stderr, _("(reading log message from standard input)\n"));+ if (strbuf_read(&sb, 0, 0) < 0)+ die_errno(_("could not read log from standard input"));+ } else if (logfile) {+ if (strbuf_read_file(&sb, logfile, 0) < 0)+ die_errno(_("could not read log file '%s'"), logfile);+ } else if (!strcmp(fixup_prefix, "amend")) { prepare_amend_commit(commit, &sb, &ctx); } } else if (!stat(git_path_merge_msg(the_repository), &statbuf)) {@@ -1338,9 +1339,8 @@ static int parse_and_validate_options(int argc, const char *argv[], } if (fixup_message && squash_message) die(_("options '%s' and '%s' cannot be used together"), "--squash", "--fixup");- die_for_incompatible_opt4(!!use_message, "-C",+ die_for_incompatible_opt3(!!use_message, "-C", !!edit_message, "-c",- !!logfile, "-F", !!fixup_message, "--fixup"); die_for_incompatible_opt4(have_option_m, "-m", !!edit_message, "-c",
t/t7500-commit-template-squash-signoff.sh
+42-14
index 66aff8e097..01c7400136 100755--- a/t/t7500-commit-template-squash-signoff.sh+++ b/t/t7500-commit-template-squash-signoff.sh@@ -384,18 +384,24 @@ test_expect_success '--fixup=reword: ignores staged changes' ' test_cmp foo actual '-test_expect_success '--fixup=reword: error out with -m option' '+test_expect_success 'commit --fixup=reword: works with -m' ' commit_for_rebase_autosquash_setup &&- echo "fatal: options '\''-m'\'' and '\''--fixup:reword'\'' cannot be used together" >expect &&- test_must_fail git commit --fixup=reword:HEAD~ -m "reword commit message" 2>actual &&- test_cmp expect actual+ git commit --fixup=reword:HEAD~ -m "reword commit message" &&+ test_commit_message HEAD <<-EOF+ amend! $(git log -1 --format=%s HEAD~2)++ reword commit message+ EOF '-test_expect_success '--fixup=amend: error out with -m option' '+test_expect_success 'commit --fixup=amend: works with -m' ' commit_for_rebase_autosquash_setup &&- echo "fatal: options '\''-m'\'' and '\''--fixup:amend'\'' cannot be used together" >expect &&- test_must_fail git commit --fixup=amend:HEAD~ -m "amend commit message" 2>actual &&- test_cmp expect actual+ git commit --fixup=amend:HEAD~ -m "amend commit message" &&+ test_commit_message HEAD <<-EOF+ amend! $(git log -1 --format=%s HEAD~2)++ amend commit message+ EOF ' test_expect_success 'consecutive amend! commits remove amend! line from commit msg body' '@@ -432,6 +438,13 @@ test_expect_success 'deny to create amend! commit if its commit msg body is empt test_cmp expected actual '+test_expect_success 'deny to create amend! commit if -m is empty' '+ commit_for_rebase_autosquash_setup &&+ echo "Aborting commit due to empty commit message body." >expect &&+ test_must_fail git commit --fixup=amend:HEAD~ -m "" 2>actual &&+ test_cmp expect actual+'+ test_expect_success 'amend! commit allows empty commit msg body with --allow-empty-message' ' commit_for_rebase_autosquash_setup && cat >expected <<-EOF &&@@ -468,10 +481,26 @@ test_expect_success '--fixup=reword: give error with pathsec' ' test_cmp expect actual '-test_expect_success '--fixup=reword: -F give error message' '- echo "fatal: options '\''-F'\'' and '\''--fixup'\'' cannot be used together" >expect &&- test_must_fail git commit --fixup=reword:HEAD~ -F msg 2>actual &&- test_cmp expect actual+test_expect_success 'commit --fixup works with -F' '+ commit_for_rebase_autosquash_setup &&+ echo "message" >msgfile &&+ git commit --fixup HEAD~ -F msgfile &&+ test_commit_message HEAD <<-EOF+ fixup! $(git log -1 --format=%s HEAD~2)++ message+ EOF+'++test_expect_success 'commit --fixup=reword: works with -F' '+ commit_for_rebase_autosquash_setup &&+ echo "message from file" >msgfile &&+ git commit --fixup=reword:HEAD~ -F msgfile &&+ test_commit_message HEAD <<-EOF+ amend! $(git log -1 --format=%s HEAD~2)++ $(cat msgfile)+ EOF ' test_expect_success 'commit --squash works with -F' '@@ -526,8 +555,7 @@ test_expect_success 'invalid message options when using --fixup' ' git add foo && test_must_fail git commit --fixup HEAD~1 --squash HEAD~2 && test_must_fail git commit --fixup HEAD~1 -C HEAD~2 &&- test_must_fail git commit --fixup HEAD~1 -c HEAD~2 &&- test_must_fail git commit --fixup HEAD~1 -F log+ test_must_fail git commit --fixup HEAD~1 -c HEAD~2 ' cat >expected-template <<EOF