format-patch: add commitListFormat config
Using "--cover-letter" we can tell format-patch to generate a cover letter, in this cover letter there's a list of commits included in the patch series and the format is specified by the "--cover-letter-format" option. Would be useful if this format could be configured from the config file instead of always needing to pass it from the command line. Teach format-patch how to read the format spec for the cover letter from the config files. The variable it should look for is called format.commitListFormat. Possible values: - commitListFormat is set but no string is passed: it will default to "[%(count)/%(total)] %s" - if a string is passed: will use it as a format spec. Note that this is either "shortlog" or a format spec prefixed by "log:" e.g."log:%s (%an)" - if commitListFormat is not set: it will default to the shortlog format. Signed-off-by: Mirko Faina <mroik@delayed.space> Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Mirko Faina committed
Mar 7, 2026 at 00:34 UTC
be0ef6fcd2379ea3dc1569d6d8c360d6d59d031f
2 files changed
+74
builtin/log.c
+21
@@ -886,6 +886,7 @@ struct format_config {
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char *signature;
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char *signature_file;
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enum cover_setting config_cover_letter;
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+ char *fmt_cover_letter_commit_list;
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char *config_output_directory;
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enum cover_from_description cover_from_description_mode;
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int show_notes;
@@ -930,6 +931,7 @@ static void format_config_release(struct format_config *cfg)
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string_list_clear(&cfg->extra_cc, 0);
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strbuf_release(&cfg->sprefix);
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free(cfg->fmt_patch_suffix);
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+ free(cfg->fmt_cover_letter_commit_list);
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}
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static enum cover_from_description parse_cover_from_description(const char *arg)
@@ -1052,6 +1054,19 @@ static int git_format_config(const char *var, const char *value,
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cfg->config_cover_letter = git_config_bool(var, value) ? COVER_ON : COVER_OFF;
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return 0;
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}
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+ if (!strcmp(var, "format.commitlistformat")) {
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+ struct strbuf tmp = STRBUF_INIT;
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+ strbuf_init(&tmp, 0);
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+ if (value)
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+ strbuf_addstr(&tmp, value);
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+ else
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+ strbuf_addstr(&tmp, "log:[%(count)/%(total)] %s");
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+
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+ FREE_AND_NULL(cfg->fmt_cover_letter_commit_list);
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+ git_config_string(&cfg->fmt_cover_letter_commit_list, var, tmp.buf);
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+ strbuf_release(&tmp);
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+ return 0;
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+ }
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if (!strcmp(var, "format.outputdirectory")) {
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FREE_AND_NULL(cfg->config_output_directory);
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return git_config_string(&cfg->config_output_directory, var, value);
@@ -2329,6 +2344,12 @@ int cmd_format_patch(int argc,
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goto done;
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total = list.nr;
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+ if (!cover_letter_fmt) {
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+ cover_letter_fmt = cfg.fmt_cover_letter_commit_list;
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+ if (!cover_letter_fmt)
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+ cover_letter_fmt = "shortlog";
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+ }
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+
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if (cover_letter == -1) {
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if (cfg.config_cover_letter == COVER_AUTO)
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cover_letter = (total > 1);
t/t4014-format-patch.sh
+53
@@ -428,6 +428,59 @@ test_expect_success 'cover letter no format' '
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test_line_count = 1 result
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'
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+test_expect_success 'cover letter config with count, subject and author' '
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+ test_when_finished "rm -rf patches result" &&
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+ test_when_finished "git config unset format.coverletter" &&
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+ test_when_finished "git config unset format.commitlistformat" &&
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+ git config set format.coverletter true &&
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+ git config set format.commitlistformat "log:[%(count)/%(total)] %s (%an)" &&
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+ git format-patch -o patches HEAD~2 &&
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+ grep -E "^[[[:digit:]]+/[[:digit:]]+] .* \(A U Thor\)" patches/0000-cover-letter.patch >result &&
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+ test_line_count = 2 result
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+'
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+
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+test_expect_success 'cover letter config with count and author' '
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+ test_when_finished "rm -rf patches result" &&
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+ test_when_finished "git config unset format.coverletter" &&
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+ test_when_finished "git config unset format.commitlistformat" &&
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+ git config set format.coverletter true &&
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+ git config set format.commitlistformat "log:[%(count)/%(total)] (%an)" &&
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+ git format-patch -o patches HEAD~2 &&
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+ grep -E "^[[[:digit:]]+/[[:digit:]]+] \(A U Thor\)" patches/0000-cover-letter.patch >result &&
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+ test_line_count = 2 result
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+'
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+
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+test_expect_success 'cover letter config commitlistformat set but no format' '
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+ test_when_finished "rm -rf patches result" &&
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+ test_when_finished "git config unset format.coverletter" &&
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+ test_when_finished "git config unset format.commitlistformat" &&
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+ git config set format.coverletter true &&
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+ printf "\tcommitlistformat" >> .git/config &&
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+ git format-patch -o patches HEAD~2 &&
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+ grep -E "^[[[:digit:]]+/[[:digit:]]+] .*" patches/0000-cover-letter.patch >result &&
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+ test_line_count = 2 result
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+'
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+
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+test_expect_success 'cover letter config commitlistformat set to shortlog' '
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+ test_when_finished "rm -rf patches result" &&
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+ test_when_finished "git config unset format.coverletter" &&
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+ test_when_finished "git config unset format.commitlistformat" &&
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+ git config set format.coverletter true &&
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+ git config set format.commitlistformat shortlog &&
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+ git format-patch -o patches HEAD~2 &&
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+ grep -E "^A U Thor \([[:digit:]]+\)" patches/0000-cover-letter.patch >result &&
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+ test_line_count = 1 result
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+'
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+
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+test_expect_success 'cover letter config commitlistformat not set' '
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+ test_when_finished "rm -rf patches result" &&
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+ test_when_finished "git config unset format.coverletter" &&
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+ git config set format.coverletter true &&
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+ git format-patch -o patches HEAD~2 &&
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+ grep -E "^A U Thor \([[:digit:]]+\)" patches/0000-cover-letter.patch >result &&
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+ test_line_count = 1 result
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+'
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+
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test_expect_success 'reroll count' '
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rm -fr patches &&
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git format-patch -o patches --cover-letter --reroll-count 4 main..side >list &&