doc: interpret-trailers: convert to synopsis style
See e.g. 0ae23ab5 (doc: convert git worktree to synopsis style,
2025-10-05) for the markup rules for this style.
There aren’t many subtleties to the transformation of this doc since it
doesn’t use any advanced constructs. The only thing is that "`:`{nbsp}" is
used instead of `': '` to refer to effective inline-verbatim with
a space (␠).[1] I also use (_) for emphasis although (') gives the
same result.
Also prefer linking to Git commands instead of saying e.g. `git
format-patch`. But for this command we can type out git-interpret-
trailers(1) to avoid a self-reference.
Also replace camel case `<keyAlias>` with kebab case `<key-alias>`.
And while doing that make sure to replace `trailer.*` with
`trailer.<key-alias>`.
† 1: Similar to "`tag:`{nbsp}" in `Documentation/pretty-formats.adoc`
Signed-off-by: Kristoffer Haugsbakk <code@khaugsbakk.name>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Kristoffer Haugsbakk committedMar 16, 2026 at 22:48 UTCdaa91c693eb1fef0cd04aed8c6b37ee79d5897e0
1 file changed+73-58
Documentation/git-interpret-trailers.adoc
+73-58
index fd335fe772..ea47f2f7ae 100644--- a/Documentation/git-interpret-trailers.adoc+++ b/Documentation/git-interpret-trailers.adoc@@ -7,14 +7,14 @@ git-interpret-trailers - Add or parse structured information in commit messages SYNOPSIS ---------[verse]-'git interpret-trailers' [--in-place] [--trim-empty]+[synopsis]+git interpret-trailers [--in-place] [--trim-empty] [(--trailer (<key>|<key-alias>)[(=|:)<value>])...] [--parse] [<file>...] DESCRIPTION ------------Add or parse 'trailer' lines that look similar to RFC 822 e-mail+Add or parse _trailer_ lines that look similar to RFC 822 e-mail headers, at the end of the otherwise free-form part of a commit message. For example, in the following commit message@@ -27,23 +27,24 @@ Signed-off-by: Alice <alice@example.com> Signed-off-by: Bob <bob@example.com> -------------------------------------------------the last two lines starting with "Signed-off-by" are trailers.+the last two lines starting with `Signed-off-by` are trailers. This command reads commit messages from either the-<file> arguments or the standard input if no <file> is specified.+_<file>_ arguments or the standard input if no _<file>_ is specified. If `--parse` is specified, the output consists of the parsed trailers coming from the input, without influencing them with any command line options or configuration variables.-Otherwise, this command applies `trailer.*` configuration variables-(which could potentially add new trailers, as well as reposition them),-as well as any command line arguments that can override configuration-variables (such as `--trailer=...` which could also add new trailers),-to each input file. The result is emitted on the standard output.+Otherwise, this command applies `trailer.<key-alias>` configuration+variables (which could potentially add new trailers, as well as+reposition them), as well as any command line arguments that can+override configuration variables (such as `--trailer=...` which could+also add new trailers), to each input file. The result is emitted on the+standard output. This command can also operate on the output of linkgit:git-format-patch[1], which is more elaborate than a plain commit message. Namely, such output-includes a commit message (as above), a "---" divider line, and a patch part.+includes a commit message (as above), a `---` divider line, and a patch part. For these inputs, the divider and patch parts are not modified by this command and are emitted as is on the output, unless `--no-divider` is specified.@@ -53,24 +54,24 @@ are applied to each input and the way any existing trailer in the input is changed. They also make it possible to automatically add some trailers.-By default, a '<key>=<value>' or '<key>:<value>' argument given+By default, a `<key>=<value>` or `<key>:<value>` argument given using `--trailer` will be appended after the existing trailers only if-the last trailer has a different (<key>, <value>) pair (or if there-is no existing trailer). The <key> and <value> parts will be trimmed+the last trailer has a different (_<key>_, _<value>_) pair (or if there+is no existing trailer). The _<key>_ and _<value>_ parts will be trimmed to remove starting and trailing whitespace, and the resulting trimmed-<key> and <value> will appear in the output like this:+_<key>_ and _<value>_ will appear in the output like this: ------------------------------------------------ key: value -------------------------------------------------This means that the trimmed <key> and <value> will be separated by-`': '` (one colon followed by one space).+This means that the trimmed _<key>_ and _<value>_ will be separated by+"`:`{nbsp}" (one colon followed by one space).-For convenience, a <key-alias> can be configured to make using `--trailer`+For convenience, a _<key-alias>_ can be configured to make using `--trailer` shorter to type on the command line. This can be configured using the-'trailer.<key-alias>.key' configuration variable. The <keyAlias> must be a prefix-of the full <key> string, although case sensitivity does not matter. For+`trailer.<key-alias>.key` configuration variable. The _<key-alias>_ must be a prefix+of the full _<key>_ string, although case sensitivity does not matter. For example, if you have ------------------------------------------------@@ -91,13 +92,13 @@ least one Git-generated or user-configured trailer and consists of at least 25% trailers. The group must be preceded by one or more empty (or whitespace-only) lines. The group must either be at the end of the input or be the last-non-whitespace lines before a line that starts with '---' (followed by a+non-whitespace lines before a line that starts with `---` (followed by a space or the end of the line). When reading trailers, there can be no whitespace before or inside the-<key>, but any number of regular space and tab characters are allowed-between the <key> and the separator. There can be whitespaces before,-inside or after the <value>. The <value> may be split over multiple lines+_<key>_, but any number of regular space and tab characters are allowed+between the _<key>_ and the separator. There can be whitespaces before,+inside or after the _<value>_. The _<value>_ may be split over multiple lines with each subsequent line starting with at least one whitespace, like the "folding" in RFC 822. Example:@@ -111,77 +112,77 @@ rules for RFC 822 headers. For example they do not follow the encoding rule. OPTIONS ----------in-place::+`--in-place`:: Edit the files in place.---trim-empty::- If the <value> part of any trailer contains only whitespace,+`--trim-empty`::+ If the _<value>_ part of any trailer contains only whitespace, the whole trailer will be removed from the output. This applies to existing trailers as well as new trailers.---trailer <key>[(=|:)<value>]::- Specify a (<key>, <value>) pair that should be applied as a+`--trailer <key>[(=|:)<value>]`::+ Specify a (_<key>_, _<value>_) pair that should be applied as a trailer to the inputs. See the description of this command.---where <placement>::---no-where::+`--where <placement>`::+`--no-where`:: Specify where all new trailers will be added. A setting- provided with '--where' overrides the `trailer.where` and any- applicable `trailer.<keyAlias>.where` configuration variables- and applies to all '--trailer' options until the next occurrence of- '--where' or '--no-where'. Upon encountering '--no-where', clear the- effect of any previous use of '--where', such that the relevant configuration+ provided with `--where` overrides the `trailer.where` and any+ applicable `trailer.<key-alias>.where` configuration variables+ and applies to all `--trailer` options until the next occurrence of+ `--where` or `--no-where`. Upon encountering `--no-where`, clear the+ effect of any previous use of `--where`, such that the relevant configuration variables are no longer overridden. Possible placements are `after`, `before`, `end` or `start`.---if-exists <action>::---no-if-exists::+`--if-exists <action>`::+`--no-if-exists`:: Specify what action will be performed when there is already at- least one trailer with the same <key> in the input. A setting- provided with '--if-exists' overrides the `trailer.ifExists` and any- applicable `trailer.<keyAlias>.ifExists` configuration variables- and applies to all '--trailer' options until the next occurrence of- '--if-exists' or '--no-if-exists'. Upon encountering '--no-if-exists', clear the- effect of any previous use of '--if-exists', such that the relevant configuration+ least one trailer with the same _<key>_ in the input. A setting+ provided with `--if-exists` overrides the `trailer.ifExists` and any+ applicable `trailer.<key-alias>.ifExists` configuration variables+ and applies to all `--trailer` options until the next occurrence of+ `--if-exists` or `--no-if-exists`. Upon encountering `--no-if-exists`, clear the+ effect of any previous use of `--if-exists`, such that the relevant configuration variables are no longer overridden. Possible actions are `addIfDifferent`, `addIfDifferentNeighbor`, `add`, `replace` and `doNothing`.---if-missing <action>::---no-if-missing::+`--if-missing <action>`::+`--no-if-missing`:: Specify what action will be performed when there is no other- trailer with the same <key> in the input. A setting- provided with '--if-missing' overrides the `trailer.ifMissing` and any- applicable `trailer.<keyAlias>.ifMissing` configuration variables- and applies to all '--trailer' options until the next occurrence of- '--if-missing' or '--no-if-missing'. Upon encountering '--no-if-missing',- clear the effect of any previous use of '--if-missing', such that the relevant+ trailer with the same _<key>_ in the input. A setting+ provided with `--if-missing` overrides the `trailer.ifMissing` and any+ applicable `trailer.<key-alias>.ifMissing` configuration variables+ and applies to all `--trailer` options until the next occurrence of+ `--if-missing` or `--no-if-missing`. Upon encountering `--no-if-missing`,+ clear the effect of any previous use of `--if-missing`, such that the relevant configuration variables are no longer overridden. Possible actions are `doNothing` or `add`.---only-trailers::+`--only-trailers`:: Output only the trailers, not any other parts of the input.---only-input::+`--only-input`:: Output only trailers that exist in the input; do not add any- from the command-line or by applying `trailer.*` configuration+ from the command-line or by applying `trailer.<key-alias>` configuration variables.---unfold::+`--unfold`:: If a trailer has a value that runs over multiple lines (aka "folded"), reformat the value into a single line.---parse::+`--parse`:: A convenience alias for `--only-trailers --only-input --unfold`. This makes it easier to only see the trailers coming from the input without influencing them with any command line options or configuration variables, while also making the output machine-friendly with- --unfold.+ `--unfold`.---no-divider::+`--no-divider`:: Do not treat `---` as the end of the commit message. Use this when you know your input contains just the commit message itself- (and not an email or the output of `git format-patch`).+ (and not an email or the output of linkgit:git-format-patch[1]). CONFIGURATION VARIABLES -----------------------@@ -193,7 +194,7 @@ include::config/trailer.adoc[] EXAMPLES ---------* Configure a 'sign' trailer with a 'Signed-off-by' key, and then+* Configure a `sign` trailer with a `Signed-off-by` key, and then add two of these trailers to a commit message file: + ------------@@ -230,8 +231,8 @@ Signed-off-by: Bob <bob@example.com> Acked-by: Alice <alice@example.com> -------------* Extract the last commit as a patch, and add a 'Cc' and a- 'Reviewed-by' trailer to it:+* Extract the last commit as a patch, and add a `Cc` and a+ `Reviewed-by` trailer to it: + ------------ $ git format-patch -1@@ -239,9 +240,9 @@ $ git format-patch -1 $ git interpret-trailers --trailer 'Cc: Alice <alice@example.com>' --trailer 'Reviewed-by: Bob <bob@example.com>' 0001-foo.patch >0001-bar.patch -------------* Configure a 'sign' trailer with a command to automatically add a- 'Signed-off-by: ' with the author information only if there is no- 'Signed-off-by: ' already, and show how it works:+* Configure a `sign` trailer with a command to automatically add a+ "`Signed-off-by:`{nbsp}" with the author information only if there is no+ "`Signed-off-by:`{nbsp}" already, and show how it works: + ------------ $ cat msg1.txt@@ -272,7 +273,7 @@ body text Signed-off-by: Alice <alice@example.com> -------------* Configure a 'fix' trailer with a key that contains a '#' and no+* Configure a `fix` trailer with a key that contains a `#` and no space after this character, and show how it works: + ------------@@ -284,7 +285,7 @@ subject Fix #42 -------------* Configure a 'help' trailer with a cmd use a script `glog-find-author`+* Configure a `help` trailer with a cmd use a script `glog-find-author` which search specified author identity from git log in git repository and show how it works: +@@ -308,7 +309,7 @@ Helped-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> Helped-by: Christian Couder <christian.couder@gmail.com> -------------* Configure a 'ref' trailer with a cmd use a script `glog-grep`+* Configure a `ref` trailer with a cmd use a script `glog-grep` to grep last relevant commit from git log in the git repository and show how it works: +@@ -331,7 +332,7 @@ body text Reference-to: 8bc9a0c769 (Add copyright notices., 2005-04-07) -------------* Configure a 'see' trailer with a command to show the subject of a+* Configure a `see` trailer with a command to show the subject of a commit that is related, and show how it works: + ------------@@ -359,8 +360,8 @@ See-also: fe3187489d69c4 (subject of related commit) * Configure a commit template with some trailers with empty values (using sed to show and keep the trailing spaces at the end of the trailers), then configure a commit-msg hook that uses- 'git interpret-trailers' to remove trailers with empty values and- to add a 'git-version' trailer:+ git-interpret-trailers(1) to remove trailers with empty values and to+ add a `git-version` trailer: + ------------ $ cat temp.txt