Composing¶
--annotate
Review and edit each patch you’re about to send.
Default is the value of sendemail.annotate. See the CONFIGURATION
section for sendemail.multiEdit.
--bcc=<address>,...
Specify a "Bcc:" value for each email. Default
is the value of
sendemail.bcc.
This option may be specified multiple times.
--cc=<address>,...
Specify a starting "Cc:" value for each email.
Default is the value of
sendemail.cc.
This option may be specified multiple times.
--compose
Invoke a text editor (see GIT_EDITOR in
git-var(1)) to edit an introductory message for the patch series.
When --compose is used, git send-email will use the From,
To, Cc, Bcc, Subject, Reply-To, and In-Reply-To headers specified in the
message. If the body of the message (what you type after the headers and a
blank line) only contains blank (or Git: prefixed) lines, the summary
won’t be sent, but the headers mentioned above will be used unless
they are removed.
Missing From or In-Reply-To headers will be prompted for.
See the CONFIGURATION section for sendemail.multiEdit.
--from=<address>
Specify the sender of the emails. If not specified on the
command line, the value of the sendemail.from configuration option is
used. If neither the command-line option nor sendemail.from are set,
then the user will be prompted for the value. The default for the prompt will
be the value of GIT_AUTHOR_IDENT, or GIT_COMMITTER_IDENT if that is not set,
as returned by "git var -l".
--reply-to=<address>
Specify the address where replies from recipients should
go to. Use this if replies to messages should go to another address than what
is specified with the --from parameter.
--in-reply-to=<identifier>
Make the first mail (or all the mails with
--no-thread) appear as a reply to the given Message-ID, which avoids
breaking threads to provide a new patch series. The second and subsequent
emails will be sent as replies according to the
--[no-]chain-reply-to
setting.
So for example when --thread and --no-chain-reply-to
are specified, the second and subsequent patches will be replies to the
first one like in the illustration below where [PATCH v2 0/3] is in
reply to [PATCH 0/2]:
[PATCH 0/2] Here is what I did...
[PATCH 1/2] Clean up and tests
[PATCH 2/2] Implementation
[PATCH v2 0/3] Here is a reroll
[PATCH v2 1/3] Clean up
[PATCH v2 2/3] New tests
[PATCH v2 3/3] Implementation
Only necessary if --compose is also set. If --compose is not set,
this will be prompted for.
--subject=<string>
Specify the initial subject of the email thread. Only
necessary if --compose is also set. If --compose is not set, this will be
prompted for.
--to=<address>,...
Specify the primary recipient of the emails generated.
Generally, this will be the upstream maintainer of the project involved.
Default is the value of the
sendemail.to configuration value; if that
is unspecified, and --to-cmd is not specified, this will be prompted for.
This option may be specified multiple times.
--8bit-encoding=<encoding>
When encountering a non-ASCII message or subject that
does not declare its encoding, add headers/quoting to indicate it is encoded
in <encoding>. Default is the value of the
sendemail.assume8bitEncoding; if that is unspecified, this will be
prompted for if any non-ASCII files are encountered.
Note that no attempts whatsoever are made to validate the
encoding.
--compose-encoding=<encoding>
Specify encoding of compose message. Default is the value
of the sendemail.composeEncoding; if that is unspecified, UTF-8 is
assumed.
--transfer-encoding=(7bit|8bit|quoted-printable|base64|auto)
Specify the transfer encoding to be used to send the
message over SMTP. 7bit will fail upon encountering a non-ASCII message.
quoted-printable can be useful when the repository contains files that contain
carriage returns, but makes the raw patch email file (as saved from a MUA)
much harder to inspect manually. base64 is even more fool proof, but also even
more opaque. auto will use 8bit when possible, and quoted-printable otherwise.
Default is the value of the sendemail.transferEncoding
configuration value; if that is unspecified, default to auto.
--xmailer, --no-xmailer
Add (or prevent adding) the "X-Mailer:" header.
By default, the header is added, but it can be turned off by setting the
sendemail.xmailer configuration variable to false.
Sending¶
--envelope-sender=<address>
Specify the envelope sender used to send the emails. This
is useful if your default address is not the address that is subscribed to a
list. In order to use the From address, set the value to
"auto". If you use the sendmail binary, you must have suitable
privileges for the -f parameter. Default is the value of the
sendemail.envelopeSender configuration variable; if that is
unspecified, choosing the envelope sender is left to your MTA.
--sendmail-cmd=<command>
Specify a command to run to send the email. The command
should be sendmail-like; specifically, it must support the -i option.
The command will be executed in the shell if necessary. Default is the value
of sendemail.sendmailCmd. If unspecified, and if --smtp-server is also
unspecified, git-send-email will search for sendmail in
/usr/sbin, /usr/lib and $PATH.
--smtp-encryption=<encryption>
Specify in what way encrypting begins for the SMTP
connection. Valid values are ssl and tls. Any other value
reverts to plain (unencrypted) SMTP, which defaults to port 25. Despite the
names, both values will use the same newer version of TLS, but for historic
reasons have these names. ssl refers to "implicit" encryption
(sometimes called SMTPS), that uses port 465 by default. tls refers to
"explicit" encryption (often known as STARTTLS), that uses port 25
by default. Other ports might be used by the SMTP server, which are not the
default. Commonly found alternative port for tls and unencrypted is
587. You need to check your provider’s documentation or your server
configuration to make sure for your own case. Default is the value of
sendemail.smtpEncryption.
--smtp-domain=<FQDN>
Specifies the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) used in
the HELO/EHLO command to the SMTP server. Some servers require the FQDN to
match your IP address. If not set, git send-email attempts to determine your
FQDN automatically. Default is the value of sendemail.smtpDomain.
--smtp-auth=<mechanisms>
Whitespace-separated list of allowed SMTP-AUTH
mechanisms. This setting forces using only the listed mechanisms. Example:
$ git send-email --smtp-auth="PLAIN LOGIN GSSAPI" ...
If at least one of the specified mechanisms matches the ones
advertised by the SMTP server and if it is supported by the utilized SASL
library, the mechanism is used for authentication. If neither
sendemail.smtpAuth nor --smtp-auth is specified, all
mechanisms supported by the SASL library can be used. The special value
none maybe specified to completely disable authentication
independently of --smtp-user
--smtp-pass[=<password>]
Password for SMTP-AUTH. The argument is optional: If no
argument is specified, then the empty string is used as the password. Default
is the value of
sendemail.smtpPass, however
--smtp-pass always
overrides this value.
Furthermore, passwords need not be specified in configuration
files or on the command line. If a username has been specified (with
--smtp-user or a sendemail.smtpUser), but no password has been
specified (with --smtp-pass or sendemail.smtpPass), then a
password is obtained using git-credential.
--no-smtp-auth
Disable SMTP authentication. Short hand for
--smtp-auth=none
--smtp-server=<host>
If set, specifies the outgoing SMTP server to use (e.g.
smtp.example.com or a raw IP address). If unspecified, and if
--sendmail-cmd is also unspecified, the default is to search for
sendmail in
/usr/sbin,
/usr/lib and $PATH if such a
program is available, falling back to
localhost otherwise.
For backward compatibility, this option can also specify a full
pathname of a sendmail-like program instead; the program must support the
-i option. This method does not support passing arguments or using
plain command names. For those use cases, consider using
--sendmail-cmd instead.
--smtp-server-port=<port>
Specifies a port different from the default port (SMTP
servers typically listen to smtp port 25, but may also listen to submission
port 587, or the common SSL smtp port 465); symbolic port names (e.g.
"submission" instead of 587) are also accepted. The port can also be
set with the sendemail.smtpServerPort configuration variable.
--smtp-server-option=<option>
If set, specifies the outgoing SMTP server option to use.
Default value can be specified by the
sendemail.smtpServerOption
configuration option.
The --smtp-server-option option must be repeated for each option
you want to pass to the server. Likewise, different lines in the
configuration files must be used for each option.
--smtp-ssl
Legacy alias for --smtp-encryption ssl.
--smtp-ssl-cert-path
Path to a store of trusted CA certificates for SMTP
SSL/TLS certificate validation (either a directory that has been processed by
c_rehash, or a single file containing one or more PEM format
certificates concatenated together: see
verify(1) -CAfile and -CApath for more
information on these). Set it to an empty string to disable certificate
verification. Defaults to the value of the
sendemail.smtpSSLCertPath
configuration variable, if set, or the backing SSL library’s
compiled-in default otherwise (which should be the best choice on most
platforms).
--smtp-user=<user>
Username for SMTP-AUTH. Default is the value of
sendemail.smtpUser; if a username is not specified (with
--smtp-user or sendemail.smtpUser), then authentication is not
attempted.
--smtp-debug=(0|1)
Enable (1) or disable (0) debug output. If enabled, SMTP
commands and replies will be printed. Useful to debug TLS connection and
authentication problems.
--batch-size=<num>
Some email servers (e.g. smtp.163.com) limit the number
emails to be sent per session (connection) and this will lead to a failure
when sending many messages. With this option, send-email will disconnect after
sending $<num> messages and wait for a few seconds (see --relogin-delay)
and reconnect, to work around such a limit. You may want to use some form of
credential helper to avoid having to retype your password every time this
happens. Defaults to the sendemail.smtpBatchSize configuration
variable.
--relogin-delay=<int>
Waiting $<int> seconds before reconnecting to SMTP
server. Used together with --batch-size option. Defaults to the
sendemail.smtpReloginDelay configuration variable.
Automating¶
--no-to, --no-cc, --no-bcc
Clears any list of "To:", "Cc:",
"Bcc:" addresses previously set via config.
--no-identity
Clears the previously read value of
sendemail.identity set via config, if any.
--to-cmd=<command>
Specify a command to execute once per patch file which
should generate patch file specific "To:" entries. Output of this
command must be single email address per line. Default is the value of
sendemail.toCmd configuration value.
--cc-cmd=<command>
Specify a command to execute once per patch file which
should generate patch file specific "Cc:" entries. Output of this
command must be single email address per line. Default is the value of
sendemail.ccCmd configuration value.
--header-cmd=<command>
Specify a command that is executed once per outgoing
message and output RFC 2822 style header lines to be inserted into them. When
the sendemail.headerCmd configuration variable is set, its value is
always used. When --header-cmd is provided at the command line, its value
takes precedence over the sendemail.headerCmd configuration
variable.
--no-header-cmd
Disable any header command in use.
--[no-]chain-reply-to
If this is set, each email will be sent as a reply to the
previous email sent. If disabled with "--no-chain-reply-to", all
emails after the first will be sent as replies to the first email sent. When
using this, it is recommended that the first file given be an overview of the
entire patch series. Disabled by default, but the
sendemail.chainReplyTo configuration variable can be used to enable
it.
--identity=<identity>
A configuration identity. When given, causes values in
the sendemail.<identity> subsection to take precedence over
values in the sendemail section. The default identity is the value of
sendemail.identity.
--[no-]signed-off-by-cc
If this is set, add emails found in the
Signed-off-by trailer or Cc: lines to the cc list. Default is the value
of sendemail.signedOffByCc configuration value; if that is unspecified,
default to --signed-off-by-cc.
--[no-]cc-cover
If this is set, emails found in Cc: headers in the first
patch of the series (typically the cover letter) are added to the cc list for
each email set. Default is the value of sendemail.ccCover configuration
value; if that is unspecified, default to --no-cc-cover.
--[no-]to-cover
If this is set, emails found in To: headers in the first
patch of the series (typically the cover letter) are added to the to list for
each email set. Default is the value of sendemail.toCover configuration
value; if that is unspecified, default to --no-to-cover.
--suppress-cc=<category>
Specify an additional category of recipients to suppress
the auto-cc of:
•author will avoid including the patch
author.
•self will avoid including the
sender.
•cc will avoid including anyone mentioned
in Cc lines in the patch header except for self (use self for
that).
•bodycc will avoid including anyone
mentioned in Cc lines in the patch body (commit message) except for self (use
self for that).
•sob will avoid including anyone mentioned
in the Signed-off-by trailers except for self (use self for
that).
•misc-by will avoid including anyone
mentioned in Acked-by, Reviewed-by, Tested-by and other "-by" lines
in the patch body, except Signed-off-by (use sob for that).
•cccmd will avoid running the
--cc-cmd.
•body is equivalent to sob +
bodycc + misc-by.
•all will suppress all auto cc
values.
Default is the value of sendemail.suppressCc configuration
value; if that is unspecified, default to self if --suppress-from is
specified, as well as body if --no-signed-off-cc is specified.
--[no-]suppress-from
If this is set, do not add the From: address to the cc:
list. Default is the value of sendemail.suppressFrom configuration
value; if that is unspecified, default to --no-suppress-from.
--[no-]thread
If this is set, the In-Reply-To and References headers
will be added to each email sent. Whether each mail refers to the previous
email (
deep threading per
git format-patch wording) or to the
first email (
shallow threading) is governed by
"--[no-]chain-reply-to".
If disabled with "--no-thread", those headers will not
be added (unless specified with --in-reply-to). Default is the value of the
sendemail.thread configuration value; if that is unspecified, default
to --thread.
It is up to the user to ensure that no In-Reply-To header already
exists when git send-email is asked to add it (especially note that
git format-patch can be configured to do the threading itself).
Failure to do so may not produce the expected result in the
recipient’s MUA.
Administering¶
--confirm=<mode>
Confirm just before sending:
•always will always confirm before
sending
•never will never confirm before
sending
•cc will confirm before sending when
send-email has automatically added addresses from the patch to the Cc
list
•compose will confirm before sending the
first message when using --compose.
•auto is equivalent to cc +
compose
Default is the value of sendemail.confirm configuration
value; if that is unspecified, default to auto unless any of the
suppress options have been specified, in which case default to
compose.
--dry-run
Do everything except actually send the emails.
--[no-]format-patch
When an argument may be understood either as a reference
or as a file name, choose to understand it as a format-patch argument
(--format-patch) or as a file name (--no-format-patch). By
default, when such a conflict occurs, git send-email will fail.
--quiet
Make git-send-email less verbose. One line per email
should be all that is output.
--[no-]validate
Perform sanity checks on patches. Currently, validation
means the following:
•Invoke the sendemail-validate hook if present
(see
githooks(5)).
•Warn of patches that contain lines longer than
998 characters unless a suitable transfer encoding (
auto,
base64, or
quoted-printable) is used; this is due to SMTP limits
as described by
https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc5322.txt.
Default is the value of sendemail.validate; if this is not
set, default to --validate.
--force
Send emails even if safety checks would prevent it.
