git/Documentation/git-format-patch.adoc, branch main

format-patch: removing unconditional wrapping

2026-03-27T20:10:12Z

Using format-patch with --commit-list-format different than shortlog, causes the commit entry lines to wrap if they get longer than MAIL_DEFAULT_WRAP (72 characters). While this might be sensible for many when sending changes through email, it forces this decision of wrapping on the user, reducing the control granularity of --commit-list-format. Teach generate_commit_list_cover() to respect commit entry line lengths and place this wrapping rule on the "modern" preset format instead. Signed-off-by: Mirko Faina Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano

docs: fix --commit-list-format related entries

2026-03-27T20:09:50Z

Documentation specifies that "git format-patch" would default to format.commitListFormat if --commit-list-format is not given, but doesn't specify the default if the format.commitListFormat is not set. The text for --cover-letter is also obsolete as the commit list can now be something other than a shortlog. Document to reflect changes. Signed-off-by: Mirko Faina Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano

format-patch: --commit-list-format without prefix

2026-03-23T20:06:59Z

Having to prefix a custom format-string with "log:" when passed from the CLI can be annoying. It would be great if this prefix wasn't required. Teach make_cover_letter() to accept custom format-strings without the "log:" prefix if a placeholder is detected. Note that both here and in "git log --format" the check is done naively by just checking for the presence of a '%'. Signed-off-by: Mirko Faina Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano

format-patch: add preset for --commit-list-format

2026-03-23T20:06:59Z

"git format-patch --commit-list-format" enables the user to make their own format for the commit list in the cover letter. It would be nice to have a ready to use format to replace shortlog. Teach make_cover_letter() the "modern" format preset. This new format is the same as: "log:[%(count)/%(total)] %s". Signed-off-by: Mirko Faina Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano

format-patch: rename --cover-letter-format option

2026-03-23T20:06:58Z

To align the name of the configuration variable and the name of the command line option, either one should change name. By changing the name of the option we get the added benefit of having --cover- expand to --cover-letter without ambiguity. If the user gives the --cover-letter-format option it would be reasonable to expect that the user wants to generate the cover letter despite not giving --cover-letter. Rename --cover-letter-format to --commit-list-format and make it imply --cover-letter unless --no-cover-letter is given. Signed-off-by: Mirko Faina Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano

Merge branch 'mf/format-patch-cover-letter-format' into mf/format-patch-commit-list-format

2026-03-16T19:42:54Z

* mf/format-patch-cover-letter-format: docs: add usage for the cover-letter fmt feature format-patch: add commitListFormat config format-patch: add ability to use alt cover format format-patch: move cover letter summary generation pretty.c: add %(count) and %(total) placeholders

docs: add usage for the cover-letter fmt feature

2026-03-07T01:16:45Z

Document the new "--cover-letter-format" option in format-patch and its related configuration variable "format.commitListFormat". Signed-off-by: Mirko Faina Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano

Merge branch 'mf/format-patch-honor-from-for-cover-letter'

2026-02-27T23:11:54Z

"git format-patch --from=" did not honor the command line option when writing out the cover letter, which has been corrected. * mf/format-patch-honor-from-for-cover-letter: format-patch: fix From header in cover letter

format-patch: fix From header in cover letter

2026-02-17T23:29:57Z

"git format-patch" takes "--from=" command line option and uses the given ident for patch e-mails, but this is not applied to the cover letter, the option is ignored and the committer ident of the current user is used. This has been the case ever since "--from" was introduced in a9080475 (teach format-patch to place other authors into in-body "From", 2013-07-03). Teach the make_cover_letter() function to honor the option, instead of always using the current committer identity. Change variable name from "committer" to "from" to better reflect the purpose of the variable. Signed-off-by: Mirko Faina Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano

doc: add caveat about round-tripping format-patch

2026-02-12T22:37:56Z

git-format-patch(1) and git-am(1) deal with formatting commits as patches and applying them, respectively. Naturally they use a few delimiters to mark where the commit message ends. This can lead to surprising behavior when these delimiters are used in the commit message itself. git-format-patch(1) will accept any commit message and not warn or error about these delimiters being used.[1] Especially problematic is the presence of unindented diffs in the commit message; the patch machinery will naturally (since the commit message has ended) try to apply that diff and everything after it.[2] It is unclear whether any commands in this chain will learn to warn about this. One concern could be that users have learned to rely on the three-dash line rule to conveniently add extra-commit message information in the commit message, knowing that git-am(1) will ignore it.[4] All of this is covered already, technically. However, we should spell out the implications. † 1: There is also git-commit(1) to consider. However, making that command warn or error out over such delimiters would be disruptive to all Git users who never use email in their workflow. † 2: Recently patch(1) caused this issue for a project, but it was noted that git-am(1) has the same behavior[3] † 3: https://github.com/i3/i3/pull/6564#issuecomment-3858381425 † 4: https://lore.kernel.org/git/xmqqldh4b5y2.fsf@gitster.g/ https://lore.kernel.org/git/V3_format-patch_caveats.354@msgid.xyz/ Reported-by: Matthias Beyer Reported-by: Christoph Anton Mitterer Reported-by: Matheus Tavares Reported-by: Chris Packham Helped-by: Jakob Haufe Helped-by: Phillip Wood Signed-off-by: Kristoffer Haugsbakk Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano