NAME

       git-submodule - Initialize, update or inspect submodules

SYNOPSIS

       git submodule [--quiet] [--cached]
       git submodule [--quiet] add [<options>] [--] <repository> [<path>]
       git submodule [--quiet] status [--cached] [--recursive] [--] [<path>...]
       git submodule [--quiet] init [--] [<path>...]
       git submodule [--quiet] deinit [-f|--force] (--all|[--] <path>...)
       git submodule [--quiet] update [<options>] [--] [<path>...]
       git submodule [--quiet] set-branch [<options>] [--] <path>
       git submodule [--quiet] set-url [--] <path> <newurl>
       git submodule [--quiet] summary [<options>] [--] [<path>...]
       git submodule [--quiet] foreach [--recursive] <command>
       git submodule [--quiet] sync [--recursive] [--] [<path>...]
       git submodule [--quiet] absorbgitdirs [--] [<path>...]

DESCRIPTION

       Inspects, updates and manages submodules.

       For more information about submodules, see gitsubmodules(7).

COMMANDS

       With no arguments, shows the status of existing submodules. Several subcommands are available to perform
       operations on the submodules.

       add [-b <branch>] [-f|--force] [--name <name>] [--reference <repository>] [--depth <depth>] [--]
       <repository> [<path>]
           Add the given repository as a submodule at the given path to the changeset to be committed next to
           the current project: the current project is termed the "superproject".

           <repository> is the URL of the new submodule’s origin repository. This may be either an absolute URL,
           or (if it begins with ./ or ../), the location relative to the superproject’s default remote
           repository (Please note that to specify a repository foo.git which is located right next to a
           superproject bar.git, you’ll have to use ../foo.git instead of ./foo.git - as one might expect when
           following the rules for relative URLs - because the evaluation of relative URLs in Git is identical
           to that of relative directories).

           The default remote is the remote of the remote-tracking branch of the current branch. If no such
           remote-tracking branch exists or the HEAD is detached, "origin" is assumed to be the default remote.
           If the superproject doesn’t have a default remote configured the superproject is its own
           authoritative upstream and the current working directory is used instead.

           The optional argument <path> is the relative location for the cloned submodule to exist in the
           superproject. If <path> is not given, the canonical part of the source repository is used ("repo" for
           "/path/to/repo.git" and "foo" for "host.xz:foo/.git"). If <path> exists and is already a valid Git
           repository, then it is staged for commit without cloning. The <path> is also used as the submodule’s
           logical name in its configuration entries unless --name is used to specify a logical name.

           The given URL is recorded into .gitmodules for use by subsequent users cloning the superproject. If
           the URL is given relative to the superproject’s repository, the presumption is the superproject and
           submodule repositories will be kept together in the same relative location, and only the
           superproject’s URL needs to be provided. git-submodule will correctly locate the submodule using the
           relative URL in .gitmodules.

       status [--cached] [--recursive] [--] [<path>...]
           Show the status of the submodules. This will print the SHA-1 of the currently checked out commit for
           each submodule, along with the submodule path and the output of git describe for the SHA-1. Each
           SHA-1 will possibly be prefixed with - if the submodule is not initialized, + if the currently
           checked out submodule commit does not match the SHA-1 found in the index of the containing repository
           and U if the submodule has merge conflicts.

           If --cached is specified, this command will instead print the SHA-1 recorded in the superproject for
           each submodule.

           If --recursive is specified, this command will recurse into nested submodules, and show their status
           as well.

           If you are only interested in changes of the currently initialized submodules with respect to the
           commit recorded in the index or the HEAD, git-status(1) and git-diff(1) will provide that information
           too (and can also report changes to a submodule’s work tree).

       init [--] [<path>...]
           Initialize the submodules recorded in the index (which were added and committed elsewhere) by setting
           submodule.$name.url in .git/config, using the same setting from .gitmodules as a template. If the URL
           is relative, it will be resolved using the default remote. If there is no default remote, the current
           repository will be assumed to be upstream.

           Optional <path> arguments limit which submodules will be initialized. If no path is specified and
           submodule.active has been configured, submodules configured to be active will be initialized,
           otherwise all submodules are initialized.

           It will also copy the value of submodule.$name.update, if present in the .gitmodules file, to
           .git/config, but (1) this command does not alter existing information in .git/config, and (2)
           submodule.$name.update that is set to a custom command is not copied for security reasons.

           You can then customize the submodule clone URLs in .git/config for your local setup and proceed to
           git submodule update; you can also just use git submodule update --init without the explicit init
           step if you do not intend to customize any submodule locations.

           See the add subcommand for the definition of default remote.

       deinit [-f|--force] (--all|[--] <path>...)
           Unregister the given submodules, i.e. remove the whole submodule.$name section from .git/config
           together with their work tree. Further calls to git submodule update, git submodule foreach and git
           submodule sync will skip any unregistered submodules until they are initialized again, so use this
           command if you don’t want to have a local checkout of the submodule in your working tree anymore.

           When the command is run without pathspec, it errors out, instead of deinit-ing everything, to prevent
           mistakes.

           If --force is specified, the submodule’s working tree will be removed even if it contains local
           modifications.

           If you really want to remove a submodule from the repository and commit that use git-rm(1) instead.
           See gitsubmodules(7) for removal options.

       update [--init] [--remote] [-N|--no-fetch] [--[no-]recommend-shallow] [-f|--force]
       [--checkout|--rebase|--merge] [--reference <repository>] [--depth <depth>] [--recursive] [--jobs <n>]
       [--[no-]single-branch] [--filter <filter-spec>] [--] [<path>...]
           Update the registered submodules to match what the superproject expects by cloning missing
           submodules, fetching missing commits in submodules and updating the working tree of the submodules.
           The "updating" can be done in several ways depending on command line options and the value of
           submodule.<name>.update configuration variable. The command line option takes precedence over the
           configuration variable. If neither is given, a checkout is performed. (note: what is in .gitmodules
           file is irrelevant at this point; see git submodule init above for how .gitmodules is used). The
           update procedures supported both from the command line as well as through the submodule.<name>.update
           configuration are:

           checkout
               the commit recorded in the superproject will be checked out in the submodule on a detached HEAD.

               If --force is specified, the submodule will be checked out (using git checkout --force), even if
               the commit specified in the index of the containing repository already matches the commit checked
               out in the submodule.

           rebase
               the current branch of the submodule will be rebased onto the commit recorded in the superproject.

           merge
               the commit recorded in the superproject will be merged into the current branch in the submodule.

           The following update procedures have additional limitations:

           custom command
               mechanism for running arbitrary commands with the commit ID as an argument. Specifically, if the
               submodule.<name>.update configuration variable is set to !custom command, the object name of the
               commit recorded in the superproject for the submodule is appended to the custom command string
               and executed. Note that this mechanism is not supported in the .gitmodules file or on the command
               line.

           none
               the submodule is not updated. This update procedure is not allowed on the command line.

           If the submodule is not yet initialized, and you just want to use the setting as stored in
           .gitmodules, you can automatically initialize the submodule with the --init option.

           If --recursive is specified, this command will recurse into the registered submodules, and update any
           nested submodules within.

           If --filter <filter-spec> is specified, the given partial clone filter will be applied to the
           submodule. See git-rev-list(1) for details on filter specifications.

       set-branch (-b|--branch) <branch> [--] <path>, set-branch (-d|--default) [--] <path>
           Sets the default remote tracking branch for the submodule. The --branch option allows the remote
           branch to be specified. The --default option removes the submodule.<name>.branch configuration key,
           which causes the tracking branch to default to the remote HEAD.

       set-url [--] <path> <newurl>
           Sets the URL of the specified submodule to <newurl>. Then, it will automatically synchronize the
           submodule’s new remote URL configuration.

       summary [--cached|--files] [(-n|--summary-limit) <n>] [commit] [--] [<path>...]
           Show commit summary between the given commit (defaults to HEAD) and working tree/index. For a
           submodule in question, a series of commits in the submodule between the given super project commit
           and the index or working tree (switched by --cached) are shown. If the option --files is given, show
           the series of commits in the submodule between the index of the super project and the working tree of
           the submodule (this option doesn’t allow to use the --cached option or to provide an explicit
           commit).

           Using the --submodule=log option with git-diff(1) will provide that information too.

       foreach [--recursive] <command>
           Evaluates an arbitrary shell command in each checked out submodule. The command has access to the
           variables $name, $sm_path, $displaypath, $sha1 and $toplevel: $name is the name of the relevant
           submodule section in .gitmodules, $sm_path is the path of the submodule as recorded in the immediate
           superproject, $displaypath contains the relative path from the current working directory to the
           submodules root directory, $sha1 is the commit as recorded in the immediate superproject, and
           $toplevel is the absolute path to the top-level of the immediate superproject. Note that to avoid
           conflicts with $PATH on Windows, the $path variable is now a deprecated synonym of $sm_path variable.
           Any submodules defined in the superproject but not checked out are ignored by this command. Unless
           given --quiet, foreach prints the name of each submodule before evaluating the command. If
           --recursive is given, submodules are traversed recursively (i.e. the given shell command is evaluated
           in nested submodules as well). A non-zero return from the command in any submodule causes the
           processing to terminate. This can be overridden by adding || : to the end of the command.

           As an example, the command below will show the path and currently checked out commit for each
           submodule:

               git submodule foreach 'echo $sm_path `git rev-parse HEAD`'

       sync [--recursive] [--] [<path>...]
           Synchronizes submodules' remote URL configuration setting to the value specified in .gitmodules. It
           will only affect those submodules which already have a URL entry in .git/config (that is the case
           when they are initialized or freshly added). This is useful when submodule URLs change upstream and
           you need to update your local repositories accordingly.

           git submodule sync synchronizes all submodules while git submodule sync -- A synchronizes submodule
           "A" only.

           If --recursive is specified, this command will recurse into the registered submodules, and sync any
           nested submodules within.

       absorbgitdirs
           If a git directory of a submodule is inside the submodule, move the git directory of the submodule
           into its superproject’s $GIT_DIR/modules path and then connect the git directory and its working
           directory by setting the core.worktree and adding a .git file pointing to the git directory embedded
           in the superprojects git directory.

           A repository that was cloned independently and later added as a submodule or old setups have the
           submodules git directory inside the submodule instead of embedded into the superprojects git
           directory.

           This command is recursive by default.

OPTIONS

       -q, --quiet
           Only print error messages.

       --progress
           This option is only valid for add and update commands. Progress status is reported on the standard
           error stream by default when it is attached to a terminal, unless -q is specified. This flag forces
           progress status even if the standard error stream is not directed to a terminal.

       --all
           This option is only valid for the deinit command. Unregister all submodules in the working tree.

       -b <branch>, --branch <branch>
           Branch of repository to add as submodule. The name of the branch is recorded as
           submodule.<name>.branch in .gitmodules for update --remote. A special value of .  is used to indicate
           that the name of the branch in the submodule should be the same name as the current branch in the
           current repository. If the option is not specified, it defaults to the remote HEAD.

       -f, --force
           This option is only valid for add, deinit and update commands. When running add, allow adding an
           otherwise ignored submodule path. When running deinit the submodule working trees will be removed
           even if they contain local changes. When running update (only effective with the checkout procedure),
           throw away local changes in submodules when switching to a different commit; and always run a
           checkout operation in the submodule, even if the commit listed in the index of the containing
           repository matches the commit checked out in the submodule.

       --cached
           This option is only valid for status and summary commands. These commands typically use the commit
           found in the submodule HEAD, but with this option, the commit stored in the index is used instead.

       --files
           This option is only valid for the summary command. This command compares the commit in the index with
           that in the submodule HEAD when this option is used.

       -n, --summary-limit
           This option is only valid for the summary command. Limit the summary size (number of commits shown in
           total). Giving 0 will disable the summary; a negative number means unlimited (the default). This
           limit only applies to modified submodules. The size is always limited to 1 for
           added/deleted/typechanged submodules.

       --remote
           This option is only valid for the update command. Instead of using the superproject’s recorded SHA-1
           to update the submodule, use the status of the submodule’s remote-tracking branch. The remote used is
           branch’s remote (branch.<name>.remote), defaulting to origin. The remote branch used defaults to the
           remote HEAD, but the branch name may be overridden by setting the submodule.<name>.branch option in
           either .gitmodules or .git/config (with .git/config taking precedence).

           This works for any of the supported update procedures (--checkout, --rebase, etc.). The only change
           is the source of the target SHA-1. For example, submodule update --remote --merge will merge upstream
           submodule changes into the submodules, while submodule update --merge will merge superproject gitlink
           changes into the submodules.

           In order to ensure a current tracking branch state, update --remote fetches the submodule’s remote
           repository before calculating the SHA-1. If you don’t want to fetch, you should use submodule update
           --remote --no-fetch.

           Use this option to integrate changes from the upstream subproject with your submodule’s current HEAD.
           Alternatively, you can run git pull from the submodule, which is equivalent except for the remote
           branch name: update --remote uses the default upstream repository and submodule.<name>.branch, while
           git pull uses the submodule’s branch.<name>.merge. Prefer submodule.<name>.branch if you want to
           distribute the default upstream branch with the superproject and branch.<name>.merge if you want a
           more native feel while working in the submodule itself.

       -N, --no-fetch
           This option is only valid for the update command. Don’t fetch new objects from the remote site.

       --checkout
           This option is only valid for the update command. Checkout the commit recorded in the superproject on
           a detached HEAD in the submodule. This is the default behavior, the main use of this option is to
           override submodule.$name.update when set to a value other than checkout. If the key
           submodule.$name.update is either not explicitly set or set to checkout, this option is implicit.

       --merge
           This option is only valid for the update command. Merge the commit recorded in the superproject into
           the current branch of the submodule. If this option is given, the submodule’s HEAD will not be
           detached. If a merge failure prevents this process, you will have to resolve the resulting conflicts
           within the submodule with the usual conflict resolution tools. If the key submodule.$name.update is
           set to merge, this option is implicit.

       --rebase
           This option is only valid for the update command. Rebase the current branch onto the commit recorded
           in the superproject. If this option is given, the submodule’s HEAD will not be detached. If a merge
           failure prevents this process, you will have to resolve these failures with git-rebase(1). If the key
           submodule.$name.update is set to rebase, this option is implicit.

       --init
           This option is only valid for the update command. Initialize all submodules for which "git submodule
           init" has not been called so far before updating.

       --name
           This option is only valid for the add command. It sets the submodule’s name to the given string
           instead of defaulting to its path. The name must be valid as a directory name and may not end with a
           /.

       --reference <repository>
           This option is only valid for add and update commands. These commands sometimes need to clone a
           remote repository. In this case, this option will be passed to the git-clone(1) command.

           NOTE: Do not use this option unless you have read the note for git-clone(1)'s --reference, --shared,
           and --dissociate options carefully.

       --dissociate
           This option is only valid for add and update commands. These commands sometimes need to clone a
           remote repository. In this case, this option will be passed to the git-clone(1) command.

           NOTE: see the NOTE for the --reference option.

       --recursive
           This option is only valid for foreach, update, status and sync commands. Traverse submodules
           recursively. The operation is performed not only in the submodules of the current repo, but also in
           any nested submodules inside those submodules (and so on).

       --depth
           This option is valid for add and update commands. Create a shallow clone with a history truncated to
           the specified number of revisions. See git-clone(1)

       --[no-]recommend-shallow
           This option is only valid for the update command. The initial clone of a submodule will use the
           recommended submodule.<name>.shallow as provided by the .gitmodules file by default. To ignore the
           suggestions use --no-recommend-shallow.

       -j <n>, --jobs <n>
           This option is only valid for the update command. Clone new submodules in parallel with as many jobs.
           Defaults to the submodule.fetchJobs option.

       --[no-]single-branch
           This option is only valid for the update command. Clone only one branch during update: HEAD or one
           specified by --branch.

       <path>...
           Paths to submodule(s). When specified this will restrict the command to only operate on the
           submodules found at the specified paths. (This argument is required with add).

FILES

       When initializing submodules, a .gitmodules file in the top-level directory of the containing repository
       is used to find the url of each submodule. This file should be formatted in the same way as
       $GIT_DIR/config. The key to each submodule url is "submodule.$name.url". See gitmodules(5) for details.

SEE ALSO

       gitsubmodules(7), gitmodules(5).

GIT

       Part of the git(1) suite