[PATCH v2] doc: git-log: clarify --follow options
- From
Tamir Duberstein <tamird@gmail.com>
- Date
- May 7, 2026, 18:13 UTC
- Message-ID
- <20260507-document-log-no-follow-v2-1-ee7bcbbe612f@gmail.com>
- In-Reply-To
- <20260507-document-log-no-follow-v1-1-46ce02490eba@gmail.com>
The --no-follow option was added by aebbcf5797 (diff: accept --no-follow option, 2012-09-21), but git-log(1) only documents the positive --follow form.
Later, 076c98372e (log: add "log.follow" configuration variable, 2015-07-07) taught git log to act as if --follow were given when log.follow is true and there is a single pathspec, with --no-follow overriding that default. 1e9250b5aa (diff-parseopt: convert --[no-]follow, 2019-03-05) preserved the negated form while moving the option to parse-options.
Document --no-follow alongside --follow. While here, describe --follow as limited to a single pathspec, rather than a single file, and mention the override in the log.follow documentation.
Signed-off-by: Tamir Duberstein <tamird@gmail.com> --- Changes in v2: - Document --follow as limited to a single pathspec, not a single file. - Adjust the log.follow documentation to use the same wording. - Link to v1: https://patch.msgid.link/20260507-document-log-no-follow-v1-1-46ce02490eba@gmail.com --- Documentation/config/log.adoc | 7 ++++--- Documentation/git-log.adoc | 7 +++++-- 2 files changed, 9 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)
diff --git a/Documentation/config/log.adoc b/Documentation/config/log.adoc index f20cc25cd7..1001672dc7 100644 --- a/Documentation/config/log.adoc +++ b/Documentation/config/log.adoc @@ -52,9 +52,10 @@ This is the same as the `--decorate` option of the `git log`. `log.follow`:: If `true`, `git log` will act as if the `--follow` option was used when - a single <path> is given. This has the same limitations as `--follow`, - i.e. it cannot be used to follow multiple files and does not work well - on non-linear history. + a single pathspec is given. This has the same limitations as + `--follow`, i.e. it cannot be used with multiple pathspecs and does not + work well on non-linear history. This can be overridden by + `--no-follow`. `log.graphColors`:: A list of colors, separated by commas, that can be used to draw diff --git a/Documentation/git-log.adoc b/Documentation/git-log.adoc index e304739c5e..f73031fb71 100644 --- a/Documentation/git-log.adoc +++ b/Documentation/git-log.adoc @@ -28,8 +28,11 @@ OPTIONS ------- `--follow`:: - Continue listing the history of a file beyond renames - (works only for a single file). +`--no-follow`:: + Continue listing the history of a path beyond renames. This + option works only with a single pathspec. `--no-follow` disables + this behavior, including when it was enabled by the `log.follow` + configuration variable. `--no-decorate`:: `--decorate[=(short|full|auto|no)]`:: --- base-commit: 94f057755b7941b321fd11fec1b2e3ca5313a4e0 change-id: 20260507-document-log-no-follow-72c33dc15017 Best regards, -- Tamir Duberstein <tamird@gmail.com>