[PATCH v4 4/4] format-patch: add commitListFormat config
- From
Mirko Faina <mroik@delayed.space>
- Date
- Feb 27, 2026, 13:18 UTC
- Message-ID
- <f9ee8e24001aa16e5df3dc0bbfccd1b381e37d85.1772196510.git.mroik@delayed.space>
- In-Reply-To
- <cover.1772196510.git.mroik@delayed.space>
Using "--cover-letter" we can tell format-patch to generate a cover letter, in this cover letter there's a list of commits included in the patch series and the format is specified by the "--cover-letter-format" option. Would be useful if this format could be configured from the config file instead of always needing to pass it from the command line.
Teach format-patch how to read the format spec for the cover letter from the config files. The variable it should look for is called format.commitListFormat.
Possible values:
- commitListFormat is set but no string is passed: it will default to
"[%(count)/%(total)] %s" - if a string is passed: will use it as a format spec. Note that this
is either "shortlog" or a format spec without the "log:" prefix e.g.
"%s (%an)" - if commitListFormat is not set: it will default to the shortlog
format.Signed-off-by: Mirko Faina <mroik@delayed.space> --- builtin/log.c | 24 +++++++++++++++++++ t/t4014-format-patch.sh | 53 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2 files changed, 77 insertions(+)
diff --git a/builtin/log.c b/builtin/log.c index 46c8e33773..dcf7cd1792 100644 --- a/builtin/log.c +++ b/builtin/log.c @@ -886,6 +886,7 @@ struct format_config { char *signature; char *signature_file; enum cover_setting config_cover_letter; + char *fmt_cover_letter_commit_list; char *config_output_directory; enum cover_from_description cover_from_description_mode; int show_notes; @@ -930,6 +931,7 @@ static void format_config_release(struct format_config *cfg) string_list_clear(&cfg->extra_cc, 0); strbuf_release(&cfg->sprefix); free(cfg->fmt_patch_suffix); + free(cfg->fmt_cover_letter_commit_list); } static enum cover_from_description parse_cover_from_description(const char *arg) @@ -1052,6 +1054,22 @@ static int git_format_config(const char *var, const char *value, cfg->config_cover_letter = git_config_bool(var, value) ? COVER_ON : COVER_OFF; return 0; } + if (!strcmp(var, "format.commitlistformat")) { + struct strbuf tmp = STRBUF_INIT; + strbuf_init(&tmp, 0); + if (value) { + if (strcmp(value, "shortlog")) + strbuf_addstr(&tmp, "log:"); + strbuf_addstr(&tmp, value); + } else { + strbuf_addstr(&tmp, "log:[%(count)/%(total)] %s"); + } + + FREE_AND_NULL(cfg->fmt_cover_letter_commit_list); + git_config_string(&cfg->fmt_cover_letter_commit_list, var, tmp.buf); + strbuf_release(&tmp); + return 0; + } if (!strcmp(var, "format.outputdirectory")) { FREE_AND_NULL(cfg->config_output_directory); return git_config_string(&cfg->config_output_directory, var, value); @@ -2329,6 +2347,12 @@ int cmd_format_patch(int argc, goto done; total = list.nr; + if (!cover_letter_fmt) { + cover_letter_fmt = cfg.fmt_cover_letter_commit_list; + if (!cover_letter_fmt) + cover_letter_fmt = "shortlog"; + } + if (cover_letter == -1) { if (cfg.config_cover_letter == COVER_AUTO) cover_letter = (total > 1); diff --git a/t/t4014-format-patch.sh b/t/t4014-format-patch.sh index 458da80721..c43c6972af 100755 --- a/t/t4014-format-patch.sh +++ b/t/t4014-format-patch.sh @@ -428,6 +428,59 @@ test_expect_success 'cover letter no format' ' test_line_count = 1 result ' +test_expect_success 'cover letter config with count, subject and author' ' + test_when_finished "rm -rf patches result" && + test_when_finished "git config unset format.coverletter" && + test_when_finished "git config unset format.commitlistformat" && + git config set format.coverletter true && + git config set format.commitlistformat "[%(count)/%(total)] %s (%an)" && + git format-patch -o patches HEAD~2 && + grep -E "^[[[:digit:]]+/[[:digit:]]+] .* \(A U Thor\)" patches/0000-cover-letter.patch >result && + test_line_count = 2 result +' + +test_expect_success 'cover letter config with count and author' ' + test_when_finished "rm -rf patches result" && + test_when_finished "git config unset format.coverletter" && + test_when_finished "git config unset format.commitlistformat" && + git config set format.coverletter true && + git config set format.commitlistformat "[%(count)/%(total)] (%an)" && + git format-patch -o patches HEAD~2 && + grep -E "^[[[:digit:]]+/[[:digit:]]+] \(A U Thor\)" patches/0000-cover-letter.patch >result && + test_line_count = 2 result +' + +test_expect_success 'cover letter config commitlistformat set but no format' ' + test_when_finished "rm -rf patches result" && + test_when_finished "git config unset format.coverletter" && + test_when_finished "git config unset format.commitlistformat" && + git config set format.coverletter true && + printf "\tcommitlistformat" >> .git/config && + git format-patch -o patches HEAD~2 && + grep -E "^[[[:digit:]]+/[[:digit:]]+] .*" patches/0000-cover-letter.patch >result && + test_line_count = 2 result +' + +test_expect_success 'cover letter config commitlistformat set to shortlog' ' + test_when_finished "rm -rf patches result" && + test_when_finished "git config unset format.coverletter" && + test_when_finished "git config unset format.commitlistformat" && + git config set format.coverletter true && + git config set format.commitlistformat shortlog && + git format-patch -o patches HEAD~2 && + grep -E "^A U Thor \([[:digit:]]+\)" patches/0000-cover-letter.patch >result && + test_line_count = 1 result +' + +test_expect_success 'cover letter config commitlistformat not set' ' + test_when_finished "rm -rf patches result" && + test_when_finished "git config unset format.coverletter" && + git config set format.coverletter true && + git format-patch -o patches HEAD~2 && + grep -E "^A U Thor \([[:digit:]]+\)" patches/0000-cover-letter.patch >result && + test_line_count = 1 result +' + test_expect_success 'reroll count' ' rm -fr patches && git format-patch -o patches --cover-letter --reroll-count 4 main..side >list &&
-- 2.53.0.4.gf9ee8e2400