patchdoc: add missing --message long option to merge docs
3 messages between May 29, 2026 and May 31, 2026, from Brandon Dong via GitGitGadget, Junio C Hamano, Brandon.
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From: Brandon <brandondong96@gmail.com>
Include mention of --message flag in merge docs to match what is accepted (builtin/merge.c) and to make it consistent with the git commit docs.
Signed-off-by: Brandon Dong <brandondong96@gmail.com>
---
doc: add missing --message long option to merge docsPublished-As: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/releases/tag/pr-git-2315%2Fbrandondong%2Fmerge_message_docs-v1
Fetch-It-Via: git fetch https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git pr-git-2315/brandondong/merge_message_docs-v1
Pull-Request: https://github.com/git/git/pull/2315
Documentation/git-merge.adoc | 1 +
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
Show changes to Documentation/git-merge.adoc +1 −0
diff --git a/Documentation/git-merge.adoc b/Documentation/git-merge.adoc
index a055384ad6..6581f4c69c 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-merge.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/git-merge.adoc
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ OPTIONS
include::merge-options.adoc[]
`-m <msg>`::
+`--message=<msg>`::
Set the commit message to be used for the merge commit (in
case one is created).
+
base-commit: c69baaf57ba26cf117c2b6793802877f19738b0d
--
gitgitgadget
Re: [PATCH] doc: add missing --message long option to merge docs
"Brandon Dong via GitGitGadget" <gitgitgadget@gmail.com> writes:
> From: Brandon <brandondong96@gmail.com>
As you identify yourself as "Brandon Dong" on the Signed-off-by line below, please match this in-body From: line with it.
Show 27 quoted lines
> Include mention of --message flag in merge docs to match what is
> accepted (builtin/merge.c) and to make it consistent with the git
> commit docs.
>
> Signed-off-by: Brandon Dong <brandondong96@gmail.com>
> ---
> doc: add missing --message long option to merge docs
>
> Published-As: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/releases/tag/pr-git-2315%2Fbrandondong%2Fmerge_message_docs-v1
> Fetch-It-Via: git fetch https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git pr-git-2315/brandondong/merge_message_docs-v1
> Pull-Request: https://github.com/git/git/pull/2315
>
> Documentation/git-merge.adoc | 1 +
> 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
>
> diff --git a/Documentation/git-merge.adoc b/Documentation/git-merge.adoc
> index a055384ad6..6581f4c69c 100644
> --- a/Documentation/git-merge.adoc
> +++ b/Documentation/git-merge.adoc
> @@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ OPTIONS
> include::merge-options.adoc[]
>
> `-m <msg>`::
> +`--message=<msg>`::
> Set the commit message to be used for the merge commit (in
> case one is created).
> +
Hmph. This is still not consistent with "git merge -h" output has, which seems to accept --[no-]message as well.
It is not exactly your fault, but there are a few options other than this one that support optional [no-] and they are not documented as such, even though they appear in "git merge -h". "git merge -m foo --no-message other" behaves as if "GIT_EDITOR=: git merge other" was run, it seems.
Re: [PATCH] doc: add missing --message long option to merge docs
Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> writes:
Show 8 quoted lines
> Hmph. This is still not consistent with "git merge -h" output has,
> which seems to accept --[no-]message as well.
>
> It is not exactly your fault, but there are a few options other than
> this one that support optional [no-] and they are not documented as
> such, even though they appear in "git merge -h". "git merge -m foo
> --no-message other" behaves as if "GIT_EDITOR=: git merge other" was
> run, it seems.
Looking at the code, I believe this might be intentional or maybe a stylistic choice to document this way?
The overwhelming majority of long name flags have a [no-] variant as it comes for free when defining a new option and otherwise requires an explicit opt out (via PARSE_OPT_NONEG).
The -h output auto-generates the inclusion of [no-] but for the handwritten docs, most examples I see where it's included are for cases where the [no-] variant has some behavior nuance that needs to be explained or it's for a bool-like flag. Most string-valued options do not include mention of the [no-] variant and they share the default behavior where passing the [no-] variant unsets the option.
For -m/--message in particular, none of the git-commit/git-notes/git-svn/git-tag docs mention the --no variant either and I think merge should be consistent with them.