<refentry id="man.gbp.dch">
  <refentryinfo>
    <address>
      &dhemail;
    </address>
    <author>
      &dhfirstname;
      &dhsurname;
    </author>
  </refentryinfo>
  <refmeta>
    <refentrytitle>gbp-dch</refentrytitle>
    &dhsection;
  </refmeta>
  <refnamediv>
    <refname>git-dch;</refname>
    <refname>gbp-dch;</refname>
    <refpurpose>Generate the Debian changelog from git commit messages</refpurpose>
  </refnamediv>
  <refsynopsisdiv>
    <cmdsynopsis>
      &gbp-dch;
      &man.common.options.synopsis;
      <arg><option>--debian-branch=</option><replaceable>branch_name</replaceable></arg>
      <arg><option>--debian-tag=</option><replaceable>tag-format</replaceable></arg>
      <arg><option>--upstream-tag=</option><replaceable>tag-format</replaceable></arg>
      <arg><option>--ignore-branch</option></arg>
      <group>
        <arg><option>--snapshot</option></arg>
        <arg><option>--release</option></arg>
      </group>
      <group>
        <arg><option>--auto</option></arg>
        <arg><option>--since=</option><replaceable>commitish</replaceable></arg>
      </group>
      <arg><option>--new-version=</option><replaceable>version</replaceable></arg>
      <group>
        <arg><option>--bpo</option></arg>
        <arg><option>--nmu</option></arg>
        <arg><option>--qa</option></arg>
        <arg><option>--team</option></arg>
      </group>
      <arg><option>--distribution=</option><replaceable>name</replaceable></arg>
      <arg><option>--force-distribution</option></arg>
      <arg><option>--urgency=</option><replaceable>level</replaceable></arg>
      <arg><option>--[no-]full</option></arg>
      <arg><option>--[no-]meta</option></arg>
      <arg><option>--meta-closes=bug-close-tags</option></arg>
      <arg><option>--snapshot-number=</option><replaceable>expression</replaceable></arg>
      <arg><option>--id-length=</option><replaceable>number</replaceable></arg>
      <arg><option>--git-log=</option><replaceable>git-log-options</replaceable></arg>
      <arg><option>--[no-]git-author</option></arg>
      <arg><option>--[no-]multimaint</option></arg>
      <arg><option>--[no-]multimaint-merge</option></arg>
      <arg><option>--spawn-editor=[always|snapshot|release]</option></arg>
      <arg><option>--commit-msg=</option><replaceable>msg-format</replaceable></arg>
      <arg><option>--commit</option></arg>
      <arg><option>--customizations=</option><replaceable>customization-file</replaceable></arg>
      <arg choice="plain"><replaceable>[path1 path2]</replaceable></arg>
    </cmdsynopsis>
  </refsynopsisdiv>
  <refsect1>
    <title>DESCRIPTION</title>
    <para>
    &gbp-dch; reads git commit messages and generates the Debian changelog from
    it. If no arguments are given &gbp-dch; starts from the last tagged Debian
    package version up to the current tip of the current branch. If the
    distribution of the topmost section in
    <filename>debian/changelog</filename> is <emphasis>UNRELEASED</emphasis>
    the changelog entries will be inserted into this section. Otherwise a new
    section will be created.
    </para>
    <para>
    If <option>--auto</option> is given &gbp-dch; tries to guess the
    last &git; commit documented in the changelog - this only works in snapshot
    mode. Otherwise <option>--since</option> can be used to tell &gbp-dch;
    at which point it should start in the &git; history.
    </para>
    <para>
    The additional path arguments can be used to restrict the repository paths
    &gbp-dch; looks at. Setting <replaceable>path</replaceable> to
    <emphasis>debian/</emphasis> is a good choice if upstream uses &git; and
    all Debian packaging changes are restricted to the
    <replaceable>debian/</replaceable> subdir. In more sophisticated cases
    (like backports) you can use <option>--git-log</option> to restrict the
    generated changelog entries further. E.g. by using
    <option>--git-log=</option><replaceable>"--author=Foo Bar"</replaceable>.
    </para>
  </refsect1>
  <refsect1>
    <title>OPTIONS</title>
    <variablelist>
      &man.common.options.description;

      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--debian-branch</option>=<replaceable>branch_name</replaceable>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          The branch in the Git repository the Debian package is being
          developed on, default is <replaceable>master</replaceable>.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--ignore-branch</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Don't check if the current branch matches
          <replaceable>debian-branch</replaceable>.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--debian-tag=</option><replaceable>tag-format</replaceable>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          tag format used, when tagging debian versions,
          default is <replaceable>debian/%(version)s</replaceable>
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--since=</option><replaceable>committish</replaceable>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Start reading commit messages at
          <replaceable>committish</replaceable>.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--auto</option>,
          <option>-a</option></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Guess the last commit documented in the changelog from the
          snapshot banner (or from the last tag if no snapshot banner exists).
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--[no-]meta</option></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Parse meta tags like <option>Closes:</option>,
          <option>Thanks:</option> and <option>Git-Dch:</option>. See META TAGS
          below.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--meta-closes=</option><replaceable>bug-close-tags</replaceable>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          What meta tags to look for to generate bug-closing changelog entries.
          The default is 'Closes|LP' to support Debian and Launchpad.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--[no-]full</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Include the full commit message in the changelog output.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--snapshot</option>,
              <option>-S</option></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Create a snapshot release entry. This adds a snapshot release
          number and a warning banner to the changelog entry. The release
          version number is being auto incremented with every new snapshot
          release to avoid packages downgrades during snapshot testing.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--snapshot-number=</option><replaceable>expression</replaceable>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Python expression that gets eval()ed to the new snapshot number.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--release</option>,
              <option>-R</option></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Remove any snapshot release banners and version suffixes, set
          the current distribution to <replaceable>unstable</replaceable> and
          open the changelog for final tweaking.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--new-version=</option><replaceable>version</replaceable>,
              <option>-N</option> <replaceable>version</replaceable>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Add a new changelog section with version
          <replaceable>newversion</replaceable>. Together with
          <option>--snapshot</option> the snapshot number will be appended to
          <replaceable>newversion</replaceable>.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--team</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Create a Team upload changelog entry.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--bpo</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Increment the Debian release number for an upload to backports, and
          add a backport upload changelog comment.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--nmu</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Increment  the  Debian  release  number  for a non-maintainer upload.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--qa</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Increment the Debian release number for a Debian QA Team upload, and
          add a QA upload changelog comment.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--distribution=</option><replaceable>name</replaceable>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Set the distribution field to <replaceable>name</replaceable>.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--force-distribution</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Force the distribution specified with <option>--distribution</option>
          to be used, even if it doesn't match the list of known distributions.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--urgency=</option><replaceable>level</replaceable>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Set the urgency field to <replaceable>level</replaceable>.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--git-log=</option><replaceable>git-log-options</replaceable>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Options passed on verbatim to git-log(1).
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--id-length=</option><replaceable>N</replaceable>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Include <replaceable>N</replaceable> digits of the commit id in the
          changelog entry. Default is to not include any commit ids at all.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--ignore-regex=</option><replaceable>regex</replaceable>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Ignore commit lines matching <replaceable>regex</replaceable>
          when generating the changelog.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--git-author</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Use user.name and user.email from
          <application>git-config</application>(1) for changelog trailer.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--[no-]multimaint-merge</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Merge commits by maintainer.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--spawn-editor=<replaceable>[always|snapshot|release]</replaceable></option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Whether to spawn an editor: always, when doing snapshots or when
          doing a release.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--commit-msg=</option><replaceable>msg-format</replaceable>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          use this format string for the commit message when committing the
          generated changelog file (when <option>--commit</option> is given).
          Default is
          <replaceable>Update changelog for %(version)s release</replaceable>
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--commit</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Commit the generated changelog.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--customizations=</option><replaceable>customization-file</replaceable>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Load Python code from <replaceable>customization-file</replaceable>.
          At the moment, the only useful thing the code can do is define a
          custom format_changelog_entry() function.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--customizations=</option><replaceable>customization-file</replaceable>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Load Python code from <replaceable>customization-file</replaceable>.
          At the moment, the only useful thing the code can do is define a
          custom format_changelog_entry() function.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
  </refsect1>
  <refsect1>
    <title>Snapshot mode</title>
    <para>
    Snapshot mode can be used for quick test and install cycles without
    having to worry about version numbers or changelog entries.
    </para>
    <para>
    When using <option>--snapshot</option> or <option>-S</option> &gbp-dch;
    uses a pseudo header in the Debian changelog to remember the last git
    commit it added a changelog entry for. It also sets a version number
    ending in
    <replaceable>~&lt;snaspshotnumber&gt;.gbp&lt;commitid&gt;</replaceable>.
    It automatically increments the snapshot number on subsequent invocations
    of &gbp-dch; <option>-S</option> so that later snapshots automatically
    have a higher version number. To leave snapshot mode invoke &gbp-dch;
    with the <option>--release</option> option. This removes the pseudo
    header and unmangles the version number so the released version has a
    higher version number than the snapshots.
    </para>
  </refsect1>
  <refsect1>
    <title>META TAGS</title>
    <para>
    Additional to the above options the formatting of the commit message
    in <filename>debian/changelog</filename> can be modified by special tags
    (called Meta Tags)
    given in the git commit message. Meta Tag processing can be activated via
    the <option>--meta</option> option. The tags must start at the first column of
    a commit message but can appear on any line.
    They are of the form <option>Tagname</option>:
    <replaceable>value</replaceable>. Valid Meta Tags are:
    </para>
    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>Git-Dch</option>: <replaceable>action</replaceable>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Supported actions are: <replaceable>Ignore</replaceable> which will
          ignore this commit when generating
          <filename>debian/changelog</filename>,
          <replaceable>Short</replaceable> which will only use the description
          (the first line) of the commit message when generating the changelog
          entry (useful when <option>--full</option> is given) and
          <replaceable>Full</replaceable> which will use the full commit
          message when generating the changelog entry (useful when
          <option>--full</option> is not given).
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>Thanks</option>: <replaceable>msg</replaceable>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Add a thanks message after the commit message.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>Closes</option>: <replaceable>bugnumber</replaceable>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
          Indicate in the <filename>debian/changelog</filename> that the bug
          was closed by this commit. See the <option>--meta-closes</option> on
          how to extend this for other bugtrackers.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
    <para>
    The following git commit message:
    </para>
    <screen>
      Document meta tags

      so one doesn't have to consult the manual

      Git-Dch: Short
      Closes: #636088
      Thanks: Raphaël Hertzog for the suggestion
    </screen>
    <para>
    Results in this <filename>debian/changelog</filename> entry:
    </para>
    <screen>
      * Document meta tags.
        Thanks to Raphaël Hertzog for the suggestion (Closes: #636088)
    </screen>
  </refsect1>
  <refsect1>
    &man.gbp.config-files;
  </refsect1>
  <refsect1>
    <title>SEE ALSO</title>
    <para>
      <xref linkend="man.gbp.buildpackage">,
      <xref linkend="man.gbp.import.dsc">,
      <xref linkend="man.gbp.import.dscs">,
      <xref linkend="man.gbp.import.orig">,
      <xref linkend="man.gbp.conf">,
      &man.seealso.common;
      <ulink url="https://honk.sigxcpu.org/cl2vcs">
      <citetitle>Cl2vcs</citetitle></ulink>,
    </para>
  </refsect1>
  <refsect1>
    <title>AUTHOR</title>
    <para>
    &dhusername; &dhemail;
    </para>
  </refsect1>
</refentry>
