Sending Patches with Git: A Guide

Are you tired of the tedious process of sending patches through your email client? Do you long for a simpler solution? Look no further! With just a few easy commands, you can send your patches straight from the command line.

First, install “guix install guix:send-email” and follow the example in here to set it up.

Once you’ve cloned your repository and created a branch with some new commits, use the command “git format-patch -<N> –base=master” to generate patches. N is the number of commits you’ve made - for example, use ‘-1’ for one commit or ‘-2’ for two. The ‘–base’ option specifies the commit your changes apply to, but it’s optional. You can also use the ‘–cover-letter’ option to describe your changes in more detail. Type “git format-patch –help” for more information on this command.

This will produce patches with names like ‘0000-cover-letter.patch’ and ‘0001-blabla.patch’. To send these patches, use the command “git send-email –[email protected] 0000-cover-letter.patch”. Note that this assumes you used the ‘–cover-letter’ option. You should receive a patch number assignment in your inbox if everything is set up correctly.

To send a single patch, use the command “git send-email –[email protected] 0001-blabla.patch”. To send a patch set (multiple patches), use “git send-email –[email protected] 000?-*.patch”.

If you need to make changes to your patch after it has been reviewed, use “git rebase -i” to make interactive changes. Then, generate a new patch with “git format-patch -<N> -v2” (omitting the ‘–cover-letter’ option this time). This will produce a patch with a name like ‘v2-0001-blabla.patch’, which you can send using the command “git send-email –[email protected] v2-0001-blabla.patch”. Remember to keep the same patch number when sending revised patches.