Quilt commands reference

add [-P patch] {file} ...

Add one or more files to the topmost or named patch. Files must be added to the patch before being modified. Files that are modified by patches already applied on top of the specified patch cannot be added.

-P patch

Patch to add files to.

annotate [-P patch] {file}

Print an annotated listing of the specified file showing which patches modify which lines. Only applied patches are included.

-P patch

Stop checking for changes at the specified rather than the topmost patch.

applied [patch]

Print a list of applied patches, or all patches up to and including the specified patch in the file series.

delete [-r] [--backup] [patch|-n]

Remove the specified or topmost patch from the series file. If the patch is applied, quilt will attempt to remove it first. (Only the topmost patch can be removed right now.)

-n

Delete the next patch after topmost, rather than the specified or topmost patch.

-r

Remove the deleted patch file from the patches directory as well.

--backup

Rename the patch file to patch~ rather than deleting it. Ignored if not used with `-r'.

diff [-p n|-p ab] [-u|-U num|-c|-C num] [--combine patch|-z] [-R] [-P patch] [--snapshot] [--diff=utility] [--no-timestamps] [--no-index] [--sort] [--color[=always|auto|never]] [file ...]

Produces a diff of the specified file(s) in the topmost or specified patch. If no files are specified, all files that are modified are included.

-p n

Create a -p n style patch (-p0 or -p1 are supported).

-p ab

Create a -p1 style patch, but use a/file and b/file as the original and new filenames instead of the default dir.orig/file and dir/file names.

-u, -U num, -c, -C num

Create a unified diff (-u, -U) with num lines of context. Create a context diff (-c, -C) with num lines of context. The number of context lines defaults to 3.

--no-timestamps

Do not include file timestamps in patch headers.

--no-index

Do not output Index: lines.

-z

Write to standard output the changes that have been made relative to the topmost or specified patch.

-R

Create a reverse diff.

-P patch

Create a diff for the specified patch. (Defaults to the topmost patch.)

--combine patch

Create a combined diff for all patches between this patch and the patch specified with -P. A patch name of `-' is equivalent to specifying the first applied patch.

--snapshot

Diff against snapshot (see `quilt snapshot -h').

--diff=utility

Use the specified utility for generating the diff. The utility is invoked with the original and new file name as arguments.

--color[=always|auto|never]

Use syntax coloring (auto activates it only if the output is a tty).

--sort

Sort files by their name instead of preserving the original order.

edit file ...

Edit the specified file(s) in $EDITOR after adding it (them) to the topmost patch.

files [-v] [-a] [-l] [--combine patch] [patch]

Print the list of files that the topmost or specified patch changes.

-a

List all files in all applied patches.

-l

Add patch name to output.

-v

Verbose, more user friendly output.

--combine patch

Create a listing for all patches between this patch and the topmost or specified patch. A patch name of `-' is equivalent to specifying the first applied patch.

fold [-R] [-q] [-f] [-p strip-level]

Integrate the patch read from standard input into the topmost patch: After making sure that all files modified are part of the topmost patch, the patch is applied with the specified strip level (which defaults to 1).

-R

Apply patch in reverse.

-q

Quiet operation.

-f

Force apply, even if the patch has rejects. Unless in quiet mode, apply the patch interactively: the patch utility may ask questions.

-p strip-level

The number of pathname components to strip from file names when applying patchfile.

fork [new_name]

Fork the topmost patch. Forking a patch means creating a verbatim copy of it under a new name, and use that new name instead of the original one in the current series. This is useful when a patch has to be modified, but the original version of it should be preserved, e.g. because it is used in another series, or for the history. A typical sequence of commands would be: fork, edit, refresh.

If new_name is missing, the name of the forked patch will be the current patch name, followed by `-2'. If the patch name already ends in a dash-and-number, the number is further incremented (e.g., patch.diff, patch-2.diff, patch-3.diff).

graph [--all] [--reduce] [--lines[=num]] [--edge-labels=files] [-T ps] [patch]

Generate a dot(1) directed graph showing the dependencies between applied patches. A patch depends on another patch if both touch the same file or, with the --lines option, if their modifications overlap. Unless otherwise specified, the graph includes all patches that the topmost patch depends on. When a patch name is specified, instead of the topmost patch, create a graph for the specified patch. The graph will include all other patches that this patch depends on, as well as all patches that depend on this patch.

--all

Generate a graph including all applied patches and their dependencies. (Unapplied patches are not included.)

--reduce

Eliminate transitive edges from the graph.

--lines[=num]

Compute dependencies by looking at the lines the patches modify. Unless a different num is specified, two lines of context are included.

--edge-labels=files

Label graph edges with the file names that the adjacent patches modify.

-T ps

Directly produce a PostScript output file.

grep [-h|options] {pattern}

Grep through the source files, recursively, skipping patches and quilt meta-information. If no filename argument is given, the whole source tree is searched. Please see the grep(1) manual page for options.

-h

Print this help. The grep -h option can be passed after a double-dash (--). Search expressions that start with a dash can be passed after a second double-dash (-- --).

header [-a|-r|-e] [--backup] [--strip-diffstat] [--strip-trailing-whitespace] [patch]

Print or change the header of the topmost or specified patch.

-a, -r, -e

Append to (-a) or replace (-r) the exiting patch header, or edit (-e) the header in $EDITOR. If none of these options is given, print the patch header.

--strip-diffstat

Strip diffstat output from the header.

--strip-trailing-whitespace

Strip trailing whitespace at the end of lines of the header.

--backup

Create a backup copy of the old version of a patch as patch~.

import [-p num] [-R] [-P patch] [-f] [-d {o|a|n}] patchfile ...

Import external patches. The patches will be inserted following the current top patch, and must be pushed after import to apply them.

-p num

Number of directory levels to strip when applying (default=1)

-R

Apply patch in reverse.

-P patch

Patch filename to use inside quilt. This option can only be used when importing a single patch.

-f

Overwrite/update existing patches.

-d {o|a|n}

When overwriting in existing patch, keep the old (o), all (a), or new (n) patch header. If both patches include headers, this option must be specified. This option is only effective when -f is used.

mail {--mbox file|--send} [-m text] [-M file] [--prefix prefix] [--sender ...] [--from ...] [--to ...] [--cc ...] [--bcc ...] [--subject ...] [--reply-to message] [--charset ...] [--signature file] [first_patch [last_patch]]

Create mail messages from a specified range of patches, or all patches in the series file, and either store them in a mailbox file, or send them immediately. The editor is opened with a template for the introduction. Please see /usr/local/share/doc/quilt/README.MAIL for details. When specifying a range of patches, a first patch name of `-' denotes the first, and a last patch name of `-' denotes the last patch in the series.

-m text

Text to use as the text in the introduction. When this option is used, the editor will not be invoked, and the patches will be processed immediately.

-M file

Like the -m option, but read the introduction from file.

--prefix prefix

Use an alternate prefix in the bracketed part of the subjects generated. Defaults to `patch'.

--mbox file

Store all messages in the specified file in mbox format. The mbox can later be sent using formail, for example.

--send

Send the messages directly.

--sender

The envelope sender address to use. The address must be of the form `user@domain.name'. No display name is allowed.

--from, --subject

The values for the From and Subject headers to use. If no --from option is given, the value of the --sender option is used.

--to, --cc, --bcc

Append a recipient to the To, Cc, or Bcc header.

--charset

Specify a particular message encoding on systems which don't use UTF-8 or ISO-8859-15. This character encoding must match the one used in the patches.

--signature file

Append the specified signature to messages (defaults to ~/.signature if found; use `-' for no signature).

--reply-to message

Add the appropriate headers to reply to the specified message.

new [-p n] {patchname}

Create a new patch with the specified file name, and insert it after the topmost patch. The name can be prefixed with a sub-directory name, allowing for grouping related patches together.

-p n

Create a -p n style patch (-p0 or -p1 are supported).

Quilt can be used in sub-directories of a source tree. It determines the root of a source tree by searching for a directory above the current working directory. Create a directory in the intended root directory if quilt chooses a top-level directory that is too high up in the directory tree.

next [patch]

Print the name of the next patch after the specified or topmost patch in the series file.

patches [-v] [--color[=always|auto|never]] {file} [files...]

Print the list of patches that modify any of the specified files. (Uses a heuristic to determine which files are modified by unapplied patches. Note that this heuristic is much slower than scanning applied patches.)

-v

Verbose, more user friendly output.

--color[=always|auto|never]

Use syntax coloring (auto activates it only if the output is a tty).

pop [-afRqv] [--refresh] [num|patch]

Remove patch(es) from the stack of applied patches. Without options, the topmost patch is removed. When a number is specified, remove the specified number of patches. When a patch name is specified, remove patches until the specified patch end up on top of the stack. Patch names may include the patches/ prefix, which means that filename completion can be used.

-a

Remove all applied patches.

-f

Force remove. The state before the patch(es) were applied will be restored from backup files.

-R

Always verify if the patch removes cleanly; don't rely on timestamp checks.

-q

Quiet operation.

-v

Verbose operation.

--refresh

Automatically refresh every patch before it gets unapplied.

previous [patch]

Print the name of the previous patch before the specified or topmost patch in the series file.

push [-afqvm] [--fuzz=N] [--merge[=merge|diff3]] [--leave-rejects] [--color[=always|auto|never]] [--refresh] [num|patch]

Apply patch(es) from the series file. Without options, the next patch in the series file is applied. When a number is specified, apply the specified number of patches. When a patch name is specified, apply all patches up to and including the specified patch. Patch names may include the patches/ prefix, which means that filename completion can be used.

-a

Apply all patches in the series file.

-q

Quiet operation.

-f

Force apply, even if the patch has rejects.

-v

Verbose operation.

--fuzz=N

Set the maximum fuzz factor (default: 2).

-m, --merge[=merge|diff3]

Merge the patch file into the original files (see patch(1)).

--leave-rejects

Leave around the reject files patch produced, even if the patch is not actually applied.

--color[=always|auto|never]

Use syntax coloring (auto activates it only if the output is a tty).

--refresh

Automatically refresh every patch after it was successfully applied.

refresh [-p n|-p ab] [-u|-U num|-c|-C num] [-z[new_name]] [-f] [--no-timestamps] [--no-index] [--diffstat] [--sort] [--backup] [--strip-trailing-whitespace] [patch]

Refreshes the specified patch, or the topmost patch by default. Documentation that comes before the actual patch in the patch file is retained.

It is possible to refresh patches that are not on top. If any patches on top of the patch to refresh modify the same files, the script aborts by default. Patches can still be refreshed with -f. In that case this script will print a warning for each shadowed file, changes by more recent patches will be ignored, and only changes in files that have not been modified by any more recent patches will end up in the specified patch.

-p n

Create a -p n style patch (-p0 or -p1 supported).

-p ab

Create a -p1 style patch, but use a/file and b/file as the original and new filenames instead of the default dir.orig/file and dir/file names.

-u, -U num, -c, -C num

Create a unified diff (-u, -U) with num lines of context. Create a context diff (-c, -C) with num lines of context. The number of context lines defaults to 3.

-z[new_name]

Create a new patch containing the changes instead of refreshing the topmost patch. If no new name is specified, `-2' is added to the original patch name, etc. (See the fork command.)

--no-timestamps

Do not include file timestamps in patch headers.

--no-index

Do not output Index: lines.

--diffstat

Add a diffstat section to the patch header, or replace the existing diffstat section.

-f

Enforce refreshing of a patch that is not on top.

--backup

Create a backup copy of the old version of a patch as patch~.

--sort

Sort files by their name instead of preserving the original order.

--strip-trailing-whitespace

Strip trailing whitespace at the end of lines.

remove [-P patch] {file} ...

Remove one or more files from the topmost or named patch. Files that are modified by patches on top of the specified patch cannot be removed.

-P patch

Remove named files from the named patch.

rename [-P patch] new_name

Rename the topmost or named patch.

-P patch

Patch to rename.

revert [-P patch] {file} ...

Revert uncommitted changes to the topmost or named patch for the specified file(s): after the revert, 'quilt diff -z' will show no differences for those files. Changes to files that are modified by patches on top of the specified patch cannot be reverted.

-P patch

Revert changes in the named patch.

series [--color[=always|auto|never]] [-v]

Print the names of all patches in the series file.

--color[=always|auto|never]

Use syntax coloring (auto activates it only if the output is a tty).

-v

Verbose, more user friendly output.

setup [-d path-prefix] [-v] [--sourcedir dir] [--fuzz=N] [--spec-filter FILTER] [--slow|--fast] {specfile|seriesfile}

Initializes a source tree from an rpm spec file or a quilt series file.

-d

Optional path prefix for the resulting source tree.

--sourcedir

Directory that contains the package sources. Defaults to `.'.

-v

Verbose debug output.

--fuzz=N

Set the maximum fuzz factor (needs rpm 4.6 or later).

--spec-filter FILTER

Before passing the spec file to rpmbuild for processing, apply a filter to it. FILTER must be an executable script which reads the original spec file from stdin and writes the filtered spec file to stdout. FILTER can be specified as a path to a custom script, or as a simple name, in which case it references one of the filter scripts shipped with quilt.

--slow

Use the original, slow method to process the spec file. In this mode, rpmbuild generates a working tree in a temporary directory while all its actions are recorded, and then everything is replayed from scratch in the target directory.

--fast

Use the new, faster method to process the spec file. In this mode, rpmbuild is told to generate a working tree directly in the target directory. This is the default (since quilt version 0.67).

The setup command is only guaranteed to work properly on spec files where applying all the patches is the last thing done in the %prep section. This is a design limitation due to the fact that quilt can only operate on patches. If other commands in the %prep section modify the patched files, they must come first, otherwise you won't be able to push the patch series.

For example, a %prep section where you first unpack a tarball, then apply patches, and lastly perform a tree-wide string substitution, is not OK. For "quilt setup" to work, it would have to be changed to unpacking the tarball, then performing the tree-wide string substitution, and lastly applying the patches.

snapshot [-d]

Take a snapshot of the current working state. After taking the snapshot, the tree can be modified in the usual ways, including pushing and popping patches. A diff against the tree at the moment of the snapshot can be generated with `quilt diff --snapshot'.

-d

Only remove current snapshot.

top

Print the name of the topmost patch on the current stack of applied patches.

unapplied [patch]

Print a list of patches that are not applied, or all patches that follow the specified patch in the series file.

upgrade

Upgrade the meta-data in a working tree from an old version of quilt to the current version. This command is only needed when the quilt meta-data format has changed, and the working tree still contains old-format meta-data. In that case, quilt will request to run `quilt upgrade'.

Example of working tree

project-1.2.3/
├── patches/
│    ├── series         (list of patches to apply)
│    ├── patch1.diff    (one particular patch)
│    ├── patch2.diff
│    └── ...
├── .pc/
│    ├── .quilt_patches (content of QUILT_PATCHES)
│    ├── .quilt_series  (content of QUILT_SERIES)
│    ├── patch1.diff/   (copy of patched files)
│    │    └── ...
│    ├── patch2.diff/
│    │    └── ...
│    └── ...
└── ...

The patches directory is precious as it contains all your patches as well as the order in which they should be applied.

The .pc directory contains metadata about the current state of your patch series. Changing its content is not advised. This directory can usually be regenerated from the initial files and the content of the patches directory (provided that all patches were regenerated before the removal).

Configuration file

Upon startup, quilt evaluates the file specified with the “--quiltrc” option; if that option is not given, the file .quiltrc in the user's home directory is used, and if that does not exist, /etc/quilt.quiltrc is read. This file is a bash(1) script. EDITOR and LESS can be overridden here if desired; see ENVIRONMENT, above.

Define a variable of the form QUILT_COMMAND_ARGS to specify default options to be passed to any quilt command (in uppercase). For example,

QUILT_DIFF_ARGS="--color=auto"

QUILT_DIFF_OPTS

Additional options that quilt shall pass to GNU diff when generating patches. A useful setting for C source code is “-p”, which causes GNU diff to show in the resulting patch which function a change is in.

QUILT_PATCH_OPTS

Additional options that quilt shall pass to GNU patch when applying patches. For example, recent versions of GNU patch support the “--reject-format=unified” option for generating reject files in “unified diff” style (older patch versions used “--unified-reject-files” for that).

You may also want to add the “-E” option if you have issues with quilt not deleting empty files when you think it should. The documentation of GNU patch says that “normally this option is unnecessary”, but when patch is in POSIX mode or if the patch format doesn't distinguish empty files from deleted files, patch deletes empty files only if the “-E” option is given. Beware that when passing “-E” to patch, quilt will no longer be able to deal with empty files, which is why using “-E” is no longer the default.

QUILT_DIFFSTAT_OPTS

indicates additional options that quilt shall pass to diffstat(1) when generating patch statistics. For example, “-f0” can be used for an alternative output format. Recent versions of diffstat also support alternative rounding methods (“-r1”, “-r2”).

QUILT_PC

The location of backup files and any other data relating to the current state of the working directory from quilt's perspective. Defaults to “.pc”.

QUILT_PATCHES

The location of patch files, defaulting to patches.

QUILT_SERIES

The name of the series file, defaulting to series. Unless an absolute path is used, the search algorithm described above applies.

QUILT_PATCHES_PREFIX

Boolean flag; if set to anything, quilt will prefix any patch name it prints with its directory (QUILT_PATCHES).

QUILT_NO_DIFF_INDEX

Boolean flag; if set to anything, no “Index:” line is prepended to patches generated by quilt. This is shorthand for adding “--no-index” to both QUILT_DIFF_ARGS and QUILT_REFRESH_ARGS.

QUILT_NO_DIFF_TIMESTAMPS

Boolean flag; if set to anything, no timestamps are included in headers when generating patches. This is shorthand for adding “--no-timestamps” to both QUILT_DIFF_ARGS and QUILT_REFRESH_ARGS.

QUILT_PAGER

The pager quilt shall use for commands which produce paginated output. If unset, the value of GIT_PAGER or, failing that, PAGER is used. If none of these variables is set, “less -R” is used. An empty value indicates that no pager should be used.

QUILT_COLORS

A sequence of definitions that directs quilt which ANSI escape sequences to associate with an output context, overriding the defaults. The most common use is to set colors (thus the name of this variable), but other attributes exist, such as bold or reverse.

To override one or more settings, set QUILT_COLORS to a colon-separated list of elements, each of the form “format-name=digit-sequence[;...]”.

Each digit-sequence should be a SGR (Select Graphic Rendition) value supported by your terminal. The standardized SGR values were specified by ANSI and incorporated into ISO-6429 and ECMA-48 (§8.3.117). The colors have standard names but their values were not defined within a color space; their precise appearance will vary and may be customizable in your terminal (emulator).

Recognized format-names, along with the quilt commands that use them, their use contexts, and default values, follow.

format-name	command	context	default
diff_add	diff	added lines	36 (cyan)
diff_cctx	diff	asterisk sequences	33 (yellow)
diff_ctx	diff	text after hunk	35 (magenta)
diff_hdr	diff	index line	32 (green)
diff_hunk	diff	hunk header	33 (yellow)
diff_mod	diff	modified lines	35 (magenta)
diff_rem	diff	removed lines	35 (magenta)
patch_fail	push	failure message	31 (red)
patch_fuzz	push	fuzz information	35 (magenta)
patch_offs	push	offset information	33 (yellow)
series_app	series	applied patch names	32 (green)
series_top	series	top patch name	33 (yellow)
series_una	series	unapplied patch names	0 (none)

All format-names used by the series command are also used by the patches command.

The special format-name “clear” is used to turn off special graphic renditions and return to the terminal defaults. Changing its definition should not be necessary for any terminal that claims to support ANSI escape sequences. If your terminal is corrupted despite your best efforts, try the command “tput sgr0” to restore the default graphic rendition.

As an example, one can put the following in ~/.quiltrc (or /etc/quilt.quiltrc):

QUILT_DIFF_ARGS="--color"
# Render diff file headers in bold blue over yellow.
# Render diff hunk headers in "negative image" yellow.
# Render failed patches with a red background.
QUILT_COLORS="diff_hdr=1;34;43:diff_hunk=7;33:patch_fail=41"