Manual: git-submodule
GIT-SUBMODULE(1) Git Manual GIT-SUBMODULE(1)
NAME
git-submodule - Initialize, update or inspect submodules
SYNOPSIS
git submodule [--quiet] [--cached]
git submodule [--quiet] add [] [--] []
git submodule [--quiet] status [--cached] [--recursive] [--] [...]
git submodule [--quiet] init [--] [...]
git submodule [--quiet] deinit [-f|--force] (--all|[--] ...)
git submodule [--quiet] update [] [--] [...]
git submodule [--quiet] set-branch [] [--]
git submodule [--quiet] set-url [--]
git submodule [--quiet] summary [] [--] [...]
git submodule [--quiet] foreach [--recursive]
git submodule [--quiet] sync [--recursive] [--] [...]
git submodule [--quiet] absorbgitdirs [--] [...]
DESCRIPTION
Inspects, updates and manages submodules.
For more information about submodules, see gitsubmodules(7).
COMMANDS
With no arguments, shows the status of existing submodules. Several subcommands are available to
perform operations on the submodules.
add [-b ] [-f|--force] [--name ] [--reference ] [--ref-format ]
[--depth ] [--] []
Add the given repository as a submodule at the given path to the changeset to be committed next
to the current project: the current project is termed the "superproject".
is the URL of the new submodule’s origin repository. This may be either an absolute
URL, or (if it begins with ./ or ../), the location relative to the superproject’s default remote
repository (Please note that to specify a repository foo.git which is located right next to a
superproject bar.git, you’ll have to use ../foo.git instead of ./foo.git - as one might expect
when following the rules for relative URLs - because the evaluation of relative URLs in Git is
identical to that of relative directories).
The default remote is the remote of the remote-tracking branch of the current branch. If no such
remote-tracking branch exists or the HEAD is detached, "origin" is assumed to be the default
remote. If the superproject doesn’t have a default remote configured the superproject is its own
authoritative upstream and the current working directory is used instead.
The optional argument is the relative location for the cloned submodule to exist in the
superproject. If is not given, the canonical part of the source repository is used ("repo"
for "/path/to/repo.git" and "foo" for "host.xz:foo/.git"). If exists and is already a
valid Git repository, then it is staged for commit without cloning. The is also used as
the submodule’s logical name in its configuration entries unless --name is used to specify a
logical name.
The given URL is recorded into .gitmodules for use by subsequent users cloning the superproject.
If the URL is given relative to the superproject’s repository, the presumption is the
superproject and submodule repositories will be kept together in the same relative location, and
only the superproject’s URL needs to be provided. git-submodule will correctly locate the
submodule using the relative URL in .gitmodules.
If --ref-format is specified, the ref storage format of newly cloned submodules will be
set accordingly.
status [--cached] [--recursive] [--] [...]
Show the status of the submodules. This will print the SHA-1 of the currently checked out commit
for each submodule, along with the submodule path and the output of git describe for the SHA-1.
Each SHA-1 will possibly be prefixed with - if the submodule is not initialized, + if the
currently checked out submodule commit does not match the SHA-1 found in the index of the
containing repository and U if the submodule has merge conflicts.
If --cached is specified, this command will instead print the SHA-1 recorded in the superproject
for each submodule.
If --recursive is specified, this command will recurse into nested submodules, and show their
status as well.
If you are only interested in changes of the currently initialized submodules with respect to the
commit recorded in the index or the HEAD, git-status(1) and git-diff(1) will provide that
information too (and can also report changes to a submodule’s work tree).
init [--] [...]
Initialize the submodules recorded in the index (which were added and committed elsewhere) by
setting submodule.$name.url in .git/config, using the same setting from .gitmodules as a
template. If the URL is relative, it will be resolved using the default remote. If there is no
default remote, the current repository will be assumed to be upstream.
Optional arguments limit which submodules will be initialized. If no path is specified and
submodule.active has been configured, submodules configured to be active will be initialized,
otherwise all submodules are initialized.
It will also copy the value of submodule.$name.update, if present in the .gitmodules file, to
.git/config, but (1) this command does not alter existing information in .git/config, and (2)
submodule.$name.update that is set to a custom command is not copied for security reasons.
You can then customize the submodule clone URLs in .git/config for your local setup and proceed
to git submodule update; you can also just use git submodule update --init without the explicit
init step if you do not intend to customize any submodule locations.
See the add subcommand for the definition of default remote.
deinit [-f|--force] (--all|[--] ...)
Unregister the given submodules, i.e. remove the whole submodule.$name section from .git/config
together with their work tree. Further calls to git submodule update, git submodule foreach and
git submodule sync will skip any unregistered submodules until they are initialized again, so use
this command if you don’t want to have a local checkout of the submodule in your working tree
anymore.
When the command is run without pathspec, it errors out, instead of deinit-ing everything, to
prevent mistakes.
If --force is specified, the submodule’s working tree will be removed even if it contains local
modifications.
If you really want to remove a submodule from the repository and commit that use git-rm(1)
instead. See gitsubmodules(7) for removal options.
update [--init] [--remote] [-N|--no-fetch] [--[no-]recommend-shallow] [-f|--force]
[--checkout|--rebase|--merge] [--reference ] [--ref-format ] [--depth ]
[--recursive] [--jobs ] [--[no-]single-branch] [--filter ] [--] [...]
Update the registered submodules to match what the superproject expects by cloning missing
submodules, fetching missing commits in submodules and updating the working tree of the
submodules. The "updating" can be done in several ways depending on command line options and the
value of submodule..update configuration variable. The command line option takes precedence
over the configuration variable. If neither is given, a checkout is performed. (note: what is in
.gitmodules file is irrelevant at this point; see git submodule init above for how .gitmodules is
used). The update procedures supported both from the command line as well as through the
submodule..update configuration are:
checkout
the commit recorded in the superproject will be checked out in the submodule on a detached
HEAD.
If --force is specified, the submodule will be checked out (using git checkout --force), even
if the commit specified in the index of the containing repository already matches the commit
checked out in the submodule.
rebase
the current branch of the submodule will be rebased onto the commit recorded in the
superproject.
merge
the commit recorded in the superproject will be merged into the current branch in the
submodule.
The following update procedures have additional limitations:
custom command
mechanism for running arbitrary commands with the commit ID as an argument. Specifically, if
the submodule..update configuration variable is set to !custom command, the object name
of the commit recorded in the superproject for the submodule is appended to the custom
command string and executed. Note that this mechanism is not supported in the .gitmodules
file or on the command line.
none
the submodule is not updated. This update procedure is not allowed on the command line.
If the submodule is not yet initialized, and you just want to use the setting as stored in
.gitmodules, you can automatically initialize the submodule with the --init option.
If --recursive is specified, this command will recurse into the registered submodules, and update
any nested submodules within.
If --ref-format is specified, the ref storage format of newly cloned submodules will be
set accordingly.
If --filter is specified, the given partial clone filter will be applied to the
submodule. See git-rev-list(1) for details on filter specifications.
set-branch (-b|--branch) [--] , set-branch (-d|--default) [--]
Sets the default remote tracking branch for the submodule. The --branch option allows the remote
branch to be specified. The --default option removes the submodule..branch configuration
key, which causes the tracking branch to default to the remote HEAD.
set-url [--]
Sets the URL of the specified submodule to . Then, it will automatically synchronize the
submodule’s new remote URL configuration.
summary [--cached|--files] [(-n|--summary-limit) ] [commit] [--] [...]
Show commit summary between the given commit (defaults to HEAD) and working tree/index. For a
submodule in question, a series of commits in the submodule between the given super project
commit and the index or working tree (switched by --cached) are shown. If the option --files is
given, show the series of commits in the submodule between the index of the super project and the
working tree of the submodule (this option doesn’t allow to use the --cached option or to provide
an explicit commit).
Using the --submodule=log option with git-diff(1) will provide that information too.
foreach [--recursive]
Evaluates an arbitrary shell command in each checked out submodule. The command has access to the
variables $name, $sm_path, $displaypath, $sha1 and $toplevel: $name is the name of the relevant
submodule section in .gitmodules, $sm_path is the path of the submodule as recorded in the
immediate superproject, $displaypath contains the relative path from the current working
directory to the submodules root directory, $sha1 is the commit as recorded in the immediate
superproject, and $toplevel is the absolute path to the top-level of the immediate superproject.
Note that to avoid conflicts with $PATH on Windows, the $path variable is now a deprecated
synonym of $sm_path variable. Any submodules defined in the superproject but not checked out are
ignored by this command. Unless given --quiet, foreach prints the name of each submodule before
evaluating the command. If --recursive is given, submodules are traversed recursively (i.e. the
given shell command is evaluated in nested submodules as well). A non-zero return from the
command in any submodule causes the processing to terminate. This can be overridden by adding ||
: to the end of the command.
As an example, the command below will show the path and currently checked out commit for each
submodule:
git submodule foreach 'echo $sm_path `git rev-parse HEAD`'
sync [--recursive] [--] [...]
Synchronizes submodules' remote URL configuration setting to the value specified in .gitmodules.
It will only affect those submodules which already have a URL entry in .git/config (that is the
case when they are initialized or freshly added). This is useful when submodule URLs change
upstream and you need to update your local repositories accordingly.
git submodule sync synchronizes all submodules while git submodule sync -- A synchronizes
submodule "A" only.
If --recursive is specified, this command will recurse into the registered submodules, and sync
any nested submodules within.
absorbgitdirs
If a git directory of a submodule is inside the submodule, move the git directory of the
submodule into its superproject’s $GIT_DIR/modules path and then connect the git directory and
its working directory by setting the core.worktree and adding a .git file pointing to the git
directory embedded in the superprojects git directory.
A repository that was cloned independently and later added as a submodule or old setups have the
submodules git directory inside the submodule instead of embedded into the superprojects git
directory.
This command is recursive by default.
OPTIONS
-q, --quiet
Only print error messages.
--progress
This option is only valid for add and update commands. Progress status is reported on the
standard error stream by default when it is attached to a terminal, unless -q is specified. This
flag forces progress status even if the standard error stream is not directed to a terminal.
--all
This option is only valid for the deinit command. Unregister all submodules in the working tree.
-b , --branch
Branch of repository to add as submodule. The name of the branch is recorded as
submodule..branch in .gitmodules for update --remote. A special value of . is used to
indicate that the name of the branch in the submodule should be the same name as the current
branch in the current repository. If the option is not specified, it defaults to the remote HEAD.
-f, --force
This option is only valid for add, deinit and update commands. When running add, allow adding an
otherwise ignored submodule path. This option is also used to bypass a check that the submodule’s
name is not already in use. By default, git submodule add will fail if the proposed name (which
is derived from the path) is already registered for another submodule in the repository. Using
--force allows the command to proceed by automatically generating a unique name by appending a
number to the conflicting name (e.g., if a submodule named child exists, it will try child1, and
so on). When running deinit the submodule working trees will be removed even if they contain
local changes. When running update (only effective with the checkout procedure), throw away local
changes in submodules when switching to a different commit; and always run a checkout operation
in the submodule, even if the commit listed in the index of the containing repository matches the
commit checked out in the submodule.
--cached
This option is only valid for status and summary commands. These commands typically use the
commit found in the submodule HEAD, but with this option, the commit stored in the index is used
instead.
--files
This option is only valid for the summary command. This command compares the commit in the index
with that in the submodule HEAD when this option is used.
-n, --summary-limit
This option is only valid for the summary command. Limit the summary size (number of commits
shown in total). Giving 0 will disable the summary; a negative number means unlimited (the
default). This limit only applies to modified submodules. The size is always limited to 1 for
added/deleted/typechanged submodules.
--remote
This option is only valid for the update command. Instead of using the superproject’s recorded
SHA-1 to update the submodule, use the status of the submodule’s remote-tracking branch. The
remote used is branch’s remote (branch..remote), defaulting to origin. The remote branch
used defaults to the remote HEAD, but the branch name may be overridden by setting the
submodule..branch option in either .gitmodules or .git/config (with .git/config taking
precedence).
This works for any of the supported update procedures (--checkout, --rebase, etc.). The only
change is the source of the target SHA-1. For example, submodule update --remote --merge will
merge upstream submodule changes into the submodules, while submodule update --merge will merge
superproject gitlink changes into the submodules.
In order to ensure a current tracking branch state, update --remote fetches the submodule’s
remote repository before calculating the SHA-1. If you don’t want to fetch, you should use
submodule update --remote --no-fetch.
Use this option to integrate changes from the upstream subproject with your submodule’s current
HEAD. Alternatively, you can run git pull from the submodule, which is equivalent except for the
remote branch name: update --remote uses the default upstream repository and
submodule..branch, while git pull uses the submodule’s branch..merge. Prefer
submodule..branch if you want to distribute the default upstream branch with the
superproject and branch..merge if you want a more native feel while working in the
submodule itself.
-N, --no-fetch
This option is only valid for the update command. Don’t fetch new objects from the remote site.
--checkout
This option is only valid for the update command. Checkout the commit recorded in the
superproject on a detached HEAD in the submodule. This is the default behavior, the main use of
this option is to override submodule.$name.update when set to a value other than checkout. If the
key submodule.$name.update is either not explicitly set or set to checkout, this option is
implicit.
--merge
This option is only valid for the update command. Merge the commit recorded in the superproject
into the current branch of the submodule. If this option is given, the submodule’s HEAD will not
be detached. If a merge failure prevents this process, you will have to resolve the resulting
conflicts within the submodule with the usual conflict resolution tools. If the key
submodule.$name.update is set to merge, this option is implicit.
--rebase
This option is only valid for the update command. Rebase the current branch onto the commit
recorded in the superproject. If this option is given, the submodule’s HEAD will not be detached.
If a merge failure prevents this process, you will have to resolve these failures with git-
rebase(1). If the key submodule.$name.update is set to rebase, this option is implicit.
--init
This option is only valid for the update command. Initialize all submodules for which "git
submodule init" has not been called so far before updating.
--name
This option is only valid for the add command. It sets the submodule’s name to the given string
instead of defaulting to its path. The name must be valid as a directory name and may not end
with a /.
--reference
This option is only valid for add and update commands. These commands sometimes need to clone a
remote repository. In this case, this option will be passed to the git-clone(1) command.
NOTE: Do not use this option unless you have read the note for git-clone(1)'s --reference,
--shared, and --dissociate options carefully.
--dissociate
This option is only valid for add and update commands. These commands sometimes need to clone a
remote repository. In this case, this option will be passed to the git-clone(1) command.
NOTE: see the NOTE for the --reference option.
--recursive
This option is only valid for foreach, update, status and sync commands. Traverse submodules
recursively. The operation is performed not only in the submodules of the current repo, but also
in any nested submodules inside those submodules (and so on).
--depth
This option is valid for add and update commands. Create a shallow clone with a history truncated
to the specified number of revisions. See git-clone(1)
--recommend-shallow, --no-recommend-shallow
This option is only valid for the update command. The initial clone of a submodule will use the
recommended submodule..shallow as provided by the .gitmodules file by default. To ignore
the suggestions use --no-recommend-shallow.
-j , --jobs
This option is only valid for the update command. Clone new submodules in parallel with as many
jobs. Defaults to the submodule.fetchJobs option.
--single-branch, --no-single-branch
This option is only valid for the update command. Clone only one branch during update: HEAD or
one specified by --branch.
...
Paths to submodule(s). When specified this will restrict the command to only operate on the
submodules found at the specified paths. (This argument is required with add).
FILES
When initializing submodules, a .gitmodules file in the top-level directory of the containing
repository is used to find the url of each submodule. This file should be formatted in the same way
as $GIT_DIR/config. The key to each submodule url is "submodule.$name.url". See gitmodules(5) for
details.
SEE ALSO
gitsubmodules(7), gitmodules(5).
GIT
Part of the git(1) suite
Git 2.53.0 03/02/2026 GIT-SUBMODULE(1)