---
name: "stg-edit"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "stgit"
version: "0.18-1"
release: "Debian 10 (Buster)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/stg-edit"
---

# stg-edit(1)

Edit a patch description or diff

## NAME

stg-edit - Edit a patch description or diff

## SYNOPSIS

```
stg edit [options] [--] [<patch>]
```

## DESCRIPTION

Edit the description and author information of the given patch (or the current patch if no patch name was given). With --diff, also edit the diff.

The editor is invoked with the following contents:

```
From: A U Thor <author@example.com>
Date: creation date
```

```
Patch description
```

If --diff was specified, the diff appears at the bottom, after a separator:

```
---
```

```
Diff text
```

Command-line options can be used to modify specific information without invoking the editor. (With the --edit option, the editor is invoked even if such command-line options are given.)

If the patch diff is edited but does not apply, no changes are made to the patch at all. The edited patch is saved to a file which you can feed to "stg edit --file", once you have made sure it does apply.

With --set-tree you set the git tree of the patch to the specified TREE-ISH without changing the tree of any other patches. When used on the top patch, the index and work tree will be updated to match the tree. This low-level option is primarily meant to be used by tools built on top of StGit, such as the Emacs mode. See also the --set-tree flag of stg push.

## OPTIONS

- \-d, --diff

  Edit the patch diff.

- \-e, --edit

  Invoke interactive editor.

- \--sign

  Add a "Signed-off-by:" to the end of the patch.

- \--ack

  Add an "Acked-by:" line to the end of the patch.

- \--review

  Add a "Reviewed-by:" line to the end of the patch.

- \-m MESSAGE, --message MESSAGE

  Use MESSAGE instead of invoking the editor.

- \-f FILE, --file FILE

  Use the contents of FILE instead of invoking the editor. (If FILE is "-", write to stdout.)

- \--save-template FILE

  Instead of running the command, just write the message template to FILE, and exit. (If FILE is "-", write to stdout.)

  When driving StGit from another program, it is often useful to first call a command with *--save-template*, then let the user edit the message, and then call the same command with *--file*.

- \--no-verify

  This option bypasses the commit-msg hook.

\--author "NAME \<EMAIL\>"

Set the author details.

- \--authname NAME

  Set the author name.

- \--authemail EMAIL

  Set the author email.

- \--authdate DATE

  Set the author date.

- \-O OPTIONS, --diff-opts OPTIONS

  Extra options to pass to "git diff".

- \-t TREE-ISH, --set-tree TREE-ISH

  Set the git tree of the patch to TREE-ISH.

## STGIT

Part of the StGit suite - see [**stg**(1)](/stg/1.md)