hg - Mercurial source code management system

hg [-v -d -q -y] <command> [command options] [files]

The hg(1) command provides a command line interface to the Mercurial system.

-R, --repository

repository root directory

--cwd

change working directory

-y, --noninteractive

do not prompt, assume yes for any required answers

-q, --quiet

suppress output

-v, --verbose

enable additional output

--debug

enable debugging output

--traceback

print traceback on exception

--time

time how long the command takes

--profile

print command execution profile

--version

output version information and exit

-h, --help

display help and exit

files ...

indicates one or more filename or relative path filenames; see "FILE NAME PATTERNS" for information on pattern matching

path

indicates a path on the local machine

revision

indicates a changeset which can be specified as a changeset revision number, a tag, or a unique substring of the changeset hash value

repository path

either the pathname of a local repository or the URI of a remote repository. There are two available URI protocols, http:// which is fast and the old-http:// protocol which is much slower but does not require a special server on the web host.

add [options] [files ...]

Schedule files to be version controlled and added to the repository.

The files will be added to the repository at the next commit.

If no names are given, add all files in the current directory and
its subdirectories.

addremove [options] [files ...]

Add all new files and remove all missing files from the repository.

New files are ignored if they match any of the patterns in .hgignore. As
with add, these changes take effect at the next commit.

annotate [-r <rev> -u -n -c] [files ...]

List changes in files, showing the revision id responsible for each line

This command is useful to discover who did a change or when a change took
place.

Without the -a option, annotate will avoid processing files it
detects as binary. With -a, annotate will generate an annotation
anyway, probably with undesirable results.

options:
-a, --text            treat all files as text
-I, --include <pat>   include names matching the given patterns
-X, --exclude <pat>   exclude names matching the given patterns
-r, --revision <rev>  annotate the specified revision
-u, --user            list the author
-c, --changeset       list the changeset
-n, --number          list the revision number (default)

bundle <file> <other>

(EXPERIMENTAL)

Generate a compressed changegroup file collecting all changesets
not found in the other repository.

This file can then be transferred using conventional means and
applied to another repository with the unbundle command. This is
useful when native push and pull are not available or when
exporting an entire repository is undesirable. The standard file
extension is ".hg".

Unlike import/export, this exactly preserves all changeset
contents including permissions, rename data, and revision history.

cat [options] <file ...>

Print the specified files as they were at the given revision. If no revision is given then the tip is used.

Output may be to a file, in which case the name of the file is
given using a format string.  The formatting rules are the same as
for the export command, with the following additions:

%s   basename of file being printed
%d   dirname of file being printed, or '.' if in repo root
%p   root-relative path name of file being printed

options:
-I, --include <pat>       include names matching the given patterns
-X, --exclude <pat>       exclude names matching the given patterns
-o, --output <filespec>   print output to file with formatted name
-r, --rev <rev>           print the given revision

clone [-U] <source> [dest]

Create a copy of an existing repository in a new directory.

If no destination directory name is specified, it defaults to the
basename of the source.

The source is added to the new repository's .hg/hgrc file to be used in
future pulls.

For efficiency, hardlinks are used for cloning whenever the
source and destination are on the same filesystem.

options:
-U, --noupdate   do not update the new working directory
-e, --ssh        specify ssh command to use
--remotecmd      specify hg command to run on the remote side

commit [options] [files...]

Commit changes to the given files into the repository.

If a list of files is omitted, all changes reported by "hg status"
from the root of the repository will be commited.

The HGEDITOR or EDITOR environment variables are used to start an
editor to add a commit comment.

Options:

-A, --addremove       run addremove during commit
-I, --include <pat>   include names matching the given patterns
-X, --exclude <pat>   exclude names matching the given patterns
-m, --message <text>  use <text> as commit message
-l, --logfile <file>  read the commit message from <file>
-d, --date <datecode> record datecode as commit date
-u, --user <user>     record user as commiter

aliases: ci

copy <source ...> <dest>

Mark dest as having copies of source files. If dest is a directory, copies are put in that directory. If dest is a file, there can only be one source.

By default, this command copies the contents of files as they
stand in the working directory.  If invoked with --after, the
operation is recorded, but no copying is performed.

This command takes effect in the next commit.

NOTE: This command should be treated as experimental. While it
should properly record copied files, this information is not yet
fully used by merge, nor fully reported by log.

Options:
-A, --after           record a copy that has already occurred
-I, --include <pat>   include names matching the given patterns
-X, --exclude <pat>   exclude names matching the given patterns
-f, --force           forcibly copy over an existing managed file
-p, --parents         append source path to dest

aliases: cp

diff [-a] [-r revision] [-r revision] [files ...]

Show differences between revisions for the specified files.

Differences between files are shown using the unified diff format.

When two revision arguments are given, then changes are shown
between those revisions. If only one revision is specified then
that revision is compared to the working directory, and, when no
revisions are specified, the working directory files are compared
to its parent.

Without the -a option, diff will avoid generating diffs of files
it detects as binary. With -a, diff will generate a diff anyway,
probably with undesirable results.

options:
-a, --text           treat all files as text
-I, --include <pat>  include names matching the given patterns
-X, --exclude <pat>  exclude names matching the given patterns

export [-o filespec] [revision] ...

Print the changeset header and diffs for one or more revisions.

The information shown in the changeset header is: author,
changeset hash, parent and commit comment.

Output may be to a file, in which case the name of the file is
given using a format string.  The formatting rules are as follows:

%%   literal "%" character
%H   changeset hash (40 bytes of hexadecimal)
%N   number of patches being generated
%R   changeset revision number
%b   basename of the exporting repository
%h   short-form changeset hash (12 bytes of hexadecimal)
%n   zero-padded sequence number, starting at 1
%r   zero-padded changeset revision number

Without the -a option, export will avoid generating diffs of files
it detects as binary. With -a, export will generate a diff anyway,
probably with undesirable results.

options:
-a, --text                treat all files as text
-o, --output <filespec>   print output to file with formatted name

forget [options] [files]

Undo an hg add scheduled for the next commit.

options:
-I, --include <pat>  include names matching the given patterns
-X, --exclude <pat>  exclude names matching the given patterns

grep [options] pattern [files]

Search revisions of files for a regular expression.

This command behaves differently than Unix grep.  It only accepts
Python/Perl regexps.  It searches repository history, not the
working directory.  It always prints the revision number in which
a match appears.

By default, grep only prints output for the first revision of a
file in which it finds a match.  To get it to print every revision
that contains a change in match status ("-" for a match that
becomes a non-match, or "+" for a non-match that becomes a match),
use the --all flag.

options:
-0, --print0              end fields with NUL
-I, --include <pat>       include names matching the given patterns
-X, --exclude <pat>       exclude names matching the given patterns
    --all                 print all revisions that match
-i, --ignore-case         ignore case when matching
-l, --files-with-matches  print only file names and revs that match
-n, --line-number         print matching line numbers
-r <rev>, --rev <rev>     search in given revision range
-u, --user                print user who committed change

heads

Show all repository head changesets.

Repository "heads" are changesets that don't have children
changesets. They are where development generally takes place and
are the usual targets for update and merge operations.

identify

Print a short summary of the current state of the repo.

This summary identifies the repository state using one or two parent
hash identifiers, followed by a "+" if there are uncommitted changes
in the working directory, followed by a list of tags for this revision.

aliases: id

import [-p <n> -b <base> -f] <patches>

Import a list of patches and commit them individually.

If there are outstanding changes in the working directory, import
will abort unless given the -f flag.

If a patch looks like a mail message (its first line starts with
"From " or looks like an RFC822 header), it will not be applied
unless the -f option is used.  The importer neither parses nor
discards mail headers, so use -f only to override the "mailness"
safety check, not to import a real mail message.

options:
-p, --strip <n>   directory strip option for patch. This has the same
                  meaning as the corresponding patch option
-b <path>         base directory to read patches from
-f, --force       skip check for outstanding uncommitted changes

aliases: patch

incoming [-p] [source]

Show new changesets found in the specified repo or the default pull repo. These are the changesets that would be pulled if a pull was requested.

Currently only local repositories are supported.

options:
-p, --patch           show patch

aliases: in

init [dest]

Initialize a new repository in the given directory. If the given directory does not exist, it is created.

If no directory is given, the current directory is used.

locate [options] [files]

Print all files under Mercurial control whose names match the given patterns.

This command searches the current directory and its
subdirectories.  To search an entire repository, move to the root
of the repository.

If no patterns are given to match, this command prints all file
names.

If you want to feed the output of this command into the "xargs"
command, use the "-0" option to both this command and "xargs".
This will avoid the problem of "xargs" treating single filenames
that contain white space as multiple file names.

options:

-0, --print0         end filenames with NUL, for use with xargs
-f, --fullpath       print complete paths from the filesystem root
-I, --include <pat>  include names matching the given patterns
-r, --rev <rev>      search the repository as it stood at rev
-X, --exclude <pat>  exclude names matching the given patterns

log [-r revision ...] [-p] [files]

Print the revision history of the specified files or the entire project.

By default this command outputs: changeset id and hash, tags,
parents, user, date and time, and a summary for each commit. The
-v switch adds some more detail, such as changed files, manifest
hashes or message signatures.

options:
-I, --include <pat>   include names matching the given patterns
-X, --exclude <pat>   exclude names matching the given patterns
-r, --rev <A>         show the specified revision or range
-p, --patch           show patch

aliases: history

manifest [revision]

Print a list of version controlled files for the given revision.

The manifest is the list of files being version controlled. If no revision
is given then the tip is used.

outgoing [-p] [dest]

Show changesets not found in the specified destination repo or the default push repo. These are the changesets that would be pushed if a push was requested.

options:
-p, --patch           show patch

aliases: out

parents

Print the working directory's parent revisions.

paths [NAME]

Show definition of symbolic path name NAME. If no name is given, show definition of available names.

Path names are defined in the [paths] section of /etc/mercurial/hgrc
and $HOME/.hgrc.  If run inside a repository, .hg/hgrc is used, too.

pull <repository path>

Pull changes from a remote repository to a local one.

This finds all changes from the repository at the specified path
or URL and adds them to the local repository. By default, this
does not update the copy of the project in the working directory.

Valid URLs are of the form:

local/filesystem/path
http://[user@]host[:port][/path]
https://[user@]host[:port][/path]
ssh://[user@]host[:port][/path]

SSH requires an accessible shell account on the destination machine
and a copy of hg in the remote path.  With SSH, paths are relative
to the remote user's home directory by default; use two slashes at
the start of a path to specify it as relative to the filesystem root.

options:
-u, --update   update the working directory to tip after pull
-e, --ssh    specify ssh command to use
--remotecmd  specify hg command to run on the remote side

push <destination>

Push changes from the local repository to the given destination.

This is the symmetrical operation for pull. It helps to move
changes from the current repository to a different one. If the
destination is local this is identical to a pull in that directory
from the current one.

By default, push will refuse to run if it detects the result would
increase the number of remote heads. This generally indicates the
the client has forgotten to sync and merge before pushing.

Valid URLs are of the form:

local/filesystem/path
ssh://[user@]host[:port][/path]

SSH requires an accessible shell account on the destination
machine and a copy of hg in the remote path.

options:

-f, --force  force update
-e, --ssh    specify ssh command to use
--remotecmd  specify hg command to run on the remote side

rawcommit [-p -d -u -F -m -l]

Lowlevel commit, for use in helper scripts.

This command is not intended to be used by normal users, as it is
primarily useful for importing from other SCMs.

recover

Recover from an interrupted commit or pull.

This command tries to fix the repository status after an interrupted
operation. It should only be necessary when Mercurial suggests it.

remove [options] [files ...]

Schedule the indicated files for removal from the repository.

This command schedules the files to be removed at the next commit.
This only removes files from the current branch, not from the
entire project history.  If the files still exist in the working
directory, they will be deleted from it.

aliases: rm

rename <source ...> <dest>

Mark dest as copies of sources; mark sources for deletion. If dest is a directory, copies are put in that directory. If dest is a file, there can only be one source.

By default, this command copies the contents of files as they
stand in the working directory.  If invoked with --after, the
operation is recorded, but no copying is performed.

This command takes effect in the next commit.

NOTE: This command should be treated as experimental. While it
should properly record rename files, this information is not yet
fully used by merge, nor fully reported by log.

Options:
-A, --after        record a rename that has already occurred
-f, --force        forcibly copy over an existing managed file
-p, --parents      append source path to dest

aliases: mv

revert [names ...]

Revert any uncommitted modifications made to the named files or directories. This restores the contents of the affected files to an unmodified state.

If a file has been deleted, it is recreated.  If the executable
mode of a file was changed, it is reset.

If a directory is given, all files in that directory and its
subdirectories are reverted.

If no arguments are given, all files in the current directory and
its subdirectories are reverted.

options:
-r, --rev <rev>       revision to revert to
-n, --nonrecursive    do not recurse into subdirectories

root

Print the root directory of the current repository.

serve [options]

Start a local HTTP repository browser and pull server.

By default, the server logs accesses to stdout and errors to
stderr.  Use the "-A" and "-E" options to log to files.

options:
-A, --accesslog <file>   name of access log file to write to
-E, --errorlog <file>    name of error log file to write to
-a, --address <addr>     address to use
-p, --port <n>           port to use (default: 8000)
-n, --name <name>        name to show in web pages (default: working dir)
-t, --templatedir <path> web templates to use
-6, --ipv6               use IPv6 in addition to IPv4

status [options] [files]

Show changed files in the working directory. If no names are given, all files are shown. Otherwise, only files matching the given names are shown.

The codes used to show the status of files are:

M = changed
A = added
R = removed
? = not tracked

options:

-m, --modified       show only modified files
-a, --added          show only added files
-r, --removed        show only removed files
-u, --unknown        show only unknown (not tracked) files
-n, --no-status      hide status prefix
-0, --print0         end filenames with NUL, for use with xargs
-I, --include <pat>  include names matching the given patterns
-X, --exclude <pat>  exclude names matching the given patterns

tag [-l -m <text> -d <datecode> -u <user>] <name> [revision]

Name a particular revision using <name>.

Tags are used to name particular revisions of the repository and are
very useful to compare different revision, to go back to significant
earlier versions or to mark branch points as releases, etc.

If no revision is given, the tip is used.

To facilitate version control, distribution, and merging of tags,
they are stored as a file named ".hgtags" which is managed
similarly to other project files and can be hand-edited if
necessary.

options:
-l, --local           make the tag local
-m, --message <text>  message for tag commit log entry
-d, --date <datecode> datecode for commit
-u, --user <user>     user for commit

Note: Local tags are not version-controlled or distributed and are
stored in the .hg/localtags file. If there exists a local tag and
a public tag with the same name, local tag is used.

tags

List the repository tags.

This lists both regular and local tags.

tip

Show the tip revision.

unbundle <file>

(EXPERIMENTAL)

Apply a compressed changegroup file generated by the bundle
command.

undo

Undo the last commit or pull transaction.

Roll back the last pull or commit transaction on the
repository, restoring the project to its earlier state.

This command should be used with care. There is only one level of
undo and there is no redo.

This command is not intended for use on public repositories. Once
a change is visible for pull by other users, undoing it locally is
ineffective.

update [-m -C] [revision]

Update the working directory to the specified revision.

By default, update will refuse to run if doing so would require
merging or discarding local changes.

With the -m option, a merge will be performed.

With the -C option, local changes will be lost.

options:
-m, --merge       allow merging of branches
-C, --clean       overwrite locally modified files

aliases: up checkout co

verify

Verify the integrity of the current repository.

This will perform an extensive check of the repository's
integrity, validating the hashes and checksums of each entry in
the changelog, manifest, and tracked files, as well as the
integrity of their crosslinks and indices.

Mercurial accepts several notations for identifying one or more
file at a time.

By default, Mercurial treats file names as shell-style extended
glob patterns.

Alternate pattern notations must be specified explicitly.

To use a plain path name without any pattern matching, start a
name with "path:".  These path names must match completely, from
the root of the current repository.

To use an extended glob, start a name with "glob:".  Globs are
rooted at the current directory; a glob such as "*.c" will match
files ending in ".c" in the current directory only.

The supported glob syntax extensions are "**" to match any string
across path separators, and "{a,b}" to mean "a or b".

To use a Perl/Python regular expression, start a name with "re:".
Regexp pattern matching is anchored at the root of the repository.

Plain examples:

path:foo/bar   a name bar in a directory named foo in the root of
               the repository
path:path:name a file or directory named "path:name"

Glob examples:

glob:*.c       any name ending in ".c" in the current directory
*.c            any name ending in ".c" in the current directory
**.c           any name ending in ".c" in the current directory, or
               any subdirectory
foo/*.c        any name ending in ".c" in the directory foo
foo/**.c       any name ending in ".c" in the directory foo, or any
               subdirectory

Regexp examples:

re:.*\.c$      any name ending in ".c", anywhere in the repository

Mercurial accepts several notations for identifying individual
revisions.

A plain integer is treated as a revision number.  Negative
integers are treated as offsets from the tip, with -1 denoting the
tip.

A 40-digit hexadecimal string is treated as a unique revision
identifier.

A hexadecimal string less than 40 characters long is treated as a
unique revision identifier, and referred to as a short-form
identifier.  A short-form identifier is only valid if it is the
prefix of one full-length identifier.

Any other string is treated as a tag name, which is a symbolic
name associated with a revision identifier.  Tag names may not
contain the ":" character.

The reserved name "tip" is a special tag that always identifies
the most recent revision.

When Mercurial accepts more than one revision, they may be
specified individually, or provided as a continuous range,
separated by the ":" character.

The syntax of range notation is [BEGIN]:[END], where BEGIN and END
are revision identifiers.  Both BEGIN and END are optional.  If
BEGIN is not specified, it defaults to revision number 0.  If END
is not specified, it defaults to the tip.  The range ":" thus
means "all revisions".

If BEGIN is greater than END, revisions are treated in reverse
order.

A range acts as a closed interval.  This means that a range of 3:5
gives 3, 4 and 5.  Similarly, a range of 4:2 gives 4, 3, and 2.

HGEDITOR

This is the name of the editor to use when committing. Defaults to the value of EDITOR.

(deprecated, use .hgrc)

HGMERGE

An executable to use for resolving merge conflicts. The program will be executed with three arguments: local file, remote file, ancestor file.

The default program is "hgmerge", which is a shell script provided
by Mercurial with some sensible defaults.

(deprecated, use .hgrc)

HGUSER

This is the string used for the author of a commit.

(deprecated, use .hgrc)

EMAIL

If HGUSER is not set, this will be used as the author for a commit.

LOGNAME

If neither HGUSER nor EMAIL is set, LOGNAME will be used (with @hostname appended) as the author value for a commit.

EDITOR

This is the name of the editor used in the hgmerge script. It will be used for commit messages if HGEDITOR isn't set. Defaults to vi.

PYTHONPATH

This is used by Python to find imported modules and may need to be set appropriately if Mercurial is not installed system-wide.

.hgignore

This file contains regular expressions (one per line) that describe file names that should be ignored by hg.

.hgtags

This file contains changeset hash values and text tag names (one of each separated by spaces) that correspond to tagged versions of the repository contents.

/etc/mercurial/hgrc, $HOME/.hgrc, .hg/hgrc

This file contains defaults and configuration. Values in .hg/hgrc override those in $HOME/.hgrc, and these override settings made in the global /etc/mercurial/hgrc configuration. See hgrc(5) for details of the contents and format of these files.

Probably lots, please post them to the mailing list (See Resources below) when you find them.

hgrc(5)

Written by Matt Mackall <mpm@selenic.com>

Main Web Site: http://selenic.com/mercurial

Wiki site: http://www.serpentine.com/mercurial

Source code repository: http://selenic.com/hg

Mailing list: http://selenic.com/mailman/listinfo/mercurial

Copyright (C) 2005 Matt Mackall. Free use of this software is granted under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL).