<h2>Command Line Interface Reference</h2>
This is an easy introduction to the fossil command line interface (cli).
It assumes some familiarity with using the command line, and with Source
Code Maintenence (SCM) systems—but not <i>too</i> much.
If you are trying to find information about fossil's web capabilities,
see the <a href="index.wiki">Fossil Home</a> and
<a href="wikitheory.wiki">Fossil Wiki</a> pages for pointers.
<h3>Things to note</h3>
* Fossil cli commands do not use special delimeters, they use spaces.
This is traditional with VCS/SCM. Some <i>options</i> to fossil commands
<i>do</i> use special delimiters, particularly the '-' (hyphen, or dash)
character. This is very similar to Tcl. Think of fossil as a shell you
invoke and feed a command to, including any options, and it will make
more sense.
* Any fossil command is acceptable once enough of it has been
entered to make the intent unambiguous. 'clo' is a proper prefix of
both the 'clone' and 'close' commands, for instance, but 'clon' is
enough to make the intent—the 'clone' command—unambiguous.
You should probably start interacting with fossil at the command line
by asking it what it can do: <a name="tof">ˆ</a>
<code>$ fossil help</code><nowiki><pre>
Usage: fossil help COMMAND.
Available COMMANDs:</pre><table width="80%" style="font-family: fixed, courier, monospace; ">
<tr>
<td><a href="#add">add</a></td>
<td><a href="#configure">configuration</a></td>
<td><a href="#leaves">leaves</a></td>
<td><a href="#redo">redo</a></td>
<td><a href="#server">ui</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="#all">all</a></td>
<td><a href="#deconstruct">deconstruct</a></td>
<td><a href="#ls">ls</a></td>
<td><a href="#mv">rename</a></td>
<td><a href="#undo">undo</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="#cgi">cgi</a></td>
<td><a href="#rm">del</a></td>
<td><a href="#merge">merge</a></td>
<td><a href="#revert">revert</a></td>
<td><a href="#setting">unset</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="#changes">changes</a></td>
<td><a href="#descendants">descendants</a></td>
<td><a href="#mv">mv</a></td>
<td><a href="#rm">rm</a></td>
<td><a href="#update">update</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="#checkout">checkout</a></td>
<td><a href="#diff">diff</a></td>
<td><a href="#new">new</a></td>
<td><a href="#server">server</a></td>
<td><a href="#user">user</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="#commit">ci</a></td>
<td><a href="#extra">extra</a></td>
<td><a href="#open">open</a></td>
<td><a href="#setting">settings</a></td>
<td><a href="#version">version</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="#clean">clean</a></td>
<td><a href="#diff">gdiff</a></td>
<td><a href="#pull">pull</a></td>
<td><a href="#status">status</a></td>
<td><a href="#wiki">wiki</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="#clone">clone</a></td>
<td><a href="#help">help</a></td>
<td><a href="#push">push</a></td>
<td><a href="#sync">sync</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="#close">close</a></td>
<td><a href="#http">http</a></td>
<td><a href="#rebuild">rebuild</a></td>
<td><a href="#tag">tag</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="#commit">commit</a></td>
<td><a href="#info">info</a></td>
<td><a href="#reconstruct">reconstruct</a></td>
<td><a href="#timeline">timeline</a></td>
</tr>
</table><nowiki><pre>
This is fossil version [2be82dcc2a] 2008-12-07 18:48:09 UTC
</pre>
<b>What follows</b> is a survey of what you get if you type<code>
fossil help <i>command</i> </code>for all of the
commands listed above. There are links to individual pages for each
of them; pages with content (not all of them are done) go into the command
in a bit more depth than the program help.
<pre>
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="add">Usage: </a><code><a href="cmd_add.wiki">fossil add</a></code> FILE...
Make arrangements to add one or more files to the current checkout
at the next commit.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="all">Usage: </a><code><a href="cmd_all.wiki">fossil all</a></code> (list|pull|push|rebuild|sync)
The ~/.fossil file records the location of all repositories for a
user. This command performs certain operations on all repositories
that can be useful before or after a period of disconnection operation.
Available operations are:
list Display the location of all repositories
pull Run a "pull" operation on all repositories
push Run a "push" on all repositories
rebuild Rebuild on all repositories
sync Run a "sync" on all repositories
Respositories are automatically added to the set of known repositories
when one of the following commands against the repository: clone, info,
pull, push, or sync
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="cgi">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_cgi">fossil cgi</a> SCRIPT
The SCRIPT argument is the name of a file that is the CGI script
that is being run. The command name, "cgi", may be omitted if
the GATEWAY_INTERFACE environment variable is set to "CGI" (which
should always be the case for CGI scripts run by a webserver.) The
SCRIPT file should look something like this:
#!/usr/bin/fossil
repository: /home/somebody/project.db
The second line defines the name of the repository. After locating
the repository, fossil will generate a webpage on stdout based on
the values of standard CGI environment variables.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="changes">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_changes">fossil changes</a>
Report on the edit status of all files in the current checkout.
See also the "status" and "extra" commands.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="checkout">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_checkout.wiki">fossil checkout</a> VERSION ?-f|--force?
Check out a version specified on the command-line. This command
will not overwrite edited files in the current checkout unless
the --force option appears on the command-line.
See also the "update" command.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="commit">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_commit.wiki">fossil commit</a> ?-m COMMENT? ?--nosign? ?FILE...? fossil ci ... (as above)
Create a new version containing all of the changes in the current
checkout. You will be prompted to enter a check-in comment unless
the "-m" option is used to specify a comment line. You will be
prompted for your GPG passphrase in order to sign the new manifest
unless the "--nosign" options is used. All files that have
changed will be committed unless some subset of files is specified
on the command line.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="clean">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_clean.wiki">fossil clean</a> ?-all?
Delete all "extra" files in the source tree. "Extra" files are
files that are not officially part of the checkout. See also
the "extra" command. This operation cannot be undone.
You will be prompted before removing each file. If you are
sure you wish to remove all "extra" files you can specify the
optional -all flag.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="clone">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_clone.wiki">fossil clone</a> URL FILENAME
Make a clone of a repository specified by URL in the local
file named FILENAME.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="close">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_close.wiki">fossil close</a> ?-f|--force?
The opposite of "open". Close the current database connection.
Require a -f or --force flag if there are unsaved changed in the
current check-out.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="configure">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_configure.wiki">fossil configure</a> METHOD ...
Where METHOD is one of: export import merge pull push reset. All methods
accept the -R or --repository option to specific a repository.
fossil configuration export AREA FILENAME
Write to FILENAME exported configuraton information for AREA.
AREA can be one of: all ticket skin project
fossil configuration import FILENAME
Read a configuration from FILENAME, overwriting the current
configuration.
fossil configuration merge FILENAME
Read a configuration from FILENAME and merge its values into
the current configuration. Existing values take priority over
values read from FILENAME.
fossil configuration pull AREA ?URL?
Pull and install the configuration from a different server
identified by URL. If no URL is specified, then the default
server is used.
fossil configuration push AREA ?URL?
Push the local configuration into the remote server identified
by URL. Admin privilege is required on the remote server for
this to work.
fossil configuration reset AREA
Restore the configuration to the default. AREA as above.
WARNING: Do not import, merge, or pull configurations from an untrusted
source. The inbound configuration is not checked for safety and can
introduce security vulnerabilities.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
COMMAND: deconstruct
<a name="deconstruct">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_deconstruct.wiki">fossil deconstruct</a> ?-R|--repository REPOSITORY? DESTINATION
Populates the indicated DESTINATION directory with copies of all
artifcats contained within the repository. Artifacts are named AA/bbbbb
where AA is the first 2 characters of the artifact ID and bbbbb is the
remaining 38 characters.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="rm">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_rm.wiki">fossil rm</a> FILE... or: fossil del FILE...
Remove one or more files from the tree.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="descendants">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_descendants.wiki">fossil descendants</a> ?BASELINE-ID?
Find all leaf descendants of the baseline specified or if the argument
is omitted, of the baseline currently checked out.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="diff">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_diff.wiki">fossil diff</a>|gdiff ?-i? ?-r REVISION? FILE...
Show the difference between the current version of a file (as it
exists on disk) and that same file as it was checked out.
diff will show a textual diff while gdiff will attempt to run a
graphical diff command that you have setup. If the choosen command
is not yet configured, the internal textual diff command will be
used.
If -i is supplied for either diff or gdiff, the internal textual
diff command will be executed.
Here are a few external diff command settings, for example:
fossil setting diff-command diff
fossil setting gdiff-command tkdiff
fossil setting gdiff-command eskill22
fossil setting gdiff-command tortoisemerge
fossil setting gdiff-command meld
fossil setting gdiff-command xxdiff
fossil setting gdiff-command kdiff3
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="extra">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_extra.wiki">fossil extra</a>
Print a list of all files in the source tree that are not part of
the current checkout. See also the "clean" command.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="help">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_help.wiki">fossil help</a> COMMAND
Display information on how to use COMMAND
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="http">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_http.wiki">fossil http</a> REPOSITORY
Handle a single HTTP request appearing on stdin. The resulting webpage
is delivered on stdout. This method is used to launch an HTTP request
handler from inetd, for example. The argument is the name of the repository.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="info">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_info.wiki">fossil info</a> ?ARTIFACT-ID|FILENAME?
With no arguments, provide information about the current tree.
If an argument is specified, provide information about the object
in the respository of the current tree that the argument refers
to. Or if the argument is the name of a repository, show
information about that repository.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="leaves">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_leaves.wiki">fossil leaves</a>
Find leaves of all branches.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="ls">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_ls.wiki">fossil ls</a>
Show the names of all files in the current checkout
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="merge">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_merge.wiki">fossil merge</a> VERSION
The argument is a version that should be merged into the current
checkout.
Only file content is merged. The result continues to use the
file and directory names from the current check-out even if those
names might have been changed in the branch being merged in.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="mv">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_mv.wiki">fossil mv|rename</a> OLDNAME NEWNAME or: fossil mv|rename OLDNAME... DIR
Move or rename one or more files within the tree
This command does not rename the files on disk. All this command does is
record the fact that filenames have changed so that appropriate notations
can be made at the next commit/checkin.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="new">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_new.wiki">fossil new</a> FILENAME
Create a repository for a new project in the file named FILENAME.
This command is distinct from "clone". The "clone" command makes
a copy of an existing project. This command starts a new project.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="open">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_open.wiki">fossil open</a> FILENAME
Open a connection to the local repository in FILENAME. A checkout
for the repository is created with its root at the working directory.
See also the "close" command.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="pull">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_pull.wiki">fossil pull</a> ?URL? ?-R|--respository REPOSITORY?
Pull changes in a remote repository into the local repository.
The repository is identified by the -R or --repository option.
If there is no such option then the open repository is used.
The URL of the remote server is specified on the command line
If no URL is specified then the URL used by the most recent
"pull", "push", or "sync" command is used.
The URL is of the following form:
http://USER@HOST:PORT/PATH
The "USER@" and ":PORT" substrings are optional.
The "USER" substring specifies the login user. You will be
prompted for the password on the command-line. The PORT
specifies the TCP port of the server. The default port is
80.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="push">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_push.wiki">fossil push</a> ?URL? ?-R|--repository REPOSITORY?
Push changes in the local repository over into a remote repository.
See the "pull" command for additional information.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="rebuild">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_rebuild.wiki">fossil rebuild</a> REPOSITORY
Reconstruct the named repository database from the core
records. Run this command after updating the fossil
executable in a way that changes the database schema.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
COMMAND: reconstruct
<a name="reconstruct">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_reconstruct.wiki">fossil reconstruct</a> REPOSITORY ORIGIN
Creates the REPOSITORY and populates it with the artifacts in the
indicated ORIGIN directory.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="redo">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_redo.wiki">fossil redo</a> ?FILENAME...?
Redo the an update or merge operation that has been undone by the
undo command. If FILENAME is specified then restore the changes
associated with the named file(s) but otherwise leave the update
or merge undone.
A single level of undo/redo is supported. The undo/redo stack
is cleared by the commit and checkout commands.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="revert">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_revert.wiki">fossil revert</a> ?--yes? ?-r REVISION? FILE
Revert to the current repository version of FILE, or to
the version associated with baseline REVISION if the -r flag
appears. This command will confirm your operation unless the
file is missing or the --yes option is used.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="server">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_server.wiki">fossil server</a> ?-P|--port TCPPORT? ?REPOSITORY? Or: fossil ui ?-P|--port TCPPORT? ?REPOSITORY?
Open a socket and begin listening and responding to HTTP requests on
TCP port 8080, or on any other TCP port defined by the -P or
--port option. The optional argument is the name of the repository.
The repository argument may be omitted if the working directory is
within an open checkout.
The "ui" command automatically starts a web browser after initializing
the web server.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
COMMAND: settings
COMMAND: unset
<a name="setting">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_setting.wiki">fossil setting</a> ?PROPERTY? ?VALUE? ?-global? fossil unset PROPERTY ?-global?
The "setting" command with no arguments lists all properties and their
values. With just a property name it shows the value of that property.
With a value argument it changes the property for the current repository.
The "unset" command clears a property setting.
autosync If enabled, automatically pull prior to
commit or update and automatically push
after commit or tag or branch creation.
diff-command External command to run when performing a diff.
If undefined, the internal text diff will be used.
editor Text editor command used for check-in comments.
gdiff-command External command to run when performing a graphical
diff. If undefined, text diff will be used.
localauth If enabled, require that HTTP connections from
127.0.0.1 be authenticated by password. If
false, all HTTP requests from localhost have
unrestricted access to the repository.
clearsign When enabled (the default), fossil will attempt to
sign all commits with gpg. When disabled, commits will
be unsigned.
pgp-command Command used to clear-sign manifests at check-in.
The default is "gpg --clearsign -o ".
proxy URL of the HTTP proxy. If undefined or "off" then
the "http_proxy" environment variable is consulted.
If the http_proxy environment variable is undefined
then a direct HTTP connection is used.
web-browser A shell command used to launch your preferred
web browser when given a URL as an argument.
Defaults to "start" on windows, "open" on Mac,
and "firefox" on Unix.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="status">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_status.wiki">fossil status</a>
Report on the status of the current checkout.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="sync">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_sync.wiki">fossil sync</a> ?URL? ?-R|--repository REPOSITORY?
Synchronize the local repository with a remote repository. This is
the equivalent of running both "push" and "pull" at the same time.
See the "pull" command for additional information.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="tag">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_tag.wiki">fossil tag</a> SUBCOMMAND ...
Run various subcommands to control tags and properties
fossil tag add ?--raw? TAGNAME BASELINE ?VALUE?
Add a new tag or property to BASELINE. The tag will
be usable instead of a BASELINE in commands such as
update and merge.
fossil tag branch ?--raw? ?--nofork? TAGNAME BASELINE ?VALUE?
A fork will be created so that the new checkin
is a sibling of BASELINE and identical to it except
for a generated comment. Then the new tag will
be added to the new checkin and propagated to
all direct children. Additionally all symbolic
tags of that checkin inherited from BASELINE will
be cancelled.
However, if the option --nofork is given, no
fork will be created and the tag/property will be
added to BASELINE directly. No tags will be canceled.
fossil tag cancel ?--raw? TAGNAME BASELINE
Remove the tag TAGNAME from BASELINE, and also remove
the propagation of the tag to any descendants.
fossil tag find ?--raw? TAGNAME
List all baselines that use TAGNAME
fossil tag list ?--raw? ?BASELINE?
List all tags, or if BASELINE is supplied, list
all tags and their values for BASELINE.
The option --raw allows the manipulation of all types of
tags used for various internal purposes in fossil. You
should not use this option to make changes unless you are
sure what you are doing.
If you need to use a tagname that might be confused with
a hexadecimal baseline or artifact ID, you can explicitly
disambiguate it by prefixing it with "tag:". For instance:
fossil update decaf
will be taken as an artifact or baseline ID and fossil will
probably complain that no such revision was found. However
fossil update tag:decaf
will assume that "decaf" is a tag/branch name.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="timeline">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_timeline.wiki">fossil timeline</a> ?WHEN? ?BASELINE|DATETIME? ?-n|--count N?
Print a summary of activity going backwards in date and time
specified or from the current date and time if no arguments
are given. Show as many as N (default 20) check-ins. The
WHEN argument can be any unique abbreviation of one of these
keywords:
before
after
descendants | children
ancestors | parents
The BASELINE can be any unique prefix of 4 characters or more.
The DATETIME should be in the ISO8601 format. For
examples: "2007-08-18 07:21:21". You can also say "current"
for the current version or "now" for the current time.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="undo">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_undo.wiki">fossil undo</a> ?FILENAME...?
Undo the most recent update or merge operation. If FILENAME is
specified then restore the content of the named file(s) but otherwise
leave the update or merge in effect.
A single level of undo/redo is supported. The undo/redo stack
is cleared by the commit and checkout commands.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="update">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_update.wiki">fossil update</a> ?VERSION? ?--latest?
The optional argument is a version that should become the current
version. If the argument is omitted, then use the leaf of the
tree that begins with the current version, if there is only a single leaf. If there are a multiple leaves, the latest is used
if the --latest flag is present.
This command is different from the "checkout" in that edits are
not overwritten. Edits are merged into the new version.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="user">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_user.wiki">fossil user</a> SUBCOMMAND ... ?-R|--repository FILE?
Run various subcommands on users of the open repository or of
the repository identified by the -R or --repository option.
fossil user capabilities USERNAME ?STRING?
Query or set the capabilities for user USERNAME
fossil user default ?USERNAME?
Query or set the default user. The default user is the
user for command-line interaction.
fossil user list
List all users known to the repository
fossil user new ?USERNAME?
Create a new user in the repository. Users can never be
deleted. They can be denied all access but they must continue
to exist in the database.
fossil user password USERNAME
Change the web access password for a user.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="version">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_version.wiki">fossil version</a>
Print the source code version number for the fossil executable.
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<a name="wiki">Usage: </a><a href="cmd_wiki.wiki">fossil wiki</a> (export|create|commit|list) WikiName
Run various subcommands to fetch wiki entries.
fossil wiki export PAGENAME ?FILE?
Sends the latest version of the PAGENAME wiki
entry to the given file or standard output.
fossil wiki commit PAGENAME ?FILE?
Commit changes to a wiki page from FILE or from standard.
fossil wiki create PAGENAME ?FILE?
Create a new wiki page with initial content taken from
FILE or from standard input.
fossil wiki list
Lists all wiki entries, one per line, ordered
case-insentively by name.
TODOs:
fossil wiki export ?-u ARTIFACT? WikiName ?FILE?
Outputs the selected version of WikiName.
fossil wiki delete ?-m MESSAGE? WikiName
The same as deleting a file entry, but i don't know if fossil
supports a commit message for Wiki entries.
fossil wiki ?-u? ?-d? ?-s=[|]? list
Lists the artifact ID and/or Date of last change along with
each entry name, delimited by the -s char.
fossil wiki diff ?ARTIFACT? ?-f infile[=stdin]? EntryName
Diffs the local copy of a page with a given version (defaulting
to the head version).
</pre></nowiki>
<hr><a href="#tof">ˆ</a>
<h3>Caveats</h3>
This is not actually a reference, it's the start of a reference.
There are wikilinks to uncreated pages for the commands. This was
created by running the fossil help for each command listed by running
fossil help... Duplicate commands are only listed once (I
<i>think</i>). There are several bits of <b>fossil</b> that are not addressed
in the help for commands (special wiki directories, special users, etc.)
so they are (currently) not addressed here. Clarity and brevity may be
sacrificed for expediency at the authors indiscretion. All spelling and
grammatical mistakes are somebody elses fault.<code> void * </code>
prohibited where<code> __C_PLUS_PLUS__ </code>. Title and taxes extra.
Not valid in Hooptigonia.