git-add: Skip submodules with ignore=all unless --force and explicit path used #1987

bicschneider · 2025-10-15T14:20:04Z

The ignore=all configuration for submodules is currently honored by
status and diff, but not by add. This inconsistency causes friction
when working with submodules:

Developers unintentionally stage submodule updates, leading to conflicts
and unnecessary changes.
Tracking branches in submodule configs causes friction as updates
to the submodule SHA1 are added without intent.

This patch aligns git add with the behavior of status and diff:

Submodules marked ignore=all are skipped by default.
Attempting to add such a submodule explicitly now requires --force.

A submodule can frictionless track a branch in the configuration or
manually switched to and use update --update --remote without
unintentionally add the changes to the super-project.

Tests that previously added submodules without --force have been updated
accordingly. A new test is added to test the behavior of git add with and
without --force.

CC: Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason [email protected]
CC: Junio C Hamano [email protected]
CC: Brandon Williams [email protected]
cc: Phillip Wood [email protected]
cc: Claus Schneider [email protected]
cc: Ben Knoble [email protected]
cc: "Kristoffer Haugsbakk" [email protected]

gitgitgadget · 2025-10-15T14:20:43Z

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gitgitgadget · 2025-10-15T14:20:45Z

There are issues in commit a3105e7:
first working submodule ignore=all skipped in adding
Commit checks stopped - the message is too short
Commit not signed off

gitgitgadget · 2025-10-15T14:20:46Z

There are issues in commit b2d5354:
add --force for adding submodule even ignore=all is set
Commit checks stopped - the message is too short
Commit not signed off

gitgitgadget · 2025-10-15T14:20:46Z

There are issues in commit 8348a4a:
create tests for git add of submodule behavior for ignore=all
Commit checks stopped - the message is too short
Commit not signed off

gitgitgadget · 2025-10-15T14:20:47Z

There are issues in commit 6657438:
remove unnecassary trace print in read-cache.c
Commit checks stopped - the message is too short
Commit not signed off

gitgitgadget · 2025-10-15T14:20:48Z

There are issues in commit c2d703e:
update tests with explicit scenary around ignore=all and using --ignore-submodules option on log, status
Commit checks stopped - the message is too short
First line of commit message is too long (> 76 columns)
Commit not signed off

gitgitgadget · 2025-10-15T14:20:48Z

There are issues in commit a56d8b8:
add description per test-case
Commit checks stopped - the message is too short
Commit not signed off

gitgitgadget · 2025-10-15T14:20:49Z

There are issues in commit 79598c6:
update documentation for add and gitmodules
Commit checks stopped - the message is too short
Commit not signed off

gitgitgadget · 2025-10-15T14:20:50Z

There are issues in commit 1b8d93b:
Add required explicit pathspec in order to add
Commit checks stopped - the message is too short
Commit not signed off

gitgitgadget · 2025-10-15T14:20:51Z

There are issues in commit e45daed:
clean-up tailing spaces, traces, writings and shell spellcheck in test
Commit checks stopped - the message is too short
Commit not signed off

dscho · 2025-10-15T14:40:41Z

/allow

gitgitgadget · 2025-10-15T14:41:21Z

User bicschneider is now allowed to use GitGitGadget.

WARNING: bicschneider has no public email address set on GitHub; GitGitGadget needs an email address to Cc: you on your contribution, so that you receive any feedback on the Git mailing list. Go to https://github.com/settings/profile to make your preferred email public to let GitGitGadget know which email address to use.

dscho · 2025-10-15T14:46:50Z

@bicschneider the Git project is very particular about the form of the commit messages it accepts, and it is outright hostile towards contributors who send patches that introduce white-space problems even if those are fixed by later patches in the same patch series (they demand that the fixes are squashed into the appropriate patches, which I recommend you do before /submiting).

Further, they are adamant about the Signed-off-by trailer. You can fix it by calling git commit --amend --reset-author --signoff, or via git rebase --signoff.

Finally, you can increase the chances for a pleasant review on the Git mailing list dramatically by imitating the rather verbose style of Git's own commit messages. There is some really useful guidance here, in particular the part where it recommends to ensure that the following are covered by the commit message:

	What you’re doing	Why you’re doing it
High-level (strategic)	Intent (what does this accomplish?)	Context (why does the code do what it does now?)
Low-level (tactical)	Implementation (what did you do to accomplish your goal?)	Justification (why is this change being made?)

gitgitgadget · 2025-10-15T16:05:52Z

There are issues in commit fa7cf4e:
read-cache: let read-cache respect submodule ignore=all and bypass with --force
First line of commit message is too long (> 76 columns)
Lines in the body of the commit messages should be wrapped between 60 and 76 characters.
Indented lines, and lines without whitespace, are exempt

gitgitgadget · 2025-10-15T16:05:53Z

There are issues in commit 78c6a1a:
tests: Add new t2206-add-submodule-ignored.sh to test ignore=all scenario
Prefixed commit message must be in lower case

gitgitgadget · 2025-10-15T16:05:54Z

There are issues in commit d94d2d5:
Documentation: update add and submodule describing the ignore=all and --force
First line of commit message is too long (> 76 columns)
Lines in the body of the commit messages should be wrapped between 60 and 76 characters.
Indented lines, and lines without whitespace, are exempt

dscho · 2025-10-17T09:09:00Z

@bicschneider you needn't worry about the documentation and win+Meson breakages, they are broken in Git's own master branch, too, since Oct 10 and Oct 8, respectively.

bicschneider · 2025-10-18T16:17:09Z

/allow

gitgitgadget · 2025-10-18T16:17:46Z

User bicschneider already allowed to use GitGitGadget.

bicschneider · 2025-10-18T19:51:37Z

/preview

gitgitgadget · 2025-11-28T17:07:54Z

There are issues in commit aca2c81:
tests: add new t2206-add-submodule-ignored : ignore=all and --force scenario
First line of commit message is too long (> 76 columns)
Lines in the body of the commit messages should be wrapped between 60 and 76 characters.
Indented lines, and lines without whitespace, are exempt

gitgitgadget · 2025-11-28T17:20:11Z

There are issues in commit aca2c81:
tests: add new t2206-add-submodule-ignored : ignore=all and --force scenario
First line of commit message is too long (> 76 columns)
Lines in the body of the commit messages should be wrapped between 60 and 76 characters.
Indented lines, and lines without whitespace, are exempt

The ignored_too parameter is added to the function add_files_to_cache for usage of explicit updating the index for the updated submodule using the explicit patchspec to the submodule. Signed-off-by: Claus Schneider(Eficode) <[email protected]>

Submodules configured with ignore=all are now skipped during add operations unless overridden by --force and the submodule path is explicitly specified. A message is printed (like ignored files) guiding the user to use the --force flag if the user has explicitely want to update the submodule reference. The reason for the change is support submodule branch tracking or similar and git status states nothing and git add should not add either as a default behaviour. The workflow is more logic and similar to regular ignored files even the submodule is already tracked. The change opens up a lot of possibilities for submodules to be used more freely and simular to the repo tool. A submodule can be added for many more reason and loosely coupled dependencies to the super repo which often gives the friction of handle the explicit commits and updates without the need for tracking the submodule sha1 by sha1. Signed-off-by: Claus Schneider(Eficode) <[email protected]>

The tests verify that the submodule behavior is intact and updating the config with ignore=all also behaves as intended with configuration in .gitmodules and configuration given on the command line. The usage of --force is showcased and tested in the test suite. The test file is added to meson.build for execution. Signed-off-by: Claus Schneider(Eficode) <[email protected]>

There are tests that rely on "git add <submodule>" to update the in the reference in the parent repository which have been updated to use the --force option. Updated tests: - t1013-read-tree-submodule.sh ( fixed in: t/lib-submodule-update.sh ) - t2013-checkout-submodule.sh ( fixed in: t/lib-submodule-update.sh ) - t7406-submodule-update.sh - t7508-status.sh Signed-off-by: Claus Schneider(Eficode) <[email protected]>

- git-add.adoc: Update the --force documentation for submodule behaviour to be added even the given configuration ignore=all. - gitmodules.adoc and config/submodule.adoc: The submodule config ignore=all now need --force in order to update the index. Signed-off-by: Claus Schneider(Eficode) <[email protected]>

bicschneider · 2026-01-14T07:46:49Z

/submit

gitgitgadget · 2026-01-14T07:48:43Z

Submitted as [email protected]

To fetch this version into FETCH_HEAD:

git fetch https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/ pr-1987/Praqma/respect-submodule-ignore-v3

To fetch this version to local tag pr-1987/Praqma/respect-submodule-ignore-v3:

git fetch --no-tags https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/ tag pr-1987/Praqma/respect-submodule-ignore-v3

gitgitgadget · 2026-01-14T17:59:59Z

Documentation/config/submodule.adoc

 	command-line option to "git fetch" and "git pull".
 	This setting will override that from in the linkgit:gitmodules[5]
 	file.



Ben Knoble wrote on the Git mailing list (how to reply to this email):

> Le 14 janv. 2026 à 02:48, Claus Schneider(Eficode) via GitGitGadget <[email protected]> a écrit : > > From: "Claus Schneider(Eficode)" <[email protected]> > > - git-add.adoc: Update the --force documentation for submodule behaviour > to be added even the given configuration ignore=all. > - gitmodules.adoc and config/submodule.adoc: The submodule config > ignore=all now need --force in order to update the index. > > Signed-off-by: Claus Schneider(Eficode) <[email protected]> > --- > Documentation/config/submodule.adoc | 13 +++++++------ > Documentation/git-add.adoc | 5 ++++- > Documentation/gitmodules.adoc | 5 ++++- > 3 files changed, 15 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-) > > diff --git a/Documentation/config/submodule.adoc b/Documentation/config/submodule.adoc > index 0672d99117..250a6133d8 100644 > --- a/Documentation/config/submodule.adoc > +++ b/Documentation/config/submodule.adoc > @@ -32,15 +32,16 @@ submodule.<name>.fetchRecurseSubmodules:: > > submodule.<name>.ignore:: > Defines under what circumstances "git status" and the diff family show > - a submodule as modified. When set to "all", it will never be considered > - modified (but it will nonetheless show up in the output of status and > - commit when it has been staged), "dirty" will ignore all changes > - to the submodule's work tree and > + a submodule as modified. > + Set to "all" will never consider the Throughout this patch, missing “When set to…” for idiomatic English. > submodule modified. It can > + nevertheless be staged using the option --force and it will then show up > + in the output of status. > + Set to "dirty" will ignore all changes to the submodule's work tree and > takes only differences between the HEAD of the submodule and the commit > recorded in the superproject into account. "untracked" will additionally > let submodules with modified tracked files in their work tree show up. > - Using "none" (the default when this option is not set) also shows > - submodules that have untracked files in their work tree as changed. > + Set to "none"(default) It is also shows submodules that have untracked > + files in their work tree as changed. > This setting overrides any setting made in .gitmodules for this submodule, > both settings can be overridden on the command line by using the > "--ignore-submodules" option. The 'git submodule' commands are not > diff --git a/Documentation/git-add.adoc b/Documentation/git-add.adoc > index 6192daeb03..941135dc63 100644 > --- a/Documentation/git-add.adoc > +++ b/Documentation/git-add.adoc > @@ -75,7 +75,10 @@ in linkgit:gitglossary[7]. > > `-f`:: > `--force`:: > - Allow adding otherwise ignored files. > + Allow adding otherwise ignored files. The option is also used when > + `submodule.<name>.ignore=all` is set, but you want to stage an > + update of the submodule. The `path` to the submodule must be explicitly > + specified. > > `--sparse`:: > Allow updating index entries outside of the sparse-checkout cone. > diff --git a/Documentation/gitmodules.adoc b/Documentation/gitmodules.adoc > index d9bec8b187..3792da96aa 100644 > --- a/Documentation/gitmodules.adoc > +++ b/Documentation/gitmodules.adoc > @@ -70,7 +70,10 @@ submodule.<name>.ignore:: > -- > all;; The submodule will never be considered modified (but will > nonetheless show up in the output of status and commit when it has > - been staged). > + been staged). Add `(new commits)` can be overruled using the > + `git add --force <submodule.path>`. > + The setting affects `status`, `update-index`, `diff` and `log`(due > + to underlaying `diff`). > > dirty;; All changes to the submodule's work tree will be ignored, only > committed differences between the `HEAD` of the submodule and its > -- > gitgitgadget >

gitgitgadget · 2026-01-14T18:00:01Z

User Ben Knoble <[email protected]> has been added to the cc: list.

gitgitgadget · 2026-01-15T15:53:25Z

read-cache.c

 #include "thread-utils.h"
 #include "progress.h"
 #include "sparse-index.h"
 #include "csum-file.h"


"Kristoffer Haugsbakk" wrote on the Git mailing list (how to reply to this email):

On Wed, Jan 14, 2026, at 08:47, Claus Schneider(Eficode) via GitGitGadget wrote: > From: "Claus Schneider(Eficode)" <[email protected]> > > Submodules configured with ignore=all are now skipped during add operations > unless overridden by --force and the submodule path is explicitly specified. > > A message is printed (like ignored files) guiding the user to use the > --force flag if the user has explicitely want to update the submodule > reference. > > The reason for the change is support submodule branch tracking or > similar and git status states nothing and git add should not add either > as a default behaviour. The workflow is more logic and similar to regular > ignored files even the submodule is already tracked. > > The change opens up a lot of possibilities for submodules to be used > more freely and simular to the repo tool. A submodule can be added for many s/simular/similar/ ? Although the sentence doesn’t quite make sense to me. Well I’m unfamiliar with the domain anyway. ;) > more reason and loosely coupled dependencies to the super repo which often s/more reason/more reasons/ ? > gives the friction of handle the explicit commits and updates without s/handle/handling/ > the need for tracking the submodule sha1 by sha1. > > Signed-off-by: Claus Schneider(Eficode) <[email protected]> > --- >[snip]

gitgitgadget · 2026-01-15T15:53:28Z

User "Kristoffer Haugsbakk" <[email protected]> has been added to the cc: list.

gitgitgadget · 2026-01-15T18:45:14Z

This branch is now known as cs/add-skip-submodule-ignore-all.

gitgitgadget · 2026-01-15T18:45:15Z

This patch series was integrated into seen via git@c15ea74.

gitgitgadget · 2026-01-15T18:53:03Z

There was a status update in the "New Topics" section about the branch cs/add-skip-submodule-ignore-all on the Git mailing list:

"git add <submodule>" has been taught to honor
submodule.<name>.ignore that is set to "all" (and requires "git add
-f" to override it).

Expecting a reroll?
cf. <[email protected]>
source: <37fe7956e089394bb1d75f4c8af4a3347b204803.1768376879.git.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>

gitgitgadget bot added the new user label Oct 15, 2025

bicschneider force-pushed the respect-submodule-ignore branch from e45daed to d94d2d5 Compare October 15, 2025 16:05

bicschneider force-pushed the respect-submodule-ignore branch 4 times, most recently from ee01742 to cd3e2a3 Compare October 17, 2025 08:46

bicschneider force-pushed the respect-submodule-ignore branch 4 times, most recently from 80907de to 416695f Compare October 18, 2025 06:04

bicschneider changed the title ~~git-add : Respect submodule ignore=all and only add changes with --force <path>~~ git-add : submodules with ignore=all set will not be added in git add unless --force is set Nov 28, 2025

bicschneider changed the title ~~git-add : submodules with ignore=all set will not be added in git add unless --force is set~~ git-add: honor ignore=all for submodules, require --force to add Nov 28, 2025

bicschneider changed the title ~~git-add: honor ignore=all for submodules, require --force to add~~ git-add: honor submodules config ignore=all, require --force to stage submodule changes Nov 28, 2025

bicschneider changed the title ~~git-add: honor submodules config ignore=all, require --force to stage submodule changes~~ git-add: submodule configured with ignore=all, require --force to stage submodule changes Nov 28, 2025

bicschneider force-pushed the respect-submodule-ignore branch from ee84190 to 0042274 Compare November 28, 2025 17:07

bicschneider force-pushed the respect-submodule-ignore branch from 0042274 to 3694c59 Compare November 28, 2025 17:19

bicschneider changed the title ~~git-add: submodule configured with ignore=all, require --force to stage submodule changes~~ git-add: Skip submodules with ignore=all unless --force and explicit path used Nov 30, 2025

bicschneider force-pushed the respect-submodule-ignore branch 3 times, most recently from 1824c57 to ee9c8dd Compare November 30, 2025 22:46

bicschneider force-pushed the respect-submodule-ignore branch 2 times, most recently from 961c463 to cb854a8 Compare January 13, 2026 21:30

bicschneider added 5 commits January 13, 2026 22:34

bicschneider force-pushed the respect-submodule-ignore branch from cb854a8 to 37fe795 Compare January 13, 2026 21:35

gitgitgadget bot reviewed Jan 14, 2026

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gitgitgadget bot reviewed Jan 15, 2026

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gitgitgadget bot added the seen label Jan 15, 2026

git-add: Skip submodules with ignore=all unless --force and explicit path used #1987

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git-add: Skip submodules with ignore=all unless --force and explicit path used #1987

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