{ "mode": "man", "parameter": "gitmodules", "section": "5", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/gitmodules/5/json", "generated": "2026-06-15T21:33:31Z", "synopsis": "$GITWORKTREE/.gitmodules", "sections": { "NAME": { "content": "gitmodules - Defining submodule properties\n", "subsections": [] }, "SYNOPSIS": { "content": "$GITWORKTREE/.gitmodules\n", "subsections": [] }, "DESCRIPTION": { "content": "The .gitmodules file, located in the top-level directory of a Git working tree, is a text\nfile with a syntax matching the requirements of git-config(1).\n\nThe file contains one subsection per submodule, and the subsection value is the name of the\nsubmodule. The name is set to the path where the submodule has been added unless it was\ncustomized with the --name option of git submodule add. Each submodule section also contains\nthe following required keys:\n\nsubmodule..path\nDefines the path, relative to the top-level directory of the Git working tree, where the\nsubmodule is expected to be checked out. The path name must not end with a /. All\nsubmodule paths must be unique within the .gitmodules file.\n\nsubmodule..url\nDefines a URL from which the submodule repository can be cloned. This may be either an\nabsolute URL ready to be passed to git-clone(1) or (if it begins with ./ or ../) a\nlocation relative to the superproject’s origin repository.\n\nIn addition, there are a number of optional keys:\n\nsubmodule..update\nDefines the default update procedure for the named submodule, i.e. how the submodule is\nupdated by the git submodule update command in the superproject. This is only used by git\nsubmodule init to initialize the configuration variable of the same name. Allowed values\nhere are checkout, rebase, merge or none. See description of update command in git-\nsubmodule(1) for their meaning. For security reasons, the !command form is not accepted\nhere.\n\nsubmodule..branch\nA remote branch name for tracking updates in the upstream submodule. If the option is not\nspecified, it defaults to the remote HEAD. A special value of . is used to indicate that\nthe name of the branch in the submodule should be the same name as the current branch in\nthe current repository. See the --remote documentation in git-submodule(1) for details.\n\nsubmodule..fetchRecurseSubmodules\nThis option can be used to control recursive fetching of this submodule. If this option\nis also present in the submodule’s entry in .git/config of the superproject, the setting\nthere will override the one found in .gitmodules. Both settings can be overridden on the\ncommand line by using the --[no-]recurse-submodules option to git fetch and git pull.\n\nsubmodule..ignore\nDefines under what circumstances git status and the diff family show a submodule as\nmodified. The following values are supported:\n\nall\nThe submodule will never be considered modified (but will nonetheless show up in the\noutput of status and commit when it has been staged).\n\ndirty\nAll changes to the submodule’s work tree will be ignored, only committed differences\nbetween the HEAD of the submodule and its recorded state in the superproject are\ntaken into account.\n\nuntracked\nOnly untracked files in submodules will be ignored. Committed differences and\nmodifications to tracked files will show up.\n\nnone\nNo modifications to submodules are ignored, all of committed differences, and\nmodifications to tracked and untracked files are shown. This is the default option.\n\nIf this option is also present in the submodule’s entry in .git/config of the\nsuperproject, the setting there will override the one found in .gitmodules.\n\nBoth settings can be overridden on the command line by using the --ignore-submodules\noption. The git submodule commands are not affected by this setting.\n\nsubmodule..shallow\nWhen set to true, a clone of this submodule will be performed as a shallow clone (with a\nhistory depth of 1) unless the user explicitly asks for a non-shallow clone.\n", "subsections": [] }, "NOTES": { "content": "Git does not allow the .gitmodules file within a working tree to be a symbolic link, and will\nrefuse to check out such a tree entry. This keeps behavior consistent when the file is\naccessed from the index or a tree versus from the filesystem, and helps Git reliably enforce\nsecurity checks of the file contents.\n", "subsections": [] }, "EXAMPLES": { "content": "Consider the following .gitmodules file:\n\n[submodule \"libfoo\"]\npath = include/foo\nurl = git://foo.com/git/lib.git\n\n[submodule \"libbar\"]\npath = include/bar\nurl = git://bar.com/git/lib.git\n\n\nThis defines two submodules, libfoo and libbar. These are expected to be checked out in the\npaths include/foo and include/bar, and for both submodules a URL is specified which can be\nused for cloning the submodules.\n", "subsections": [] }, "SEE ALSO": { "content": "git-submodule(1), gitsubmodules(7), git-config(1)\n", "subsections": [] }, "GIT": { "content": "Part of the git(1) suite\n\n\n\nGit 2.34.1 02/26/2026 GITMODULES(5)", "subsections": [] } }, "summary": "gitmodules - Defining submodule properties", "flags": [], "examples": [ "Consider the following .gitmodules file:", "[submodule \"libfoo\"]", "path = include/foo", "url = git://foo.com/git/lib.git", "[submodule \"libbar\"]", "path = include/bar", "url = git://bar.com/git/lib.git", "This defines two submodules, libfoo and libbar. These are expected to be checked out in the", "paths include/foo and include/bar, and for both submodules a URL is specified which can be", "used for cloning the submodules." ], "see_also": [ { "name": "git-submodule", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/git-submodule/1/json" }, { "name": "gitsubmodules", "section": "7", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/gitsubmodules/7/json" }, { "name": "git-config", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/git-config/1/json" } ] }