Add date to git commit message automatically

Question

so I have an sh script that throws together some files then commits them to a git repo. How can I dynamically add the date to my commit message?

My .sh looks something like

// do things to files...
git add -u;
git commit -m 'generated files on <date here?>';
git push origin master;

The date is already included in the `git log`...is it really worth repeating in the message? — nneonneo, Feb 07 '13 at 00:15
True, but it's nice to have it front and center. I also want it to use server time. — Steve Robbins, Feb 07 '13 at 00:15

hd1 · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-07T00:23:48.097

34

Just format the output of the date command and Bob's your uncle:

// do things to files...
git add -u;
git commit -m "generated files on `date +'%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'`";
git push origin master

edited Feb 07 '13 at 00:23

answered Feb 07 '13 at 00:15

hd1

This added the entire string, including the ticks – Steve Robbins Feb 07 '13 at 00:18
My apologies for the quote issue. Mistyped. – hd1 Feb 07 '13 at 00:24
Thanks. This was helpful for the alias that I created (which I talk about at https://stackoverflow.com/q/64823742/470749): `function stpu() { git stash push -u -m "\`date +'%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'\` ${@}" }` – Ryan May 05 '23 at 16:11

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 07 '13 at 00:18

3

Why not use prepare-commit-msg or commit-msg git hooks? You can find stubs in your .git/hooks directory.

answered Feb 07 '13 at 00:18

madhead

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 07 '13 at 00:18

2

Not sure why you'd do that since commits are already timestamped, but something like:

THEDATE=`date`
git commit -m "... $THEDATE"

would do so. Note that the double-quotes are important.

answered Feb 07 '13 at 00:18

cjc343

3 Answers3