Git Notes

Overview

Git notes attach metadata to commits (or any Git object) without modifying the objects themselves. Notes are stored separately and displayed alongside commit messages.

Core principle: Add information to commits after creation without rewriting history.

Core Concepts

Concept	Description
Notes ref	Storage location, default `refs/notes/commits`
Non-invasive	Notes never modify SHA of original object
Namespaces	Use `--ref` for different note categories
Display	Notes appear in `git log` and `git show` output

Quick Reference

Task	Command
Add note	`git notes add -m "message" <sha>`
View note	`git notes show <sha>`
Append	`git notes append -m "message" <sha>`
Edit	`git notes edit <sha>`
Remove	`git notes remove <sha>`
Use namespace	`git notes --ref=<name> <command>`
Push notes	`git push origin refs/notes/<name>`
Fetch notes	`git fetch origin refs/notes/<name>:refs/notes/<name>`
Show in log	`git log --notes=<name>`

For complete command reference, see references/commands.md.

Essential Patterns

Code Review Tracking

bash

# Mark reviewed
git notes --ref=reviews add -m "Reviewed-by: Alice <alice@example.com>" abc1234

# View review status
git log --notes=reviews --oneline

Sharing Notes

bash

# Push to remote
git push origin refs/notes/reviews

# Fetch from remote
git fetch origin refs/notes/reviews:refs/notes/reviews

Preserving Through Rebase

bash

git config notes.rewrite.rebase true
git config notes.rewriteMode concatenate

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Notes not showing in log	Specify ref: `git log --notes=reviews` or configure `notes.displayRef`
Notes lost after rebase	Enable: `git config notes.rewrite.rebase true`
Notes not on remote	Push explicitly: `git push origin refs/notes/commits`
"Note already exists" error	Use `-f` to overwrite or `append` to add

Best Practices

Practice	Rationale
Use namespaces	Separate notes by purpose (reviews, testing, audit)
Be explicit about refs	Always specify `--ref` for non-default notes
Push notes explicitly	Document sharing procedures in team guidelines
Use append over add -f	Preserve note history when accumulating
Configure rewrite preservation	Run `git config notes.rewrite.rebase true` before rebasing

Git Notes Command Reference

Complete reference for all git notes commands and options.

Basic Operations

Add a Note

bash

# Add note to current HEAD
git notes add -m "Reviewed by Alice"

# Add note to specific commit
git notes add -m "Tested on Linux" abc1234

# Add note from file
git notes add -F review-comments.txt abc1234

# Add note interactively (opens editor)
git notes add abc1234

# Overwrite existing note
git notes add -f -m "Updated review status" abc1234

# Add empty note
git notes add --allow-empty abc1234

View Notes

bash

# Show note for HEAD
git notes show

# Show note for specific commit
git notes show abc1234

# View commit with notes in log
git log --show-notes
git show abc1234

# List all notes
git notes list

# List note for specific object
git notes list abc1234

Example output with notes:

code

commit abc1234def567890
Author: Developer <dev@example.com>
Date:   Mon Jan 15 10:00:00 2024 +0000

    feat: implement user authentication

Notes:
    Reviewed by Alice
    Tested-by: CI Bot <ci@example.com>

Append to Notes

bash

# Append to existing note (creates if doesn't exist)
git notes append -m "Additional review comment" abc1234

# Append from file
git notes append -F more-comments.txt abc1234

# Append multiple messages
git notes append -m "Comment 1" -m "Comment 2" abc1234

Edit Notes

bash

# Edit note interactively (opens editor)
git notes edit abc1234

# Edit note for HEAD
git notes edit

Remove Notes

bash

# Remove note from HEAD
git notes remove

# Remove note from specific commit
git notes remove abc1234

# Remove notes from multiple commits
git notes remove abc1234 def5678 ghi9012

# Ignore missing notes (no error if note doesn't exist)
git notes remove --ignore-missing abc1234

# Remove notes via stdin (bulk removal)
echo "abc1234" | git notes remove --stdin

Copy Notes

bash

# Copy note from one commit to another
git notes copy abc1234 def5678

# Copy note to HEAD
git notes copy abc1234

# Force overwrite destination note
git notes copy -f abc1234 def5678

# Bulk copy via stdin (useful with rebase/cherry-pick)
echo "abc1234 def5678" | git notes copy --stdin

Prune Notes

bash

# Remove notes for objects that no longer exist
git notes prune

# Dry-run to see what would be pruned
git notes prune -n

# Verbose output
git notes prune -v

Get Notes Reference

bash

# Show current notes ref being used
git notes get-ref

Using Multiple Namespaces

Notes can be organized into separate namespaces (refs) for different purposes.

Specify Notes Ref

bash

# Add note to specific namespace
git notes --ref=refs/notes/reviews add -m "Approved" abc1234

# Shorthand (refs/notes/ prefix is assumed)
git notes --ref=reviews add -m "Approved" abc1234

# View notes from specific namespace
git notes --ref=reviews show abc1234

# List notes in namespace
git notes --ref=reviews list

Environment Variable

bash

# Set default notes ref for session
export GIT_NOTES_REF=refs/notes/reviews
git notes add -m "Approved"

# View notes from environment ref
git notes show abc1234

Display Multiple Namespaces

bash

# Show specific notes namespace in log
git log --notes=reviews

# Show multiple namespaces
git log --notes=reviews --notes=testing

# Show all notes
git log --notes='*'

# Disable notes display
git log --no-notes

Merging Notes

When notes exist in multiple refs or from different sources, they can be merged.

Merge Notes Refs

bash

# Merge notes from another ref into current
git notes merge refs/notes/other

# Merge with strategy
git notes merge -s union refs/notes/other
git notes merge -s ours refs/notes/other
git notes merge -s theirs refs/notes/other
git notes merge -s cat_sort_uniq refs/notes/other

# Quiet merge
git notes merge -q refs/notes/other

# Verbose merge
git notes merge -v refs/notes/other

Merge Strategies

Strategy	Behavior
`manual`	Interactive conflict resolution (default)
`ours`	Keep local note on conflict
`theirs`	Keep remote note on conflict
`union`	Concatenate both notes
`cat_sort_uniq`	Concatenate, sort lines, remove duplicates

Resolve Merge Conflicts

bash

# After merge conflict with manual strategy
# Resolve conflicts in .git/NOTES_MERGE_WORKTREE/

# Commit resolved merge
git notes merge --commit

# Abort merge
git notes merge --abort

Configuration Options

Git Config

bash

# Set default notes ref
git config notes.displayRef refs/notes/reviews

# Display multiple notes refs
git config --add notes.displayRef refs/notes/testing

# Set merge strategy for notes
git config notes.mergeStrategy union

# Set merge strategy for specific namespace
git config notes.reviews.mergeStrategy theirs

# Preserve notes during rebase
git config notes.rewrite.rebase true

# Preserve notes during amend
git config notes.rewrite.amend true

# Set rewrite mode
git config notes.rewriteMode concatenate

Sample .gitconfig

gitconfig

[notes]
    displayRef = refs/notes/reviews
    displayRef = refs/notes/testing
    mergeStrategy = union

[notes "reviews"]
    mergeStrategy = theirs

[notes.rewrite]
    rebase = true
    amend = true

Workflow Examples

Code Review Tracking

bash

# Mark commit as reviewed
git notes --ref=reviews add -m "Reviewed-by: Alice <alice@example.com>" abc1234

# Add review comments
git notes --ref=reviews append -m "Consider extracting helper function" abc1234

# View review status
git log --notes=reviews --oneline

# Mark as approved
git notes --ref=reviews add -f -m "APPROVED by Alice" abc1234

Test Results Annotation

bash

# Record test pass
git notes --ref=testing add -m "Tests passed: 2024-01-15
Platform: Linux x64
Coverage: 85%" abc1234

# Record test failure
git notes --ref=testing add -m "FAILED: Integration tests
See: https://ci.example.com/build/123" def5678

# View test status across commits
git log --notes=testing --oneline

Audit Trail

bash

# Add audit note
git notes --ref=audit add -m "Security review: PASSED
Reviewer: Security Team
Date: 2024-01-15
Ticket: SEC-456" abc1234

# Query audit status
git log --notes=audit --grep="Security review"

Sharing Notes

bash

# Push notes to remote
git push origin refs/notes/reviews

# Fetch notes from remote
git fetch origin refs/notes/reviews:refs/notes/reviews

# Push all notes refs
git push origin 'refs/notes/*'

# Fetch all notes refs
git fetch origin 'refs/notes/*:refs/notes/*'

Bulk Operations

bash

# Add notes to all commits by author in date range
git log --format="%H" --author="Alice" --since="2024-01-01" | \
  while read sha; do
    git notes add -m "Author verified" "$sha"
  done

# Remove notes from range of commits
git log --format="%H" HEAD~10..HEAD | xargs git notes remove --ignore-missing