Git commit message on linux terminal

Question

I am trying to learn how to write a git commit message on a linux terminal.

I am presented with the following options after I write my commit message.

Which is the first one I am supposed to choose?

> ^G Get Help  ^O Write Out ^W Where Is  ^K Cut Text  ^J Justify   ^C Cur Pos
^X Exit      ^R Read File ^\ Replace   ^U Uncut Text^T To Spell  ^_ Go To Line

If I hit "write out" I get another list of options that I don't understand.

File Name to Write:$T_EDITMSG                                                   
^G Get Help     M-D DOS Format  M-A Append      M-B Backup File
^C Cancel       M-M Mac Format  M-P Prepend     ^T To Files

Answer 1

It's because git pick up nano as its default terminal editor, if you are not familiar with nano, you can config git to use another one.

The easiest way to write a git commit message in terminal is to use the -m option:

> git commit -m "your commit message"

But if you don't specify the -m option, git will bring you to an editor depends on the following rules

• Git config option core.editor , local config goes first, then the global.

  • Local: git config core.editor vim , config resides in file $YOUR_REPO/.git/config
  • Global: git config --global core.editor vim , config resides in file $HOME/.gitconfig

  Please refer to Git Configuration for details.

• Environment variables $EDITOR or $VISUAL

  • export EDITOR=`which vim`
  • export VSUAL=`which emacs`

  This is also the settings used by other tools when it needs an editor.

Answer 2

When you just type git commit it will open your default text editor, nano in your case. You should type your message and hit enter after ^O.

To commit without opening a text editor:

git commit -m 'Your commit message here'

If you want to change your default editor to something else, say vim , you can do it as follows:

git config --global core.editor "vim"

Answer 3

Also helpful from GentooWiki : In nano's help texts the Ctrl is represented by a caret (^), so Ctrl + W is shown as ^W, and so on. The Alt key is represented by an M (from "Meta"), so Alt + W is shown as MW.

Answer 4

I'm guessing OP uses WSL or is new to linux. I am using a Ubuntu kernel in VS code via the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL, as before). There typing git commit opens a nano editor to save the commit. At least on Windows, the command to save the commit is CTRL + S . I don't think that option appears in the editor, but it worked for me.