Git commit using stdout from bash?

Question

Is it possible to use a commit message from stdout, like:

echo "Test commit" | git commit -

Tried also to echo the message content in .git/COMMIT_EDITMSG, but then running git commit would ask to add changes in mentioned file.

Answer 1

You can use the -F <file>, --file=<file> option.

echo "Test commit" | git commit -F -

Its usage is described in the man page for git commit:

Take the commit message from the given file. Use - to read the message from the standard input.

Answer 2

You could always write a little function for it:

gcm(){ 
    read message
    git commit -m "$message" "$@"
}

Add that to your ~/.bashrc or equivalent for your shell, and then run:

echo "Test commit" | gcm filename.to.commit

The command above will run

git commit -m "Test commit" filename.to.commit