How do you create a Git tag?

Git tags are useful for marking specific points in your project's history, such as releases, milestones, or bug fixes. They are like bookmarks that you can refer to later, or share with others. In this article, you will learn how to create a Git tag, and how to use it for various purposes.

1 What is a Git tag?

A Git tag is a label that you can assign to a commit in your repository. It is not a branch, but a pointer to a specific snapshot of your code. You can use tags to identify versions of your project, or to mark important changes. Tags are stored in your local and remote repositories, and you can push and pull them like any other Git object.

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Siddharth Verma

FullStack Tech Lead@Walmart Global Tech | FullStack | GenAI | Google Cloud Certified | OSS Contributor @ React Native, Stylelint, Chrome | Mentorship | Topmate@ 1% Club | (12k+ Connections)
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Creating a Git tag is a way to label a specific commit in your Git history with a meaningful version number or other identifier. Tags are often used to mark releases or significant points in the project.

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Yunior Batista

Experienced Frontend Developer | React | Next.js | Vue | JavaScript | TypeScript
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Git tags are like bookmarks, marking significant moments in your repository history. So, how do we create these markers? Step 1: Take a look at your commit history using git log. Copy the commit hash. Step 2: Run git tag -a <tag_name> <commit_hash>. Replace <tag_name> with your desired tag name and <commit_hash> with the copied commit hash. Step 3: After hitting enter, Git will prompt you to write a message. Once done, save and exit. Step 4: Push your tag to the remote repository using git push origin <tag_name>. Replace <tag_name> with the tag name you just created. Step 5: At this point you are done. Your tag is now easily accessible inside your repo. Happy coding and tagging!

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Jean-François RENAULD

Engineering manager, fullstack +20 ans d'expérience (13 ans CTO), vulgarisateur émérite, expert en écoute attentive, photographe et grand rêveur, mais pas que...
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On utilise généralement une branche "develop" pour pousser toutes les dernières modifications (depuis des MR). Créer un TAG permet de figer l'application à un instant T. Ainsi, les développeurs peuvent continuer à effectuer des modifications, vous pourrez déployer la version TAG de votre application, voir revenir en arrière en déployant un TAG précédent. Par exemple, une bonne pratique consiste à les nommer les TAG sous la forme : x.y.zRCn Où x est la version majeur, y la version mineur, z la modification de la version x.y. RC pour Release Candidate, n étant la version de cette RC. Et pour une version poussée en Prod, retirer RCn.

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Olaya Luigui

Desarrollador Senior Front-end en Casino Atlantic City | JavaScript | TypeScript | React | Angular | Astro | Node.js | Git | Figma | Postman | SASS | CSS | Jest | Azure | Scrum
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El comando Git tag llega a ser de suma importancia para poder llevar un control sobre una versión estable y certificada, en cierta vida de ciclo del proyecto. Este punto creado por el tag podría ser un punto de rollback a su vez en caso de un posible error no controlado.

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2 How to create a Git tag?

To create a Git tag, you need to use the git tag command, followed by the name of the tag and the commit ID that you want to tag. For example, if you want to create a tag called v1.0 for the latest commit, you can run: git tag v1.0 If you want to tag a specific commit, you can use its hash or a relative reference, such as HEAD~1 for the previous commit. For example, if you want to create a tag called bugfix for the second-last commit, you can run: git tag bugfix HEAD~1 You can also add a message to your tag, using the -a option for an annotated tag, or the -m option for a lightweight tag. Annotated tags store more information, such as the author, date, and message of the tag, while lightweight tags only store the name and the commit ID. For example, if you want to create an annotated tag called v1.0 with a message, you can run: git tag -a v1.0 -m "First release"

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Lax Mariappan

14+ Years Crafting Web Applications.
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Keep in mind that tags cannot contain special characters or spaces. Also tags are not case sensitive. Just like branch names, follow a standard way to tag your releases.

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Siddharth Verma

FullStack Tech Lead@Walmart Global Tech | FullStack | GenAI | Google Cloud Certified | OSS Contributor @ React Native, Stylelint, Chrome | Mentorship | Topmate@ 1% Club | (12k+ Connections)
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Here's how you can create a Git tag: 1. Creating a Lightweight Tag: A lightweight tag is simply a reference to a specific commit. # Create a lightweight tag git tag <tag_name> # Example: git tag v1.0.0 2. Creating an Annotated Tag: An annotated tag is more detailed and includes a message, similar to a commit message. # Create an annotated tag git tag -a <tag_name> -m "Tagging version 1.0.0" # Example: git tag -a v1.0.0 -m "Tagging version 1.0.0" 3. Tagging a Specific Commit # Tag a specific commit git tag -a <tag_name> <commit_hash> # Example: git tag -a v1.0.0 abc1234

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3 How to list and show Git tags?

To see all the tags that you have created in your repository, you can use the git tag command without any arguments. This will list the tags in alphabetical order. You can also use the -l option to filter the tags by a pattern. For example, if you want to see only the tags that start with v, you can run: git tag -l v* To see more details about a specific tag, you can use the git show command, followed by the name of the tag. This will display the information about the tag and the commit that it points to, such as the message, the diff, and the author. For example, if you want to see the details of the v1.0 tag, you can run: git show v1.0

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4 How to push and pull Git tags?

By default, Git does not push or pull tags when you interact with a remote repository. You need to explicitly specify the tags that you want to transfer, using the --tags option. For example, if you want to push all your tags to the origin remote, you can run: git push origin --tags If you want to pull all the tags from the origin remote, you can run: git pull origin --tags You can also push or pull individual tags, by using the name of the tag instead of the --tags option. For example, if you want to push only the v1.0 tag to the origin remote, you can run: git push origin v1.0

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5 How to delete and rename Git tags?

To delete a Git tag, you need to use the -d option of the git tag command, followed by the name of the tag. This will remove the tag from your local repository, but not from the remote repository. For example, if you want to delete the bugfix tag, you can run: git tag -d bugfix To delete a tag from the remote repository, you need to use the --delete option of the git push command, followed by the name of the remote and the tag, prefixed by a colon. For example, if you want to delete the bugfix tag from the origin remote, you can run: git push origin --delete bugfix To rename a Git tag, you need to delete the old tag and create a new tag with the same commit ID. For example, if you want to rename the v1.0 tag to v1.0.0, you can run: git tag -d v1.0 git tag v1.0.0

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How do you create a Git tag?

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1 What is a Git tag?

2 How to create a Git tag?

3 How to list and show Git tags?

4 How to push and pull Git tags?

5 How to delete and rename Git tags?

6 Here’s what else to consider

Web Development

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How do you create a Git tag?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 What is a Git tag?

2 How to create a Git tag?

3 How to list and show Git tags?

4 How to push and pull Git tags?

5 How to delete and rename Git tags?

6 Here’s what else to consider

Web Development

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