Commits - GitHub Docs

A Git commit is a snapshot of the hierarchy (Git tree) and the contents of the files (Git blob) in a Git repository.

These endpoints allow you to read and write commit objects to your Git database on GitHub Enterprise Cloud.

Create a commit

Signature verification object

The response will include a verification object that describes the result of verifying the commit's signature. The following fields are included in the verification object:

Name	Type	Description
`verified`	`boolean`	Indicates whether GitHub considers the signature in this commit to be verified.
`reason`	`string`	The reason for verified value. Possible values and their meanings are enumerated in the table below.
`signature`	`string`	The signature that was extracted from the commit.
`payload`	`string`	The value that was signed.

These are the possible values for reason in the verification object:

Value	Description
`expired_key`	The key that made the signature is expired.
`not_signing_key`	The "signing" flag is not among the usage flags in the GPG key that made the signature.
`gpgverify_error`	There was an error communicating with the signature verification service.
`gpgverify_unavailable`	The signature verification service is currently unavailable.
`unsigned`	The object does not include a signature.
`unknown_signature_type`	A non-PGP signature was found in the commit.
`no_user`	No user was associated with the `committer` email address in the commit.
`unverified_email`	The `committer` email address in the commit was associated with a user, but the email address is not verified on her/his account.
`bad_email`	The `committer` email address in the commit is not included in the identities of the PGP key that made the signature.
`unknown_key`	The key that made the signature has not been registered with any user's account.
`malformed_signature`	There was an error parsing the signature.
`invalid`	The signature could not be cryptographically verified using the key whose key-id was found in the signature.
`valid`	None of the above errors applied, so the signature is considered to be verified.

post /repos/{owner}/{repo}/git/commits

Parameters

Name Type In Description

accept

string

header

Setting toapplication/vnd.github.v3+json is recommended.

owner string path

repo string path

message

string

body

Required. The commit message

tree

string

body

Required. The SHA of the tree object this commit points to

parents

array of strings

body

The SHAs of the commits that were the parents of this commit. If omitted or empty, the commit will be written as a root commit. For a single parent, an array of one SHA should be provided; for a merge commit, an array of more than one should be provided.

author

object

body

Information about the author of the commit. By default, the author will be the authenticated user and the current date. See the author and committer object below for details.

Properties of theauthorobject

Name (Type)	Description
`name` (string)	Required. The name of the author (or committer) of the commit
`email` (string)	Required. The email of the author (or committer) of the commit
`date` (string)	Indicates when this commit was authored (or committed). This is a timestamp in ISO 8601 format: `YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ`.

committer

object

body

Information about the person who is making the commit. By default, committer will use the information set in author. See the author and committer object below for details.

Properties of thecommitterobject

Name (Type)	Description
`name` (string)	The name of the author (or committer) of the commit
`email` (string)	The email of the author (or committer) of the commit
`date` (string)	Indicates when this commit was authored (or committed). This is a timestamp in ISO 8601 format: `YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ`.

signature

string

body

The PGP signature of the commit. GitHub adds the signature to the gpgsig header of the created commit. For a commit signature to be verifiable by Git or GitHub, it must be an ASCII-armored detached PGP signature over the string commit as it would be written to the object database. To pass a signature parameter, you need to first manually create a valid PGP signature, which can be complicated. You may find it easier to use the command line to create signed commits.

Code samples

Example

Shell

curl \
  -X POST \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.v3+json" \
  https://api.github.com/repos/OWNER/REPO/git/commits \
  -d '{"message":"my commit message","author":{"name":"Mona Octocat","email":"octocat@github.com","date":"2008-07-09T16:13:30+12:00"},"parents":["7d1b31e74ee336d15cbd21741bc88a537ed063a0"],"tree":"827efc6d56897b048c772eb4087f854f46256132","signature":"-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----\n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\neSakNQMfbbMcljkha+ZMuVQX1K9aRlVqbmv3ZMWh+OijLYVU2bc=\n=5Io4\n-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----\n"}'

JavaScript @octokit/core.js

await octokit.request('POST /repos/{owner}/{repo}/git/commits', {
  owner: 'OWNER',
  repo: 'REPO',
  message: 'my commit message',
  author: {
    name: 'Mona Octocat',
    email: 'octocat@github.com',
    date: '2008-07-09T16:13:30+12:00'
  },
  parents: [
    '7d1b31e74ee336d15cbd21741bc88a537ed063a0'
  ],
  tree: '827efc6d56897b048c772eb4087f854f46256132',
  signature: '-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----\n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\neSakNQMfbbMcljkha+ZMuVQX1K9aRlVqbmv3ZMWh+OijLYVU2bc=\n=5Io4\n-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----\n'
})

Response

Status: 201

{
  "sha": "7638417db6d59f3c431d3e1f261cc637155684cd",
  "node_id": "MDY6Q29tbWl0NzYzODQxN2RiNmQ1OWYzYzQzMWQzZTFmMjYxY2M2MzcxNTU2ODRjZA==",
  "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/commits/7638417db6d59f3c431d3e1f261cc637155684cd",
  "author": {
    "date": "2014-11-07T22:01:45Z",
    "name": "Monalisa Octocat",
    "email": "octocat@github.com"
  },
  "committer": {
    "date": "2014-11-07T22:01:45Z",
    "name": "Monalisa Octocat",
    "email": "octocat@github.com"
  },
  "message": "my commit message",
  "tree": {
    "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/trees/827efc6d56897b048c772eb4087f854f46256132",
    "sha": "827efc6d56897b048c772eb4087f854f46256132"
  },
  "parents": [
    {
      "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/commits/7d1b31e74ee336d15cbd21741bc88a537ed063a0",
      "sha": "7d1b31e74ee336d15cbd21741bc88a537ed063a0",
      "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat/Hello-World/commit/7d1b31e74ee336d15cbd21741bc88a537ed063a0"
    }
  ],
  "verification": {
    "verified": false,
    "reason": "unsigned",
    "signature": null,
    "payload": null
  },
  "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat/Hello-World/commit/7638417db6d59f3c431d3e1f261cc637155684cd"
}

Status codes

HTTP Status Code	Description
`201`	Created
`404`	Resource not found
`422`	Validation failed

Notes

Works with GitHub Apps

Get a commit

Gets a Git commit object.

Signature verification object

The response will include a verification object that describes the result of verifying the commit's signature. The following fields are included in the verification object:

Name	Type	Description
`verified`	`boolean`	Indicates whether GitHub considers the signature in this commit to be verified.
`reason`	`string`	The reason for verified value. Possible values and their meanings are enumerated in the table below.
`signature`	`string`	The signature that was extracted from the commit.
`payload`	`string`	The value that was signed.

These are the possible values for reason in the verification object:

Value	Description
`expired_key`	The key that made the signature is expired.
`not_signing_key`	The "signing" flag is not among the usage flags in the GPG key that made the signature.
`gpgverify_error`	There was an error communicating with the signature verification service.
`gpgverify_unavailable`	The signature verification service is currently unavailable.
`unsigned`	The object does not include a signature.
`unknown_signature_type`	A non-PGP signature was found in the commit.
`no_user`	No user was associated with the `committer` email address in the commit.
`unverified_email`	The `committer` email address in the commit was associated with a user, but the email address is not verified on her/his account.
`bad_email`	The `committer` email address in the commit is not included in the identities of the PGP key that made the signature.
`unknown_key`	The key that made the signature has not been registered with any user's account.
`malformed_signature`	There was an error parsing the signature.
`invalid`	The signature could not be cryptographically verified using the key whose key-id was found in the signature.
`valid`	None of the above errors applied, so the signature is considered to be verified.

get /repos/{owner}/{repo}/git/commits/{commit_sha}

Parameters

Name	Type	In	Description
`accept`	string	header	Setting to`application/vnd.github.v3+json` is recommended.
`owner`	string	path
`repo`	string	path
`commit_sha`	string	path	commit_sha parameter

Code samples

Example

Shell

curl \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.v3+json" \
  https://api.github.com/repos/OWNER/REPO/git/commits/COMMIT_SHA

JavaScript @octokit/core.js

await octokit.request('GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/git/commits/{commit_sha}', {
  owner: 'OWNER',
  repo: 'REPO',
  commit_sha: 'COMMIT_SHA'
})

GitHub CLI gh api

gh api \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.v3+json" \
  /repos/OWNER/REPO/git/commits/COMMIT_SHA

Response

Status: 200

{
  "sha": "7638417db6d59f3c431d3e1f261cc637155684cd",
  "node_id": "MDY6Q29tbWl0NmRjYjA5YjViNTc4NzVmMzM0ZjYxYWViZWQ2OTVlMmU0MTkzZGI1ZQ==",
  "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/commits/7638417db6d59f3c431d3e1f261cc637155684cd",
  "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat/Hello-World/commit/7638417db6d59f3c431d3e1f261cc637155684cd",
  "author": {
    "date": "2014-11-07T22:01:45Z",
    "name": "Monalisa Octocat",
    "email": "octocat@github.com"
  },
  "committer": {
    "date": "2014-11-07T22:01:45Z",
    "name": "Monalisa Octocat",
    "email": "octocat@github.com"
  },
  "message": "added readme, because im a good github citizen",
  "tree": {
    "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/trees/691272480426f78a0138979dd3ce63b77f706feb",
    "sha": "691272480426f78a0138979dd3ce63b77f706feb"
  },
  "parents": [
    {
      "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/commits/1acc419d4d6a9ce985db7be48c6349a0475975b5",
      "sha": "1acc419d4d6a9ce985db7be48c6349a0475975b5",
      "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat/Hello-World/commit/7638417db6d59f3c431d3e1f261cc637155684cd"
    }
  ],
  "verification": {
    "verified": false,
    "reason": "unsigned",
    "signature": null,
    "payload": null
  }
}

Status codes

HTTP Status Code	Description
`200`	OK
`404`	Resource not found

Notes

Works with GitHub Apps