Read a complete commit message.

Git: The B placeholder includes the subject and body without extra metadata.

Shell terminal
set -euo pipefail
git log -1 --format=%B | sed '/^$/d'

Expected output EXAMPLE

Document behavior
Explain the example.

Details

Requires Git and Bash. Run in a disposable practice repository. The test setup below creates the starting files and commits. The B placeholder includes the subject and body without extra metadata. The input setup creates a disposable practice repository with a fictional local author identity. Run these examples only in that repository.

✓ Verified

Tested on Ubuntu 24.04.5 LTS · · git version 2.43.0 · git 1:2.43.0-1ubuntu7.3

Test inputs, results and environment

The exact published code ran in a dedicated Linux test container with prepared inputs. Snippet process uid 65534 with a read-only root filesystem and temporary working files. Networking disabled. Fixtures and output records are isolated from the application database. Testing covers this example and its stated checks, not every input, operating system, or runtime version. The Linux container shares its host's kernel; this is not a native Windows test.

Architecture / host kernel
x86_64 / 6.18.54.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2
Snippet identity / locale
uid=65534, gid=65534 (unprivileged process) / C.UTF-8
Interpreter invocation
bash -euo pipefail -c <published code>
Container image ID
sha256:ec91410a8f6ec3e985830b5e3a0560306d36f8c1c5ccd91a6699abe707123fa3
Code SHA-256
b29a91f55ac66cd476e9588ce00f5785a0f80ab9029d335d14665098ef0a1730
Dependencies
git 1:2.43.0-1ubuntu7.3

Test input setup

These are the prepared inputs used by the test harness. See Details above for the prerequisites and how to run this example.

git init -q -b main
git config user.name 'Example Developer'
git config user.email 'developer@example.invalid'
git config commit.gpgsign false
git config tag.gpgsign false
git config color.ui false
printf 'first
' > note.txt
git add note.txt
git commit -qm 'Initial notes'
git commit -q --allow-empty -m 'Document behavior' -m 'Explain the example.'

Observed standard output

Document behavior
Explain the example.

Exit code: 0. Standard error: empty. Validation: Exact stdout comparison. System-dependent values above are one recorded run.