Git describe with git tags

Getting tags on a git repository¶

Use git describe --tags to get the tags.

Using git describe¶

Examples using git describe

Using git describe --tags:

git describe --tags
## output
v0.2.1-15-g7a82bbe

Using git describe

git describe
## output
v0.1.2-39-g7a82bbe

Using git describe --abbrev=0 --tags to get the tag from the current branch

git describe --abbrev=0 --tags
## output
v0.2.1

Using git describe with git rev-list to get tags across all branches, not just the current branch

git describe --tags `git rev-list --tags --max-count=1`
## output
v0.2.1

Other examples¶

Other git describe examples (click to expand)

### Other examples using git describe Get the latest tagged version and remove the `v` prefix:

git tag --sort=committerdate | grep -E '[0-9]' | tail -1 | cut -b 2-7
## output
0.2.1

Using `git describe` with `--abbrev` set to `0`

git describe --abbrev=0
## output
v0.1.2

Sorting tags¶

Using the `--sort` option¶

From https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14273531/how-to-sort-git-tags-by-version-string-order-of-form-rc-x-y-z-w?#answer-22634649

With Git 2.0 (June 2014), you will be able to specify a sorting order!

Using --sort=<type>

Sort in a specific order. Supported type is: * "refname" (lexicographic order), * "version:refname" or "v:refname" (tag names are treated as versions).

Prepend "-" to reverse sort order.

So, if you have:

git tag foo1.3 &&
git tag foo1.6 &&
git tag foo1.10

Here is what you would get:

# lexical sort
git tag -l --sort=refname "foo*"
foo1.10
foo1.3
foo1.6

# version sort
git tag -l --sort=version:refname "foo*"
foo1.3
foo1.6
foo1.10

# reverse version sort
git tag -l --sort=-version:refname "foo*"
foo1.10
foo1.6
foo1.3

# reverse lexical sort
git tag -l --sort=-refname "foo*"
foo1.6
foo1.3
foo1.10

Examples using git tag to sort tags¶

Sort by -taggerdate

git tag --sort=-taggerdate
## output
v0.1.2
v0.1.1
v0
v0.1.0
v0.2
v0.2.0
v0.2.1

Sort by taggerdate

git tag --sort=taggerdate
## output
v0
v0.1.0
v0.2
v0.2.0
v0.2.1
v0.1.1
v0.1.2

Sort by -committerdate

git tag --sort=-committerdate
## output
v0.2.1
v0
v0.2
v0.2.0
v0.1.0
v0.1.1
v0.1.2

Sort by committerdate

git tag --sort=committerdate
## output
v0.1.1
v0.1.2
v0.1.0
v0
v0.2
v0.2.0
v0.2.1

Getting the latest tag¶

You can use any of the following commands to get the latest tag

Using `git ls-remote`¶

Using git ls-remote --tags --sort=committerdate:

git ls-remote --tags --sort=committerdate | grep -o 'v.*' | sort -r
## output
From https://github.com/rwaight/actions.git
v0.2.1
v0.2.0
v0.2
v0.1.2^{}
v0.1.2
v0.1.1^{}
v0.1.1
v0.1.0
v0

Using git ls-remote --tags --sort=committerdate | grep -o 'v.*':

git ls-remote --tags --sort=committerdate | grep -o 'v.*'
## output
v0.1.1
v0.1.2
v0.1.0
v0.1.1^{}
v0.1.2^{}
v0.2.0
v0
v0.2
v0.2.1

Using git ls-remote --tags --sort=taggerdate | grep -o 'v.*' | sort -r:

git ls-remote --tags --sort=taggerdate | grep -o 'v.*' | sort -r
## output
From https://github.com/rwaight/actions.git
v0.2.1
v0.2.0
v0.2
v0.1.2^{}
v0.1.2
v0.1.1^{}
v0.1.1
v0.1.0
v0

Using `git tag`¶

Using git tag --sort=-taggerdate | tail -1:

git tag --sort=-taggerdate | tail -1
## output
v0.2.1

Using git tag --sort=committerdate | grep -o 'v.*' | sort -r:

git tag --sort=committerdate | grep -o 'v.*' | sort -r
## output
v0.2.1
v0.2.0
v0.2
v0.1.2
v0.1.1
v0.1.0
v0

Using git tag --sort=committerdate | grep -o 'v.*' | sort -r | head -1:

git tag --sort=committerdate | grep -o 'v.*' | sort -r | head -1
## output
v0.2.1

Using `git for-each-ref`¶

Using git for-each-ref --sort=creatordate --format '%(refname) %(creatordate)' refs/tags:

git for-each-ref --sort=creatordate --format '%(refname) %(creatordate)' refs/tags
## output
refs/tags/v0.1.0 Mon Mar 11 12:10:23 2024 -0500
refs/tags/v0.1.1 Mon Mar 11 13:37:32 2024 -0500
refs/tags/v0.1.2 Mon Mar 11 13:50:12 2024 -0500
refs/tags/v0 Mon Mar 11 20:00:06 2024 -0500
refs/tags/v0.2 Mon Mar 11 20:00:06 2024 -0500
refs/tags/v0.2.0 Mon Mar 11 20:00:06 2024 -0500
refs/tags/v0.2.1 Thu Mar 14 11:39:55 2024 -0500

Examples using git tag¶

Examples using git tag (click to expand)

### Examples using git tag Using `git tag -l`:

git tag -l
## output
v0
v0.1.0
v0.1.1
v0.1.2
v0.2
v0.2.0
v0.2.1

Using `git tag -l | tail -1`:

git tag -l | tail -1
## output
v0.2.1

Using `git tag | sort -V`:

git tag | sort -V
## output
v0
v0.1.0
v0.1.1
v0.1.2
v0.2
v0.2.0
v0.2.1

Examples using git rev-list¶

Examples using git rev-list (click to expand)

### Examples using git rev-list Using `git rev-list --tags --max-count=1`:

git rev-list --tags --max-count=1
## output
d702f1832400f86753094a219e8383ae817ade34