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This version of GitHub Enterprise was discontinued on 2023-07-06. No patch releases will be made, even for critical security issues. For better performance, improved security, and new features, upgrade to the latest version of GitHub Enterprise. For help with the upgrade, contact GitHub Enterprise support.

Creating a commit with multiple authors

In this article

You can attribute a commit to more than one author by adding one or more Co-authored-by trailers to the commit's message. Co-authored commits are visible on GitHub Enterprise Server and can be included in the profile contributions graph and the repository's statistics.

Required co-author information

Before you can add a co-author to a commit, you must know the appropriate email to use for each co-author. For the co-author's commit to count as a contribution, you must use the email associated with their account on your GitHub Enterprise Server instance.

Creating co-authored commits using GitHub Desktop

You can use GitHub Desktop to create a commit with a co-author. For more information, see "Committing and reviewing changes to your project in GitHub Desktop" and GitHub Desktop.

Creating co-authored commits on the command line

  1. Collect the name and email address for each co-author.

  2. Type your commit message and a short, meaningful description of your changes. After your commit description, instead of a closing quotation, add two empty lines.

    $ git commit -m "Refactor usability tests.
>
>

    Tip: If you're using a text editor on the command line to type your commit message, ensure there are two newlines between the end of your commit description and the Co-authored-by: commit trailer.

  3. On the next line of the commit message, type Co-authored-by: name <name@example.com> with specific information for each co-author. After the co-author information, add a closing quotation mark.

    If you're adding multiple co-authors, give each co-author their own line and Co-authored-by: commit trailer.

    $ git commit -m "Refactor usability tests.
>
>
Co-authored-by: NAME <NAME@EXAMPLE.COM>
Co-authored-by: ANOTHER-NAME <ANOTHER-NAME@EXAMPLE.COM>"

The new commit and message will appear on your GitHub Enterprise Server instance the next time you push. For more information, see "Pushing commits to a remote repository."

Creating co-authored commits on GitHub Enterprise Server

After you've made changes in a file using the web editor on GitHub Enterprise Server, you can create a co-authored commit by adding a Co-authored-by: trailer to the commit's message.

  1. Collect the name and email address for each co-author.
  2. Click Commit changes...
  3. In the "Commit message" field, type a short, meaningful commit message that describes the changes you made.
  4. In the text box below your commit message, add Co-authored-by: name <name@example.com> with specific information for each co-author. If you're adding multiple co-authors, give each co-author their own line and Co-authored-by: commit trailer.
  5. Click Commit changes or Propose changes.

The new commit and message will appear on your GitHub Enterprise Server instance.

Further reading