hg-remove

Remove files or directories from the staging area

$ hg remove [path/to/file]

$ hg remove [[-I|--include]] [pattern]

$ hg remove [[-X|--exclude]] [pattern]

$ hg remove [[-S|--subrepos]]

$ hg remove [[-A|--after]]

hg remove [OPTION]... FILE...
hg rm [OPTION]... FILE...

-f, --force
    remove file even if modified or added

-n, --dry-run
    do not perform actions, just show what would be done

-I, --include PATTERN
    include only files matching the given patterns

-X, --exclude PATTERN
    exclude files matching the given patterns

-a, --after
    record each removed file as a deletion to be committed later

--rev REV[+]
    stop at the specified revision (removes up to REV)

-e, --encoding ENCODING
    specify the encoding to use

-g, --git
    parse argfile using git extended diff format

-R, --repository REPO
    specify repository root path

The hg remove (or hg rm) command in Mercurial version control system marks specified files as removed for the next commit. It removes them from both the working directory and the repository's tracking data.

By default, it deletes the files from the filesystem after staging the removal. Use options to control behavior, such as dry-run previews, forcing removal of modified files, or recording removals without deleting files.

This is essential for cleaning up obsolete files while preserving commit history. After running hg remove, commit the changes with hg commit to finalize. Files ignored by .hgignore are skipped unless forced.

It supports pattern matching for bulk operations and works with specific revisions for advanced use cases like backouts.

Files are permanently deleted from the working directory unless --after is used. Always use --dry-run for previews. Ignores .hgignore patterns unless forced. Not for undoing adds; use hg forget.

hg rm file.txt – remove and delete single file.
hg rm -n '*.tmp' – preview removal of all .tmp files.
hg rm --after olddir/ – stage directory removal without deleting.

0: success.
1: uncommitted changes present.
255: other errors.

Introduced in early Mercurial versions (pre-1.0, around 2006). Evolved with options like --after (1.3, 2008) and pattern matching. Remains stable in modern Mercurial (5.x+), aligning with Git-like workflows.

hg forget(1), hg status(1), git rm(1), rm(1)