quilt

quilt command [options]

quilt manages an ordered series of patches against a source tree, allowing patches to be applied, removed, and updated independently. It maintains a series file listing patches in order and a patches/ directory containing the patch files, providing a structured workflow for maintaining modifications on top of upstream code.The typical workflow involves creating a new patch with new, registering files to track with add, making changes, then saving the patch with refresh. Patches can be applied incrementally with push and removed with pop, and the entire series can be reordered or edited. Quilt is widely used in Linux distribution packaging to maintain downstream patches against upstream source.

new NAME

Create a new patch with the given name and insert it after the current top patch.

Register a file to be tracked in the current topmost patch before making changes.

Apply the next unapplied patch in the series. Use -a to apply all remaining patches.

Remove the topmost applied patch, reverting its changes. Use -a to remove all applied patches.

Update the topmost patch to reflect the current changes to tracked files.

List all patches in the series file in order.

Show the differences between the current state of tracked files and the topmost patch.

Remove a patch from the series file. Use -r to also remove the patch file from the patches directory.

Add a file to the topmost patch and open it in the default editor.

Print the name of the topmost applied patch.

List all currently applied patches.

List all patches that have not yet been applied.

Quilt creates a patches/ directory and a series file in the working directory. Files must be registered with add before editing, or changes will not be captured by refresh. The patches use standard unified diff format.

Quilt was inspired by Andrew Morton's patch scripts for kernel development.

patch(1), diff(1), git(1)