Subject: [PATCH v2] docs: fix --commit-list-format related entries

From: Mirko Faina <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2026 21:06:40 +0100

Documentation specifies that "git format-patch" would default to
format.commitListFormat if --commit-list-format is not given, but
doesn't specify the default if the format.commitListFormat is not set.
The text for --cover-letter is also obsolete as the commit list can now
be something other than a shortlog.

Document to reflect changes.

Signed-off-by: Mirko Faina <[email-masked]>
---
Ended up with something more verbose compared to what Junio proposed,
but it might help the user to better understand why we check for the '%'
in the first place.

Same goes for the implied `--cover-letter`. Instead of rephrasing I
added a note for the user to clear up any ambiguity.

 Documentation/config/format.adoc    |  2 +-
 Documentation/git-format-patch.adoc | 27 +++++++++++++++------------
 2 files changed, 16 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/config/format.adoc b/Documentation/config/format.adoc
index ef1ed1d250..dbd186290b 100644
--- a/Documentation/config/format.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/config/format.adoc
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ format.coverLetter::
 
 format.commitListFormat::
 	When the `--cover-letter-format` option is not given, `format-patch`
-	uses the value of this variable to decide how to format the title of
+	uses the value of this variable to decide how to format the entry of
 	each commit. Defaults to `shortlog`.
 
 format.outputDirectory::
diff --git a/Documentation/git-format-patch.adoc b/Documentation/git-format-patch.adoc
index c52dbcc170..fc0023b9b7 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-format-patch.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/git-format-patch.adoc
@@ -319,21 +319,24 @@ feeding the result to `git send-email`.
 
 --cover-letter::
 --no-cover-letter::
-	In addition to the patches, generate a cover letter file
-	containing the branch description, shortlog and the overall diffstat.  You can
-	fill in a description in the file before sending it out.
+	In addition to the patches, generate a cover letter file containing the
+	branch description, commit list and the overall diffstat.  You can fill
+	in a description in the file before sending it out.
 
 --commit-list-format=<format-spec>::
 	Specify the format in which to generate the commit list of the patch
-	series. The accepted values for format-spec are `shortlog`, `modern` or a
-	format-string prefixed with `log:`.
-	e.g. `log: %s (%an)`
-	The user is allowed to drop the prefix if the format-string contains a
-	`%<placeholder>`.
-	If not given, defaults to the `format.commitListFormat` configuration
-	variable.
-	This option implies the use of `--cover-letter` unless
-	`--no-cover-letter` is given.
+	series. The accepted values for format-spec are `shortlog`, `modern` or
+	a format-string prefixed with `log:`. E.g. `log: %s (%an)`.
+	Modern is the same as `log:[%(count)/%(total)] %s`.
+	The user is allowed to drop the `log:` prefix if the format-string
+	contains a '%' character. The '%' is expected as part of a placeholder
+	but this is not validated by git.
+	If not given, defaults to `shortlog` unless the
+	`format.commitListFormat` configuration variable is set.
+	This option given from the command-line implies the use of
+	`--cover-letter` unless `--no-cover-letter` is given. Note that
+	`format.commitListFormat` being set does not imply the use of
+	`--cover-letter`.
 
 --encode-email-headers::
 --no-encode-email-headers::
-- 
2.53.0.1181.g1066ffbbbe