hugo/content/en/variables/git.md

---
title: Git variables
linkTitle: Git variables
description: Get the last Git revision information for every content file.
categories: [variables and parameters]
keywords: [git]
menu:
  docs:
    parent: variables
    weight: 70
weight: 70
aliases: [/extras/gitinfo/]
---

{{% note %}}
Hugo's Git integrations should be fairly performant but *can* increase your build time. This will depend on the size of your Git history.
{{% /note %}}

## `.GitInfo` prerequisites

1. The Hugo site must be in a Git-enabled directory.
2. The Git executable must be installed and in your system `PATH`.
3. The `.GitInfo` feature must be enabled in your Hugo project by passing `--enableGitInfo` flag on the command line or by setting `enableGitInfo` to `true` in your [site's configuration file][configuration].

## The `.GitInfo` object

The `GitInfo` object contains the following fields:

.AbbreviatedHash
: the abbreviated commit hash (e.g., `866cbcc`)

.AuthorName
: the author's name, respecting [`.mailmap`](https://git-scm.com/docs/gitmailmap)

.AuthorEmail
: the author's email address, respecting [`.mailmap`](https://git-scm.com/docs/gitmailmap)

.AuthorDate
: the author date

.Hash
: the commit hash (e.g., `866cbccdab588b9908887ffd3b4f2667e94090c3`)

.Subject
: commit message subject (e.g., `tpl: Add custom index function`)

## `.Lastmod`

If the `.GitInfo` feature is enabled, `.Lastmod` (on `Page`) is fetched from Git i.e. `.GitInfo.AuthorDate`. This behavior can be changed by adding your own [front matter configuration for dates](/getting-started/configuration/#configure-front-matter).

[configuration]: /getting-started/configuration/

## Hosting considerations

On the site host, your repository must be "deep-cloned," so the returned `.GitInfo` data will be accurate. Otherwise, your site may display only data from your latest commit. Where it's not possible to configure a host's cloning depth, you must handle this through CI/CD (*e.g.*, a GitHub Action or GitLab CI/CD). See the following table:

| Hosting service | Clone depth | Configurable? |
| :-------------- | :---------- | :-----------: |
| Cloudflare Pages | Shallow | ✔️ [^CFP] |
| DigitalOcean App Platform | Deep | ❌ |
| GitHub Pages | Shallow | ✔️ [^GHP] |
| GitLab Pages | Shallow | ✔️ [^GLP] |
| Netlify | Deep | ❌ |
| Render | Shallow | ❌ |
| Vercel | Shallow | ❌ |

[^CFP]: To configure a Cloudflare Pages site for deep cloning, preface the site's normal Hugo build command with `git fetch --unshallow &&` (*e.g.*, `git fetch --unshallow && hugo`).

[^GHP]: You can configure the GitHub Action to do a deep clone by specifying `fetch-depth: 0` in the applicable "checkout" step of your workflow file, as shown in the Hugo documentation's [example workflow file](/hosting-and-deployment/hosting-on-github/#procedure).

[^GLP]: You can configure the GitLab Runner's clone depth [as explained in the GitLab documentation](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/large_repositories/#shallow-cloning); see also the Hugo documentation's [example workflow file](https://gohugo.io/hosting-and-deployment/hosting-on-gitlab/#configure-gitlab-cicd).