DH_QUILT_UNPATCH(1)

✨ DH_QUILT_UNPATCH ✨

okay bestie, welcome to the dh_quilt_unpatch page from the Debhelper manual 💅 this lil guy is the unapply the patches button and honestly? it's giving calm, collected, unbothered. let's get into it 🫶

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🌸 NAME 🌸

dh_quilt_unpatch — unapply patches listed in debian/patches/series 💖

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

dh_quilt_unpatch [debhelper options]

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so here's the whole vibe: dh_quilt_unpatch simply calls quilt pop -a after having set the environment variable QUILT_PATCHES to debian/patches. that's it. that's the whole personality ✨

after that, all patches listed in debian/patches/series are then unapplied in the current directory. no drama, no fuss, just popping them all off like 🍓

and here's the sweet part: the command does not fail if the patches have already been unapplied. so if you run it twice, it's not gonna be weird about it. it's secure in itself like that 😌

if the file debian/patches/series does not exist or is empty, dh_quilt_unpatch returns without doing anything. literally just vibes, no action taken 🙈

oh and you're not locked into debian/patches if you don't want to be — you can use another directory instead of debian/patches by setting (and exporting) the environment variable QUILT_PATCH_DIR. set it AND export it, bestie, don't skip the export, i'm serious 💀

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🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

dh_quilt_unpatch is usually called indirectly in a rules file via the dh command, like so:

%:
    dh $@ --with quilt

it can also be directly called in the clean rule. iconic behavior honestly 👑

clean:
    dh_testdir
    dh_testroot
    [ ! -f Makefile ] || $(MAKE) clean
    dh_quilt_unpatch
    dh_clean

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💜 NOTES 💜

heads up: this tool is useless if you use the source package format 3.0 (quilt). like, actually useless. not a single thing it can do for you there 😭

consider switching to this source format if you haven't done it yet. that's the assignment, bestie 📝

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⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

• debhelper(7)
• dh(1)

this program is meant to be used together with debhelper. they're a package deal, iykyk 🫶

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

Raphael Hertzog <hertzog@debian.org> — thank you for your service, legend 🎀

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and that's the whole page, bestie!! this was perl v5.40.1, dated 2026-01-23, and it's the DH_QUILT_UNPATCH(1) manual page — slay, ate, no crumbs, periodt 💅✨🌸