gbp-import-dsc(1)

📦
version 0.9.43 · 6 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

💖 gbp-import-dsc(1) — git-buildpackage Manual 💖

okay bestie, sit down, hydrate, because this one is about importing an entire Debian source package into a Git repo and it's lowkey the glow-up your packaging workflow has been waiting for. ✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

gbp-import-dsc — drop a Debian source package into a Git repository like it's nothing 🎀

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

gbp import-dsc [--version] [--help] [--verbose] [--color=[auto|on|off]]
               [--color-scheme= COLOR_SCHEME] [--allow-same-versions]
               [--author-date-is-committer-date] [--author-is-committer]
               [--debian-branch= branch_name] [--debian-tag= tag-format]
               [--filter= pattern]... [--keyid= gpg-keyid]
               [--[no-]create-missing-branches] [--[no-]pristine-tar]
               [--[no-]sign-tags] [--skip-debian-tag]
               [--upstream-branch= branch_name] [--upstream-tag= tag-
               format] [--upstream-vcs-tag= tag-format] [--repo-user=
               [GIT|DEBIAN]] [--repo-email= [GIT|DEBIAN]] debian-
               source.dsc [target]
gbp import-dsc [options] [--[no-]allow-unauthenticated] URL [target]

(nope, those line breaks are not a typo, that's literally how the synopsis is written 💅)

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

So like — gbp import-dsc takes a Debian source package, yeets it into a Git repository, notes the package version in the commit logs, and commits the whole thing. And it's not out here making you do homework: package name, version, Debian modifications, upstream source — all of it is automatically detected from the source package. After the import you can just... use the rest of the gbp tools on it. iconic. 👑

Now here's the vibe check on where it lands:

  • If you run the command from inside an existing Git repository, it imports into that one. no cap.
  • If you're not in a repo, it creates a new one, named after the Debian source package.
  • Wanna pick a different spot? Pass the optional target argument and it'll set up the new repo wherever you say. 🫶

And if you hand it a URL, gbp import-dsc will download the source package before importing it. dget handles basically every scheme — except the special apt:/// scheme, which uses apt-get instead (meaning yes bestie, you need deb-src entries in your /etc/apt/sources.list for that one). Also you can shorten it to the pseudo URL apt: because we're efficient around here. ⭐

🔥 OPTIONS 🔥

  • --version — prints the version of the program, aka the version of the git-buildpackage suite. ✨
  • -v, --verbose — verbose execution, so you can watch everything happen in real time. she's chatty.
  • -h, --help — print help and exit. the classic escape hatch.
  • --color=[auto|on|off] — whether to use colored output at all. say yes, the colors are cute. 🌈
  • --color-scheme=COLOR_SCHEME — which colors to use in output (when color is enabled, obvs). The format for COLOR_SCHEME is '<debug>:<info>:<warning>:<error>'. Numerical values and color names are both accepted, and empty fields imply the default color. For example, --git-color-scheme='cyan:34::' would show debug messages in cyan, info messages in blue, and other messages in default — meaning warning and error messages come out in red. 🎨
  • --upstream-branch=branch_name — the branch in the Git repository where the upstream sources get put. Default is upstream.
  • --debian-branch=branch_name — the branch in the Git repository where the debian sources get put. Default is master.
  • --[no-]sign-tags — GPG sign all created tags. 🔐
  • --keyid=gpg-keyid — use this keyid for gpg signing tags.
  • --debian-tag=tag-format — use this tag format when tagging Debian versions; default is debian/%(version)s.
  • --upstream-tag=tag-format — use this tag format when tagging upstream versions; default is upstream/%(version)s.
  • --upstream-vcs-tag=tag-format — adds tag-format as an additional parent to the commit of the upstream tarball. Super useful when upstream uses git and you want to link to its revision history. The tag-format can be a pattern similar to what --upstream-tag supports. The default is to not add upstream tags as additional parents, since this requires additional setup to have the upstream sources in the same repository.
  • --skip-debian-tag — don't create the Debian tag after importing the Debian patch. Handy if you already created a package but want to keep working on it after importing it into git. 🙈
  • --filter=pattern — filter out files glob-matching pattern from upstream tarballs and the debian tarball of 3.0(quilt) packages. Note that the .diff.gz of 1.0 source format packages is currently not filtered. 🫠 This option can be given multiple times.
  • --pristine-tar — generate a pristine-tar delta file.
  • --allow-unauthenticated — whether to skip signature verification on downloads. It's passed on verbatim to dget and apt-get respectively. Use with care.
  • --allow-same-version — allows you to import a package with the same debian version. (the flag name in the synopsis says --allow-same-versions, but the option itself is --allow-same-version — iykyk 👀)
  • --author-is-committer — when importing the Debian patch, use the author identity as the committer identity.
  • --author-date-is-committer-date — when importing the Debian patch, use the author date as the committer date.
Warning ⚠️ Git will subtly misbehave if the committer date of a commit is not later than or equal to all its parents. fr fr, don't do it unless you know what you're doing. 💀
  • --[no-]create-missing-branches — create the upstream and debian branch if they're missing.
  • --repo-user=[GIT|DEBIAN] — when set to DEBIAN, it uses the DEBFULLNAME environment variable to set the user.name Git configuration; otherwise it uses Git's defaults. Only affects newly created repos. 🌱
  • --repo-email=[GIT|DEBIAN] — when set to DEBIAN, it uses the DEBEMAIL environment variable to set the user.email Git configuration; otherwise it uses Git's defaults. Only affects newly created repos. 🌱

🧚 CONFIGURATION FILES 🧚

Several gbp.conf files get parsed to set defaults for all those command-line arguments up there. The details live in the gbp.conf(5) manpage — go read it, bestie. 💜

🌟 EXAMPLES 🌟

Download and import a source package from a URL:

gbp import-dsc http://http.debian.net/debian/pool/main/h/hello/hello_2.10-1.dsc

Ensure that the local git repository has the latest version of the package available in Debian unstable, by downloading and attempting to import the source package via apt-get source:

gbp import-dsc apt:hello/sid

Import a source package in the local file system:

gbp import-dsc ../hello_2.10-1.dsc

💖 SEE ALSO 💖

gbp-import-dscs(1), gbp-buildpackage(1), gbp-import-orig(1), gbp-dch(1), apt-get(1), sources.list(5), dget(1), gbp.conf(5), debuild(1), git(1), pristine-tar(1), The Git-Buildpackage Manual ⟨file:///usr/share/doc/git-buildpackage/manual-html/index.html⟩

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Guido Günther <agx@sigxcpu.org> — thank you for your service, king 🫶

aaaand that's the whole page, bestie! this one's from the 26 May 2026 snapshot of the git-buildpackage manual — go import something and slay. 💅✨🦋🍓

📦 where this page comes from