The latest articles on DEV Community by Mattsu no Rensa (@fpgartktic). https://dev.to/fpgartktic https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F4130768%2Fe9eb6f3f-4510-4471-afe1-55645ff8934f.jpg https://dev.to/fpgartktic en Mattsu no Rensa Fri, 18 Sep 2026 04:04:53 +0000 https://dev.to/fpgartktic/git-submodules-can-only-follow-branches-i-wanted-tags-3ep https://dev.to/fpgartktic/git-submodules-can-only-follow-branches-i-wanted-tags-3ep <div class="crayons-card c-embed text-styles text-styles--secondary"> <div class="c-embed__content"> <div class="c-embed__cover"> <a href="https://lazysubmodules.readthedocs.io/en/latest/" class="c-link align-middle" rel="noopener noreferrer"> <img alt="" src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Flazysubmodules.readthedocs.io%2Fen%2Flatest%2Fsocial-preview.png" height="400" class="m-0" width="800"> </a> </div> <div class="c-embed__body"> <h2 class="fs-xl lh-tight"> <a href="https://lazysubmodules.readthedocs.io/en/latest/" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="c-link"> LazySubmodules </a> </h2> <p class="truncate-at-3"> Track Git submodules by branch, tag, tag pattern or commit, with a lock file that catches moved tags. A command line tool for scripts and a terminal interface for people. Configuration lives in.git... </p> <div class="color-secondary fs-s flex items-center"> <img alt="favicon" class="c-embed__favicon m-0 mr-2 radius-0" src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Flazysubmodules.readthedocs.io%2Fen%2Flatest%2F_static%2Ffavicon.svg" width="96" height="96"> lazysubmodules.readthedocs.io </div> </div> </div> </div> <br> <div class="ltag-github-readme-tag"> <div class="readme-overview"> <h2> <img src="https://assets.dev.to/assets/github-logo-5a155e1f9a670af7944dd5e12375bc76ed542ea80224905ecaf878b9157cdefc.svg" alt="GitHub logo"> <a href="https://github.com/FPGArtktic" rel="noopener noreferrer"> FPGArtktic </a> / <a href="https://github.com/FPGArtktic/lazysubmodules" rel="noopener noreferrer"> lazysubmodules </a> </h2> <h3> Track git submodules by branch, tag, tag pattern or commit — CLI + TUI with a lock file </h3> </div> <div class="ltag-github-body"> <div id="readme" class="md"> <div class="markdown-heading"> <h1 class="heading-element">LazySubmodules</h1> </div> <p><a href="https://github.com/FPGArtktic/lazysubmodules/actions/workflows/ci.yml" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://github.com/FPGArtktic/lazysubmodules/actions/workflows/ci.yml/badge.svg?branch=main" alt="CI"></a> <a href="https://github.com/FPGArtktic/lazysubmodules/actions/workflows/ci.yml" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://camo.githubusercontent.com/57287c0013d59484e2bb1a75860ca571b4596447a7048457f17533e7184afe55/68747470733a2f2f696d672e736869656c64732e696f2f656e64706f696e743f75726c3d68747470733a2f2f7261772e67697468756275736572636f6e74656e742e636f6d2f4650474172746b7469632f6c617a797375626d6f64756c65732f6261646765732f636f7665726167652e6a736f6e" alt="Coverage"></a> <a href="https://lazysubmodules.readthedocs.io" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://camo.githubusercontent.com/b53fcf5ee560bd010ac116f1a4b94bf7e02da984d1aaa1b7ec9b11a14521f6d8/68747470733a2f2f696d672e736869656c64732e696f2f72656164746865646f63732f6c617a797375626d6f64756c6573" alt="Documentation"></a> <a href="https://github.com/FPGArtktic/lazysubmodules/releases" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://camo.githubusercontent.com/991f65035b76c37fd64e4f912122557ac79d1e9851de593b062d9037e4fe4167/68747470733a2f2f696d672e736869656c64732e696f2f6769746875622f762f72656c656173652f4650474172746b7469632f6c617a797375626d6f64756c65733f696e636c7564655f70726572656c6561736573" alt="Release"></a> <a href="https://github.com/FPGArtktic/lazysubmodules/go.mod" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://camo.githubusercontent.com/1b4f23c05485c5f3ae75d7bc29cb0db3d5291993142acd02eea2fca431cda2e8/68747470733a2f2f696d672e736869656c64732e696f2f6769746875622f676f2d6d6f642f676f2d76657273696f6e2f4650474172746b7469632f6c617a797375626d6f64756c6573" alt="Go version"></a> <a href="https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/FPGArtktic/lazysubmodules" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://camo.githubusercontent.com/4dc1fc8a695601d33d53f1b41f2a0be7f86e305d113a4c750f41eaf7334c2e46/68747470733a2f2f706b672e676f2e6465762f62616467652f6769746875622e636f6d2f4650474172746b7469632f6c617a797375626d6f64756c65732e737667" alt="Go Reference"></a> <a href="https://github.com/FPGArtktic/lazysubmodules/.golangci.yml" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://camo.githubusercontent.com/bc421de14ac11b29c65c1d1f8f32073fc80799bc97e012bd14be226d91e73c2d/68747470733a2f2f696d672e736869656c64732e696f2f62616467652f6c696e74656425323062792d676f6c616e6763692d2d6c696e742d3030414444383f6c6f676f3d676f266c6f676f436f6c6f723d7768697465" alt="Linted by golangci-lint"></a> <a href="https://github.com/FPGArtktic/lazysubmodules/LICENSE" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://camo.githubusercontent.com/481ff51f48dbd0b69408aaccd2b518a3d71897303d26623063eebf393874330b/68747470733a2f2f696d672e736869656c64732e696f2f62616467652f6c6963656e73652d47504c2d2d332e302d2d6f6e6c792d626c7565" alt="License: GPL-3.0-only"></a> <a href="https://github.com/FPGArtktic/lazysubmodules#installation" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://camo.githubusercontent.com/9e433ff036ae581c4e473204030ed558be239936218cf1bf07c5ad584f0ce0f9/68747470733a2f2f696d672e736869656c64732e696f2f62616467652f706c6174666f726d2d6c696e7578253230616d64363425323025374325323061726d36342d6c6967687467726579" alt="Platform"></a> <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://camo.githubusercontent.com/eabdd129991c91e59fc8ae8f4773161eb4ed92eae3e552cb745ca5936daae18d/68747470733a2f2f696d672e736869656c64732e696f2f62616467652f6d616465253230696e2d506f6c616e642d4443313433433f6c6162656c436f6c6f723d7768697465"><img src="https://camo.githubusercontent.com/eabdd129991c91e59fc8ae8f4773161eb4ed92eae3e552cb745ca5936daae18d/68747470733a2f2f696d672e736869656c64732e696f2f62616467652f6d616465253230696e2d506f6c616e642d4443313433433f6c6162656c436f6c6f723d7768697465" alt="Made in Poland"></a></p> <p><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://github.com/FPGArtktic/lazysubmodules/docs/demo/hero.gif"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fraw.githubusercontent.com%2FFPGArtktic%2Flazysubmodules%2FHEAD%2Fdocs%2Fdemo%2Fhero.gif" alt="The LazySubmodules terminal interface on a superproject with fourteen submodules: a table with the name, mode, ref, lock and colored state of each submodule, and a preview of the selected one. The recording moves through the table, opens the details of u-boot, updates u-boot after a confirmation until its state turns ok, and shows the help page."></a></p> <p>LazySubmodules manages Git submodules that track <strong>branches, tags, tag patterns or fixed commits</strong>. It has a scriptable command line interface and an interactive terminal user interface (TUI). The binary is called <code>lazysubmodules</code>, and <code>lsm</code> is an optional short name.</p> <ul> <li> <strong>Tracking modes:</strong> a submodule can follow a branch, a tag, the highest version tag matching a glob such as <code>v2.*</code>, or a fixed commit.</li> <li> <strong>Lock file:</strong> <code>.lsm.lock</code> records what each submodule was resolved to, so tags that were moved on the remote are detected.</li> <li> <strong>Predictable network use:</strong> only <code>fetch</code>, <code>update --fetch</code> and <code>add</code> touch the network; everything else works on local refs.</li> <li> <strong>Native Git underneath:</strong> configuration lives in <code>.gitmodules</code>, and all work is done by the <code>git</code> command line tool. Plain <code>git submodule update --remote</code> keeps working for branch-tracking submodules.</li> <li> <strong>Scripting:</strong> a stable, machine-readable status format, <code>verify</code> with optional signature checks, and distinct exit codes.</li> </ul> <p>…</p></div> </div> <div class="gh-btn-container"><a class="gh-btn" href="https://github.com/FPGArtktic/lazysubmodules" rel="noopener noreferrer">View on GitHub</a></div> </div> <p>Git can make a submodule follow a branch, but there is no way to say "follow tag v2.3.1" or "follow the newest v6.6.* release", so everyone pinning submodules to releases does it by hand. I wrote a tool for it: lsm set kernel --tag-pattern 'v6.6.*', then lsm update kernel --fetch --commit. The configuration lives in .gitmodules under keys Git ignores, so anyone who clones without the tool still runs git submodule update --init and gets exactly what the superproject records.</p> git tui productivity cli