Too many tags so `git tag` will stop with a colon for further input

Question

I have a repo with too many tags so when I run git tag it will stop with a colon for further input. My purpose is to write a script (shell or python) to delete all the tags less than a specific version number, say v8.x.

But as the command stops for the further input, how to I make it continue to run? Do I have to resort to expect(of pexpect) to make it work?

I found this How to use git commands without human interaction? but it didn't solve my question.

---- update ----

From VonC's answer and comment I learned Git-Config: core.pager but then I also found I can use git show-ref --tags (or better git show-ref --abbrev=7 --tags) to get what I need. I found git show-ref seems not use pager because it outputs all the tags at once.

VonC_6309 · Answer

In addition of git -c pager.tag=false tag, you can add a filter by pattern with the --list option (you can add sorting options)

# Windows:
git -c pager.tag=false tag -l "v8.[0123467].*"
# or
git --no-pager tag -l "v8.[0123467].*"

----

# Linux:
git -c pager.tag=false tag -l 'v8.[0123467].*'
# or
git --no-pager tag -l 'v8.[0123467].*'

The OP also suggests in the comments the use of git show-ref --abbrev=7 --tags, a plumbing (so, non-porcelain) command which is not affected by pager.

Too many tags so `git tag` will stop with a colon for further input

1 Answers