Shelving stores pending changes on the Perforce server without submitting them. This enables code review, work-in-progress backup, sharing between workspaces, and collaboration.

When to Use

Backing up work-in-progress
Sharing changes for code review
Switching between tasks
Transferring work between workspaces
Parking changes temporarily
Pre-submit review (Swarm)

Core Concepts

Shelving vs Submitting

Feature	Shelving	Submitting
Stored on server	Yes	Yes
Creates revision	No	Yes
Visible to others	Yes (optional)	Yes
Reversible	Easy delete	Need revert
Affects depot	No	Yes
Builds triggered	Usually no	Usually yes

Basic Shelving

Shelve Changes

# Shelve all files in changelist
p4 shelve -c 12345

# Shelve specific files
p4 shelve -c 12345 file1.txt file2.txt

# Shelve and keep files open
p4 shelve -c 12345

# Shelve default changelist
p4 shelve

# Replace existing shelf
p4 shelve -f -c 12345

# Shelve with delete of local files (submit-like)
p4 shelve -c 12345
p4 revert -c 12345 //...

View Shelved Changes

# List shelved changelists
p4 changes -s shelved

# List your shelved changelists
p4 changes -s shelved -u $P4USER

# Describe shelved changelist
p4 describe -S 12345

# List files in shelf
p4 describe -S -s 12345

# Diff shelved file vs depot
p4 diff2 //depot/file.txt //depot/file.txt@=12345

Unshelve Changes

# Unshelve to same changelist
p4 unshelve -s 12345

# Unshelve to different changelist
p4 unshelve -s 12345 -c 12346

# Unshelve to new changelist
p4 unshelve -s 12345 -c default
# Then move to new CL if desired

# Unshelve specific files
p4 unshelve -s 12345 file.txt

# Force unshelve (overwrite local changes)
p4 unshelve -s 12345 -f

Delete Shelf

# Delete shelved files from changelist
p4 shelve -d -c 12345

# Delete specific files from shelf
p4 shelve -d -c 12345 file.txt

# Delete shelf completely
p4 shelve -d -c 12345 //...

# Promote shelf to commit (delete shelf after submit)
p4 submit -e 12345

Shelving Workflows

Work-in-Progress Backup

# End of day - shelve your work
p4 shelve -c 12345 -f

# Next day - continue working
# Files already open, shelf is backup

# If workspace lost, unshelve to recover
p4 unshelve -s 12345

Task Switching

# Working on Feature A (CL 12345)
# Urgent bug needs fixing

# Shelve Feature A work
p4 shelve -c 12345

# Revert local changes (keep shelf)
p4 revert -c 12345 //...

# Work on bug fix
p4 edit bugfile.cs
# ... fix bug ...
p4 submit -d "Fix critical bug"

# Resume Feature A
p4 unshelve -s 12345

Code Review Workflow

# Developer: Shelve for review
p4 shelve -c 12345
echo "Please review CL 12345"

# Reviewer: Get shelved changes to review workspace
p4 unshelve -s 12345 -c default

# Review code...

# Reviewer: Revert after review (or keep to test)
p4 revert //...

# Developer: After approval, submit
p4 submit -c 12345
p4 shelve -d -c 12345  # Clean up shelf

Share Between Workspaces

# Workspace A: Shelve changes
p4 shelve -c 12345

# Workspace B: Get shelved changes
# (in different workspace)
p4 unshelve -s 12345 -c default

# Now both workspaces have the changes

Pre-Integration Testing

# Shelve feature branch changes
p4 shelve -c 12345

# In integration workspace:
# Sync to main
p4 sync //depot/main/...

# Unshelve feature changes
p4 unshelve -s 12345

# Test integration
# ... run tests ...

# If tests pass, developer can submit
# If tests fail, developer can fix

Advanced Shelving

Shelve with Resolve

# When unshelving conflicts with current workspace

# Preview unshelve conflicts
p4 unshelve -n -s 12345

# Unshelve and resolve
p4 unshelve -s 12345
p4 resolve -am  # Auto-merge

# Or force overwrite
p4 unshelve -f -s 12345

Update Existing Shelf

# Make more changes
p4 edit file.txt
# ... edit file ...

# Update shelf with new changes
p4 shelve -f -c 12345

# -f (force) replaces existing shelf

Partial Shelving

# Shelve only some files from changelist
p4 shelve -c 12345 important.cs critical.cs

# Leave other files unshelved but still open

Shelve Across Streams

# Shelve in one stream
p4 shelve -c 12345

# Unshelve to different stream (if mappings allow)
# May need branch mapping
p4 unshelve -s 12345 -b branch_mapping

Shelf Management

Find Old Shelves

# Find your old shelves
p4 changes -s shelved -u $P4USER

# Find shelves older than 30 days
p4 changes -s shelved -u $P4USER | while read line; do
    CL=$(echo $line | awk '{print $2}')
    DATE=$(p4 change -o $CL | grep "^Date:" | awk '{print $2}')
    echo "$CL: $DATE"
done

Clean Up Old Shelves

#!/bin/bash
# cleanup-shelves.sh

# Delete shelves older than 30 days
CUTOFF=$(date -v-30d +%Y/%m/%d)

p4 changes -s shelved -u $P4USER | while read line; do
    CL=$(echo $line | awk '{print $2}')
    DATE=$(echo $line | awk '{print $4}')
    
    if [[ "$DATE" < "$CUTOFF" ]]; then
        echo "Deleting old shelf: $CL ($DATE)"
        p4 shelve -d -c $CL //...
    fi
done

Shelf Statistics

# Count files in shelf
p4 describe -S -s 12345 | grep "^\.\.\." | wc -l

# Size of shelved files
p4 describe -S -s 12345 | grep "^\.\.\." | while read line; do
    FILE=$(echo $line | awk '{print $1}')
    p4 fstat -Ol "$FILE@=$CL" 2>/dev/null | grep fileSize
done

Swarm Integration

Shelve for Swarm Review

# Create review-ready changelist
p4 change  # Add description with review info

# Shelve for Swarm
p4 shelve -c 12345

# Swarm automatically detects and creates review
# Or trigger manually:
# POST to Swarm API

Update Review

# Make changes based on feedback
p4 edit file.txt
# ... make changes ...

# Update shelf (triggers review update in Swarm)
p4 shelve -f -c 12345

Commit After Approval

# After review approved in Swarm
p4 submit -e 12345

# -e submits shelved files directly
# Cleans up shelf automatically

Best Practices

Shelve frequently - Backup work in progress
Use descriptive changelist names - Easy to identify shelves
Clean up old shelves - Don't leave orphaned shelves
Force update with -f when re-shelving
Verify unshelve - Check files are correct
Delete shelf after submit - Keep server clean
Use for code review - Before committing
Don't rely solely on shelves - Not a permanent backup
Communicate shelf numbers - For collaboration
Test unshelved code - Before submitting

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
"Files not shelved"	Check files are open in changelist
"Can't unshelve - conflicts"	Use `-f` to force or resolve
"Shelf not found"	Check changelist number, may be deleted
"No permission to unshelve"	Check protections, may need owner
"Files differ"	Use `-f` to replace or resolve
"Can't delete shelf"	Must delete all files first

Common Commands Reference

# Shelve
p4 shelve -c CL                    # Shelve changelist
p4 shelve -f -c CL                 # Replace existing shelf
p4 shelve -d -c CL                 # Delete shelf

# Unshelve
p4 unshelve -s CL                  # Unshelve to same CL
p4 unshelve -s CL -c TARGET        # Unshelve to different CL
p4 unshelve -f -s CL               # Force unshelve

# View
p4 describe -S CL                  # View shelved changelist
p4 changes -s shelved              # List all shelves
p4 changes -s shelved -u USER      # List user's shelves

# Submit shelved
p4 submit -e CL                    # Submit shelf directly