diff --git a/.git_archival.txt b/.git_archival.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3994ec0a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.git_archival.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+node: $Format:%H$
+node-date: $Format:%cI$
+describe-name: $Format:%(describe:tags=true)$
+ref-names: $Format:%D$
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
index e84d38dad..cd99d9c18 100644
--- a/.gitattributes
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
-.gitattributes export-ignore  
-.gitignore export-ignore
+.git_archival.txt export-subst
+.gitattributes export-ignore
 .github export-ignore
+.gitignore export-ignore