{"thread":{"id":"66299","subject":"[PATCH v3 01/13] parse-options: allow for hidden aliases","startedAt":"2026-09-09T11:12:59Z","lastAt":"2026-09-15T14:41:50Z","messageCount":20,"participants":["Patrick Steinhardt","Karthik Nayak","Kaartic Sivaraam","Junio C Hamano"],"isPatch":true,"patchVersion":3,"patchTotal":13},"messages":[{"id":"552313","messageId":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-1-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","threadId":"66299","inReplyTo":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-0-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","subject":"[PATCH v3 01/13] parse-options: allow for hidden aliases","fromName":"Patrick Steinhardt","fromEmail":"ps@pks.im","sentAt":"2026-09-09T11:12:47Z","receivedAt":"2026-09-09T11:12:59Z","isPatch":true,"body":"The `OPT_ALIAS()` option can be used to create an exact alias that maps\none option name to the same semantics as another option name. This\noption type is especially useful when deprecating an old name in favor\nof a new one. But curiously enough, we don't have the infrastructure in\nplace to properly support this use case because we don't expose the\nability to hide the alias via `PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN`.\n\nIntroduce a new `OPT_ALIAS_F()` function that allows the user to pass\nflags and propagate these flags when rewriting aliases to match their\nrespective source options.\n\nSigned-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt \n---\n parse-options.c | 4 +++-\n parse-options.h | 5 ++++-\n 2 files changed, 7 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)\n\ndiff --git a/parse-options.c b/parse-options.c\nindex 4519ead9dc..51a49792d1 100644\n--- a/parse-options.c\n+++ b/parse-options.c\n@@ -925,6 +925,7 @@ static struct option *preprocess_options(struct parse_opt_ctx_t *ctx,\n \t\tconst char *long_name;\n \t\tconst char *source;\n \t\tstruct strbuf help = STRBUF_INIT;\n+\t\tenum parse_opt_option_flags flags;\n \t\tint j;\n \n \t\tif (newopt[i].type != OPTION_ALIAS)\n@@ -933,6 +934,7 @@ static struct option *preprocess_options(struct parse_opt_ctx_t *ctx,\n \t\tshort_name = newopt[i].short_name;\n \t\tlong_name = newopt[i].long_name;\n \t\tsource = newopt[i].value;\n+\t\tflags = newopt[i].flags;\n \n \t\tif (!long_name)\n \t\t\tBUG(\"An alias must have long option name\");\n@@ -951,7 +953,7 @@ static struct option *preprocess_options(struct parse_opt_ctx_t *ctx,\n \t\t\tnewopt[i].short_name = short_name;\n \t\t\tnewopt[i].long_name = long_name;\n \t\t\tnewopt[i].help = strbuf_detach(&help, NULL);\n-\t\t\tnewopt[i].flags |= PARSE_OPT_FROM_ALIAS;\n+\t\t\tnewopt[i].flags |= flags | PARSE_OPT_FROM_ALIAS;\n \t\t\tbreak;\n \t\t}\n \ndiff --git a/parse-options.h b/parse-options.h\nindex d7f896a933..a0b30f3c04 100644\n--- a/parse-options.h\n+++ b/parse-options.h\n@@ -386,13 +386,16 @@ static char *parse_options_noop_ignored_value MAYBE_UNUSED;\n \t.callback = parse_opt_noop_cb, \\\n }\n \n-#define OPT_ALIAS(s, l, source_long_name) { \\\n+#define OPT_ALIAS_F(s, l, source_long_name, f) { \\\n \t.type = OPTION_ALIAS, \\\n \t.short_name = (s), \\\n \t.long_name = (l), \\\n \t.value = (char *)(source_long_name), \\\n+\t.flags = (f), \\\n }\n \n+#define OPT_ALIAS(s, l, source_long_name) OPT_ALIAS_F(s, l, source_long_name, 0)\n+\n #define OPT_SUBCOMMAND_F(l, v, fn, f) { \\\n \t.type = OPTION_SUBCOMMAND, \\\n \t.long_name = (l), \\\n\n-- \n2.55.0.1074.ge7621b4bad.dirty\n\n"},{"id":"552314","messageId":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-0-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","threadId":"66299","inReplyTo":"20260904-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v1-0-08144e5004ff@pks.im","subject":"[PATCH v3 00/13] Fix inconsistent ref storage format terminology","fromName":"Patrick Steinhardt","fromEmail":"ps@pks.im","sentAt":"2026-09-09T11:12:46Z","receivedAt":"2026-09-09T11:13:00Z","isPatch":true,"body":"Hi,\n\nback when we gained support for reftables we of course introduced the\nability to control the reference storage format that is used by newly\ncreated repositories. This infrastructure has grown over time, and\nunfortunately without a lot of consistency:\n\n - The command line parameter to specify the ref storage format is\n called \"--ref-format=\", while the corresponding repository extension\n is called \"refStorage\".\n\n - In most cases we refer to the \"ref storage format\" in our docs, so\n calling it \"--ref-format=\" is inconsistent with them.\n\n - It is possible to override the ref storage format via an environment\n variable that is called \"GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND\", which is not even\n remotely consistent with anything else.\n\n - There is also an \"object format\", but that format does not control\n how we store objects but rather whether we use SHA1 or SHA256.\n\nSo in summary, it's a huge mess.\n\nThis problem is about to become even worse though, as we're soon going\nto introduce an object storage extension. This extension is the\nequivalent to the ref storage extension, and of course we also want\nusers to be able to control which object storage format new repositories\nare using. But we cannot properly name that parameter without creating\neven more inconsistencies:\n\n - \"--object-format=\" would match \"--ref-format=\", but that parameter\n name is already taken to specify the hash function.\n\n - \"--object-storage=\" would be a good fit, but be inconsistent with\n \"--ref-format=\". Asking the user to execute `git init\n --ref-format=reftable --object-format=sha256 --object-storage=foo`\n just feels extremely awkward.\n\nSo this patch series aims to clean up this huge mess that we (well, to a\nlarge extent I) have created, by bringing consistency to our command\nline switches, environment variables and config options to all use \"ref\nstorage format\" instead. And that also paves the way for the eventual\n\"object storage format\" switches.\n\nAs a cherry on top, this patch series also extends the\n\"--ref-storage-format=\" switch to allow URIs in the form of\n\"files://foo/bar\" to bring it in line with all the other ways to specify\nthe ref storage format that already allow for URIs.\n\nChanges in v3:\n - Add breadcrumbs for the old names to our documentation.\n - Use `OPT_ALIAS()` instead of manually aliasing the options.\n - Fix a comment in one of our tests that still referred to the v1\n \"--ref-storage=\" option.\n - Print the correct environment variables in error messages.\n - Also rename GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT.\n - Don't adapt \"ref-storage-format.adoc\", as that documentation is also\n shared with commands that don't support URIs yet.\n - Link to v2: https://patch.msgid.link/20260907-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v2-0-6733c90ca5b0@pks.im\n\nChanges in v2:\n - Based on Junio's feedback I've renamed all of this to instead be\n called \"ref storage format\".\n - Link to v1: https://patch.msgid.link/20260904-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v1-0-08144e5004ff@pks.im\n\nThanks!\n\nPatrick\n\n---\nPatrick Steinhardt (13):\n parse-options: allow for hidden aliases\n builtin/init: rename \"--ref-format=\" to \"--ref-storage-format=\"\n builtin/clone: rename \"--ref-format=\" to \"--ref-storage-format=\"\n builtin/refs: rename \"--ref-format=\" to \"--ref-storage-format=\"\n builtin/submodule: rename \"--ref-format=\" to \"--ref-storage-format=\"\n builtin/rev-parse: rename \"--show-ref-format\" to \"--show-ref-storage-format\"\n help: rename \"default-ref-format\" to \"default-ref-storage-format\"\n refs: expose function to parse reference URIs\n setup: refactor how we configure the ref storage format\n setup: rename ref storage format environment variables\n t: rename GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\n setup: rename \"init.defaultRefFormat\" to \"init.defaultRefStorageFormat\"\n setup: allow \"--ref-storage-format=\" to specify a payload\n\n Documentation/BreakingChanges.adoc | 2 +-\n Documentation/config/feature.adoc | 2 +-\n Documentation/config/init.adoc | 8 +-\n Documentation/git-clone.adoc | 10 +-\n Documentation/git-init.adoc | 12 ++-\n Documentation/git-refs.adoc | 9 +-\n Documentation/git-rev-parse.adoc | 5 +-\n Documentation/git-submodule.adoc | 14 +--\n Documentation/git.adoc | 18 ++--\n builtin/clone.c | 17 ++--\n builtin/fetch.c | 2 +-\n builtin/init-db.c | 20 ++--\n builtin/refs.c | 9 +-\n builtin/rev-parse.c | 2 +-\n builtin/submodule--helper.c | 21 ++--\n ci/run-build-and-tests.sh | 2 +-\n contrib/completion/git-prompt.sh | 2 +-\n environment.h | 1 +\n git-submodule.sh | 20 ++--\n help.c | 2 +-\n parse-options.c | 4 +-\n parse-options.h | 5 +-\n refs.c | 23 +++++\n refs.h | 4 +\n setup.c | 175 +++++++++++++++++++--------------\n setup.h | 2 +-\n t/README | 4 +-\n t/perf/p1401-ref-store-tombstones.sh | 4 +-\n t/perf/perf-lib.sh | 4 +-\n t/t0001-init.sh | 126 +++++++++++++-----------\n t/t0600-reffiles-backend.sh | 4 +-\n t/t0601-reffiles-pack-refs.sh | 4 +-\n t/t0602-reffiles-fsck.sh | 4 +-\n t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh | 38 +++----\n t/t0611-reftable-httpd.sh | 2 +-\n t/t0612-reftable-jgit-compatibility.sh | 4 +-\n t/t0613-reftable-write-options.sh | 4 +-\n t/t0614-reftable-fsck.sh | 4 +-\n t/t1400-update-ref.sh | 2 +-\n t/t1419-exclude-refs.sh | 16 +--\n t/t1423-ref-backend.sh | 62 +++++++++---\n t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh | 54 +++++-----\n t/t1463-refs-optimize.sh | 4 +-\n t/t1500-rev-parse.sh | 8 +-\n t/t1900-repo-info.sh | 6 +-\n t/t5510-fetch.sh | 14 +--\n t/t5601-clone.sh | 6 +-\n t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh | 30 +++---\n t/test-lib-functions.sh | 2 +-\n t/test-lib.sh | 8 +-\n 50 files changed, 465 insertions(+), 340 deletions(-)\n\nRange-diff versus v2:\n\n -: ---------- > 1: 0f7f8494b2 parse-options: allow for hidden aliases\n 1: 0cebb933a4 ! 2: f837dbb9f2 builtin/init: rename \"--ref-format=\" to \"--ref-storage-format=\"\n @@ Documentation/git-init.adoc: values are `sha1` and (if enabled) `sha256`. `sha1\n Specify the given ref storage __ for the repository. The valid values are:\n +\n include::ref-storage-format.adoc[]\n + \n ++`--ref-format=`::\n ++Deprecated alias of `--ref-storage-format=`.\n ++\n + `--template=`::\n + Specify the directory from which templates will be used. (See the \"TEMPLATE\n + DIRECTORY\" section below.)\n \n ## Documentation/git.adoc ##\n @@ Documentation/git.adoc: double-quotes and respecting backslash escapes. E.g., the value\n @@ builtin/init-db.c: int cmd_init_db(int argc,\n -\t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference format to use\")),\n +\t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"ref-storage-format\", &ref_storage_format_str, N_(\"format\"),\n +\t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference storage format to use\")),\n -+\t\tOPT_STRING_F(0, \"ref-format\", &ref_storage_format_str, N_(\"format\"),\n -+\t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference storage format to use\"), PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),\n ++\t\tOPT_ALIAS_F(0, \"ref-format\", \"ref-storage-format\", PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),\n \t\tOPT_END()\n \t};\n \tint ret;\n 2: c170c3f889 ! 3: 693dcc7a24 builtin/clone: rename \"--ref-format=\" to \"--ref-storage-format=\"\n @@ Documentation/git-clone.adoc: or `--mirror` is given)\n \n Specify the given ref storage format for the repository. The valid values are:\n +\n + include::ref-storage-format.adoc[]\n + \n ++`--ref-format=`::\n ++Deprecated alias of `--ref-storage-format=`.\n ++\n + `-j`::\n + `--jobs=`::\n + \tThe number of submodules fetched at the same time.\n \n ## builtin/clone.c ##\n @@ builtin/clone.c: int cmd_clone(int argc,\n @@ builtin/clone.c: int cmd_clone(int argc,\n -\t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference format to use\")),\n +\t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"ref-storage-format\", &ref_storage_format_str, N_(\"format\"),\n +\t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference storage format to use\")),\n -+\t\tOPT_STRING_F(0, \"ref-format\", &ref_storage_format_str, N_(\"format\"),\n -+\t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference storage format to use\"), PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),\n ++\t\tOPT_ALIAS_F(0, \"ref-format\", \"ref-storage-format\", PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),\n \t\tOPT_STRING_LIST('c', \"config\", &option_config, N_(\"key=value\"),\n \t\t\t\tN_(\"set config inside the new repository\")),\n \t\tOPT_STRING_LIST(0, \"server-option\", &server_options,\n @@ t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh: test_expect_success 'recursive clone pro\n \n \t# The cloned repositories should use the other ref format that we have\n -\t# specified via `--ref-format`. The option should propagate to cloned\n -+\t# specified via `--ref-storage`. The option should propagate to cloned\n ++\t# specified via `--ref-storage-format`. The option should propagate to cloned\n \t# submodules.\n -\tgit clone --ref-format=$OTHER_FORMAT --recurse-submodules \\\n +\tgit clone --ref-storage-format=$OTHER_FORMAT --recurse-submodules \\\n 3: ce71f5c6de ! 4: ac7745edc0 builtin/refs: rename \"--ref-format=\" to \"--ref-storage-format=\"\n @@ Documentation/git-refs.adoc: OPTIONS\n +\n include::ref-storage-format.adoc[]\n \n ++`--ref-format=`::\n ++Deprecated alias of `--ref-storage-format=`.\n ++\n + `--dry-run`::\n + \tPerform the migration, but do not modify the repository. The migrated\n + \trefs will be written into a separate directory that can be inspected\n \n ## builtin/fetch.c ##\n @@ builtin/fetch.c: static void ref_transaction_rejection_handler(const char *refname,\n @@ builtin/refs.c: static int cmd_refs_migrate(int argc, const char **argv, const c\n +\t\tOPT_STRING_F(0, \"ref-storage-format\", &format_str, N_(\"format\"),\n +\t\t\tN_(\"specify the reference storage format to convert to\"),\n \t\t\tPARSE_OPT_NONEG),\n -+\t\tOPT_STRING_F(0, \"ref-format\", &format_str, N_(\"format\"),\n -+\t\t\tN_(\"specify the reference storage format to convert to\"),\n -+\t\t\tPARSE_OPT_NONEG | PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),\n ++\t\tOPT_ALIAS_F(0, \"ref-format\", \"ref-storage-format\", PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),\n \t\tOPT_BIT(0, \"dry-run\", &flags,\n \t\t\tN_(\"perform a non-destructive dry-run\"),\n \t\t\tREPO_MIGRATE_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_DRYRUN),\n 4: 576ae81258 ! 5: 2971bd413c builtin/submodule: rename \"--ref-format=\" to \"--ref-storage-format=\"\n @@ Documentation/git-submodule.adoc: location, and only the superproject's URL need\n URL in `.gitmodules`.\n +\n -If `--ref-format ` is specified, the ref storage format of newly\n -+If `--ref-storage-format ` is specified, the ref storage format of newly\n - cloned submodules will be set accordingly.\n +-cloned submodules will be set accordingly.\n ++If `--ref-storage-format ` or its deprecated alias `--ref-format\n ++` is specified, the ref storage format of the newly cloned submodules\n ++will be set accordingly.\n \n `status [--cached] [--recursive] [--] [...]`::\n + \tShow the status of the submodules. This will print the SHA-1 of the\n @@ Documentation/git-submodule.adoc: If you really want to remove a submodule from the repository and commit\n that use linkgit:git-rm[1] instead. See linkgit:gitsubmodules[7] for removal\n options.\n @@ Documentation/git-submodule.adoc: submodule with the `--init` option.\n registered submodules, and update any nested submodules within.\n \n -If `--ref-format ` is specified, the ref storage format of newly\n -+If `--ref-storage-format ` is specified, the ref storage format of newly\n - cloned submodules will be set accordingly.\n +-cloned submodules will be set accordingly.\n ++If `--ref-storage-format ` or its deprecated alias `--ref-format\n ++` is specified, the ref storage format of the newly cloned submodules\n ++will be set accordingly.\n \n If `--filter ` is specified, the given partial clone filter will be\n + applied to the submodule. See linkgit:git-rev-list[1] for details on filter\n \n ## builtin/clone.c ##\n @@ builtin/clone.c: static int checkout(int submodule_progress,\n @@ builtin/submodule--helper.c: static int module_clone(int argc, const char **argv\n -\t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference format to use\")),\n +\t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"ref-storage-format\", &ref_storage_format, N_(\"format\"),\n +\t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference storage format to use\")),\n -+\t\tOPT_STRING_F(0, \"ref-format\", &ref_storage_format, N_(\"format\"),\n -+\t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference storage format to use\"), PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),\n ++\t\tOPT_ALIAS_F(0, \"ref-format\", \"ref-storage-format\", PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),\n \t\tOPT_BOOL(0, \"dissociate\", &dissociate,\n \t\t\t N_(\"use --reference only while cloning\")),\n \t\tOPT_INTEGER(0, \"depth\", &clone_data.depth,\n @@ builtin/submodule--helper.c: static int module_update(int argc, const char **arg\n -\t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference format to use\")),\n +\t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"ref-storage-format\", &ref_storage_format, N_(\"format\"),\n +\t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference storage format to use\")),\n -+\t\tOPT_STRING_F(0, \"ref-format\", &ref_storage_format, N_(\"format\"),\n -+\t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference storage format to use\"), PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),\n ++\t\tOPT_ALIAS_F(0, \"ref-format\", \"ref-storage-format\", PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),\n \t\tOPT_BOOL(0, \"dissociate\", &opt.dissociate,\n \t\t\t N_(\"use --reference only while cloning\")),\n \t\tOPT_INTEGER(0, \"depth\", &opt.depth,\n @@ builtin/submodule--helper.c: static int module_add(int argc, const char **argv,\n -\t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference format to use\")),\n +\t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"ref-storage-format\", &ref_storage_format, N_(\"format\"),\n +\t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference storage format to use\")),\n -+\t\tOPT_STRING_F(0, \"ref-format\", &ref_storage_format, N_(\"format\"),\n -+\t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference storage format to use\"), PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),\n ++\t\tOPT_ALIAS_F(0, \"ref-format\", \"ref-storage-format\", PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),\n \t\tOPT_BOOL(0, \"dissociate\", &dissociate, N_(\"borrow the objects from reference repositories\")),\n \t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"name\", &add_data.sm_name, N_(\"name\"),\n \t\t\t N_(\"sets the submodule's name to the given string \"\n @@ t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh: test_expect_success 'add submodules with\n \ttest_ref_format upstream/submodule \"$OTHER_FORMAT\"\n '\n \n -@@ t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh: test_expect_success 'recursive clone propagates ref storage format' '\n - \ttest_ref_format upstream/submodule \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\" &&\n - \n - \t# The cloned repositories should use the other ref format that we have\n --\t# specified via `--ref-storage`. The option should propagate to cloned\n -+\t# specified via `--ref-storage-format`. The option should propagate to cloned\n - \t# submodules.\n - \tgit clone --ref-storage-format=$OTHER_FORMAT --recurse-submodules \\\n - \t\tupstream downstream &&\n @@ t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh: test_expect_success 'clone submodules with different ref storage format' '\n \n \tgit clone --no-recurse-submodules \"file://$(pwd)/upstream\" downstream &&\n 5: 7e052492a5 ! 6: df63f371f0 builtin/rev-parse: rename \"--show-ref-format\" to \"--show-ref-storage-format\"\n @@ Documentation/git-rev-parse.adoc: The following options are unaffected by `--pat\n +--show-ref-storage-format::\n \tShow the reference storage format used for the repository.\n \n ++--show-ref-format::\n ++\tDeprecated alias of `--show-ref-storage-format`.\n ++\n \n + Other Options\n + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~\n \n ## builtin/rev-parse.c ##\n @@ builtin/rev-parse.c: int cmd_rev_parse(int argc,\n 6: 860a12c036 = 7: 230e87bc3f help: rename \"default-ref-format\" to \"default-ref-storage-format\"\n 7: b2f66d143e = 8: 4e6e92f936 refs: expose function to parse reference URIs\n 8: 0573eb69f6 = 9: 80f5e37350 setup: refactor how we configure the ref storage format\n 9: 32167facdd ! 10: 20d5f660f8 setup: rename ref storage format environment variables\n @@ Documentation/git.adoc: double-quotes and respecting backslash escapes. E.g., th\n \trepositories will be set to this value. The default is \"files\".\n \tSee `--ref-storage-format` in linkgit:git-init[1].\n \n --`GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND`::\n -- Specify which reference backend to be used along with its URI.\n -- See `extensions.refStorage` option in linkgit:git-config[1] for more\n -- details. Overrides the config variable when used.\n ++`GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT`::\n ++\tDeprecated alias of `GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT`.\n ++\n +`GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT`::\n +\tSpecify which ref storage format to use along with its URI.\n +\tSee `extensions.refStorage` option in linkgit:git-config[1] for more\n +\tdetails. Overrides the config variable when used.\n ++\n + `GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND`::\n +- Specify which reference backend to be used along with its URI.\n +- See `extensions.refStorage` option in linkgit:git-config[1] for more\n +- details. Overrides the config variable when used.\n ++\tDeprecated alias of `GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT`.\n \n Git Commits\n ~~~~~~~~~~~\n @@ setup.c: const char *setup_git_directory_gently(struct repository *repo, int *no\n \t\t\t\tFREE_AND_NULL(discovery.format.ref_storage_payload);\n \t\t\t\tdiscovery.format.ref_storage_format =\n @@ setup.c: static void repository_format_configure(struct repository_format *repo_fmt,\n - \t * 1. Explicit override via the command line, like in `git init\n \t * --ref-storage-format=`.\n \t *\n --\t * 2. Explicit override via the environment with\n + \t * 2. Explicit override via the environment with\n -\t * GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND.\n -+\t * 2. Explicit override via the environment with \"GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\"\n -+\t * or its deprecated equivalent \"GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND\".\n ++\t * \"GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\".\n \t *\n - \t * 3. Existing repository format. All the subsequent sources only\n +-\t * 3. Existing repository format. All the subsequent sources only\n ++\t * 3. Its deprecated equivalent \"GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND\".\n ++\t *\n ++\t * 4. Existing repository format. All the subsequent sources only\n \t * kick in when there is no repository yet.\n \t *\n \t * 4. The default ref storage format for new repositories as\n -\t * configured via \"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\".\n -+\t * configured via \"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\" or its\n -+\t * deprecated equivalent \"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\".\n ++\t * configured via \"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\".\n ++\t *\n ++\t * 5. Its deprecated equivalent \"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\".\n \t *\n - \t * 5. The default ref storage format for new repositories as\n +-\t * 5. The default ref storage format for new repositories as\n ++\t * 6. The default ref storage format for new repositories as\n \t * configured via \"init.defaultRefFormat\"\n -@@ setup.c: static void repository_format_configure(struct repository_format *repo_fmt,\n + \t *\n +-\t * 6. Otherwise, we fall back to the default ref storage format\n ++\t * 7. Otherwise, we fall back to the default ref storage format\n + \t * compiled into Git.\n \t */\n \tif (ref_storage_format != REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN) {\n \t\t/* nothing to do */\n --\t} else if ((env = getenv(GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND_ENVIRONMENT))) {\n -+\t} else if (((env = getenv(GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_ENVIRONMENT)) ||\n -+\t\t (env = getenv(GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND_ENVIRONMENT)))) {\n ++\t} else if ((env = getenv(GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_ENVIRONMENT))) {\n ++\t\tref_storage_format = ref_storage_format_by_uri(env, &ref_storage_payload);\n ++\t\tif (ref_storage_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n ++\t\t\tdie(_(\"unknown ref storage format specified via %s: '%s'\"),\n ++\t\t\t GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_ENVIRONMENT, env);\n + \t} else if ((env = getenv(GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND_ENVIRONMENT))) {\n \t\tref_storage_format = ref_storage_format_by_uri(env, &ref_storage_payload);\n \t\tif (ref_storage_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n - \t\t\tdie(_(\"unknown ref storage format specified via %s: '%s'\"),\n --\t\t\t GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND_ENVIRONMENT, env);\n -+\t\t\t GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_ENVIRONMENT, env);\n +@@ setup.c: static void repository_format_configure(struct repository_format *repo_fmt,\n \t} else if (repo_fmt->version >= 0) {\n \t\tref_storage_format = repo_fmt->ref_storage_format;\n \t\tref_storage_payload = xstrdup_or_null(repo_fmt->ref_storage_payload);\n --\t} else if ((env = getenv(\"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\"))) {\n -+\t} else if (((env = getenv(\"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\")) ||\n -+\t\t (env = getenv(\"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\")))) {\n ++\t} else if ((env = getenv(\"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\"))) {\n ++\t\tref_storage_format = ref_storage_format_by_name(env);\n ++\t\tif (ref_storage_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n ++\t\t\tdie(_(\"unknown ref storage format specified via %s: '%s'\"),\n ++\t\t\t \"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\", env);\n + \t} else if ((env = getenv(\"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\"))) {\n \t\tref_storage_format = ref_storage_format_by_name(env);\n \t\tif (ref_storage_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n - \t\t\tdie(_(\"unknown ref storage format specified via %s: '%s'\"),\n --\t\t\t \"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\", env);\n -+\t\t\t \"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\", env);\n - \t} else if (cfg.ref_storage_format != REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN) {\n - \t\tref_storage_format = cfg.ref_storage_format;\n - \t} else {\n \n ## t/t0001-init.sh ##\n @@ t/t0001-init.sh: test_expect_success DEFAULT_REPO_FORMAT 'extensions.refStorage with unknown back\n -: ---------- > 11: bf4e73796a t: rename GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\n10: feb6ab56d6 ! 12: 75d21c088f setup: rename \"init.defaultRefFormat\" to \"init.defaultRefStorageFormat\"\n @@ Documentation/config/init.adoc: endif::[]\n \tAllows overriding the default ref storage format for new repositories.\n \tSee `--ref-storage-format=` in linkgit:git-init[1]. Both the command line\n \toption and the `GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT` environment variable take\n + \tprecedence over this config.\n ++`init.defaultRefFormat`::\n ++\tDeprecated alias of `init.defaultRefStorageFormat`.\n + \n + init.defaultSubmodulePathConfig::\n + \tA boolean that specifies if `git init` and `git clone` should\n \n ## setup.c ##\n @@ setup.c: static int read_default_format_config(const char *key, const char *value,\n @@ setup.c: static int read_default_format_config(const char *key, const char *valu\n \tif (!strcmp(key, \"feature.experimental\") &&\n \t cfg->ref_storage_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN &&\n @@ setup.c: static void repository_format_configure(struct repository_format *repo_fmt,\n - \t * deprecated equivalent \"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\".\n + \t * 5. Its deprecated equivalent \"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\".\n \t *\n - \t * 5. The default ref storage format for new repositories as\n + \t * 6. The default ref storage format for new repositories as\n -\t * configured via \"init.defaultRefFormat\"\n +\t * configured via \"init.defaultRefStorageFormat\" or its deprecated\n +\t * equivalent \"init.defaultRefFormat\".\n \t *\n - \t * 6. Otherwise, we fall back to the default ref storage format\n + \t * 7. Otherwise, we fall back to the default ref storage format\n \t * compiled into Git.\n \n ## t/t0001-init.sh ##\n11: b0c5523790 ! 13: 894675e619 setup: allow \"git init --ref-storage-format=\" to specify a payload\n @@ Metadata\n Author: Patrick Steinhardt \n \n ## Commit message ##\n - setup: allow \"git init --ref-storage-format=\" to specify a payload\n + setup: allow \"--ref-storage-format=\" to specify a payload\n \n Reference storage backends can be configured with a payload via the\n \"extensions.refStorage\" config key and the \"GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\"\n @@ Commit message\n \n Signed-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt \n \n + ## Documentation/git-clone.adoc ##\n +@@ Documentation/git-clone.adoc: or `--mirror` is given)\n + \n + `--ref-storage-format=`::\n + \n +-Specify the given ref storage format for the repository. The valid values are:\n ++Specify the given ref storage __ for the repository. Backends that\n ++require additional configuration accept a payload in the form\n ++`://`, for example a connection string identifying the\n ++database that shall store the references. The valid values are:\n + +\n + include::ref-storage-format.adoc[]\n + \n +\n ## Documentation/git-init.adoc ##\n @@ Documentation/git-init.adoc: values are `sha1` and (if enabled) `sha256`. `sha1` is the default.\n include::object-format-disclaimer.adoc[]\n @@ Documentation/git-init.adoc: values are `sha1` and (if enabled) `sha256`. `sha1\n include::ref-storage-format.adoc[]\n \n \n - ## Documentation/ref-storage-format.adoc ##\n -@@\n --`files`;; for loose files with packed-refs.\n -+`files[://]`;; for loose files with packed-refs. The optional payload can\n -+be specified to change the root directory where references are created. A\n -+relative path will be resolved relative to the repository's common directory.\n - ifndef::with-breaking-changes[]\n - \tThis is the default.\n - endif::with-breaking-changes[]\n --`reftable`;; for the reftable format.\n -+`reftable[://]`;; for the reftable format. The optional payload can\n -+be specified to change the root directory where references are created. A\n -+relative path will be resolved relative to the repository's common directory.\n - ifdef::with-breaking-changes[]\n - \tThis is the default.\n - endif::with-breaking-changes[]\n -\n ## builtin/clone.c ##\n @@ builtin/clone.c: int cmd_clone(int argc,\n \tchar *option_origin = NULL;\n @@ builtin/clone.c: int cmd_clone(int argc,\n -\t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"ref-storage-format\", &ref_storage_format_str, N_(\"format\"),\n +\t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"ref-storage-format\", &ref_storage_format_uri, N_(\"format\"),\n \t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference storage format to use\")),\n --\t\tOPT_STRING_F(0, \"ref-format\", &ref_storage_format_str, N_(\"format\"),\n -+\t\tOPT_STRING_F(0, \"ref-format\", &ref_storage_format_uri, N_(\"format\"),\n - \t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference storage format to use\"), PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),\n + \t\tOPT_ALIAS_F(0, \"ref-format\", \"ref-storage-format\", PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),\n \t\tOPT_STRING_LIST('c', \"config\", &option_config, N_(\"key=value\"),\n - \t\t\t\tN_(\"set config inside the new repository\")),\n @@ builtin/clone.c: int cmd_clone(int argc,\n \tif (option_single_branch == -1)\n \t\toption_single_branch = deepen ? 1 : 0;\n @@ builtin/init-db.c: int cmd_init_db(int argc,\n -\t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"ref-storage-format\", &ref_storage_format_str, N_(\"format\"),\n +\t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"ref-storage-format\", &ref_storage_format_uri, N_(\"format\"),\n \t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference storage format to use\")),\n --\t\tOPT_STRING_F(0, \"ref-format\", &ref_storage_format_str, N_(\"format\"),\n -+\t\tOPT_STRING_F(0, \"ref-format\", &ref_storage_format_uri, N_(\"format\"),\n - \t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference storage format to use\"), PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),\n + \t\tOPT_ALIAS_F(0, \"ref-format\", \"ref-storage-format\", PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),\n \t\tOPT_END()\n - \t};\n @@ builtin/init-db.c: int cmd_init_db(int argc,\n \t\t\tdie(_(\"unknown hash algorithm '%s'\"), object_format);\n \t}\n @@ setup.c: static void repository_format_configure(struct repository_format *repo_\n \tconst char *env;\n \n @@ setup.c: static void repository_format_configure(struct repository_format *repo_fmt,\n - \t * 6. Otherwise, we fall back to the default ref storage format\n + \t * 7. Otherwise, we fall back to the default ref storage format\n \t * compiled into Git.\n \t */\n -\tif (ref_storage_format != REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN) {\n @@ setup.c: static void repository_format_configure(struct repository_format *repo_\n +\t\tif (ref_storage_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n +\t\t\tdie(_(\"unknown ref storage format specified via command line: '%s'\"),\n +\t\t\t ref_storage_format_uri);\n - \t} else if (((env = getenv(GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_ENVIRONMENT)) ||\n - \t\t (env = getenv(GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND_ENVIRONMENT)))) {\n + \t} else if ((env = getenv(GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_ENVIRONMENT))) {\n \t\tref_storage_format = ref_storage_format_by_uri(env, &ref_storage_payload);\n + \t\tif (ref_storage_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n @@ setup.c: int init_db(struct repository *repo,\n \t const char *real_git_dir,\n \t const char *worktree,\n\n---\nbase-commit: 3cb9185f65410273787f74333cc027d2ea5daada\nchange-id: 20260904-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-0c81fb038671\n\n"},{"id":"552316","messageId":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-2-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","threadId":"66299","inReplyTo":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-0-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","subject":"[PATCH v3 02/13] builtin/init: rename \"--ref-format=\" to \"--ref-storage-format=\"","fromName":"Patrick Steinhardt","fromEmail":"ps@pks.im","sentAt":"2026-09-09T11:12:48Z","receivedAt":"2026-09-09T11:13:03Z","isPatch":true,"body":"Back when we gained support for reftables we of course introduced the\nability to control the reference storage format that is used by newly\ncreated repositories. This infrastructure has grown over time, and\nunfortunately without consistency:\n\n - The command line parameter to specify the ref storage format is\n called \"--ref-format=\", while the corresponding repository extension\n is called \"refStorage\".\n\n - In most cases we refer to the \"ref storage format\" in our docs, so\n calling it \"--ref-format=\" is being inconsistent with them.\n\n - It is possible to override the ref storage format via an environment\n variable that is called \"GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND\", which is not even\n remotely consistent with anything else.\n\n - There is also an \"object format\", but that format does not control\n how we store objects but rather whether we use SHA1 or SHA256.\n\nSo in summary, it's a huge mess.\n\nThis problem is about to become even worse though, as we're soon going\nto introduce an object storage extension. This extension is the\nequivalent to the ref storage extension, and of course we also want\nusers to be able to control which object storage format new repositories\nare using. But we cannot properly name that parameter without creating\neven more inconsistencies:\n\n - \"--object-format=\" would match \"--ref-format=\", but that parameter\n name is already taken to specify the hash function.\n\n - \"--object-storage=\" would be a good fit, but be inconsistent with\n \"--ref-format=\". Asking the user to execute `git init --ref-format=\n --object-storage=` just feels extremely awkward.\n\nInstead, this and subsequent patches will fix the mess by consistently\nreferring to the ref storage format as such throughout all options,\nenvironment variables and config settings. This new name much more\nclosely indicates that it is about how we store data and finally brings\nconsistency into this area. We will keep the old names working of course\nfor the sake of backwards compatibility.\n\nStart with git-init(1).\n\nSigned-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt \n---\n Documentation/config/init.adoc | 2 +-\n Documentation/git-init.adoc | 7 +++++--\n Documentation/git.adoc | 2 +-\n builtin/init-db.c | 15 +++++++-------\n t/perf/p1401-ref-store-tombstones.sh | 4 ++--\n t/perf/perf-lib.sh | 2 +-\n t/t0001-init.sh | 24 +++++++++++------------\n t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh | 14 ++++++-------\n t/t0611-reftable-httpd.sh | 2 +-\n t/t1400-update-ref.sh | 2 +-\n t/t1423-ref-backend.sh | 6 +++---\n t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh | 36 +++++++++++++++++-----------------\n t/t1900-repo-info.sh | 6 +++---\n t/t5510-fetch.sh | 8 ++++----\n t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh | 2 +-\n 15 files changed, 68 insertions(+), 64 deletions(-)\n\ndiff --git a/Documentation/config/init.adoc b/Documentation/config/init.adoc\nindex 7b4abdaf8b..a048f0bddc 100644\n--- a/Documentation/config/init.adoc\n+++ b/Documentation/config/init.adoc\n@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ endif::[]\n \tthis config.\n `init.defaultRefFormat`::\n \tAllows overriding the default ref storage format for new repositories.\n-\tSee `--ref-format=` in linkgit:git-init[1]. Both the command line\n+\tSee `--ref-storage-format=` in linkgit:git-init[1]. Both the command line\n \toption and the `GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT` environment variable take\n \tprecedence over this config.\n \ndiff --git a/Documentation/git-init.adoc b/Documentation/git-init.adoc\nindex bab99b9b47..73e1f787cb 100644\n--- a/Documentation/git-init.adoc\n+++ b/Documentation/git-init.adoc\n@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ SYNOPSIS\n [synopsis]\n git init [-q | --quiet] [--bare] [--template=]\n \t [--separate-git-dir ] [--object-format=]\n-\t [--ref-format=]\n+\t [--ref-storage-format=]\n \t [-b | --initial-branch=]\n \t [--shared[=]] []\n \n@@ -57,11 +57,14 @@ values are `sha1` and (if enabled) `sha256`. `sha1` is the default.\n +\n include::object-format-disclaimer.adoc[]\n \n-`--ref-format=`::\n+`--ref-storage-format=`::\n Specify the given ref storage __ for the repository. The valid values are:\n +\n include::ref-storage-format.adoc[]\n \n+`--ref-format=`::\n+Deprecated alias of `--ref-storage-format=`.\n+\n `--template=`::\n Specify the directory from which templates will be used. (See the \"TEMPLATE\n DIRECTORY\" section below.)\ndiff --git a/Documentation/git.adoc b/Documentation/git.adoc\nindex 8a5cdd3b3d..23ba65656e 100644\n--- a/Documentation/git.adoc\n+++ b/Documentation/git.adoc\n@@ -593,7 +593,7 @@ double-quotes and respecting backslash escapes. E.g., the value\n `GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT`::\n \tIf this variable is set, the default reference backend format for new\n \trepositories will be set to this value. The default is \"files\".\n-\tSee `--ref-format` in linkgit:git-init[1].\n+\tSee `--ref-storage-format` in linkgit:git-init[1].\n \n `GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND`::\n Specify which reference backend to be used along with its URI.\ndiff --git a/builtin/init-db.c b/builtin/init-db.c\nindex e96b1283b7..1612413af0 100644\n--- a/builtin/init-db.c\n+++ b/builtin/init-db.c\n@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ static int shared_callback(const struct option *opt, const char *arg, int unset)\n static const char *const init_db_usage[] = {\n \tN_(\"git init [-q | --quiet] [--bare] [--template=]\\n\"\n \t \" [--separate-git-dir ] [--object-format=]\\n\"\n-\t \" [--ref-format=]\\n\"\n+\t \" [--ref-storage-format=]\\n\"\n \t \" [-b | --initial-branch=]\\n\"\n \t \" [--shared[=]] []\"),\n \tNULL\n@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ int cmd_init_db(int argc,\n \tunsigned int flags = 0;\n \tint bare = startup_info->force_bare_repository ? 1 : -1;\n \tconst char *object_format = NULL;\n-\tconst char *ref_format = NULL;\n+\tconst char *ref_storage_format_str = NULL;\n \tconst char *initial_branch = NULL;\n \tint hash_algo = GIT_HASH_UNKNOWN;\n \tenum ref_storage_format ref_storage_format = REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN;\n@@ -109,8 +109,9 @@ int cmd_init_db(int argc,\n \t\t\t N_(\"override the name of the initial branch\")),\n \t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"object-format\", &object_format, N_(\"hash\"),\n \t\t\t N_(\"specify the hash algorithm to use\")),\n-\t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"ref-format\", &ref_format, N_(\"format\"),\n-\t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference format to use\")),\n+\t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"ref-storage-format\", &ref_storage_format_str, N_(\"format\"),\n+\t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference storage format to use\")),\n+\t\tOPT_ALIAS_F(0, \"ref-format\", \"ref-storage-format\", PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),\n \t\tOPT_END()\n \t};\n \tint ret;\n@@ -173,10 +174,10 @@ int cmd_init_db(int argc,\n \t\t\tdie(_(\"unknown hash algorithm '%s'\"), object_format);\n \t}\n \n-\tif (ref_format) {\n-\t\tref_storage_format = ref_storage_format_by_name(ref_format);\n+\tif (ref_storage_format_str) {\n+\t\tref_storage_format = ref_storage_format_by_name(ref_storage_format_str);\n \t\tif (ref_storage_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n-\t\t\tdie(_(\"unknown ref storage format '%s'\"), ref_format);\n+\t\t\tdie(_(\"unknown ref storage format '%s'\"), ref_storage_format_str);\n \t}\n \n \tif (init_shared_repository != -1)\ndiff --git a/t/perf/p1401-ref-store-tombstones.sh b/t/perf/p1401-ref-store-tombstones.sh\nindex 9e3d8031aa..37ffe0c3a7 100755\n--- a/t/perf/p1401-ref-store-tombstones.sh\n+++ b/t/perf/p1401-ref-store-tombstones.sh\n@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ test_description=\"Tests performance of ref operations with many tombstones\"\n . ./perf-lib.sh\n \n test_expect_success \"setup\" '\n-\tgit init --ref-format=reftable repo &&\n+\tgit init --ref-storage-format=reftable repo &&\n \tblob=$(echo foo | git -C repo hash-object -w --stdin) &&\n \tfor i in $(test_seq 8000)\n \tdo\n@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ test_perf \"recreate refs after mass delete\" '\n '\n \n test_expect_success \"setup asymmetric\" '\n-\tgit init --ref-format=reftable repo2 &&\n+\tgit init --ref-storage-format=reftable repo2 &&\n \tblob=$(echo foo | git -C repo2 hash-object -w --stdin) &&\n \tfor i in $(test_seq 8000)\n \tdo\ndiff --git a/t/perf/perf-lib.sh b/t/perf/perf-lib.sh\nindex 2ac007888e..3ce49fd423 100644\n--- a/t/perf/perf-lib.sh\n+++ b/t/perf/perf-lib.sh\n@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ test_perf_create_repo_from () {\n \t) &&\n \t(\n \t\tcd \"$repo\" &&\n-\t\t\"$MODERN_GIT\" init -q --ref-format=\"$refformat\" --object-format=\"$objectformat\" &&\n+\t\t\"$MODERN_GIT\" init -q --ref-storage-format=\"$refformat\" --object-format=\"$objectformat\" &&\n \t\ttest_perf_do_repo_symlink_config_ &&\n \t\tmv .git/hooks .git/hooks-disabled 2>/dev/null &&\n \t\tif test -f .git/index.lock\ndiff --git a/t/t0001-init.sh b/t/t0001-init.sh\nindex 5cf2e5a35a..df9a2ff2da 100755\n--- a/t/t0001-init.sh\n+++ b/t/t0001-init.sh\n@@ -696,9 +696,9 @@ do\n \t\ttest_cmp expect actual\n \t'\n \n-\ttest_expect_success \"init with --ref-format=$format\" '\n+\ttest_expect_success \"init with --ref-storage-format=$format\" '\n \t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refformat\" &&\n-\t\tgit init --ref-format=$format refformat &&\n+\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$format refformat &&\n \t\techo $format >expect &&\n \t\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n \t\ttest_cmp expect actual\n@@ -717,9 +717,9 @@ do\n \t\ttest_cmp expect actual\n \t'\n \n-\ttest_expect_success \"--ref-format=$format overrides GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\" '\n+\ttest_expect_success \"--ref-storage-format=$format overrides GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\" '\n \t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refformat\" &&\n-\t\tGIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=garbage git init --ref-format=$format refformat &&\n+\t\tGIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=garbage git init --ref-storage-format=$format refformat &&\n \t\techo $format >expect &&\n \t\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n \t\ttest_cmp expect actual\n@@ -735,9 +735,9 @@ do\n \t'\n done\n \n-test_expect_success \"--ref-format= overrides GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\" '\n+test_expect_success \"--ref-storage-format= overrides GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\" '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refformat\" &&\n-\tGIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=files git init --ref-format=reftable refformat &&\n+\tGIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=files git init --ref-storage-format=reftable refformat &&\n \techo reftable >expect &&\n \tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n@@ -791,8 +791,8 @@ for from_format in $backends\n do\n \ttest_expect_success \"re-init with same format ($from_format)\" '\n \t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refformat\" &&\n-\t\tgit init --ref-format=$from_format refformat &&\n-\t\tgit init --ref-format=$from_format refformat &&\n+\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format refformat &&\n+\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format refformat &&\n \t\techo $from_format >expect &&\n \t\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n \t\ttest_cmp expect actual\n@@ -807,11 +807,11 @@ do\n \n \t\ttest_expect_success \"re-init with different format fails ($from_format -> $to_format)\" '\n \t\t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refformat\" &&\n-\t\t\tgit init --ref-format=$from_format refformat &&\n+\t\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format refformat &&\n \t\t\tcat >expect <<-EOF &&\n \t\t\tfatal: attempt to reinitialize repository with different reference storage format\n \t\t\tEOF\n-\t\t\ttest_must_fail git init --ref-format=$to_format refformat 2>err &&\n+\t\t\ttest_must_fail git init --ref-storage-format=$to_format refformat 2>err &&\n \t\t\ttest_cmp expect err &&\n \t\t\techo $from_format >expect &&\n \t\t\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n@@ -820,12 +820,12 @@ do\n \tdone\n done\n \n-test_expect_success 'init with --ref-format=garbage' '\n+test_expect_success 'init with --ref-storage-format=garbage' '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refformat\" &&\n \tcat >expect <<-EOF &&\n \tfatal: unknown ref storage format ${SQ}garbage${SQ}\n \tEOF\n-\ttest_must_fail git init --ref-format=garbage refformat 2>err &&\n+\ttest_must_fail git init --ref-storage-format=garbage refformat 2>err &&\n \ttest_cmp expect err\n '\n \ndiff --git a/t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh b/t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh\nindex 35e98b43db..1cf96ce2c5 100755\n--- a/t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh\n+++ b/t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh\n@@ -59,28 +59,28 @@ test_expect_success 'init: reinitializing reftable backend succeeds' '\n \ttest_commit -C repo A &&\n \n \tgit -C repo for-each-ref >expect &&\n-\tgit init --ref-format=reftable repo &&\n+\tgit init --ref-storage-format=reftable repo &&\n \tgit -C repo for-each-ref >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n '\n \n test_expect_success 'init: reinitializing files with reftable backend fails' '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n-\tgit init --ref-format=files repo &&\n+\tgit init --ref-storage-format=files repo &&\n \ttest_commit -C repo file &&\n \n \tcp repo/.git/HEAD expect &&\n-\ttest_must_fail git init --ref-format=reftable repo &&\n+\ttest_must_fail git init --ref-storage-format=reftable repo &&\n \ttest_cmp expect repo/.git/HEAD\n '\n \n test_expect_success 'init: reinitializing reftable with files backend fails' '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n-\tgit init --ref-format=reftable repo &&\n+\tgit init --ref-storage-format=reftable repo &&\n \ttest_commit -C repo file &&\n \n \tcp repo/.git/HEAD expect &&\n-\ttest_must_fail git init --ref-format=files repo &&\n+\ttest_must_fail git init --ref-storage-format=files repo &&\n \ttest_cmp expect repo/.git/HEAD\n '\n \n@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ test_expect_success 'clone: can clone reftable repository' '\n \n test_expect_success 'clone: can clone reffiles into reftable repository' '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf reffiles reftable\" &&\n-\tgit init --ref-format=files reffiles &&\n+\tgit init --ref-storage-format=files reffiles &&\n \ttest_commit -C reffiles A &&\n \tgit clone --ref-format=reftable ./reffiles reftable &&\n \n@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ test_expect_success 'clone: can clone reffiles into reftable repository' '\n \n test_expect_success 'clone: can clone reftable into reffiles repository' '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf reffiles reftable\" &&\n-\tgit init --ref-format=reftable reftable &&\n+\tgit init --ref-storage-format=reftable reftable &&\n \ttest_commit -C reftable A &&\n \tgit clone --ref-format=files ./reftable reffiles &&\n \ndiff --git a/t/t0611-reftable-httpd.sh b/t/t0611-reftable-httpd.sh\nindex 5e05b9c1f2..b030814b9f 100755\n--- a/t/t0611-reftable-httpd.sh\n+++ b/t/t0611-reftable-httpd.sh\n@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ start_httpd\n REPO=\"$HTTPD_DOCUMENT_ROOT_PATH/repo\"\n \n test_expect_success 'serving ls-remote' '\n-\tgit init --ref-format=reftable -b main \"$REPO\" &&\n+\tgit init --ref-storage-format=reftable -b main \"$REPO\" &&\n \tcd \"$REPO\" &&\n \ttest_commit m1 &&\n \t>.git/git-daemon-export-ok &&\ndiff --git a/t/t1400-update-ref.sh b/t/t1400-update-ref.sh\nindex 269fdaa3ed..1a164c96f9 100755\n--- a/t/t1400-update-ref.sh\n+++ b/t/t1400-update-ref.sh\n@@ -2361,7 +2361,7 @@ do\n \t'\n \n \ttest_expect_success CASE_INSENSITIVE_FS \"stdin $type batch-updates existing reference\" '\n-\t\tgit init --ref-format=reftable repo &&\n+\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=reftable repo &&\n \t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -fr repo\" &&\n \t\t(\n \t\t\tcd repo &&\ndiff --git a/t/t1423-ref-backend.sh b/t/t1423-ref-backend.sh\nindex fd47d77e8e..9ae295cf3d 100755\n--- a/t/t1423-ref-backend.sh\n+++ b/t/t1423-ref-backend.sh\n@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ do\n \n \t\ttest_expect_success \"$method: read from $to_format backend, $dir dir\" '\n \t\t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n-\t\t\tgit init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&\n+\t\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&\n \t\t\t(\n \t\t\t\tcd repo &&\n \t\t\t\ttest_commit 1 &&\n@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ do\n \n \t\ttest_expect_success \"$method: write to $to_format backend, $dir dir\" '\n \t\t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n-\t\t\tgit init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&\n+\t\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&\n \t\t\t(\n \t\t\t\tcd repo &&\n \t\t\t\ttest_commit 1 &&\n@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ do\n \n \t\ttest_expect_success \"$method: with worktree and $to_format backend, $dir dir\" '\n \t\t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo wt\" &&\n-\t\t\tgit init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&\n+\t\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&\n \t\t\t(\n \t\t\t\tcd repo &&\n \t\t\t\ttest_commit 1 &&\ndiff --git a/t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh b/t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh\nindex 8f42697143..bb2507f571 100755\n--- a/t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh\n+++ b/t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh\n@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ do\n \n \t\ttest_expect_success \"$from_format: migration to same format fails\" '\n \t\t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n-\t\t\tgit init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&\n+\t\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&\n \t\t\ttest_must_fail git -C repo refs migrate \\\n \t\t\t\t--ref-format=$from_format 2>err &&\n \t\t\tcat >expect <<-EOF &&\n@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ do\n \n \t\ttest_expect_success \"$from_format -> $to_format: migration with worktree fails\" '\n \t\t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n-\t\t\tgit init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&\n+\t\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&\n \t\t\tgit -C repo worktree add wt &&\n \t\t\ttest_must_fail git -C repo refs migrate \\\n \t\t\t\t--ref-format=$to_format 2>err &&\n@@ -128,20 +128,20 @@ do\n \n \t\ttest_expect_success \"$from_format -> $to_format: unborn HEAD\" '\n \t\t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n-\t\t\tgit init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&\n+\t\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&\n \t\t\ttest_migration repo \"$to_format\"\n \t\t'\n \n \t\ttest_expect_success \"$from_format -> $to_format: single ref\" '\n \t\t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n-\t\t\tgit init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&\n+\t\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&\n \t\t\ttest_commit -C repo initial &&\n \t\t\ttest_migration repo \"$to_format\"\n \t\t'\n \n \t\ttest_expect_success \"$from_format -> $to_format: bare repository\" '\n \t\t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo repo.git\" &&\n-\t\t\tgit init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&\n+\t\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&\n \t\t\ttest_commit -C repo initial &&\n \t\t\tgit clone --ref-format=$from_format --mirror repo repo.git &&\n \t\t\ttest_migration repo.git \"$to_format\"\n@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ do\n \n \t\ttest_expect_success \"$from_format -> $to_format: dangling symref\" '\n \t\t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n-\t\t\tgit init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&\n+\t\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&\n \t\t\ttest_commit -C repo initial &&\n \t\t\tgit -C repo symbolic-ref BROKEN_HEAD refs/heads/nonexistent &&\n \t\t\ttest_migration repo \"$to_format\" &&\n@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ do\n \n \t\ttest_expect_success \"$from_format -> $to_format: broken ref\" '\n \t\t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n-\t\t\tgit init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&\n+\t\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&\n \t\t\ttest_commit -C repo initial &&\n \t\t\ttest-tool -C repo ref-store main update-ref \"\" refs/heads/broken \\\n \t\t\t\t\"$(test_oid 001)\" \"$ZERO_OID\" REF_SKIP_CREATE_REFLOG,REF_SKIP_OID_VERIFICATION &&\n@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ do\n \n \t\ttest_expect_success \"$from_format -> $to_format: pseudo-refs\" '\n \t\t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n-\t\t\tgit init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&\n+\t\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&\n \t\t\ttest_commit -C repo initial &&\n \t\t\tgit -C repo update-ref FOO_HEAD HEAD &&\n \t\t\ttest_migration repo \"$to_format\"\n@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ do\n \n \t\ttest_expect_success \"$from_format -> $to_format: special refs are left alone\" '\n \t\t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n-\t\t\tgit init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&\n+\t\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&\n \t\t\ttest_commit -C repo initial &&\n \t\t\tgit -C repo rev-parse HEAD >repo/.git/MERGE_HEAD &&\n \t\t\tgit -C repo rev-parse MERGE_HEAD &&\n@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ do\n \n \t\ttest_expect_success \"$from_format -> $to_format: a bunch of refs\" '\n \t\t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n-\t\t\tgit init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&\n+\t\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&\n \n \t\t\ttest_commit -C repo initial &&\n \t\t\tcat >input <<-EOF &&\n@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ do\n \n \t\ttest_expect_success \"$from_format -> $to_format: dry-run migration does not modify repository\" '\n \t\t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n-\t\t\tgit init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&\n+\t\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&\n \t\t\ttest_commit -C repo initial &&\n \t\t\tgit -C repo refs migrate --dry-run \\\n \t\t\t\t--ref-format=$to_format >output &&\n@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ do\n \n \t\ttest_expect_success \"$from_format -> $to_format: reflogs of symrefs with target deleted\" '\n \t\t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n-\t\t\tgit init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&\n+\t\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&\n \t\t\ttest_commit -C repo initial &&\n \t\t\tgit -C repo branch branch-1 HEAD &&\n \t\t\tgit -C repo symbolic-ref refs/heads/symref refs/heads/branch-1 &&\n@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ do\n \n \t\ttest_expect_success \"$from_format -> $to_format: reflogs order is retained\" '\n \t\t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n-\t\t\tgit init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&\n+\t\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&\n \t\t\ttest_commit --date \"100005000 +0700\" --no-tag -C repo initial &&\n \t\t\ttest_commit --date \"100003000 +0700\" --no-tag -C repo second &&\n \t\t\ttest_migration repo \"$to_format\"\n@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ do\n \n \t\ttest_expect_success \"$from_format -> $to_format: stash is retained\" '\n \t\t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n-\t\t\tgit init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&\n+\t\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&\n \t\t\t(\n \t\t\t\tcd repo &&\n \t\t\t\ttest_commit initial A &&\n@@ -259,7 +259,7 @@ do\n \n \t\ttest_expect_success \"$from_format -> $to_format: skip reflog with --skip-reflog\" '\n \t\t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n-\t\t\tgit init --ref-format=$from_format repo &&\n+\t\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&\n \t\t\ttest_commit -C repo initial &&\n \t\t\t# we see that the repository contains reflogs.\n \t\t\tgit -C repo reflog --all >reflogs &&\n@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ done\n \n test_expect_success 'multiple reftable blocks with multiple entries' '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n-\tgit init --ref-format=files repo &&\n+\tgit init --ref-storage-format=files repo &&\n \ttest_commit -C repo first &&\n \ttest_seq -f \"create refs/heads/ref-%d HEAD\" 5000 |\n \tgit -C repo update-ref --stdin &&\n@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ test_expect_success 'multiple reftable blocks with multiple entries' '\n \n test_expect_success 'migrating from files format deletes backend files' '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n-\tgit init --ref-format=files repo &&\n+\tgit init --ref-storage-format=files repo &&\n \ttest_commit -C repo first &&\n \tgit -C repo pack-refs --all &&\n \ttest_commit -C repo second &&\n@@ -313,7 +313,7 @@ test_expect_success 'migrating from files format deletes backend files' '\n \n test_expect_success 'migrating from reftable format deletes backend files' '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n-\tgit init --ref-format=reftable repo &&\n+\tgit init --ref-storage-format=reftable repo &&\n \ttest_commit -C repo first &&\n \n \ttest_path_is_dir repo/.git/reftable &&\ndiff --git a/t/t1900-repo-info.sh b/t/t1900-repo-info.sh\nindex c85d390f43..d115d2d9f9 100755\n--- a/t/t1900-repo-info.sh\n+++ b/t/t1900-repo-info.sh\n@@ -39,10 +39,10 @@ test_repo_info () {\n }\n \n test_repo_info 'ref format files is retrieved correctly' \\\n-\t'git init --ref-format=files' 'format-files' 'references.format' 'files'\n+\t'git init --ref-storage-format=files' 'format-files' 'references.format' 'files'\n \n test_repo_info 'ref format reftable is retrieved correctly' \\\n-\t'git init --ref-format=reftable' 'format-reftable' 'references.format' 'reftable'\n+\t'git init --ref-storage-format=reftable' 'format-reftable' 'references.format' 'reftable'\n \n test_repo_info 'bare repository = false is retrieved correctly' \\\n \t'git init' 'nonbare' 'layout.bare' 'false'\n@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ test_expect_success 'values returned in order requested' '\n \treferences.format=files\n \tlayout.bare=false\n \tEOF\n-\tgit init --ref-format=files ordered &&\n+\tgit init --ref-storage-format=files ordered &&\n \tgit -C ordered repo info layout.bare references.format layout.bare >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n '\ndiff --git a/t/t5510-fetch.sh b/t/t5510-fetch.sh\nindex a8d38d9176..359c3cf99b 100755\n--- a/t/t5510-fetch.sh\n+++ b/t/t5510-fetch.sh\n@@ -1803,7 +1803,7 @@ test_expect_success CASE_INSENSITIVE_FS,REFFILES 'existing references in a case\n test_expect_success REFFILES 'existing reference lock in repo' '\n \ttest_when_finished rm -rf base repo &&\n \t(\n-\t\tgit init --ref-format=reftable base &&\n+\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=reftable base &&\n \t\tcd base &&\n \t\techo >file update &&\n \t\tgit add . &&\n@@ -1814,7 +1814,7 @@ test_expect_success REFFILES 'existing reference lock in repo' '\n \t\tgit update-ref refs/heads/branch @ &&\n \t\tcd .. &&\n \n-\t\tgit init --ref-format=files --bare repo &&\n+\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=files --bare repo &&\n \t\tcd repo &&\n \t\tgit remote add origin ../base &&\n \t\ttouch refs/heads/foo.lock &&\n@@ -1857,7 +1857,7 @@ test_expect_success CASE_INSENSITIVE_FS,REFFILES 'D/F conflict on case insensiti\n test_expect_success REFFILES 'D/F conflict on case sensitive filesystem with lock' '\n \ttest_when_finished rm -rf base repo &&\n \t(\n-\t\tgit init --ref-format=reftable base &&\n+\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=reftable base &&\n \t\tcd base &&\n \t\techo >file update &&\n \t\tgit add . &&\n@@ -1868,7 +1868,7 @@ test_expect_success REFFILES 'D/F conflict on case sensitive filesystem with loc\n \t\tgit update-ref refs/heads/branch @ &&\n \t\tcd .. &&\n \n-\t\tgit init --ref-format=files --bare repo &&\n+\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=files --bare repo &&\n \t\tcd repo &&\n \t\tgit remote add origin ../base &&\n \t\tmkdir refs/heads/foo &&\ndiff --git a/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh b/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh\nindex 559713b607..1ca245c732 100755\n--- a/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh\n+++ b/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh\n@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ test_expect_success 'add existing repository with different ref storage format'\n \t(\n \t\tcd parent &&\n \t\ttest_commit parent &&\n-\t\tgit init --ref-format=$OTHER_FORMAT submodule &&\n+\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$OTHER_FORMAT submodule &&\n \t\ttest_commit -C submodule submodule &&\n \t\tgit submodule add ./submodule\n \t)\n\n-- \n2.55.0.1074.ge7621b4bad.dirty\n\n"},{"id":"552315","messageId":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-3-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","threadId":"66299","inReplyTo":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-0-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","subject":"[PATCH v3 03/13] builtin/clone: rename \"--ref-format=\" to \"--ref-storage-format=\"","fromName":"Patrick Steinhardt","fromEmail":"ps@pks.im","sentAt":"2026-09-09T11:12:49Z","receivedAt":"2026-09-09T11:13:06Z","isPatch":true,"body":"With the same reasoning as for git-init(1), rename \"--ref-format=\" to\n\"--ref-storage-format=\" and keep the old name as an alias.\n\nSigned-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt \n---\n Documentation/git-clone.adoc | 5 ++++-\n builtin/clone.c | 13 +++++++------\n t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh | 4 ++--\n t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh | 2 +-\n t/t5510-fetch.sh | 6 +++---\n t/t5601-clone.sh | 4 ++--\n t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh | 4 ++--\n 7 files changed, 21 insertions(+), 17 deletions(-)\n\ndiff --git a/Documentation/git-clone.adoc b/Documentation/git-clone.adoc\nindex b6e1f8ada2..27e4d13942 100644\n--- a/Documentation/git-clone.adoc\n+++ b/Documentation/git-clone.adoc\n@@ -348,12 +348,15 @@ or `--mirror` is given)\n \tThe result is Git repository can be separated from working\n \ttree.\n \n-`--ref-format=`::\n+`--ref-storage-format=`::\n \n Specify the given ref storage format for the repository. The valid values are:\n +\n include::ref-storage-format.adoc[]\n \n+`--ref-format=`::\n+Deprecated alias of `--ref-storage-format=`.\n+\n `-j`::\n `--jobs=`::\n \tThe number of submodules fetched at the same time.\ndiff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c\nindex 5b25cca510..42cae9e0f6 100644\n--- a/builtin/clone.c\n+++ b/builtin/clone.c\n@@ -901,7 +901,7 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc,\n \tchar *option_origin = NULL;\n \tstruct string_list option_not = STRING_LIST_INIT_NODUP;\n \tconst char *real_git_dir = NULL;\n-\tconst char *ref_format = NULL;\n+\tconst char *ref_storage_format_str = NULL;\n \tconst char *option_upload_pack = \"git-upload-pack\";\n \tint option_progress = -1;\n \tint option_sparse_checkout = 0;\n@@ -981,8 +981,9 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc,\n \t\t\t N_(\"any cloned submodules will be shallow\")),\n \t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"separate-git-dir\", &real_git_dir, N_(\"gitdir\"),\n \t\t\t N_(\"separate git dir from working tree\")),\n-\t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"ref-format\", &ref_format, N_(\"format\"),\n-\t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference format to use\")),\n+\t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"ref-storage-format\", &ref_storage_format_str, N_(\"format\"),\n+\t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference storage format to use\")),\n+\t\tOPT_ALIAS_F(0, \"ref-format\", \"ref-storage-format\", PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),\n \t\tOPT_STRING_LIST('c', \"config\", &option_config, N_(\"key=value\"),\n \t\t\t\tN_(\"set config inside the new repository\")),\n \t\tOPT_STRING_LIST(0, \"server-option\", &server_options,\n@@ -1027,10 +1028,10 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc,\n \tif (option_single_branch == -1)\n \t\toption_single_branch = deepen ? 1 : 0;\n \n-\tif (ref_format) {\n-\t\tref_storage_format = ref_storage_format_by_name(ref_format);\n+\tif (ref_storage_format_str) {\n+\t\tref_storage_format = ref_storage_format_by_name(ref_storage_format_str);\n \t\tif (ref_storage_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n-\t\t\tdie(_(\"unknown ref storage format '%s'\"), ref_format);\n+\t\t\tdie(_(\"unknown ref storage format '%s'\"), ref_storage_format_str);\n \t}\n \n \tif (option_mirror) {\ndiff --git a/t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh b/t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh\nindex 1cf96ce2c5..d325f17a14 100755\n--- a/t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh\n+++ b/t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh\n@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ test_expect_success 'clone: can clone reffiles into reftable repository' '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf reffiles reftable\" &&\n \tgit init --ref-storage-format=files reffiles &&\n \ttest_commit -C reffiles A &&\n-\tgit clone --ref-format=reftable ./reffiles reftable &&\n+\tgit clone --ref-storage-format=reftable ./reffiles reftable &&\n \n \tgit -C reffiles rev-parse HEAD >expect &&\n \tgit -C reftable rev-parse HEAD >actual &&\n@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ test_expect_success 'clone: can clone reftable into reffiles repository' '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf reffiles reftable\" &&\n \tgit init --ref-storage-format=reftable reftable &&\n \ttest_commit -C reftable A &&\n-\tgit clone --ref-format=files ./reftable reffiles &&\n+\tgit clone --ref-storage-format=files ./reftable reffiles &&\n \n \tgit -C reftable rev-parse HEAD >expect &&\n \tgit -C reffiles rev-parse HEAD >actual &&\ndiff --git a/t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh b/t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh\nindex bb2507f571..8aded6597e 100755\n--- a/t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh\n+++ b/t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh\n@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ do\n \t\t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo repo.git\" &&\n \t\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&\n \t\t\ttest_commit -C repo initial &&\n-\t\t\tgit clone --ref-format=$from_format --mirror repo repo.git &&\n+\t\t\tgit clone --ref-storage-format=$from_format --mirror repo repo.git &&\n \t\t\ttest_migration repo.git \"$to_format\"\n \t\t'\n \ndiff --git a/t/t5510-fetch.sh b/t/t5510-fetch.sh\nindex 359c3cf99b..300bd5396d 100755\n--- a/t/t5510-fetch.sh\n+++ b/t/t5510-fetch.sh\n@@ -46,19 +46,19 @@ test_expect_success \"clone and setup child repos\" '\n \t) &&\n \tgit clone . bundle &&\n \tgit clone . seven &&\n-\tgit clone --ref-format=reftable . case_sensitive &&\n+\tgit clone --ref-storage-format=reftable . case_sensitive &&\n \t(\n \t\tcd case_sensitive &&\n \t\tgit branch branch1 &&\n \t\tgit branch bRanch1\n \t) &&\n-\tgit clone --ref-format=reftable . case_sensitive_fd &&\n+\tgit clone --ref-storage-format=reftable . case_sensitive_fd &&\n \t(\n \t\tcd case_sensitive_fd &&\n \t\tgit branch foo/bar &&\n \t\tgit branch Foo\n \t) &&\n-\tgit clone --ref-format=reftable . case_sensitive_df &&\n+\tgit clone --ref-storage-format=reftable . case_sensitive_df &&\n \t(\n \t\tcd case_sensitive_df &&\n \t\tgit branch Foo/bar &&\ndiff --git a/t/t5601-clone.sh b/t/t5601-clone.sh\nindex b6167582a1..202d86bc83 100755\n--- a/t/t5601-clone.sh\n+++ b/t/t5601-clone.sh\n@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ test_expect_success 'clone --mirror does not repeat tags' '\n \n test_expect_success 'clone with files ref format' '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf ref-storage\" &&\n-\tgit clone --ref-format=files --mirror src ref-storage &&\n+\tgit clone --ref-storage-format=files --mirror src ref-storage &&\n \techo files >expect &&\n \tgit -C ref-storage rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ test_expect_success 'clone with garbage ref format' '\n \tcat >expect <<-EOF &&\n \tfatal: unknown ref storage format ${SQ}garbage${SQ}\n \tEOF\n-\ttest_must_fail git clone --ref-format=garbage --mirror src ref-storage 2>err &&\n+\ttest_must_fail git clone --ref-storage-format=garbage --mirror src ref-storage 2>err &&\n \ttest_cmp expect err &&\n \ttest_path_is_missing ref-storage\n '\ndiff --git a/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh b/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh\nindex 1ca245c732..5f31d233e9 100755\n--- a/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh\n+++ b/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh\n@@ -63,9 +63,9 @@ test_expect_success 'recursive clone propagates ref storage format' '\n \ttest_ref_format upstream/submodule \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\" &&\n \n \t# The cloned repositories should use the other ref format that we have\n-\t# specified via `--ref-format`. The option should propagate to cloned\n+\t# specified via `--ref-storage-format`. The option should propagate to cloned\n \t# submodules.\n-\tgit clone --ref-format=$OTHER_FORMAT --recurse-submodules \\\n+\tgit clone --ref-storage-format=$OTHER_FORMAT --recurse-submodules \\\n \t\tupstream downstream &&\n \ttest_ref_format downstream \"$OTHER_FORMAT\" &&\n \ttest_ref_format downstream/submodule \"$OTHER_FORMAT\"\n\n-- \n2.55.0.1074.ge7621b4bad.dirty\n\n"},{"id":"552318","messageId":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-4-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","threadId":"66299","inReplyTo":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-0-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","subject":"[PATCH v3 04/13] builtin/refs: rename \"--ref-format=\" to \"--ref-storage-format=\"","fromName":"Patrick Steinhardt","fromEmail":"ps@pks.im","sentAt":"2026-09-09T11:12:50Z","receivedAt":"2026-09-09T11:13:08Z","isPatch":true,"body":"With the same reasoning as for git-init(1), rename \"--ref-format=\" to\n\"--ref-storage-format=\" and keep the old name as an alias.\n\nSigned-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt \n---\n Documentation/git-refs.adoc | 9 ++++++---\n builtin/fetch.c | 2 +-\n builtin/refs.c | 9 +++++----\n t/t1423-ref-backend.sh | 8 ++++----\n t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh | 12 ++++++------\n t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh | 2 +-\n 6 files changed, 23 insertions(+), 19 deletions(-)\n\ndiff --git a/Documentation/git-refs.adoc b/Documentation/git-refs.adoc\nindex 9063892651..ae722c60e6 100644\n--- a/Documentation/git-refs.adoc\n+++ b/Documentation/git-refs.adoc\n@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ git-refs - Low-level access to refs\n SYNOPSIS\n --------\n [synopsis]\n-git refs migrate --ref-format= [--no-reflog] [--dry-run]\n+git refs migrate --ref-storage-format= [--no-reflog] [--dry-run]\n git refs verify [--strict] [--verbose]\n git refs list [--count=] [--shell|--perl|--python|--tcl]\n \t\t [(--sort=)...] [--format=]\n@@ -97,11 +97,14 @@ OPTIONS\n \n The following options are specific to `git refs migrate`:\n \n-`--ref-format=`::\n-\tThe ref format to migrate the ref store to. Can be one of:\n+`--ref-storage-format=`::\n+\tThe ref storage format to migrate the ref store to. Can be one of:\n +\n include::ref-storage-format.adoc[]\n \n+`--ref-format=`::\n+Deprecated alias of `--ref-storage-format=`.\n+\n `--dry-run`::\n \tPerform the migration, but do not modify the repository. The migrated\n \trefs will be written into a separate directory that can be inspected\ndiff --git a/builtin/fetch.c b/builtin/fetch.c\nindex ab7db2be06..687909c0c4 100644\n--- a/builtin/fetch.c\n+++ b/builtin/fetch.c\n@@ -1848,7 +1848,7 @@ static void ref_transaction_rejection_handler(const char *refname,\n \t\t\t\"can either accept this as-is, in which case you won't be able to\\n\"\n \t\t\t\"store all remote references on disk. Or you can alternatively\\n\"\n \t\t\t\"migrate your repository to use the 'reftable' backend with the\\n\"\n-\t\t\t\"following command:\\n\\n git refs migrate --ref-format=reftable\\n\\n\"\n+\t\t\t\"following command:\\n\\n git refs migrate --ref-storage-format=reftable\\n\\n\"\n \t\t\t\"Please keep in mind that not all implementations of Git support this\\n\"\n \t\t\t\"new format yet. So if you use tools other than Git to access this\\n\"\n \t\t\t\"repository it may not be an option to migrate to reftables.\\n\"));\ndiff --git a/builtin/refs.c b/builtin/refs.c\nindex 5cd21c25fe..31aafb9974 100644\n--- a/builtin/refs.c\n+++ b/builtin/refs.c\n@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@\n #include \"refs/refs-internal.h\"\n \n #define REFS_MIGRATE_USAGE \\\n-\tN_(\"git refs migrate --ref-format= [--no-reflog] [--dry-run]\")\n+\tN_(\"git refs migrate --ref-storage-format= [--no-reflog] [--dry-run]\")\n \n #define REFS_VERIFY_USAGE \\\n \tN_(\"git refs verify [--strict] [--verbose]\")\n@@ -44,9 +44,10 @@ static int cmd_refs_migrate(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,\n \tenum ref_storage_format format;\n \tunsigned int flags = 0;\n \tstruct option options[] = {\n-\t\tOPT_STRING_F(0, \"ref-format\", &format_str, N_(\"format\"),\n-\t\t\tN_(\"specify the reference format to convert to\"),\n+\t\tOPT_STRING_F(0, \"ref-storage-format\", &format_str, N_(\"format\"),\n+\t\t\tN_(\"specify the reference storage format to convert to\"),\n \t\t\tPARSE_OPT_NONEG),\n+\t\tOPT_ALIAS_F(0, \"ref-format\", \"ref-storage-format\", PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),\n \t\tOPT_BIT(0, \"dry-run\", &flags,\n \t\t\tN_(\"perform a non-destructive dry-run\"),\n \t\t\tREPO_MIGRATE_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_DRYRUN),\n@@ -62,7 +63,7 @@ static int cmd_refs_migrate(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,\n \tif (argc)\n \t\tusage(_(\"too many arguments\"));\n \tif (!format_str)\n-\t\tusage(_(\"missing --ref-format=\"));\n+\t\tusage(_(\"missing --ref-storage-format=\"));\n \n \tformat = ref_storage_format_by_name(format_str);\n \tif (format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN) {\ndiff --git a/t/t1423-ref-backend.sh b/t/t1423-ref-backend.sh\nindex 9ae295cf3d..ab119a6568 100755\n--- a/t/t1423-ref-backend.sh\n+++ b/t/t1423-ref-backend.sh\n@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ do\n \t\t\t\ttest_commit 2 &&\n \t\t\t\ttest_commit 3 &&\n \n-\t\t\t\tgit refs migrate --dry-run --ref-format=$to_format >out &&\n+\t\t\t\tgit refs migrate --dry-run --ref-storage-format=$to_format >out &&\n \t\t\t\tBACKEND_PATH=\"$dir/$(sed \"s/.* ${SQ}.git\\/\\(.*\\)${SQ}/\\1/\" out)\" &&\n \t\t\t\ttest_refs_backend . $from_format \"$to_format://$BACKEND_PATH\" \"$method\"\n \t\t\t)\n@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ do\n \t\t\t\ttest_commit 2 &&\n \t\t\t\ttest_commit 3 &&\n \n-\t\t\t\tgit refs migrate --dry-run --ref-format=$to_format >out &&\n+\t\t\t\tgit refs migrate --dry-run --ref-storage-format=$to_format >out &&\n \t\t\t\tBACKEND_PATH=\"$dir/$(sed \"s/.* ${SQ}.git\\/\\(.*\\)${SQ}/\\1/\" out)\" &&\n \n \t\t\t\ttest_refs_backend . $from_format \"$to_format://$BACKEND_PATH\" \"$method\" &&\n@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ do\n \t\t\t\ttest_commit 2 &&\n \t\t\t\ttest_commit 3 &&\n \n-\t\t\t\tgit refs migrate --dry-run --ref-format=$to_format >out &&\n+\t\t\t\tgit refs migrate --dry-run --ref-storage-format=$to_format >out &&\n \t\t\t\tBACKEND_PATH=\"$dir/$(sed \"s/.* ${SQ}.git\\/\\(.*\\)${SQ}/\\1/\" out)\" &&\n \n \t\t\t\trun_with_uri . \"$from_format\" \"$to_format://$BACKEND_PATH\" \\\n@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ do\n \t\t\ttest_commit 2 &&\n \t\t\ttest_commit 3 &&\n \n-\t\t\tgit refs migrate --ref-format=$to_format &&\n+\t\t\tgit refs migrate --ref-storage-format=$to_format &&\n \t\t\tgit refs list >out &&\n \t\t\ttest_grep \"refs/tags/1\"\tout &&\n \t\t\ttest_grep \"refs/tags/2\"\tout &&\ndiff --git a/t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh b/t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh\nindex 8aded6597e..204dd79b41 100755\n--- a/t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh\n+++ b/t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh\n@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ test_migration () {\n \t\tprint_all_reflog_entries \"$repo\" >expect_logs\n \tfi &&\n \n-\tgit -C \"$repo\" refs migrate --ref-format=\"$format\" \"$@\" &&\n+\tgit -C \"$repo\" refs migrate --ref-storage-format=\"$format\" \"$@\" &&\n \n \tgit -C \"$repo\" for-each-ref --include-root-refs \\\n \t\t--format='%(refname) %(objectname) %(symref)' >actual &&\n@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ test_expect_success \"missing ref storage format\" '\n \tgit init repo &&\n \ttest_must_fail git -C repo refs migrate 2>err &&\n \tcat >expect <<-EOF &&\n-\tusage: missing --ref-format=\n+\tusage: missing --ref-storage-format=\n \tEOF\n \ttest_cmp expect err\n '\n@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ test_expect_success \"unknown ref storage format\" '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n \tgit init repo &&\n \ttest_must_fail git -C repo refs migrate \\\n-\t\t--ref-format=unknown 2>err &&\n+\t\t--ref-storage-format=unknown 2>err &&\n \tcat >expect <<-EOF &&\n \terror: unknown ref storage format ${SQ}unknown${SQ}\n \tEOF\n@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ do\n \t\t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n \t\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&\n \t\t\ttest_must_fail git -C repo refs migrate \\\n-\t\t\t\t--ref-format=$from_format 2>err &&\n+\t\t\t\t--ref-storage-format=$from_format 2>err &&\n \t\t\tcat >expect <<-EOF &&\n \t\t\terror: repository already uses ${SQ}$from_format${SQ} format\n \t\t\tEOF\n@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ do\n \t\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&\n \t\t\tgit -C repo worktree add wt &&\n \t\t\ttest_must_fail git -C repo refs migrate \\\n-\t\t\t\t--ref-format=$to_format 2>err &&\n+\t\t\t\t--ref-storage-format=$to_format 2>err &&\n \t\t\tcat >expect <<-EOF &&\n \t\t\terror: migrating repositories with worktrees is not supported yet\n \t\t\tEOF\n@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ do\n \t\t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format repo &&\n \t\t\ttest_commit -C repo initial &&\n \t\t\tgit -C repo refs migrate --dry-run \\\n-\t\t\t\t--ref-format=$to_format >output &&\n+\t\t\t\t--ref-storage-format=$to_format >output &&\n \t\t\ttest_grep \"Finished dry-run migration of refs\" output &&\n \t\t\ttest_path_is_dir repo/.git/ref_migration.* &&\n \t\t\techo $from_format >expect &&\ndiff --git a/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh b/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh\nindex 5f31d233e9..e61389af05 100755\n--- a/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh\n+++ b/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh\n@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ test_expect_success 'status with mixed submodule ref storages' '\n \tgit init main &&\n \tgit -C main submodule add \"file://$(pwd)/submodule\" &&\n \tgit -C main commit -m \"add submodule\" &&\n-\tgit -C main/submodule refs migrate --ref-format=$OTHER_FORMAT &&\n+\tgit -C main/submodule refs migrate --ref-storage-format=$OTHER_FORMAT &&\n \n \t# The main repository should use the default ref format now, whereas\n \t# the submodule should use the other format.\n\n-- \n2.55.0.1074.ge7621b4bad.dirty\n\n"},{"id":"552317","messageId":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-5-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","threadId":"66299","inReplyTo":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-0-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","subject":"[PATCH v3 05/13] builtin/submodule: rename \"--ref-format=\" to \"--ref-storage-format=\"","fromName":"Patrick Steinhardt","fromEmail":"ps@pks.im","sentAt":"2026-09-09T11:12:51Z","receivedAt":"2026-09-09T11:13:12Z","isPatch":true,"body":"With the same reasoning as for git-init(1), rename \"--ref-format=\" to\n\"--ref-storage-format=\" and keep the old name as an alias.\n\nNote that this commit is a bit more complex compared to the others as we\nalso need to adapt the submodule helper for consistency. But overall,\nthe changes are straight-forward and in the same spirit.\n\nSigned-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt \n---\n Documentation/git-submodule.adoc | 14 ++++++++------\n builtin/clone.c | 2 +-\n builtin/submodule--helper.c | 21 ++++++++++++---------\n git-submodule.sh | 20 ++++++++++----------\n t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh | 6 +++---\n 5 files changed, 34 insertions(+), 29 deletions(-)\n\ndiff --git a/Documentation/git-submodule.adoc b/Documentation/git-submodule.adoc\nindex 722d827908..e9c81a7170 100644\n--- a/Documentation/git-submodule.adoc\n+++ b/Documentation/git-submodule.adoc\n@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ COMMANDS\n With no arguments, shows the status of existing submodules. Several\n subcommands are available to perform operations on the submodules.\n \n-`add [-b ] [-f | --force] [--name ] [--reference ] [--ref-format ] [--depth ] [--] []`::\n+`add [-b ] [-f | --force] [--name ] [--reference ] [--ref-storage-format ] [--depth ] [--] []`::\n \tAdd the given repository as a submodule at the given path\n \tto the changeset to be committed next to the current\n \tproject: the current project is termed the \"superproject\".\n@@ -72,8 +72,9 @@ location, and only the superproject's URL needs to be provided.\n git-submodule will correctly locate the submodule using the relative\n URL in `.gitmodules`.\n +\n-If `--ref-format ` is specified, the ref storage format of newly\n-cloned submodules will be set accordingly.\n+If `--ref-storage-format ` or its deprecated alias `--ref-format\n+` is specified, the ref storage format of the newly cloned submodules\n+will be set accordingly.\n \n `status [--cached] [--recursive] [--] [...]`::\n \tShow the status of the submodules. This will print the SHA-1 of the\n@@ -139,7 +140,7 @@ If you really want to remove a submodule from the repository and commit\n that use linkgit:git-rm[1] instead. See linkgit:gitsubmodules[7] for removal\n options.\n \n-`update [--init] [--remote] [-N | --no-fetch] [--[no-]recommend-shallow] [-f | --force] [--checkout | --rebase | --merge] [--reference=] [--ref-format=] [--depth=] [--recursive] [--jobs ] [--[no-]single-branch] [--filter=] [--] [...]`::\n+`update [--init] [--remote] [-N | --no-fetch] [--[no-]recommend-shallow] [-f | --force] [--checkout | --rebase | --merge] [--reference=] [--ref-storage-format=] [--depth=] [--recursive] [--jobs ] [--[no-]single-branch] [--filter=] [--] [...]`::\n +\n --\n Update the registered submodules to match what the superproject\n@@ -188,8 +189,9 @@ submodule with the `--init` option.\n If `--recursive` is specified, this command will recurse into the\n registered submodules, and update any nested submodules within.\n \n-If `--ref-format ` is specified, the ref storage format of newly\n-cloned submodules will be set accordingly.\n+If `--ref-storage-format ` or its deprecated alias `--ref-format\n+` is specified, the ref storage format of the newly cloned submodules\n+will be set accordingly.\n \n If `--filter ` is specified, the given partial clone filter will be\n applied to the submodule. See linkgit:git-rev-list[1] for details on filter\ndiff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c\nindex 42cae9e0f6..dd722e4de1 100644\n--- a/builtin/clone.c\n+++ b/builtin/clone.c\n@@ -725,7 +725,7 @@ static int checkout(int submodule_progress,\n \t\t}\n \n \t\tif (ref_storage_format != REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n-\t\t\tstrvec_pushf(&cmd.args, \"--ref-format=%s\",\n+\t\t\tstrvec_pushf(&cmd.args, \"--ref-storage-format=%s\",\n \t\t\t\t ref_storage_format_to_name(ref_storage_format));\n \n \t\tif (filter_submodules && filter_options->choice)\ndiff --git a/builtin/submodule--helper.c b/builtin/submodule--helper.c\nindex e7cd3225fa..41883af2ac 100644\n--- a/builtin/submodule--helper.c\n+++ b/builtin/submodule--helper.c\n@@ -1941,7 +1941,7 @@ static int clone_submodule(const struct module_clone_data *clone_data,\n \t\t\t\t\t item->string, NULL);\n \t\t}\n \t\tif (clone_data->ref_storage_format != REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n-\t\t\tstrvec_pushf(&cp.args, \"--ref-format=%s\",\n+\t\t\tstrvec_pushf(&cp.args, \"--ref-storage-format=%s\",\n \t\t\t\t ref_storage_format_to_name(clone_data->ref_storage_format));\n \t\tif (clone_data->dissociate)\n \t\t\tstrvec_push(&cp.args, \"--dissociate\");\n@@ -2057,8 +2057,9 @@ static int module_clone(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,\n \t\tOPT_STRING_LIST(0, \"reference\", &reference,\n \t\t\t N_(\"repo\"),\n \t\t\t N_(\"reference repository\")),\n-\t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"ref-format\", &ref_storage_format, N_(\"format\"),\n-\t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference format to use\")),\n+\t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"ref-storage-format\", &ref_storage_format, N_(\"format\"),\n+\t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference storage format to use\")),\n+\t\tOPT_ALIAS_F(0, \"ref-format\", \"ref-storage-format\", PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),\n \t\tOPT_BOOL(0, \"dissociate\", &dissociate,\n \t\t\t N_(\"use --reference only while cloning\")),\n \t\tOPT_INTEGER(0, \"depth\", &clone_data.depth,\n@@ -2357,7 +2358,7 @@ static int prepare_to_clone_next_submodule(const struct cache_entry *ce,\n \tif (suc->update_data->require_init)\n \t\tstrvec_push(&child->args, \"--require-init\");\n \tif (suc->update_data->ref_storage_format != REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n-\t\tstrvec_pushf(&child->args, \"--ref-format=%s\",\n+\t\tstrvec_pushf(&child->args, \"--ref-storage-format=%s\",\n \t\t\t ref_storage_format_to_name(suc->update_data->ref_storage_format));\n \tstrvec_pushl(&child->args, \"--path\", sub->path, NULL);\n \tstrvec_pushl(&child->args, \"--name\", sub->name, NULL);\n@@ -2801,7 +2802,7 @@ static void update_data_to_args(const struct update_data *update_data,\n \t\t\tstrvec_pushl(args, \"--reference\", item->string, NULL);\n \t}\n \tif (update_data->ref_storage_format != REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n-\t\tstrvec_pushf(args, \"--ref-format=%s\",\n+\t\tstrvec_pushf(args, \"--ref-storage-format=%s\",\n \t\t\t ref_storage_format_to_name(update_data->ref_storage_format));\n \tif (update_data->filter_options && update_data->filter_options->choice)\n \t\tstrvec_pushf(args, \"--filter=%s\",\n@@ -3010,8 +3011,9 @@ static int module_update(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,\n \t\t\tSM_UPDATE_REBASE),\n \t\tOPT_STRING_LIST(0, \"reference\", &opt.references, N_(\"repo\"),\n \t\t\t N_(\"reference repository\")),\n-\t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"ref-format\", &ref_storage_format, N_(\"format\"),\n-\t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference format to use\")),\n+\t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"ref-storage-format\", &ref_storage_format, N_(\"format\"),\n+\t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference storage format to use\")),\n+\t\tOPT_ALIAS_F(0, \"ref-format\", \"ref-storage-format\", PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),\n \t\tOPT_BOOL(0, \"dissociate\", &opt.dissociate,\n \t\t\t N_(\"use --reference only while cloning\")),\n \t\tOPT_INTEGER(0, \"depth\", &opt.depth,\n@@ -3659,8 +3661,9 @@ static int module_add(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,\n \t\tOPT_BOOL(0, \"progress\", &progress, N_(\"force cloning progress\")),\n \t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"reference\", &add_data.reference_path, N_(\"repository\"),\n \t\t\t N_(\"reference repository\")),\n-\t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"ref-format\", &ref_storage_format, N_(\"format\"),\n-\t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference format to use\")),\n+\t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"ref-storage-format\", &ref_storage_format, N_(\"format\"),\n+\t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference storage format to use\")),\n+\t\tOPT_ALIAS_F(0, \"ref-format\", \"ref-storage-format\", PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),\n \t\tOPT_BOOL(0, \"dissociate\", &dissociate, N_(\"borrow the objects from reference repositories\")),\n \t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"name\", &add_data.sm_name, N_(\"name\"),\n \t\t\t N_(\"sets the submodule's name to the given string \"\ndiff --git a/git-submodule.sh b/git-submodule.sh\nindex 2999b31fad..8632194138 100755\n--- a/git-submodule.sh\n+++ b/git-submodule.sh\n@@ -95,13 +95,13 @@ cmd_add()\n \t\t--reference=*)\n \t\t\treference=\"$1\"\n \t\t\t;;\n-\t\t--ref-format)\n+\t\t--ref-format|--ref-storage-format)\n \t\t\tcase \"$2\" in '') usage ;; esac\n-\t\t\tref_format=\"--ref-format=$2\"\n+\t\t\tref_storage_format=\"--ref-storage-format=$2\"\n \t\t\tshift\n \t\t\t;;\n-\t\t--ref-format=*)\n-\t\t\tref_format=\"$1\"\n+\t\t--ref-format=*|--ref-storage-format=*)\n+\t\t\tref_storage_format=\"$1\"\n \t\t\t;;\n \t\t--dissociate)\n \t\t\tdissociate=$1\n@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ cmd_add()\n \t\t$progress \\\n \t\t${branch:+\"$branch\"} \\\n \t\t${reference:+\"$reference\"} \\\n-\t\t${ref_format:+\"$ref_format\"} \\\n+\t\t${ref_storage_format:+\"$ref_storage_format\"} \\\n \t\t$dissociate \\\n \t\t${name:+\"$name\"} \\\n \t\t${depth:+\"$depth\"} \\\n@@ -302,13 +302,13 @@ cmd_update()\n \t\t-r|--rebase)\n \t\t\trebase=$1\n \t\t\t;;\n-\t\t--ref-format)\n+\t\t--ref-format|--ref-storage-format)\n \t\t\tcase \"$2\" in '') usage ;; esac\n-\t\t\tref_format=\"--ref-format=$2\"\n+\t\t\tref_storage_format=\"--ref-storage-format=$2\"\n \t\t\tshift\n \t\t\t;;\n-\t\t--ref-format=*)\n-\t\t\tref_format=\"$1\"\n+\t\t--ref-format=*|--ref-storage-format=*)\n+\t\t\tref_storage_format=\"$1\"\n \t\t\t;;\n \t\t--reference)\n \t\t\tcase \"$2\" in '') usage ;; esac\n@@ -385,7 +385,7 @@ cmd_update()\n \t\t$rebase \\\n \t\t$merge \\\n \t\t$checkout \\\n-\t\t${ref_format:+\"$ref_format\"} \\\n+\t\t${ref_storage_format:+\"$ref_storage_format\"} \\\n \t\t${reference:+\"$reference\"} \\\n \t\t$dissociate \\\n \t\t${depth:+\"$depth\"} \\\ndiff --git a/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh b/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh\nindex e61389af05..2ef85289b3 100755\n--- a/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh\n+++ b/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh\n@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ test_expect_success 'add submodules with different ref storage format' '\n \ttest_commit -C submodule submodule-initial &&\n \tgit init upstream &&\n \ttest_ref_format upstream \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\" &&\n-\tgit -C upstream submodule add --ref-format=\"$OTHER_FORMAT\" \"file://$(pwd)/submodule\" &&\n+\tgit -C upstream submodule add --ref-storage-format=\"$OTHER_FORMAT\" \"file://$(pwd)/submodule\" &&\n \ttest_ref_format upstream/submodule \"$OTHER_FORMAT\"\n '\n \n@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ test_expect_success 'clone submodules with different ref storage format' '\n \n \tgit clone --no-recurse-submodules \"file://$(pwd)/upstream\" downstream &&\n \ttest_ref_format downstream \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\" &&\n-\tgit -C downstream submodule update --init --ref-format=$OTHER_FORMAT &&\n+\tgit -C downstream submodule update --init --ref-storage-format=$OTHER_FORMAT &&\n \ttest_ref_format downstream/submodule \"$OTHER_FORMAT\"\n '\n \n@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ test_expect_success 'recursive pull with mixed formats' '\n \t# Clone the upstream repository such that the main repo and its\n \t# submodules have different formats.\n \tgit clone --no-recurse-submodules \"file://$(pwd)/upstream\" downstream &&\n-\tgit -C downstream submodule update --init --ref-format=$OTHER_FORMAT &&\n+\tgit -C downstream submodule update --init --ref-storage-format=$OTHER_FORMAT &&\n \ttest_ref_format downstream \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\" &&\n \ttest_ref_format downstream/submodule \"$OTHER_FORMAT\" &&\n \n\n-- \n2.55.0.1074.ge7621b4bad.dirty\n\n"},{"id":"552319","messageId":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-6-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","threadId":"66299","inReplyTo":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-0-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","subject":"[PATCH v3 06/13] builtin/rev-parse: rename \"--show-ref-format\" to \"--show-ref-storage-format\"","fromName":"Patrick Steinhardt","fromEmail":"ps@pks.im","sentAt":"2026-09-09T11:12:52Z","receivedAt":"2026-09-09T11:13:15Z","isPatch":true,"body":"With the same reasoning as for git-init(1), rename \"--show-ref-format\"\nto \"--show-ref-storage-format\" and keep the old name as an alias.\n\nSigned-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt \n---\n Documentation/git-rev-parse.adoc | 5 ++++-\n builtin/rev-parse.c | 2 +-\n contrib/completion/git-prompt.sh | 2 +-\n t/perf/perf-lib.sh | 4 ++--\n t/t0001-init.sh | 36 +++++++++++++++++-----------------\n t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh | 16 +++++++--------\n t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh | 4 ++--\n t/t1500-rev-parse.sh | 8 ++++----\n t/t5601-clone.sh | 2 +-\n t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh | 2 +-\n 10 files changed, 42 insertions(+), 39 deletions(-)\n\ndiff --git a/Documentation/git-rev-parse.adoc b/Documentation/git-rev-parse.adoc\nindex 5398691f3f..14462ce7d9 100644\n--- a/Documentation/git-rev-parse.adoc\n+++ b/Documentation/git-rev-parse.adoc\n@@ -331,9 +331,12 @@ The following options are unaffected by `--path-format`:\n \trequested and no compatibility algorithm is enabled, prints an empty line. If\n \tnot specified, the default is \"storage\".\n \n---show-ref-format::\n+--show-ref-storage-format::\n \tShow the reference storage format used for the repository.\n \n+--show-ref-format::\n+\tDeprecated alias of `--show-ref-storage-format`.\n+\n \n Other Options\n ~~~~~~~~~~~~~\ndiff --git a/builtin/rev-parse.c b/builtin/rev-parse.c\nindex 43693454d5..ec33c19bdf 100644\n--- a/builtin/rev-parse.c\n+++ b/builtin/rev-parse.c\n@@ -1134,7 +1134,7 @@ int cmd_rev_parse(int argc,\n \t\t\t\t}\n \t\t\t\tcontinue;\n \t\t\t}\n-\t\t\tif (!strcmp(arg, \"--show-ref-format\")) {\n+\t\t\tif (!strcmp(arg, \"--show-ref-format\") || !strcmp(arg, \"--show-ref-storage-format\")) {\n \t\t\t\tputs(ref_storage_format_to_name(the_repository->ref_storage_format));\n \t\t\t\tcontinue;\n \t\t\t}\ndiff --git a/contrib/completion/git-prompt.sh b/contrib/completion/git-prompt.sh\nindex 6186c474ba..754a5edc9a 100644\n--- a/contrib/completion/git-prompt.sh\n+++ b/contrib/completion/git-prompt.sh\n@@ -466,7 +466,7 @@ __git_ps1 ()\n \n \tlocal repo_info rev_parse_exit_code\n \trepo_info=\"$(git rev-parse --git-dir --is-inside-git-dir \\\n-\t\t--is-bare-repository --is-inside-work-tree --show-ref-format \\\n+\t\t--is-bare-repository --is-inside-work-tree --show-ref-storage-format \\\n \t\t--short HEAD 2>/dev/null)\"\n \trev_parse_exit_code=\"$?\"\n \ndiff --git a/t/perf/perf-lib.sh b/t/perf/perf-lib.sh\nindex 3ce49fd423..846ecc35c3 100644\n--- a/t/perf/perf-lib.sh\n+++ b/t/perf/perf-lib.sh\n@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ test_perf_create_repo_from () {\n \tsource_git=\"$(\"$MODERN_GIT\" -C \"$source\" rev-parse --git-dir)\"\n \tobjects_dir=\"$(\"$MODERN_GIT\" -C \"$source\" rev-parse --git-path objects)\"\n \tcommon_dir=\"$(\"$MODERN_GIT\" -C \"$source\" rev-parse --git-common-dir)\"\n-\trefformat=\"$(\"$MODERN_GIT\" -C \"$source\" rev-parse --show-ref-format)\"\n+\tref_storage_format=\"$(\"$MODERN_GIT\" -C \"$source\" rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format)\"\n \tobjectformat=\"$(\"$MODERN_GIT\" -C \"$source\" rev-parse --show-object-format)\"\n \tmkdir -p \"$repo/.git\"\n \t(\n@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ test_perf_create_repo_from () {\n \t) &&\n \t(\n \t\tcd \"$repo\" &&\n-\t\t\"$MODERN_GIT\" init -q --ref-storage-format=\"$refformat\" --object-format=\"$objectformat\" &&\n+\t\t\"$MODERN_GIT\" init -q --ref-storage-format=\"$ref_storage_format\" --object-format=\"$objectformat\" &&\n \t\ttest_perf_do_repo_symlink_config_ &&\n \t\tmv .git/hooks .git/hooks-disabled 2>/dev/null &&\n \t\tif test -f .git/index.lock\ndiff --git a/t/t0001-init.sh b/t/t0001-init.sh\nindex df9a2ff2da..b4f19d8077 100755\n--- a/t/t0001-init.sh\n+++ b/t/t0001-init.sh\n@@ -657,7 +657,7 @@ test_expect_success 'init warns about invalid init.defaultRefFormat' '\n \tgit init repo 2>err &&\n \ttest_cmp expect err &&\n \n-\tgit -C repo rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\tgit -C repo rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \techo $GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT >expected &&\n \ttest_cmp expected actual\n '\n@@ -669,7 +669,7 @@ test_expect_success 'default ref format' '\n \t\tgit init refformat\n \t) &&\n \tgit version --build-options | sed -ne \"s/^default-ref-format: //p\" >expect &&\n-\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n '\n \n@@ -692,7 +692,7 @@ do\n \t\ttest_cmp expect actual &&\n \n \t\techo $format >expect &&\n-\t\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\t\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \t\ttest_cmp expect actual\n \t'\n \n@@ -700,7 +700,7 @@ do\n \t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refformat\" &&\n \t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$format refformat &&\n \t\techo $format >expect &&\n-\t\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\t\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \t\ttest_cmp expect actual\n \t'\n \n@@ -713,7 +713,7 @@ do\n \t\t) &&\n \n \t\techo $format >expect &&\n-\t\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\t\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \t\ttest_cmp expect actual\n \t'\n \n@@ -721,16 +721,16 @@ do\n \t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refformat\" &&\n \t\tGIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=garbage git init --ref-storage-format=$format refformat &&\n \t\techo $format >expect &&\n-\t\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\t\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \t\ttest_cmp expect actual\n \t'\n \n \ttest_expect_success \"reinit repository with GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=$format does not change format\" '\n \t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refformat\" &&\n \t\tgit init refformat &&\n-\t\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-format >expect &&\n+\t\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >expect &&\n \t\tGIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=$format git init refformat &&\n-\t\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\t\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \t\ttest_cmp expect actual\n \t'\n done\n@@ -739,7 +739,7 @@ test_expect_success \"--ref-storage-format= overrides GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\" '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refformat\" &&\n \tGIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=files git init --ref-storage-format=reftable refformat &&\n \techo reftable >expect &&\n-\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n '\n \n@@ -749,7 +749,7 @@ test_expect_success \"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT= overrides init.defaultRefFormat\" '\n \n \tGIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=reftable git init refformat &&\n \techo reftable >expect &&\n-\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n '\n \n@@ -761,7 +761,7 @@ test_expect_success \"init with feature.experimental=true\" '\n \t\tgit init refformat\n \t) &&\n \techo reftable >expect &&\n-\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n '\n \n@@ -774,7 +774,7 @@ test_expect_success \"init.defaultRefFormat overrides feature.experimental=true\"\n \t\tgit init refformat\n \t) &&\n \techo files >expect &&\n-\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n '\n \n@@ -783,7 +783,7 @@ test_expect_success \"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT= overrides feature.experimental=true\n \ttest_config_global feature.experimental true &&\n \tGIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=files git init refformat &&\n \techo files >expect &&\n-\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n '\n \n@@ -794,7 +794,7 @@ do\n \t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format refformat &&\n \t\tgit init --ref-storage-format=$from_format refformat &&\n \t\techo $from_format >expect &&\n-\t\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\t\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \t\ttest_cmp expect actual\n \t'\n \n@@ -814,7 +814,7 @@ do\n \t\t\ttest_must_fail git init --ref-storage-format=$to_format refformat 2>err &&\n \t\t\ttest_cmp expect err &&\n \t\t\techo $from_format >expect &&\n-\t\t\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\t\t\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \t\t\ttest_cmp expect actual\n \t\t'\n \tdone\n@@ -933,7 +933,7 @@ test_expect_success 'init with includeIf.onbranch condition' '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n \tgit -c includeIf.onbranch:main.path=nonexistent init repo &&\n \techo $GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT >expect &&\n-\tgit -C repo rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\tgit -C repo rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n '\n \n@@ -942,7 +942,7 @@ test_expect_success 'init with includeIf.onbranch condition with existing direct\n \tmkdir repo &&\n \tgit -c includeIf.onbranch:nonexistent.path=/does/not/exist init repo &&\n \techo $GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT >expect &&\n-\tgit -C repo rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\tgit -C repo rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n '\n \n@@ -951,7 +951,7 @@ test_expect_success 're-init with includeIf.onbranch condition' '\n \tgit init repo &&\n \tgit -c includeIf.onbranch:nonexistent.path=/does/not/exist init repo &&\n \techo $GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT >expect &&\n-\tgit -C repo rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\tgit -C repo rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n '\n \ndiff --git a/t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh b/t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh\nindex d325f17a14..b6db54430a 100755\n--- a/t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh\n+++ b/t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh\n@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ test_expect_success 'init: creates basic reftable structures' '\n \ttest_path_is_dir repo/.git/reftable &&\n \ttest_path_is_file repo/.git/reftable/tables.list &&\n \techo reftable >expect &&\n-\tgit -C repo rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\tgit -C repo rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n '\n \n@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ test_expect_success 'init: sha256 object format via environment variable' '\n \tsha256\n \treftable\n \tEOF\n-\tgit -C repo rev-parse --show-object-format --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\tgit -C repo rev-parse --show-object-format --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n '\n \n@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ test_expect_success 'init: sha256 object format via option' '\n \tsha256\n \treftable\n \tEOF\n-\tgit -C repo rev-parse --show-object-format --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\tgit -C repo rev-parse --show-object-format --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n '\n \n@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ test_expect_success 'clone: can clone reftable repository' '\n \n \tgit clone repo cloned &&\n \techo reftable >expect &&\n-\tgit -C cloned rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\tgit -C cloned rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual &&\n \ttest_path_is_file cloned/file1\n '\n@@ -171,11 +171,11 @@ test_expect_success 'clone: can clone reffiles into reftable repository' '\n \tgit -C reftable rev-parse HEAD >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual &&\n \n-\tgit -C reftable rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\tgit -C reftable rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \techo reftable >expect &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual &&\n \n-\tgit -C reffiles rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\tgit -C reffiles rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \techo files >expect &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n '\n@@ -190,11 +190,11 @@ test_expect_success 'clone: can clone reftable into reffiles repository' '\n \tgit -C reffiles rev-parse HEAD >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual &&\n \n-\tgit -C reftable rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\tgit -C reftable rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \techo reftable >expect &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual &&\n \n-\tgit -C reffiles rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\tgit -C reffiles rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \techo files >expect &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n '\ndiff --git a/t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh b/t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh\nindex 204dd79b41..ecf6411288 100755\n--- a/t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh\n+++ b/t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh\n@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ test_migration () {\n \t\ttest_cmp expect_logs actual_logs\n \tfi &&\n \n-\tgit -C \"$repo\" rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\tgit -C \"$repo\" rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \techo \"$format\" >expect &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n }\n@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ do\n \t\t\ttest_grep \"Finished dry-run migration of refs\" output &&\n \t\t\ttest_path_is_dir repo/.git/ref_migration.* &&\n \t\t\techo $from_format >expect &&\n-\t\t\tgit -C repo rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\t\t\tgit -C repo rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \t\t\ttest_cmp expect actual\n \t\t'\n \ndiff --git a/t/t1500-rev-parse.sh b/t/t1500-rev-parse.sh\nindex 4174ca40c3..30bf8a4d0a 100755\n--- a/t/t1500-rev-parse.sh\n+++ b/t/t1500-rev-parse.sh\n@@ -241,19 +241,19 @@ test_expect_success RUST 'rev-parse --show-object-format in repo with compat mod\n \t)\n '\n \n-test_expect_success 'rev-parse --show-ref-format' '\n+test_expect_success 'rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format' '\n \ttest_detect_ref_format >expect &&\n-\tgit rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\tgit rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n '\n \n-test_expect_success 'rev-parse --show-ref-format with invalid storage' '\n+test_expect_success 'rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format with invalid storage' '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n \tgit init repo &&\n \t(\n \t\tcd repo &&\n \t\tgit config extensions.refstorage broken &&\n-\t\ttest_must_fail git rev-parse --show-ref-format 2>err &&\n+\t\ttest_must_fail git rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format 2>err &&\n \t\ttest_grep \"error: invalid value for ${SQ}extensions.refstorage${SQ}: ${SQ}broken${SQ}\" err\n \t)\n '\ndiff --git a/t/t5601-clone.sh b/t/t5601-clone.sh\nindex 202d86bc83..06f6121f82 100755\n--- a/t/t5601-clone.sh\n+++ b/t/t5601-clone.sh\n@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ test_expect_success 'clone with files ref format' '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf ref-storage\" &&\n \tgit clone --ref-storage-format=files --mirror src ref-storage &&\n \techo files >expect &&\n-\tgit -C ref-storage rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\tgit -C ref-storage rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n '\n \ndiff --git a/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh b/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh\nindex 2ef85289b3..9707744644 100755\n--- a/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh\n+++ b/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh\n@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ test_description='submodules handle mixed ref storage formats'\n \n test_ref_format () {\n \techo \"$2\" >expect &&\n-\tgit -C \"$1\" rev-parse --show-ref-format >actual &&\n+\tgit -C \"$1\" rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n }\n \n\n-- \n2.55.0.1074.ge7621b4bad.dirty\n\n"},{"id":"552320","messageId":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-7-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","threadId":"66299","inReplyTo":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-0-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","subject":"[PATCH v3 07/13] help: rename \"default-ref-format\" to \"default-ref-storage-format\"","fromName":"Patrick Steinhardt","fromEmail":"ps@pks.im","sentAt":"2026-09-09T11:12:53Z","receivedAt":"2026-09-09T11:13:16Z","isPatch":true,"body":"When printing information about how specifically Git was built and what\ndefaults it has we also print the default ref storage format used when\ninitializing new repositories. This is to prepare for Git 3.0, where the\ndefault storage format will change from the \"files\" backend to the\n\"reftable\" backend.\n\nIn preceding commits we have adapted \"ref-format\" parameters to be\ncalled \"ref-storage-format\" instead to resolve some conceptual\nmismatches. The build information is now the only place where we still\nrefer to it as \"default-ref-format\".\n\nRename the field to \"default-ref-storage-format\" instead.\n\nSigned-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt \n---\n help.c | 2 +-\n t/t0001-init.sh | 2 +-\n 2 files changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)\n\ndiff --git a/help.c b/help.c\nindex 46241492ce..1dd8391eeb 100644\n--- a/help.c\n+++ b/help.c\n@@ -824,7 +824,7 @@ void get_version_info(struct strbuf *buf, int show_build_options)\n \t\t\t SHA1_UNSAFE_BACKEND);\n #endif\n \t\tstrbuf_addf(buf, \"SHA-256: %s\\n\", SHA256_BACKEND);\n-\t\tstrbuf_addf(buf, \"default-ref-format: %s\\n\",\n+\t\tstrbuf_addf(buf, \"default-ref-storage-format: %s\\n\",\n \t\t\t ref_storage_format_to_name(REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_DEFAULT));\n \t\tstrbuf_addf(buf, \"default-hash: %s\\n\", hash_algos[GIT_HASH_DEFAULT].name);\n \t}\ndiff --git a/t/t0001-init.sh b/t/t0001-init.sh\nindex b4f19d8077..6f4431bed7 100755\n--- a/t/t0001-init.sh\n+++ b/t/t0001-init.sh\n@@ -668,7 +668,7 @@ test_expect_success 'default ref format' '\n \t\tsane_unset GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT &&\n \t\tgit init refformat\n \t) &&\n-\tgit version --build-options | sed -ne \"s/^default-ref-format: //p\" >expect &&\n+\tgit version --build-options | sed -ne \"s/^default-ref-storage-format: //p\" >expect &&\n \tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n '\n\n-- \n2.55.0.1074.ge7621b4bad.dirty\n\n"},{"id":"552321","messageId":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-8-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","threadId":"66299","inReplyTo":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-0-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","subject":"[PATCH v3 08/13] refs: expose function to parse reference URIs","fromName":"Patrick Steinhardt","fromEmail":"ps@pks.im","sentAt":"2026-09-09T11:12:54Z","receivedAt":"2026-09-09T11:13:17Z","isPatch":true,"body":"In the next commit we're about to add more sites that want to parse a\nreference backends URI into a format and payload. Expose a new function\n`ref_storage_format_by_uri()` that enables this.\n\nSigned-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt \n---\n refs.c | 23 +++++++++++++++++++++++\n refs.h | 4 ++++\n setup.c | 48 ++++++++++++------------------------------------\n 3 files changed, 39 insertions(+), 36 deletions(-)\n\ndiff --git a/refs.c b/refs.c\nindex 92d5df5b71..951db56113 100644\n--- a/refs.c\n+++ b/refs.c\n@@ -54,6 +54,29 @@ enum ref_storage_format ref_storage_format_by_name(const char *name)\n \treturn REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN;\n }\n \n+enum ref_storage_format ref_storage_format_by_uri(const char *uri,\n+\t\t\t\t\t\t char **payload)\n+{\n+\tenum ref_storage_format format;\n+\tconst char *schema_end;\n+\tchar *name;\n+\n+\tschema_end = strstr(uri, \"://\");\n+\tif (!schema_end) {\n+\t\tname = xstrdup(uri);\n+\t\tif (payload)\n+\t\t\t*payload = NULL;\n+\t} else {\n+\t\tname = xstrndup(uri, schema_end - uri);\n+\t\tif (payload)\n+\t\t\t*payload = xstrdup(schema_end + 3);\n+\t}\n+\n+\tformat = ref_storage_format_by_name(name);\n+\tfree(name);\n+\treturn format;\n+}\n+\n const char *ref_storage_format_to_name(enum ref_storage_format ref_storage_format)\n {\n \tconst struct ref_storage_be *be = find_ref_storage_backend(ref_storage_format);\ndiff --git a/refs.h b/refs.h\nindex 9979446d15..ee3b8a62ef 100644\n--- a/refs.h\n+++ b/refs.h\n@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ struct worktree;\n enum ref_storage_format ref_storage_format_by_name(const char *name);\n const char *ref_storage_format_to_name(enum ref_storage_format ref_storage_format);\n \n+/* Parse a reference storage URI in the format \"[://]\". */\n+enum ref_storage_format ref_storage_format_by_uri(const char *uri,\n+\t\t\t\t\t\t char **payload);\n+\n enum ref_transaction_error {\n \t/* Default error code */\n \tREF_TRANSACTION_ERROR_GENERIC = -1,\ndiff --git a/setup.c b/setup.c\nindex dfe05d9a03..3be7dac452 100644\n--- a/setup.c\n+++ b/setup.c\n@@ -632,21 +632,6 @@ static enum extension_result handle_extension_v0(const char *var,\n \t\treturn EXTENSION_UNKNOWN;\n }\n \n-static void parse_reference_uri(const char *value, char **format,\n-\t\t\t\tchar **payload)\n-{\n-\tconst char *schema_end;\n-\n-\tschema_end = strstr(value, \"://\");\n-\tif (!schema_end) {\n-\t\t*format = xstrdup(value);\n-\t\t*payload = NULL;\n-\t} else {\n-\t\t*format = xstrndup(value, schema_end - value);\n-\t\t*payload = xstrdup_or_null(schema_end + 3);\n-\t}\n-}\n-\n /*\n * Record any new extensions in this function.\n */\n@@ -689,16 +674,13 @@ static enum extension_result handle_extension(const char *var,\n \t\treturn EXTENSION_OK;\n \t} else if (!strcmp(ext, \"refstorage\")) {\n \t\tunsigned int format;\n-\t\tchar *format_str;\n \n \t\tif (!value)\n \t\t\treturn config_error_nonbool(var);\n \n-\t\tparse_reference_uri(value, &format_str,\n-\t\t\t\t &data->ref_storage_payload);\n-\n-\t\tformat = ref_storage_format_by_name(format_str);\n-\t\tfree(format_str);\n+\t\tFREE_AND_NULL(data->ref_storage_payload);\n+\t\tformat = ref_storage_format_by_uri(value,\n+\t\t\t\t\t\t &data->ref_storage_payload);\n \n \t\tif (format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n \t\t\treturn error(_(\"invalid value for '%s': '%s'\"),\n@@ -2069,16 +2051,12 @@ const char *setup_git_directory_gently(struct repository *repo, int *nongit_ok)\n \t\t\t */\n \t\t\tref_backend_uri = getenv(GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND_ENVIRONMENT);\n \t\t\tif (ref_backend_uri) {\n-\t\t\t\tchar *format;\n-\n-\t\t\t\tfree(discovery.format.ref_storage_payload);\n-\n-\t\t\t\tparse_reference_uri(ref_backend_uri, &format, &discovery.format.ref_storage_payload);\n-\t\t\t\tdiscovery.format.ref_storage_format = ref_storage_format_by_name(format);\n+\t\t\t\tFREE_AND_NULL(discovery.format.ref_storage_payload);\n+\t\t\t\tdiscovery.format.ref_storage_format =\n+\t\t\t\t\tref_storage_format_by_uri(ref_backend_uri,\n+\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t &discovery.format.ref_storage_payload);\n \t\t\t\tif (discovery.format.ref_storage_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n-\t\t\t\t\tdie(_(\"unknown ref storage format: '%s'\"), format);\n-\n-\t\t\t\tfree(format);\n+\t\t\t\t\tdie(_(\"unknown ref storage format: '%s'\"), ref_backend_uri);\n \t\t\t}\n \n \t\t\tif (apply_repository_format(repo, &discovery.format,\n@@ -2806,18 +2784,16 @@ static void repository_format_configure(struct repository_format *repo_fmt,\n \n \tref_backend_uri = getenv(GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND_ENVIRONMENT);\n \tif (ref_backend_uri) {\n-\t\tchar *backend, *payload;\n \t\tenum ref_storage_format format;\n+\t\tchar *payload;\n \n-\t\tparse_reference_uri(ref_backend_uri, &backend, &payload);\n-\t\tformat = ref_storage_format_by_name(backend);\n+\t\tformat = ref_storage_format_by_uri(ref_backend_uri, &payload);\n \t\tif (format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n-\t\t\tdie(_(\"unknown ref storage format: '%s'\"), backend);\n+\t\t\tdie(_(\"unknown ref storage format: '%s'\"), ref_backend_uri);\n \n \t\trepo_fmt->ref_storage_format = format;\n+\t\tfree(repo_fmt->ref_storage_payload);\n \t\trepo_fmt->ref_storage_payload = payload;\n-\n-\t\tfree(backend);\n \t}\n }\n \n\n-- \n2.55.0.1074.ge7621b4bad.dirty\n\n"},{"id":"552323","messageId":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-9-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","threadId":"66299","inReplyTo":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-0-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","subject":"[PATCH v3 09/13] setup: refactor how we configure the ref storage format","fromName":"Patrick Steinhardt","fromEmail":"ps@pks.im","sentAt":"2026-09-09T11:12:55Z","receivedAt":"2026-09-09T11:13:21Z","isPatch":true,"body":"When (re)initializing a repository we need to figure out the ref storage\nformat that the repository ought to use. This logic is surprisingly\ncomplex, as we have grown a lot of different mechanisms over time to\nconfigure the format. Unfortunately, as a result of this organic growth,\nthe logic that configures the storage format has grown very complex.\n\nThe biggest culprit here is that we're mixing the logic that determines\nthe desired storage format with the logic that validates whether the end\nresult is sane. This leads to some repetitive code, and makes it very\neasy to forget validation for some of the branches.\n\nIn fact, the way we handle GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND shows exactly one such\nedge case where we don't properly validate. When initializing a\nrepository with one storage format and then reinitializing it with the\nenvironment variable set to a different format then we'd corrupt the\nrepository because we silently change the format:\n\n $ git init repo\n $ git -C repo commit --allow-empty -m message\n $ GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND=reftable git -C repo init\n fatal: could not open '.../refs/heads' for writing: Is a directory\n $ git -C repo log\n fatal: your current branch appears to be broken\n\nRefactor the code so that we clearly distinguish between these two\ndifferent concerns. This lets us clearly spell out the precedence order\nand makes the whole logic significantly easier to extend going forward.\n\nNote that the new logic intentionally changes the precedence order so\nthat \"GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND\" is now overridden by the\n\"--ref-storage-format=\" command line option. This matches our usual\nprecedence order, where explicit command line arguments override\nenvironment variables.\n\nSigned-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt \n---\n setup.c | 103 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---------------------\n t/t0001-init.sh | 12 ++++++-\n 2 files changed, 75 insertions(+), 40 deletions(-)\n\ndiff --git a/setup.c b/setup.c\nindex 3be7dac452..38fa5e854c 100644\n--- a/setup.c\n+++ b/setup.c\n@@ -2674,7 +2674,7 @@ static void separate_git_dir(struct repository *repo,\n \n struct default_format_config {\n \tint hash;\n-\tenum ref_storage_format ref_format;\n+\tenum ref_storage_format ref_storage_format;\n };\n \n static int read_default_format_config(const char *key, const char *value,\n@@ -2699,8 +2699,8 @@ static int read_default_format_config(const char *key, const char *value,\n \t\tret = git_config_string(&str, key, value);\n \t\tif (ret)\n \t\t\tgoto out;\n-\t\tcfg->ref_format = ref_storage_format_by_name(str);\n-\t\tif (cfg->ref_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n+\t\tcfg->ref_storage_format = ref_storage_format_by_name(str);\n+\t\tif (cfg->ref_storage_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n \t\t\twarning(_(\"unknown ref storage format '%s'\"), str);\n \t\tgoto out;\n \t}\n@@ -2710,9 +2710,9 @@ static int read_default_format_config(const char *key, const char *value,\n \t * \"init.defaultRefFormat\" takes precedence over this setting.\n \t */\n \tif (!strcmp(key, \"feature.experimental\") &&\n-\t cfg->ref_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN &&\n+\t cfg->ref_storage_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN &&\n \t git_config_bool(key, value)) {\n-\t\tcfg->ref_format = REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_REFTABLE;\n+\t\tcfg->ref_storage_format = REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_REFTABLE;\n \t\tret = 0;\n \t\tgoto out;\n \t}\n@@ -2724,18 +2724,18 @@ static int read_default_format_config(const char *key, const char *value,\n }\n \n static void repository_format_configure(struct repository_format *repo_fmt,\n-\t\t\t\t\tint hash, enum ref_storage_format ref_format)\n+\t\t\t\t\tint hash, enum ref_storage_format ref_storage_format)\n {\n \tstruct default_format_config cfg = {\n \t\t.hash = GIT_HASH_UNKNOWN,\n-\t\t.ref_format = REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN,\n+\t\t.ref_storage_format = REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN,\n \t};\n \tstruct config_options opts = {\n \t\t.respect_includes = 1,\n \t\t.ignore_repo = 1,\n \t\t.ignore_worktree = 1,\n \t};\n-\tconst char *ref_backend_uri;\n+\tchar *ref_storage_payload = NULL;\n \tconst char *env;\n \n \tconfig_with_options(read_default_format_config, &cfg, NULL, NULL, &opts);\n@@ -2761,40 +2761,65 @@ static void repository_format_configure(struct repository_format *repo_fmt,\n \t\trepo_fmt->hash_algo = cfg.hash;\n \t}\n \n-\tenv = getenv(\"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\");\n-\tif (repo_fmt->version >= 0 &&\n-\t ref_format != REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN &&\n-\t ref_format != repo_fmt->ref_storage_format) {\n-\t\tdie(_(\"attempt to reinitialize repository with different reference storage format\"));\n-\t} else if (ref_format != REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN) {\n-\t\trepo_fmt->ref_storage_format = ref_format;\n-\t} else if (env) {\n-\t\tref_format = ref_storage_format_by_name(env);\n-\t\tif (ref_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n-\t\t\tdie(_(\"unknown ref storage format '%s'\"), env);\n-\t\tif (repo_fmt->version < 0 ||\n-\t\t repo_fmt->ref_storage_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n-\t\t\trepo_fmt->ref_storage_format = ref_format;\n-\t} else if (cfg.ref_format != REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN) {\n-\t\trepo_fmt->ref_storage_format = cfg.ref_format;\n+\t/*\n+\t * We have the following order of preference when configuring the ref\n+\t * storage format:\n+\t *\n+\t * 1. Explicit override via the command line, like in `git init\n+\t * --ref-storage-format=`.\n+\t *\n+\t * 2. Explicit override via the environment with\n+\t * GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND.\n+\t *\n+\t * 3. Existing repository format. All the subsequent sources only\n+\t * kick in when there is no repository yet.\n+\t *\n+\t * 4. The default ref storage format for new repositories as\n+\t * configured via \"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\".\n+\t *\n+\t * 5. The default ref storage format for new repositories as\n+\t * configured via \"init.defaultRefFormat\"\n+\t *\n+\t * 6. Otherwise, we fall back to the default ref storage format\n+\t * compiled into Git.\n+\t */\n+\tif (ref_storage_format != REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN) {\n+\t\t/* nothing to do */\n+\t} else if ((env = getenv(GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND_ENVIRONMENT))) {\n+\t\tref_storage_format = ref_storage_format_by_uri(env, &ref_storage_payload);\n+\t\tif (ref_storage_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n+\t\t\tdie(_(\"unknown ref storage format specified via %s: '%s'\"),\n+\t\t\t GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND_ENVIRONMENT, env);\n+\t} else if (repo_fmt->version >= 0) {\n+\t\tref_storage_format = repo_fmt->ref_storage_format;\n+\t\tref_storage_payload = xstrdup_or_null(repo_fmt->ref_storage_payload);\n+\t} else if ((env = getenv(\"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\"))) {\n+\t\tref_storage_format = ref_storage_format_by_name(env);\n+\t\tif (ref_storage_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n+\t\t\tdie(_(\"unknown ref storage format specified via %s: '%s'\"),\n+\t\t\t \"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\", env);\n+\t} else if (cfg.ref_storage_format != REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN) {\n+\t\tref_storage_format = cfg.ref_storage_format;\n \t} else {\n-\t\trepo_fmt->ref_storage_format = REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_DEFAULT;\n+\t\tref_storage_format = REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_DEFAULT;\n \t}\n \n-\n-\tref_backend_uri = getenv(GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND_ENVIRONMENT);\n-\tif (ref_backend_uri) {\n-\t\tenum ref_storage_format format;\n-\t\tchar *payload;\n-\n-\t\tformat = ref_storage_format_by_uri(ref_backend_uri, &payload);\n-\t\tif (format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n-\t\t\tdie(_(\"unknown ref storage format: '%s'\"), ref_backend_uri);\n-\n-\t\trepo_fmt->ref_storage_format = format;\n-\t\tfree(repo_fmt->ref_storage_payload);\n-\t\trepo_fmt->ref_storage_payload = payload;\n-\t}\n+\t/*\n+\t * If we have a preexisting repository we need to verify that its\n+\t * current ref storage format does not change.\n+\t */\n+\tif (repo_fmt->version >= 0) {\n+\t\tif (ref_storage_format != repo_fmt->ref_storage_format)\n+\t\t\tdie(_(\"attempt to reinitialize repository with different reference storage format\"));\n+\t\tif ((ref_storage_payload || repo_fmt->ref_storage_payload) &&\n+\t\t strcmp(ref_storage_payload ? ref_storage_payload : \"\",\n+\t\t\t repo_fmt->ref_storage_payload ? repo_fmt->ref_storage_payload : \"\"))\n+\t\t\tdie(_(\"attempt to reinitialize repository with different reference storage payload\"));\n+\t}\n+\n+\tfree(repo_fmt->ref_storage_payload);\n+\trepo_fmt->ref_storage_format = ref_storage_format;\n+\trepo_fmt->ref_storage_payload = ref_storage_payload;\n }\n \n int init_db(struct repository *repo,\ndiff --git a/t/t0001-init.sh b/t/t0001-init.sh\nindex 6f4431bed7..ca44dfc1ce 100755\n--- a/t/t0001-init.sh\n+++ b/t/t0001-init.sh\n@@ -643,12 +643,22 @@ test_expect_success DEFAULT_REPO_FORMAT 'extensions.refStorage with unknown back\n test_expect_success 'init with GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=garbage' '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refformat\" &&\n \tcat >expect <<-EOF &&\n-\tfatal: unknown ref storage format ${SQ}garbage${SQ}\n+\tfatal: unknown ref storage format specified via GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT: ${SQ}garbage${SQ}\n \tEOF\n \ttest_must_fail env GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=garbage git init refformat 2>err &&\n \ttest_cmp expect err\n '\n \n+test_expect_success 'GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND refuses to reinitialize with different storage format' '\n+\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refbackend\" &&\n+\tgit init --ref-storage-format=files refbackend &&\n+\tcat >expect <<-EOF &&\n+\tfatal: attempt to reinitialize repository with different reference storage format\n+\tEOF\n+\ttest_must_fail env GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND=reftable git init refbackend 2>err &&\n+\ttest_cmp expect err\n+'\n+\n test_expect_success 'init warns about invalid init.defaultRefFormat' '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n \ttest_config_global init.defaultRefFormat garbage &&\n\n-- \n2.55.0.1074.ge7621b4bad.dirty\n\n"},{"id":"552322","messageId":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-10-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","threadId":"66299","inReplyTo":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-0-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","subject":"[PATCH v3 10/13] setup: rename ref storage format environment variables","fromName":"Patrick Steinhardt","fromEmail":"ps@pks.im","sentAt":"2026-09-09T11:12:56Z","receivedAt":"2026-09-09T11:13:23Z","isPatch":true,"body":"With the same reasoning as for git-init(1), rename the environment\nvariables GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND and GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT to\nGIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT and GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT, respectively.\nThe old names are kept as an alias to retain compatibility.\n\nWhile at it, fix indentation for `GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT` docs to use\ntabs instead of spaces.\n\nSigned-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt \n---\n Documentation/config/init.adoc | 2 +-\n Documentation/git.adoc | 16 +++++++----\n environment.h | 1 +\n setup.c | 28 +++++++++++++++----\n t/t0001-init.sh | 50 +++++++++++++++++-----------------\n t/t1419-exclude-refs.sh | 16 +++++------\n t/t1423-ref-backend.sh | 18 ++++++------\n t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh | 14 +++++-----\n t/test-lib.sh | 8 +++---\n 9 files changed, 88 insertions(+), 65 deletions(-)\n\ndiff --git a/Documentation/config/init.adoc b/Documentation/config/init.adoc\nindex a048f0bddc..f82fcf25e6 100644\n--- a/Documentation/config/init.adoc\n+++ b/Documentation/config/init.adoc\n@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ endif::[]\n `init.defaultRefFormat`::\n \tAllows overriding the default ref storage format for new repositories.\n \tSee `--ref-storage-format=` in linkgit:git-init[1]. Both the command line\n-\toption and the `GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT` environment variable take\n+\toption and the `GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT` environment variable take\n \tprecedence over this config.\n \n init.defaultSubmodulePathConfig::\ndiff --git a/Documentation/git.adoc b/Documentation/git.adoc\nindex 23ba65656e..cee0da28db 100644\n--- a/Documentation/git.adoc\n+++ b/Documentation/git.adoc\n@@ -590,15 +590,21 @@ double-quotes and respecting backslash escapes. E.g., the value\n \tis always used. The default is \"sha1\".\n \tSee `--object-format` in linkgit:git-init[1].\n \n-`GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT`::\n-\tIf this variable is set, the default reference backend format for new\n+`GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT`::\n+\tIf this variable is set, the default ref storage format for new\n \trepositories will be set to this value. The default is \"files\".\n \tSee `--ref-storage-format` in linkgit:git-init[1].\n \n+`GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT`::\n+\tDeprecated alias of `GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT`.\n+\n+`GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT`::\n+\tSpecify which ref storage format to use along with its URI.\n+\tSee `extensions.refStorage` option in linkgit:git-config[1] for more\n+\tdetails. Overrides the config variable when used.\n+\n `GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND`::\n- Specify which reference backend to be used along with its URI.\n- See `extensions.refStorage` option in linkgit:git-config[1] for more\n- details. Overrides the config variable when used.\n+\tDeprecated alias of `GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT`.\n \n Git Commits\n ~~~~~~~~~~~\ndiff --git a/environment.h b/environment.h\nindex e7ec5b0437..4bd8f08dee 100644\n--- a/environment.h\n+++ b/environment.h\n@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@\n #define GIT_TEXT_DOMAIN_DIR_ENVIRONMENT \"GIT_TEXTDOMAINDIR\"\n #define GIT_ATTR_SOURCE_ENVIRONMENT \"GIT_ATTR_SOURCE\"\n #define GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND_ENVIRONMENT \"GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND\"\n+#define GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_ENVIRONMENT \"GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\"\n \n /*\n * Environment variable used to propagate the --no-advice global option to the\ndiff --git a/setup.c b/setup.c\nindex 38fa5e854c..621cf87c9c 100644\n--- a/setup.c\n+++ b/setup.c\n@@ -2049,7 +2049,9 @@ const char *setup_git_directory_gently(struct repository *repo, int *nongit_ok)\n \t\t\t * The env variable should override the repository config\n \t\t\t * for 'extensions.refStorage'.\n \t\t\t */\n-\t\t\tref_backend_uri = getenv(GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND_ENVIRONMENT);\n+\t\t\tref_backend_uri = getenv(GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_ENVIRONMENT);\n+\t\t\tif (!ref_backend_uri)\n+\t\t\t\tref_backend_uri = getenv(GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND_ENVIRONMENT);\n \t\t\tif (ref_backend_uri) {\n \t\t\t\tFREE_AND_NULL(discovery.format.ref_storage_payload);\n \t\t\t\tdiscovery.format.ref_storage_format =\n@@ -2769,22 +2771,31 @@ static void repository_format_configure(struct repository_format *repo_fmt,\n \t * --ref-storage-format=`.\n \t *\n \t * 2. Explicit override via the environment with\n-\t * GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND.\n+\t * \"GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\".\n \t *\n-\t * 3. Existing repository format. All the subsequent sources only\n+\t * 3. Its deprecated equivalent \"GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND\".\n+\t *\n+\t * 4. Existing repository format. All the subsequent sources only\n \t * kick in when there is no repository yet.\n \t *\n \t * 4. The default ref storage format for new repositories as\n-\t * configured via \"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\".\n+\t * configured via \"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\".\n+\t *\n+\t * 5. Its deprecated equivalent \"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\".\n \t *\n-\t * 5. The default ref storage format for new repositories as\n+\t * 6. The default ref storage format for new repositories as\n \t * configured via \"init.defaultRefFormat\"\n \t *\n-\t * 6. Otherwise, we fall back to the default ref storage format\n+\t * 7. Otherwise, we fall back to the default ref storage format\n \t * compiled into Git.\n \t */\n \tif (ref_storage_format != REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN) {\n \t\t/* nothing to do */\n+\t} else if ((env = getenv(GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_ENVIRONMENT))) {\n+\t\tref_storage_format = ref_storage_format_by_uri(env, &ref_storage_payload);\n+\t\tif (ref_storage_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n+\t\t\tdie(_(\"unknown ref storage format specified via %s: '%s'\"),\n+\t\t\t GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_ENVIRONMENT, env);\n \t} else if ((env = getenv(GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND_ENVIRONMENT))) {\n \t\tref_storage_format = ref_storage_format_by_uri(env, &ref_storage_payload);\n \t\tif (ref_storage_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n@@ -2793,6 +2804,11 @@ static void repository_format_configure(struct repository_format *repo_fmt,\n \t} else if (repo_fmt->version >= 0) {\n \t\tref_storage_format = repo_fmt->ref_storage_format;\n \t\tref_storage_payload = xstrdup_or_null(repo_fmt->ref_storage_payload);\n+\t} else if ((env = getenv(\"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\"))) {\n+\t\tref_storage_format = ref_storage_format_by_name(env);\n+\t\tif (ref_storage_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n+\t\t\tdie(_(\"unknown ref storage format specified via %s: '%s'\"),\n+\t\t\t \"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\", env);\n \t} else if ((env = getenv(\"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\"))) {\n \t\tref_storage_format = ref_storage_format_by_name(env);\n \t\tif (ref_storage_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\ndiff --git a/t/t0001-init.sh b/t/t0001-init.sh\nindex ca44dfc1ce..af9a7ba958 100755\n--- a/t/t0001-init.sh\n+++ b/t/t0001-init.sh\n@@ -640,22 +640,22 @@ test_expect_success DEFAULT_REPO_FORMAT 'extensions.refStorage with unknown back\n \ttest_grep \"invalid value for ${SQ}extensions.refstorage${SQ}: ${SQ}garbage${SQ}\" err\n '\n \n-test_expect_success 'init with GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=garbage' '\n+test_expect_success 'init with GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=garbage' '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refformat\" &&\n \tcat >expect <<-EOF &&\n-\tfatal: unknown ref storage format specified via GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT: ${SQ}garbage${SQ}\n+\tfatal: unknown ref storage format specified via GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT: ${SQ}garbage${SQ}\n \tEOF\n-\ttest_must_fail env GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=garbage git init refformat 2>err &&\n+\ttest_must_fail env GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=garbage git init refformat 2>err &&\n \ttest_cmp expect err\n '\n \n-test_expect_success 'GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND refuses to reinitialize with different storage format' '\n+test_expect_success 'GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT refuses to reinitialize with different storage format' '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refbackend\" &&\n \tgit init --ref-storage-format=files refbackend &&\n \tcat >expect <<-EOF &&\n \tfatal: attempt to reinitialize repository with different reference storage format\n \tEOF\n-\ttest_must_fail env GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND=reftable git init refbackend 2>err &&\n+\ttest_must_fail env GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=reftable git init refbackend 2>err &&\n \ttest_cmp expect err\n '\n \n@@ -668,14 +668,14 @@ test_expect_success 'init warns about invalid init.defaultRefFormat' '\n \ttest_cmp expect err &&\n \n \tgit -C repo rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n-\techo $GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT >expected &&\n+\techo $GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT >expected &&\n \ttest_cmp expected actual\n '\n \n test_expect_success 'default ref format' '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refformat\" &&\n \t(\n-\t\tsane_unset GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT &&\n+\t\tsane_unset GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT &&\n \t\tgit init refformat\n \t) &&\n \tgit version --build-options | sed -ne \"s/^default-ref-storage-format: //p\" >expect &&\n@@ -686,9 +686,9 @@ test_expect_success 'default ref format' '\n backends=\"files reftable\"\n for format in $backends\n do\n-\ttest_expect_success DEFAULT_REPO_FORMAT \"init with GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=$format\" '\n+\ttest_expect_success DEFAULT_REPO_FORMAT \"init with GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=$format\" '\n \t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refformat\" &&\n-\t\tGIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=$format git init refformat &&\n+\t\tGIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=$format git init refformat &&\n \n \t\tif test $format = files\n \t\tthen\n@@ -718,7 +718,7 @@ do\n \t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refformat\" &&\n \t\ttest_config_global init.defaultRefFormat $format &&\n \t\t(\n-\t\t\tsane_unset GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT &&\n+\t\t\tsane_unset GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT &&\n \t\t\tgit init refformat\n \t\t) &&\n \n@@ -727,37 +727,37 @@ do\n \t\ttest_cmp expect actual\n \t'\n \n-\ttest_expect_success \"--ref-storage-format=$format overrides GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\" '\n+\ttest_expect_success \"--ref-storage-format=$format overrides GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\" '\n \t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refformat\" &&\n-\t\tGIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=garbage git init --ref-storage-format=$format refformat &&\n+\t\tGIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=garbage git init --ref-storage-format=$format refformat &&\n \t\techo $format >expect &&\n \t\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \t\ttest_cmp expect actual\n \t'\n \n-\ttest_expect_success \"reinit repository with GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=$format does not change format\" '\n+\ttest_expect_success \"reinit repository with GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=$format does not change format\" '\n \t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refformat\" &&\n \t\tgit init refformat &&\n \t\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >expect &&\n-\t\tGIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=$format git init refformat &&\n+\t\tGIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=$format git init refformat &&\n \t\tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \t\ttest_cmp expect actual\n \t'\n done\n \n-test_expect_success \"--ref-storage-format= overrides GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\" '\n+test_expect_success \"--ref-storage-format= overrides GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FOMAT\" '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refformat\" &&\n-\tGIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=files git init --ref-storage-format=reftable refformat &&\n+\tGIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=files git init --ref-storage-format=reftable refformat &&\n \techo reftable >expect &&\n \tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n '\n \n-test_expect_success \"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT= overrides init.defaultRefFormat\" '\n+test_expect_success \"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT= overrides init.defaultRefFormat\" '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refformat\" &&\n \ttest_config_global init.defaultRefFormat files &&\n \n-\tGIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=reftable git init refformat &&\n+\tGIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=reftable git init refformat &&\n \techo reftable >expect &&\n \tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n@@ -767,7 +767,7 @@ test_expect_success \"init with feature.experimental=true\" '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refformat\" &&\n \ttest_config_global feature.experimental true &&\n \t(\n-\t\tsane_unset GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT &&\n+\t\tsane_unset GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT &&\n \t\tgit init refformat\n \t) &&\n \techo reftable >expect &&\n@@ -780,7 +780,7 @@ test_expect_success \"init.defaultRefFormat overrides feature.experimental=true\"\n \ttest_config_global feature.experimental true &&\n \ttest_config_global init.defaultRefFormat files &&\n \t(\n-\t\tsane_unset GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT &&\n+\t\tsane_unset GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT &&\n \t\tgit init refformat\n \t) &&\n \techo files >expect &&\n@@ -788,10 +788,10 @@ test_expect_success \"init.defaultRefFormat overrides feature.experimental=true\"\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n '\n \n-test_expect_success \"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT= overrides feature.experimental=true\" '\n+test_expect_success \"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT= overrides feature.experimental=true\" '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refformat\" &&\n \ttest_config_global feature.experimental true &&\n-\tGIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=files git init refformat &&\n+\tGIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=files git init refformat &&\n \techo files >expect &&\n \tgit -C refformat rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n@@ -942,7 +942,7 @@ test_expect_success 'branch -m with the initial branch' '\n test_expect_success 'init with includeIf.onbranch condition' '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n \tgit -c includeIf.onbranch:main.path=nonexistent init repo &&\n-\techo $GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT >expect &&\n+\techo $GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT >expect &&\n \tgit -C repo rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n '\n@@ -951,7 +951,7 @@ test_expect_success 'init with includeIf.onbranch condition with existing direct\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n \tmkdir repo &&\n \tgit -c includeIf.onbranch:nonexistent.path=/does/not/exist init repo &&\n-\techo $GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT >expect &&\n+\techo $GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT >expect &&\n \tgit -C repo rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n '\n@@ -960,7 +960,7 @@ test_expect_success 're-init with includeIf.onbranch condition' '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n \tgit init repo &&\n \tgit -c includeIf.onbranch:nonexistent.path=/does/not/exist init repo &&\n-\techo $GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT >expect &&\n+\techo $GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT >expect &&\n \tgit -C repo rev-parse --show-ref-storage-format >actual &&\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n '\ndiff --git a/t/t1419-exclude-refs.sh b/t/t1419-exclude-refs.sh\nindex 04797aee59..50237a5aeb 100755\n--- a/t/t1419-exclude-refs.sh\n+++ b/t/t1419-exclude-refs.sh\n@@ -21,13 +21,13 @@ assert_jumps () {\n \tlocal nr=\"$1\"\n \tlocal trace=\"$2\"\n \n-\tcase \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\" in\n+\tcase \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\" in\n \tfiles)\n \t\tgrep -q \"name:jumps_made value:$nr$\" $trace;;\n \treftable)\n \t\tgrep -q \"name:reseeks_made value:$nr$\" $trace;;\n \t*)\n-\t\tBUG \"unhandled ref format $GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\";;\n+\t\tBUG \"unhandled ref storage format $GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\";;\n \tesac\n }\n \n@@ -93,13 +93,13 @@ test_expect_success 'adjacent, non-overlapping excluded regions' '\n \tfor_each_ref refs/heads/foo refs/heads/quux >expect &&\n \n \ttest_cmp expect actual &&\n-\tcase \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\" in\n+\tcase \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\" in\n \tfiles)\n \t\tassert_jumps 1 perf;;\n \treftable)\n \t\tassert_jumps 2 perf;;\n \t*)\n-\t\tBUG \"unhandled ref format $GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\";;\n+\t\tBUG \"unhandled ref storage format $GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\";;\n \tesac\n '\n \n@@ -125,13 +125,13 @@ test_expect_success 'several overlapping excluded regions' '\n \tfor_each_ref refs/heads/quux >expect &&\n \n \ttest_cmp expect actual &&\n-\tcase \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\" in\n+\tcase \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\" in\n \tfiles)\n \t\tassert_jumps 1 perf;;\n \treftable)\n \t\tassert_jumps 3 perf;;\n \t*)\n-\t\tBUG \"unhandled ref format $GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\";;\n+\t\tBUG \"unhandled ref storage format $GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\";;\n \tesac\n '\n \n@@ -141,13 +141,13 @@ test_expect_success 'unordered excludes' '\n \tfor_each_ref refs/heads/bar refs/heads/quux >expect &&\n \n \ttest_cmp expect actual &&\n-\tcase \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\" in\n+\tcase \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\" in\n \tfiles)\n \t\tassert_jumps 1 perf;;\n \treftable)\n \t\tassert_jumps 2 perf;;\n \t*)\n-\t\tBUG \"unhandled ref format $GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\";;\n+\t\tBUG \"unhandled ref storage format $GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\";;\n \tesac\n '\n \ndiff --git a/t/t1423-ref-backend.sh b/t/t1423-ref-backend.sh\nindex ab119a6568..525b2a19b4 100755\n--- a/t/t1423-ref-backend.sh\n+++ b/t/t1423-ref-backend.sh\n@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ test_description='Test reference backend URIs'\n # is the new URI to be set for the ref storage.\n # is the git subcommand to be run in the repository.\n # if 'config', set the backend via the 'extensions.refStorage' config.\n-# if 'env', set the backend via the 'GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND' env.\n+# if 'env', set the backend via the 'GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT' env.\n run_with_uri () {\n \trepo=$1 &&\n \tbackend=$2 &&\n@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ run_with_uri () {\n \tgit -C \"$repo\" config set core.repositoryformatversion 1 &&\n \tif test \"$via\" = \"env\"\n \tthen\n-\t\ttest_env GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND=\"$uri\" git -C \"$repo\" $cmd\n+\t\ttest_env GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=\"$uri\" git -C \"$repo\" $cmd\n \telif test \"$via\" = \"config\"\n \tthen\n \t\tgit -C \"$repo\" config set extensions.refStorage \"$uri\" &&\n@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ run_with_uri () {\n # is the original ref storage of the repo.\n # is the new URI to be set for the ref storage.\n # if 'config', set the backend via the 'extensions.refStorage' config.\n-# if 'env', set the backend via the 'GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND' env.\n+# if 'env', set the backend via the 'GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT' env.\n # (optional) if set, check if 'git-refs(1)' failed with the provided msg.\n test_refs_backend () {\n \trepo=$1 &&\n@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ test_refs_backend () {\n \tthen\n \t\tif test \"$via\" = \"env\"\n \t\tthen\n-\t\t\ttest_env GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND=\"$uri\" test_must_fail git -C \"$repo\" refs list 2>err\n+\t\t\ttest_env GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=\"$uri\" test_must_fail git -C \"$repo\" refs list 2>err\n \t\telif test \"$via\" = \"config\"\n \t\tthen\n \t\t\tgit -C \"$repo\" config set extensions.refStorage \"$uri\" &&\n@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ verify_files_exist () {\n \ttest_cmp expect $gitdir/HEAD\n \n \t# verify that backend specific files exist.\n-\tcase \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\" in\n+\tcase \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\" in\n \tfiles)\n \t\ttest_path_is_dir $refdir/refs/heads &&\n \t\ttest_path_is_file $refdir/HEAD;;\n@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ verify_files_exist () {\n \t\ttest_path_is_dir $refdir/reftable &&\n \t\ttest_path_is_file $refdir/reftable/tables.list;;\n \t*)\n-\t\tBUG \"unhandled ref format $GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\";;\n+\t\tBUG \"unhandled ref storage format $GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\";;\n \tesac\n }\n \n@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ do\n \ttest_expect_success \"migrating repository to $to_format with alternate refs directory\" '\n \t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo refdir\" &&\n \t\tmkdir refdir &&\n-\t\tGIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND=\"${from_format}://$(pwd)/refdir\" git init repo &&\n+\t\tGIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=\"${from_format}://$(pwd)/refdir\" git init repo &&\n \t\t(\n \t\t\tcd repo &&\n \n@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ test_expect_success 'initializing repository with alt ref directory' '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo refdir\" &&\n \tmkdir refdir &&\n \tBACKEND=\"$(test_detect_ref_format)://$(pwd)/refdir\" &&\n-\tGIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND=$BACKEND git init repo &&\n+\tGIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=$BACKEND git init repo &&\n \tverify_files_exist repo/.git refdir &&\n \t(\n \t\tcd repo &&\n@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ test_expect_success 'cloning repository with alt ref directory' '\n \ttest_commit -C source 3 &&\n \n \tBACKEND=\"$(test_detect_ref_format)://$(pwd)/refdir\" &&\n-\tGIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND=$BACKEND git clone source repo &&\n+\tGIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=$BACKEND git clone source repo &&\n \n \tgit -C repo config get extensions.refstorage >actual &&\n \techo $BACKEND >expect &&\ndiff --git a/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh b/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh\nindex 9707744644..197c02bcf0 100755\n--- a/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh\n+++ b/t/t7424-submodule-mixed-ref-formats.sh\n@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ test_ref_format () {\n \n for OTHER_FORMAT in files reftable\n do\n-\tif test \"$OTHER_FORMAT\" = \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\"\n+\tif test \"$OTHER_FORMAT\" = \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\"\n \tthen\n \t\tcontinue\n \tfi\n@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ test_expect_success 'add submodules with different ref storage format' '\n \tgit init submodule &&\n \ttest_commit -C submodule submodule-initial &&\n \tgit init upstream &&\n-\ttest_ref_format upstream \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\" &&\n+\ttest_ref_format upstream \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\" &&\n \tgit -C upstream submodule add --ref-storage-format=\"$OTHER_FORMAT\" \"file://$(pwd)/submodule\" &&\n \ttest_ref_format upstream/submodule \"$OTHER_FORMAT\"\n '\n@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ test_expect_success 'recursive clone propagates ref storage format' '\n \n \t# The upstream repository and its submodule should be using the default\n \t# ref format.\n-\ttest_ref_format upstream \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\" &&\n-\ttest_ref_format upstream/submodule \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\" &&\n+\ttest_ref_format upstream \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\" &&\n+\ttest_ref_format upstream/submodule \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\" &&\n \n \t# The cloned repositories should use the other ref format that we have\n \t# specified via `--ref-storage-format`. The option should propagate to cloned\n@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ test_expect_success 'clone submodules with different ref storage format' '\n \tgit -C upstream commit -m \"upstream submodule\" &&\n \n \tgit clone --no-recurse-submodules \"file://$(pwd)/upstream\" downstream &&\n-\ttest_ref_format downstream \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\" &&\n+\ttest_ref_format downstream \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\" &&\n \tgit -C downstream submodule update --init --ref-storage-format=$OTHER_FORMAT &&\n \ttest_ref_format downstream/submodule \"$OTHER_FORMAT\"\n '\n@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ test_expect_success 'status with mixed submodule ref storages' '\n \n \t# The main repository should use the default ref format now, whereas\n \t# the submodule should use the other format.\n-\ttest_ref_format main \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\" &&\n+\ttest_ref_format main \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\" &&\n \ttest_ref_format main/submodule \"$OTHER_FORMAT\" &&\n \n \tcat >expect <<-EOF &&\n@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ test_expect_success 'recursive pull with mixed formats' '\n \t# submodules have different formats.\n \tgit clone --no-recurse-submodules \"file://$(pwd)/upstream\" downstream &&\n \tgit -C downstream submodule update --init --ref-storage-format=$OTHER_FORMAT &&\n-\ttest_ref_format downstream \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\" &&\n+\ttest_ref_format downstream \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\" &&\n \ttest_ref_format downstream/submodule \"$OTHER_FORMAT\" &&\n \n \t# Update the upstream submodule as well as the owning repository such\ndiff --git a/t/test-lib.sh b/t/test-lib.sh\nindex 1f0505e412..60a2179a0a 100644\n--- a/t/test-lib.sh\n+++ b/t/test-lib.sh\n@@ -575,8 +575,8 @@ export EDITOR\n GIT_TEST_BUILTIN_HASH=$(\"$GIT_BINARY\" version --build-options | sed -ne 's/^default-hash: //p')\n GIT_DEFAULT_HASH=\"${GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_HASH:-$GIT_TEST_BUILTIN_HASH}\"\n export GIT_DEFAULT_HASH\n-GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=\"${GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT:-files}\"\n-export GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\n+GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=\"${GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT:-files}\"\n+export GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\n \n # Tests using GIT_TRACE typically don't want : output\n GIT_TRACE_BARE=1\n@@ -1752,13 +1752,13 @@ parisc* | hppa*)\n \t;;\n esac\n \n-case \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\" in\n+case \"$GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\" in\n files)\n \ttest_set_prereq REFFILES;;\n reftable)\n \ttest_set_prereq REFTABLE;;\n *)\n-\techo 2>&1 \"error: unknown ref format $GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\"\n+\techo 2>&1 \"error: unknown ref storage format $GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\"\n \texit 1\n \t;;\n esac\n\n-- \n2.55.0.1074.ge7621b4bad.dirty\n\n"},{"id":"552324","messageId":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-11-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","threadId":"66299","inReplyTo":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-0-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","subject":"[PATCH v3 11/13] t: rename GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT","fromName":"Patrick Steinhardt","fromEmail":"ps@pks.im","sentAt":"2026-09-09T11:12:57Z","receivedAt":"2026-09-09T11:13:27Z","isPatch":true,"body":"With the same reasoning as for all the other environment variables,\nrename the GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT environment variable to\nGIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT.\n\nNote that in this case, the old name is not retained for backwards\ncompatibility as this is only running in the context of tests anyway.\n\nSigned-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt \n---\n ci/run-build-and-tests.sh | 2 +-\n t/README | 4 ++--\n t/t0600-reffiles-backend.sh | 4 ++--\n t/t0601-reffiles-pack-refs.sh | 4 ++--\n t/t0602-reffiles-fsck.sh | 4 ++--\n t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh | 4 ++--\n t/t0612-reftable-jgit-compatibility.sh | 4 ++--\n t/t0613-reftable-write-options.sh | 4 ++--\n t/t0614-reftable-fsck.sh | 4 ++--\n t/t1463-refs-optimize.sh | 4 ++--\n t/test-lib-functions.sh | 2 +-\n t/test-lib.sh | 2 +-\n 12 files changed, 21 insertions(+), 21 deletions(-)\n\ndiff --git a/ci/run-build-and-tests.sh b/ci/run-build-and-tests.sh\nindex 1d9a0a736d..6a3b43b366 100755\n--- a/ci/run-build-and-tests.sh\n+++ b/ci/run-build-and-tests.sh\n@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ linux-sha256)\n \texport GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_HASH=sha256\n \t;;\n linux-reftable|linux-reftable-leaks|osx-reftable)\n-\texport GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=reftable\n+\texport GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=reftable\n \t;;\n \n esac\ndiff --git a/t/README b/t/README\nindex 9a9daaf2af..42716bb14a 100644\n--- a/t/README\n+++ b/t/README\n@@ -448,8 +448,8 @@ GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_HASH= specifies which hash algorithm to\n use in the test scripts. Recognized values for are \"sha1\"\n and \"sha256\".\n \n-GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT= specifies which ref storage format to use\n-in the test scripts. Recognized values for are \"files\" and\n+GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT= specifies which ref storage format\n+to use in the test scripts. Recognized values for are \"files\" and\n \"reftable\".\n \n GIT_TEST_NO_WRITE_REV_INDEX=, when true disables the\ndiff --git a/t/t0600-reffiles-backend.sh b/t/t0600-reffiles-backend.sh\nindex bbbf6fa422..23e38a1695 100755\n--- a/t/t0600-reffiles-backend.sh\n+++ b/t/t0600-reffiles-backend.sh\n@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ test_description='Test reffiles backend'\n \n GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME=main\n export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME\n-GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=files\n-export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\n+GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=files\n+export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\n \n . ./test-lib.sh\n \ndiff --git a/t/t0601-reffiles-pack-refs.sh b/t/t0601-reffiles-pack-refs.sh\nindex 3c706978ef..17283f8bea 100755\n--- a/t/t0601-reffiles-pack-refs.sh\n+++ b/t/t0601-reffiles-pack-refs.sh\n@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ semantic is still the same.\n \n GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME=main\n export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME\n-GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=files\n-export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\n+GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=files\n+export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\n \n . ./test-lib.sh\n \ndiff --git a/t/t0602-reffiles-fsck.sh b/t/t0602-reffiles-fsck.sh\nindex 13259821a0..10781417fd 100755\n--- a/t/t0602-reffiles-fsck.sh\n+++ b/t/t0602-reffiles-fsck.sh\n@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ test_description='Test reffiles backend consistency check'\n \n GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME=main\n export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME\n-GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=files\n-export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\n+GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=files\n+export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\n \n . ./test-lib.sh\n \ndiff --git a/t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh b/t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh\nindex b6db54430a..065d6a69b4 100755\n--- a/t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh\n+++ b/t/t0610-reftable-basics.sh\n@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ test_description='reftable basics'\n \n GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME=main\n export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME\n-GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=reftable\n-export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\n+GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=reftable\n+export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\n \n . ./test-lib.sh\n \ndiff --git a/t/t0612-reftable-jgit-compatibility.sh b/t/t0612-reftable-jgit-compatibility.sh\nindex 7df2ad5817..eddfd9a152 100755\n--- a/t/t0612-reftable-jgit-compatibility.sh\n+++ b/t/t0612-reftable-jgit-compatibility.sh\n@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ test_description='reftables are compatible with JGit'\n \n GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME=main\n export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME\n-GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=reftable\n-export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\n+GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=reftable\n+export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\n \n # JGit does not support the 'link' DIRC extension.\n GIT_TEST_SPLIT_INDEX=0\ndiff --git a/t/t0613-reftable-write-options.sh b/t/t0613-reftable-write-options.sh\nindex a65960d048..0b27d75fe3 100755\n--- a/t/t0613-reftable-write-options.sh\n+++ b/t/t0613-reftable-write-options.sh\n@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@\n \n test_description='reftable write options'\n \n-GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=reftable\n-export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\n+GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=reftable\n+export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\n # Disable auto-compaction for all tests as we explicitly control repacking of\n # refs.\n GIT_TEST_REFTABLE_AUTOCOMPACTION=false\ndiff --git a/t/t0614-reftable-fsck.sh b/t/t0614-reftable-fsck.sh\nindex d24b87f961..9576a82478 100755\n--- a/t/t0614-reftable-fsck.sh\n+++ b/t/t0614-reftable-fsck.sh\n@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@\n \n test_description='Test reftable backend consistency check'\n \n-GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=reftable\n-export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\n+GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=reftable\n+export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\n \n . ./test-lib.sh\n \ndiff --git a/t/t1463-refs-optimize.sh b/t/t1463-refs-optimize.sh\nindex 9afe3c1ed7..b4b9735828 100755\n--- a/t/t1463-refs-optimize.sh\n+++ b/t/t1463-refs-optimize.sh\n@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@ semantic is still the same.\n \n GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME=main\n export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME\n-GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=files\n-export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\n+GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=files\n+export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\n \n . ./test-lib.sh\n \ndiff --git a/t/test-lib-functions.sh b/t/test-lib-functions.sh\nindex ed9779b0f7..09a41d51ad 100644\n--- a/t/test-lib-functions.sh\n+++ b/t/test-lib-functions.sh\n@@ -1737,7 +1737,7 @@ test_detect_hash () {\n \n # Detect the ref format in use.\n test_detect_ref_format () {\n-\techo \"${GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT:-files}\"\n+\techo \"${GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT:-files}\"\n }\n \n # Load common hash metadata and common placeholder object IDs for use with\ndiff --git a/t/test-lib.sh b/t/test-lib.sh\nindex 60a2179a0a..321c2ba339 100644\n--- a/t/test-lib.sh\n+++ b/t/test-lib.sh\n@@ -575,7 +575,7 @@ export EDITOR\n GIT_TEST_BUILTIN_HASH=$(\"$GIT_BINARY\" version --build-options | sed -ne 's/^default-hash: //p')\n GIT_DEFAULT_HASH=\"${GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_HASH:-$GIT_TEST_BUILTIN_HASH}\"\n export GIT_DEFAULT_HASH\n-GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=\"${GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT:-files}\"\n+GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=\"${GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT:-files}\"\n export GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\n \n # Tests using GIT_TRACE typically don't want : output\n\n-- \n2.55.0.1074.ge7621b4bad.dirty\n\n"},{"id":"552325","messageId":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-12-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","threadId":"66299","inReplyTo":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-0-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","subject":"[PATCH v3 12/13] setup: rename \"init.defaultRefFormat\" to \"init.defaultRefStorageFormat\"","fromName":"Patrick Steinhardt","fromEmail":"ps@pks.im","sentAt":"2026-09-09T11:12:58Z","receivedAt":"2026-09-09T11:13:28Z","isPatch":true,"body":"With the same reasoning as for git-init(1), rename the\n\"init.defaultRefFormat\" config option to \"init.defaultRefStorageFormat\"\nand keep the old name as an alias.\n\nSigned-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt \n---\n Documentation/BreakingChanges.adoc | 2 +-\n Documentation/config/feature.adoc | 2 +-\n Documentation/config/init.adoc | 4 +++-\n setup.c | 8 +++++---\n t/t0001-init.sh | 16 ++++++++--------\n 5 files changed, 18 insertions(+), 14 deletions(-)\n\ndiff --git a/Documentation/BreakingChanges.adoc b/Documentation/BreakingChanges.adoc\nindex 73bb939359..c2cef3f528 100644\n--- a/Documentation/BreakingChanges.adoc\n+++ b/Documentation/BreakingChanges.adoc\n@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ Cf. <2f5de416-04ba-c23d-1e0b-83bb655829a7@zombino.com>,\n \"packed-refs\" file.\n +\n Users that get immediate benefit from the \"reftable\" backend could continue to\n-opt-in to the \"reftable\" format manually by setting the \"init.defaultRefFormat\"\n+opt-in to the \"reftable\" format manually by setting the \"init.defaultRefStorageFormat\"\n config. But defaults matter, and we think that overall users will have a better\n experience with less platform-specific quirks when they use the new backend by\n default.\ndiff --git a/Documentation/config/feature.adoc b/Documentation/config/feature.adoc\nindex 924f5ff4e3..e258770591 100644\n--- a/Documentation/config/feature.adoc\n+++ b/Documentation/config/feature.adoc\n@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ reusing objects from multiple packs instead of just one.\n significantly smaller in the presence of certain filename collisions with Git's\n default name-hash.\n +\n-* `init.defaultRefFormat=reftable` causes newly initialized repositories to use\n+* `init.defaultRefStorageFormat=reftable` causes newly initialized repositories to use\n the reftable format for storing references. This new format solves issues with\n case-insensitive filesystems, compresses better and performs significantly\n better with many use cases. Refer to Documentation/technical/reftable.adoc for\ndiff --git a/Documentation/config/init.adoc b/Documentation/config/init.adoc\nindex f82fcf25e6..e45bd692db 100644\n--- a/Documentation/config/init.adoc\n+++ b/Documentation/config/init.adoc\n@@ -13,11 +13,13 @@ endif::[]\n \t`--object-format=` in linkgit:git-init[1]. Both the command line option\n \tand the `GIT_DEFAULT_HASH` environment variable take precedence over\n \tthis config.\n-`init.defaultRefFormat`::\n+`init.defaultRefStorageFormat`::\n \tAllows overriding the default ref storage format for new repositories.\n \tSee `--ref-storage-format=` in linkgit:git-init[1]. Both the command line\n \toption and the `GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT` environment variable take\n \tprecedence over this config.\n+`init.defaultRefFormat`::\n+\tDeprecated alias of `init.defaultRefStorageFormat`.\n \n init.defaultSubmodulePathConfig::\n \tA boolean that specifies if `git init` and `git clone` should\ndiff --git a/setup.c b/setup.c\nindex 621cf87c9c..df8cbf196d 100644\n--- a/setup.c\n+++ b/setup.c\n@@ -2697,7 +2697,8 @@ static int read_default_format_config(const char *key, const char *value,\n \t\tgoto out;\n \t}\n \n-\tif (!strcmp(key, \"init.defaultrefformat\")) {\n+\tif (!strcmp(key, \"init.defaultrefstorageformat\") ||\n+\t !strcmp(key, \"init.defaultrefformat\")) {\n \t\tret = git_config_string(&str, key, value);\n \t\tif (ret)\n \t\t\tgoto out;\n@@ -2709,7 +2710,7 @@ static int read_default_format_config(const char *key, const char *value,\n \n \t/*\n \t * Enable the reftable format when \"features.experimental\" is enabled.\n-\t * \"init.defaultRefFormat\" takes precedence over this setting.\n+\t * \"init.defaultRefStorageFormat\" takes precedence over this setting.\n \t */\n \tif (!strcmp(key, \"feature.experimental\") &&\n \t cfg->ref_storage_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN &&\n@@ -2784,7 +2785,8 @@ static void repository_format_configure(struct repository_format *repo_fmt,\n \t * 5. Its deprecated equivalent \"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT\".\n \t *\n \t * 6. The default ref storage format for new repositories as\n-\t * configured via \"init.defaultRefFormat\"\n+\t * configured via \"init.defaultRefStorageFormat\" or its deprecated\n+\t * equivalent \"init.defaultRefFormat\".\n \t *\n \t * 7. Otherwise, we fall back to the default ref storage format\n \t * compiled into Git.\ndiff --git a/t/t0001-init.sh b/t/t0001-init.sh\nindex af9a7ba958..fe5bc3d3e1 100755\n--- a/t/t0001-init.sh\n+++ b/t/t0001-init.sh\n@@ -659,9 +659,9 @@ test_expect_success 'GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT refuses to reinitialize with differe\n \ttest_cmp expect err\n '\n \n-test_expect_success 'init warns about invalid init.defaultRefFormat' '\n+test_expect_success 'init warns about invalid init.defaultRefStorageFormat' '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo\" &&\n-\ttest_config_global init.defaultRefFormat garbage &&\n+\ttest_config_global init.defaultRefStorageFormat garbage &&\n \n \techo \"warning: unknown ref storage format ${SQ}garbage${SQ}\" >expect &&\n \tgit init repo 2>err &&\n@@ -714,9 +714,9 @@ do\n \t\ttest_cmp expect actual\n \t'\n \n-\ttest_expect_success \"init with init.defaultRefFormat=$format\" '\n+\ttest_expect_success \"init with init.defaultRefStorageFormat=$format\" '\n \t\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refformat\" &&\n-\t\ttest_config_global init.defaultRefFormat $format &&\n+\t\ttest_config_global init.defaultRefStorageFormat $format &&\n \t\t(\n \t\t\tsane_unset GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT &&\n \t\t\tgit init refformat\n@@ -753,9 +753,9 @@ test_expect_success \"--ref-storage-format= overrides GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FOM\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n '\n \n-test_expect_success \"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT= overrides init.defaultRefFormat\" '\n+test_expect_success \"GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT= overrides init.defaultRefStorageFormat\" '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refformat\" &&\n-\ttest_config_global init.defaultRefFormat files &&\n+\ttest_config_global init.defaultRefStorageFormat files &&\n \n \tGIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT=reftable git init refformat &&\n \techo reftable >expect &&\n@@ -775,10 +775,10 @@ test_expect_success \"init with feature.experimental=true\" '\n \ttest_cmp expect actual\n '\n \n-test_expect_success \"init.defaultRefFormat overrides feature.experimental=true\" '\n+test_expect_success \"init.defaultRefStorageFormat overrides feature.experimental=true\" '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refformat\" &&\n \ttest_config_global feature.experimental true &&\n-\ttest_config_global init.defaultRefFormat files &&\n+\ttest_config_global init.defaultRefStorageFormat files &&\n \t(\n \t\tsane_unset GIT_DEFAULT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT &&\n \t\tgit init refformat\n\n-- \n2.55.0.1074.ge7621b4bad.dirty\n\n"},{"id":"552326","messageId":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-13-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","threadId":"66299","inReplyTo":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-0-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","subject":"[PATCH v3 13/13] setup: allow \"--ref-storage-format=\" to specify a payload","fromName":"Patrick Steinhardt","fromEmail":"ps@pks.im","sentAt":"2026-09-09T11:12:59Z","receivedAt":"2026-09-09T11:13:32Z","isPatch":true,"body":"Reference storage backends can be configured with a payload via the\n\"extensions.refStorage\" config key and the \"GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT\"\nenvironment variable, both of which accept a URI in the format\n\"://\". The payload may contain backend-specific\ninformation, for example an alternate refs directory or which database\nreferences should be stored in.\n\nThe `--ref-storage-format=` option of git-init(1) and git-clone(1) does\nnot know about payloads though: its value is parsed as a plain format\nname, so backends that require a payload cannot be conveniently set up\nat initialization time via the command line.\n\nTeach the option to accept the same URI syntax. Also, document the\noptional payloads for both the \"files\" and \"reftable\" backends.\n\nSigned-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt \n---\n Documentation/git-clone.adoc | 5 ++++-\n Documentation/git-init.adoc | 5 ++++-\n builtin/clone.c | 12 ++++++------\n builtin/init-db.c | 15 ++++-----------\n setup.c | 16 +++++++++++-----\n setup.h | 2 +-\n t/t0001-init.sh | 2 +-\n t/t1423-ref-backend.sh | 30 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++\n 8 files changed, 61 insertions(+), 26 deletions(-)\n\ndiff --git a/Documentation/git-clone.adoc b/Documentation/git-clone.adoc\nindex 27e4d13942..07f7cf1a98 100644\n--- a/Documentation/git-clone.adoc\n+++ b/Documentation/git-clone.adoc\n@@ -350,7 +350,10 @@ or `--mirror` is given)\n \n `--ref-storage-format=`::\n \n-Specify the given ref storage format for the repository. The valid values are:\n+Specify the given ref storage __ for the repository. Backends that\n+require additional configuration accept a payload in the form\n+`://`, for example a connection string identifying the\n+database that shall store the references. The valid values are:\n +\n include::ref-storage-format.adoc[]\n \ndiff --git a/Documentation/git-init.adoc b/Documentation/git-init.adoc\nindex 73e1f787cb..b02af22ad1 100644\n--- a/Documentation/git-init.adoc\n+++ b/Documentation/git-init.adoc\n@@ -58,7 +58,10 @@ values are `sha1` and (if enabled) `sha256`. `sha1` is the default.\n include::object-format-disclaimer.adoc[]\n \n `--ref-storage-format=`::\n-Specify the given ref storage __ for the repository. The valid values are:\n+Specify the given ref storage __ for the repository. Backends that\n+require additional configuration accept a payload in the form\n+`://`, for example a connection string identifying the\n+database that shall store the references. The valid values are:\n +\n include::ref-storage-format.adoc[]\n \ndiff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c\nindex dd722e4de1..9812aaec8f 100644\n--- a/builtin/clone.c\n+++ b/builtin/clone.c\n@@ -901,7 +901,7 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc,\n \tchar *option_origin = NULL;\n \tstruct string_list option_not = STRING_LIST_INIT_NODUP;\n \tconst char *real_git_dir = NULL;\n-\tconst char *ref_storage_format_str = NULL;\n+\tconst char *ref_storage_format_uri = NULL;\n \tconst char *option_upload_pack = \"git-upload-pack\";\n \tint option_progress = -1;\n \tint option_sparse_checkout = 0;\n@@ -981,7 +981,7 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc,\n \t\t\t N_(\"any cloned submodules will be shallow\")),\n \t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"separate-git-dir\", &real_git_dir, N_(\"gitdir\"),\n \t\t\t N_(\"separate git dir from working tree\")),\n-\t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"ref-storage-format\", &ref_storage_format_str, N_(\"format\"),\n+\t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"ref-storage-format\", &ref_storage_format_uri, N_(\"format\"),\n \t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference storage format to use\")),\n \t\tOPT_ALIAS_F(0, \"ref-format\", \"ref-storage-format\", PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),\n \t\tOPT_STRING_LIST('c', \"config\", &option_config, N_(\"key=value\"),\n@@ -1028,10 +1028,10 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc,\n \tif (option_single_branch == -1)\n \t\toption_single_branch = deepen ? 1 : 0;\n \n-\tif (ref_storage_format_str) {\n-\t\tref_storage_format = ref_storage_format_by_name(ref_storage_format_str);\n+\tif (ref_storage_format_uri) {\n+\t\tref_storage_format = ref_storage_format_by_uri(ref_storage_format_uri, NULL);\n \t\tif (ref_storage_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n-\t\t\tdie(_(\"unknown ref storage format '%s'\"), ref_storage_format_str);\n+\t\t\tdie(_(\"unknown ref storage format '%s'\"), ref_storage_format_uri);\n \t}\n \n \tif (option_mirror) {\n@@ -1187,7 +1187,7 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc,\n \t * their on-disk data structures.\n \t */\n \tinit_db(the_repository, git_dir, real_git_dir, work_tree, option_template,\n-\t\tGIT_HASH_UNKNOWN, ref_storage_format, NULL,\n+\t\tGIT_HASH_UNKNOWN, ref_storage_format_uri, NULL,\n \t\tdo_not_override_repo_unix_permissions,\n \t\tINIT_DB_QUIET | INIT_DB_SKIP_REFDB);\n \ndiff --git a/builtin/init-db.c b/builtin/init-db.c\nindex 1612413af0..7a65d1673b 100644\n--- a/builtin/init-db.c\n+++ b/builtin/init-db.c\n@@ -83,10 +83,9 @@ int cmd_init_db(int argc,\n \tunsigned int flags = 0;\n \tint bare = startup_info->force_bare_repository ? 1 : -1;\n \tconst char *object_format = NULL;\n-\tconst char *ref_storage_format_str = NULL;\n+\tconst char *ref_storage_format_uri = NULL;\n \tconst char *initial_branch = NULL;\n \tint hash_algo = GIT_HASH_UNKNOWN;\n-\tenum ref_storage_format ref_storage_format = REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN;\n \tint init_shared_repository = -1;\n \tconst struct option init_db_options[] = {\n \t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"template\", &template_dir, N_(\"template-directory\"),\n@@ -109,7 +108,7 @@ int cmd_init_db(int argc,\n \t\t\t N_(\"override the name of the initial branch\")),\n \t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"object-format\", &object_format, N_(\"hash\"),\n \t\t\t N_(\"specify the hash algorithm to use\")),\n-\t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"ref-storage-format\", &ref_storage_format_str, N_(\"format\"),\n+\t\tOPT_STRING(0, \"ref-storage-format\", &ref_storage_format_uri, N_(\"format\"),\n \t\t\t N_(\"specify the reference storage format to use\")),\n \t\tOPT_ALIAS_F(0, \"ref-format\", \"ref-storage-format\", PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),\n \t\tOPT_END()\n@@ -174,12 +173,6 @@ int cmd_init_db(int argc,\n \t\t\tdie(_(\"unknown hash algorithm '%s'\"), object_format);\n \t}\n \n-\tif (ref_storage_format_str) {\n-\t\tref_storage_format = ref_storage_format_by_name(ref_storage_format_str);\n-\t\tif (ref_storage_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n-\t\t\tdie(_(\"unknown ref storage format '%s'\"), ref_storage_format_str);\n-\t}\n-\n \tif (init_shared_repository != -1)\n \t\trepo_settings_set_shared_repository(the_repository, init_shared_repository);\n \n@@ -250,8 +243,8 @@ int cmd_init_db(int argc,\n \n \tflags |= INIT_DB_EXIST_OK;\n \tret = init_db(the_repository, git_dir, real_git_dir, work_tree,\n-\t\t template_dir, hash_algo, ref_storage_format, initial_branch,\n-\t\t init_shared_repository, flags);\n+\t\t template_dir, hash_algo, ref_storage_format_uri,\n+\t\t initial_branch, init_shared_repository, flags);\n \n \tfree(template_dir_to_free);\n \tfree(real_git_dir_to_free);\ndiff --git a/setup.c b/setup.c\nindex df8cbf196d..13f4a0aba9 100644\n--- a/setup.c\n+++ b/setup.c\n@@ -2727,7 +2727,8 @@ static int read_default_format_config(const char *key, const char *value,\n }\n \n static void repository_format_configure(struct repository_format *repo_fmt,\n-\t\t\t\t\tint hash, enum ref_storage_format ref_storage_format)\n+\t\t\t\t\tint hash,\n+\t\t\t\t\tconst char *ref_storage_format_uri)\n {\n \tstruct default_format_config cfg = {\n \t\t.hash = GIT_HASH_UNKNOWN,\n@@ -2738,6 +2739,7 @@ static void repository_format_configure(struct repository_format *repo_fmt,\n \t\t.ignore_repo = 1,\n \t\t.ignore_worktree = 1,\n \t};\n+\tenum ref_storage_format ref_storage_format;\n \tchar *ref_storage_payload = NULL;\n \tconst char *env;\n \n@@ -2791,8 +2793,12 @@ static void repository_format_configure(struct repository_format *repo_fmt,\n \t * 7. Otherwise, we fall back to the default ref storage format\n \t * compiled into Git.\n \t */\n-\tif (ref_storage_format != REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN) {\n-\t\t/* nothing to do */\n+\tif (ref_storage_format_uri) {\n+\t\tref_storage_format = ref_storage_format_by_uri(ref_storage_format_uri,\n+\t\t\t\t\t\t\t &ref_storage_payload);\n+\t\tif (ref_storage_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n+\t\t\tdie(_(\"unknown ref storage format specified via command line: '%s'\"),\n+\t\t\t ref_storage_format_uri);\n \t} else if ((env = getenv(GIT_REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_ENVIRONMENT))) {\n \t\tref_storage_format = ref_storage_format_by_uri(env, &ref_storage_payload);\n \t\tif (ref_storage_format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN)\n@@ -2845,7 +2851,7 @@ int init_db(struct repository *repo,\n \t const char *real_git_dir,\n \t const char *worktree,\n \t const char *template_dir, int hash,\n-\t enum ref_storage_format ref_storage_format,\n+\t const char *ref_storage_format_uri,\n \t const char *initial_branch,\n \t int init_shared_repository, unsigned int flags)\n {\n@@ -2882,7 +2888,7 @@ int init_db(struct repository *repo,\n \t * is an attempt to reinitialize new repository with an old tool.\n \t */\n \tread_and_verify_repository_format(&repo_fmt, repo_get_git_dir(repo), NULL);\n-\trepository_format_configure(&repo_fmt, hash, ref_storage_format);\n+\trepository_format_configure(&repo_fmt, hash, ref_storage_format_uri);\n \tif (apply_repository_format(repo, &repo_fmt, APPLY_REPOSITORY_FORMAT_HONOR_ENV, &err) < 0)\n \t\tdie(\"%s\", err.buf);\n \ndiff --git a/setup.h b/setup.h\nindex 763fd384e8..f04d2984b4 100644\n--- a/setup.h\n+++ b/setup.h\n@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ int init_db(struct repository *repo,\n \t const char *real_git_dir,\n \t const char *worktree,\n \t const char *template_dir, int hash_algo,\n-\t enum ref_storage_format ref_storage_format,\n+\t const char *ref_storage_format_uri,\n \t const char *initial_branch, int init_shared_repository,\n \t unsigned int flags);\n void initialize_repository_version(struct repository *repo,\ndiff --git a/t/t0001-init.sh b/t/t0001-init.sh\nindex fe5bc3d3e1..f1d227f271 100755\n--- a/t/t0001-init.sh\n+++ b/t/t0001-init.sh\n@@ -833,7 +833,7 @@ done\n test_expect_success 'init with --ref-storage-format=garbage' '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf refformat\" &&\n \tcat >expect <<-EOF &&\n-\tfatal: unknown ref storage format ${SQ}garbage${SQ}\n+\tfatal: unknown ref storage format specified via command line: ${SQ}garbage${SQ}\n \tEOF\n \ttest_must_fail git init --ref-storage-format=garbage refformat 2>err &&\n \ttest_cmp expect err\ndiff --git a/t/t1423-ref-backend.sh b/t/t1423-ref-backend.sh\nindex 525b2a19b4..ee2bb66b99 100755\n--- a/t/t1423-ref-backend.sh\n+++ b/t/t1423-ref-backend.sh\n@@ -254,6 +254,36 @@ test_expect_success 'initializing repository with alt ref directory' '\n \t)\n '\n \n+test_expect_success 'initializing repository with --ref-storage-format and payload' '\n+\ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf repo refdir\" &&\n+\tmkdir refdir &&\n+\tBACKEND=\"$(test_detect_ref_format)://$(pwd)/refdir\" &&\n+\tgit init --ref-storage-format=\"$BACKEND\" repo &&\n+\tverify_files_exist repo/.git refdir &&\n+\n+\tgit -C repo config get extensions.refstorage >actual &&\n+\techo $BACKEND >expect &&\n+\ttest_cmp expect actual &&\n+\n+\ttest_commit -C repo 1 &&\n+\tgit -C repo refs list >out &&\n+\ttest_grep \"refs/tags/1\" out &&\n+\n+\t# Reinitializing the repository is fine when not specifying any format.\n+\tgit -C repo init &&\n+\t# Reinitializing with the same backend is fine, too.\n+\tgit -C repo init --ref-storage-format=\"$BACKEND\" &&\n+\t# Reinitializing without a payload should fail.\n+\ttest_must_fail git -C repo init --ref-storage-format=\"$(test_detect_ref_format)\" 2>err &&\n+\ttest_grep \"attempt to reinitialize repository with different reference storage payload\" err &&\n+\t# Reinitializing with a different payload should fail, too.\n+\ttest_must_fail git -C repo init --ref-storage-format=\"$(test_detect_ref_format)://$(pwd)/other\" 2>err &&\n+\ttest_grep \"attempt to reinitialize repository with different reference storage payload\" err &&\n+\n+\tgit -C repo config get extensions.refstorage >actual &&\n+\ttest_cmp expect actual\n+'\n+\n test_expect_success 'cloning repository with alt ref directory' '\n \ttest_when_finished \"rm -rf source repo refdir\" &&\n \tmkdir refdir &&\n\n-- \n2.55.0.1074.ge7621b4bad.dirty\n\n"},{"id":"552686","messageId":"CAOLa=ZSh_H9tjnjEsRrmGXm1Ht+3a=gRaGibO6BKZvvkEabesQ@mail.gmail.com","threadId":"66299","inReplyTo":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-1-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","subject":"Re: [PATCH v3 01/13] parse-options: allow for hidden aliases","fromName":"Karthik Nayak","fromEmail":"karthik.188@gmail.com","sentAt":"2026-09-14T09:33:32Z","receivedAt":"2026-09-14T09:33:34Z","isPatch":true,"body":"TPatrick Steinhardt writes:\n\n> The `OPT_ALIAS()` option can be used to create an exact alias that maps\n> one option name to the same semantics as another option name. This\n> option type is especially useful when deprecating an old name in favor\n> of a new one. But curiously enough, we don't have the infrastructure in\n> place to properly support this use case because we don't expose the\n> ability to hide the alias via `PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN`.\n>\n\nIf we're going to hide the alias, do we need to even use an alias?\n\n❯ ~/code/git/build/bin-wrappers/git.thisseries init --foo\nerror: unknown option `foo'\nusage: git init [-q | --quiet] [--bare] [--template=]\n [--separate-git-dir ] [--object-format=]\n [--ref-storage-format=]\n [-b | --initial-branch=]\n [--shared[=]] []\n\n --[no-]template \n directory from which templates will be used\n --[no-]bare create a bare repository\n --shared[=]\n specify that the git repository is to be\nshared amongst several users\n -q, --[no-]quiet be quiet\n --[no-]separate-git-dir \n separate git dir from working tree\n -b, --[no-]initial-branch \n override the name of the initial branch\n --[no-]object-format \n specify the hash algorithm to use\n --[no-]ref-storage-format \n specify the reference storage format to use\n\n\n❯ ~/code/git/build/bin-wrappers/git.withouthide init --foo\nerror: unknown option `foo'\nusage: git init [-q | --quiet] [--bare] [--template=]\n [--separate-git-dir ] [--object-format=]\n [--ref-storage-format=]\n [-b | --initial-branch=]\n [--shared[=]] []\n\n --[no-]template \n directory from which templates will be used\n --[no-]bare create a bare repository\n --shared[=]\n specify that the git repository is to be\nshared amongst several users\n -q, --[no-]quiet be quiet\n --[no-]separate-git-dir \n separate git dir from working tree\n -b, --[no-]initial-branch \n override the name of the initial branch\n --[no-]object-format \n specify the hash algorithm to use\n --[no-]ref-storage-format \n specify the reference storage format to use\n --[no-]ref-format \n alias of --ref-storage-format\n\nPerhaps it doesn't make sense to add flags to OPT_ALIAS() at all? But\nthis is indeed an alias and seems like the correct option to use, but\nfeels wasted. I'm okay to keep it as is.\n\n> Introduce a new `OPT_ALIAS_F()` function that allows the user to pass\n> flags and propagate these flags when rewriting aliases to match their\n> respective source options.\n\n[snip]\n"},{"id":"552687","messageId":"CAOLa=ZRxXimh8W-QBJB3VhbHOZWMEfWXB0ST0a=dOi+PNiR6sQ@mail.gmail.com","threadId":"66299","inReplyTo":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-0-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","subject":"Re: [PATCH v3 00/13] Fix inconsistent ref storage format terminology","fromName":"Karthik Nayak","fromEmail":"karthik.188@gmail.com","sentAt":"2026-09-14T09:37:26Z","receivedAt":"2026-09-14T09:37:28Z","isPatch":true,"body":"Patrick Steinhardt writes:\n\n> Hi,\n>\n> back when we gained support for reftables we of course introduced the\n> ability to control the reference storage format that is used by newly\n> created repositories. This infrastructure has grown over time, and\n> unfortunately without a lot of consistency:\n>\n> - The command line parameter to specify the ref storage format is\n> called \"--ref-format=\", while the corresponding repository extension\n> is called \"refStorage\".\n>\n> - In most cases we refer to the \"ref storage format\" in our docs, so\n> calling it \"--ref-format=\" is inconsistent with them.\n>\n> - It is possible to override the ref storage format via an environment\n> variable that is called \"GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND\", which is not even\n> remotely consistent with anything else.\n>\n> - There is also an \"object format\", but that format does not control\n> how we store objects but rather whether we use SHA1 or SHA256.\n>\n> So in summary, it's a huge mess.\n>\n> This problem is about to become even worse though, as we're soon going\n> to introduce an object storage extension. This extension is the\n> equivalent to the ref storage extension, and of course we also want\n> users to be able to control which object storage format new repositories\n> are using. But we cannot properly name that parameter without creating\n> even more inconsistencies:\n>\n> - \"--object-format=\" would match \"--ref-format=\", but that parameter\n> name is already taken to specify the hash function.\n>\n> - \"--object-storage=\" would be a good fit, but be inconsistent with\n> \"--ref-format=\". Asking the user to execute `git init\n> --ref-format=reftable --object-format=sha256 --object-storage=foo`\n> just feels extremely awkward.\n>\n> So this patch series aims to clean up this huge mess that we (well, to a\n> large extent I) have created, by bringing consistency to our command\n> line switches, environment variables and config options to all use \"ref\n> storage format\" instead. And that also paves the way for the eventual\n> \"object storage format\" switches.\n>\n> As a cherry on top, this patch series also extends the\n> \"--ref-storage-format=\" switch to allow URIs in the form of\n> \"files://foo/bar\" to bring it in line with all the other ways to specify\n> the ref storage format that already allow for URIs.\n>\n> Changes in v3:\n> - Add breadcrumbs for the old names to our documentation.\n> - Use `OPT_ALIAS()` instead of manually aliasing the options.\n> - Fix a comment in one of our tests that still referred to the v1\n> \"--ref-storage=\" option.\n> - Print the correct environment variables in error messages.\n> - Also rename GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT.\n> - Don't adapt \"ref-storage-format.adoc\", as that documentation is also\n> shared with commands that don't support URIs yet.\n> - Link to v2: https://patch.msgid.link/20260907-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v2-0-6733c90ca5b0@pks.im\n>\n> Changes in v2:\n> - Based on Junio's feedback I've renamed all of this to instead be\n> called \"ref storage format\".\n> - Link to v1: https://patch.msgid.link/20260904-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v1-0-08144e5004ff@pks.im\n>\n> Thanks!\n>\n> Patrick\n>\n\nThe new changes look good, I only had a comment regarding the use of\nOPT_ALIAS. But I think we can ignore that.\n\nThanks\n"},{"id":"552710","messageId":"5e062976-d584-496d-84e0-e4b59c8f6876@gmail.com","threadId":"66299","inReplyTo":"20260909-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v3-0-ca041fb40ad8@pks.im","subject":"Re: [PATCH v3 00/13] Fix inconsistent ref storage format terminology","fromName":"Kaartic Sivaraam","fromEmail":"kaartic.sivaraam@gmail.com","sentAt":"2026-09-14T15:08:19Z","receivedAt":"2026-09-14T15:08:26Z","isPatch":true,"body":"On 9/9/26 16:42, Patrick Steinhardt wrote:\n> \n> Changes in v3:\n> - Add breadcrumbs for the old names to our documentation.\n> - Use `OPT_ALIAS()` instead of manually aliasing the options.\n> - Fix a comment in one of our tests that still referred to the v1\n> \"--ref-storage=\" option.\n> - Print the correct environment variables in error messages.\n> - Also rename GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT.\n> - Don't adapt \"ref-storage-format.adoc\", as that documentation is also\n> shared with commands that don't support URIs yet.\n> - Link to v2: https://patch.msgid.link/20260907-b4-pks-unify-ref-storage-format-v2-0-6733c90ca5b0@pks.im\n>\n\n\nThis version does look good to me too. I just had one though while going \nthrough the patches. We appear to be rewritten the tests using only the \nnewer variant of the arguments / environment variables. I wonder if we \nmight also need a test or two to ensure the deprecated variants work as \nexpected too.\n\n-- \nSivaraam\n\n"},{"id":"552717","messageId":"xmqqjyon6b4y.fsf@gitster.g","threadId":"66299","inReplyTo":"CAOLa=ZRxXimh8W-QBJB3VhbHOZWMEfWXB0ST0a=dOi+PNiR6sQ@mail.gmail.com","subject":"Re: [PATCH v3 00/13] Fix inconsistent ref storage format terminology","fromName":"Junio C Hamano","fromEmail":"gitster@pobox.com","sentAt":"2026-09-14T16:38:53Z","receivedAt":"2026-09-14T16:38:56Z","isPatch":true,"body":"Karthik Nayak writes:\n\n>> Changes in v3:\n>> - Add breadcrumbs for the old names to our documentation.\n>> - Use `OPT_ALIAS()` instead of manually aliasing the options.\n>\n> The new changes look good, I only had a comment regarding the use of\n> OPT_ALIAS. But I think we can ignore that.\n\nI'd like to see us think a bit more about the OPT_ALIAS() thing, but\nother than that the series looks in a very good shape.\n\nThanks, all.\n\n"},{"id":"552750","messageId":"c5266fff-8247-48d2-9679-3fc1f649cf34@gmail.com","threadId":"66299","inReplyTo":"CAOLa=ZSh_H9tjnjEsRrmGXm1Ht+3a=gRaGibO6BKZvvkEabesQ@mail.gmail.com","subject":"Re: [PATCH v3 01/13] parse-options: allow for hidden aliases","fromName":"Kaartic Sivaraam","fromEmail":"kaartic.sivaraam@gmail.com","sentAt":"2026-09-15T09:32:21Z","receivedAt":"2026-09-15T09:32:26Z","isPatch":true,"body":"On 9/14/26 15:03, Karthik Nayak wrote:\n> Patrick Steinhardt writes:\n> \n>> The `OPT_ALIAS()` option can be used to create an exact alias that maps\n>> one option name to the same semantics as another option name. This\n>> option type is especially useful when deprecating an old name in favor\n>> of a new one. But curiously enough, we don't have the infrastructure in\n>> place to properly support this use case because we don't expose the\n>> ability to hide the alias via `PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN`.\n>>\n> \n> If we're going to hide the alias, do we need to even use an alias?\n> \n> [snip]\n> \n> Perhaps it doesn't make sense to add flags to OPT_ALIAS() at all? But\n> this is indeed an alias and seems like the correct option to use, but\n> feels wasted. I'm okay to keep it as is.\n> \n\nJust some food for thought. There are a couple of other instances where \nwe are currently using OPT_ALIAS to represent the deprecated variant of \nan option. They are:\n\n 1. `--recursive` is a deprecated alias of `--recurse-submodule` in\n `git clone`\n\n cf. bb62e0a99f (clone: teach --recurse-submodules to optionally\n take a pathspec, 2017-03-17) and 5c387428f1 (parse-options: don't\n emit \"ambiguous option\" for aliases, 2019-04-29)\n\n 2. `--negotiation-tip` is a deprecated alias of\n `--negotiation-restrict` in `git fetch`\n\n cf. 1a445fc60b (fetch: add --negotiation-restrict option,\n 2026-05-19)\n\n Note: The documentation clarifies that --negotiation-restrict is\n the preferred variant but does not mention about deprecation.\n\nSince they are not hidden, the deprecated variants still show up in the \nhelp output of those commands. So, we appear to be doing fine with a \npublic alias so far. So, may be it is not a big deal if we expose the \ndeprecated option publicly?\n\n-- \nSivaraam\n\n"},{"id":"552756","messageId":"xmqq1pau37bo.fsf@gitster.g","threadId":"66299","inReplyTo":"c5266fff-8247-48d2-9679-3fc1f649cf34@gmail.com","subject":"Re: [PATCH v3 01/13] parse-options: allow for hidden aliases","fromName":"Junio C Hamano","fromEmail":"gitster@pobox.com","sentAt":"2026-09-15T14:41:47Z","receivedAt":"2026-09-15T14:41:50Z","isPatch":true,"body":"Kaartic Sivaraam writes:\n\n>> Perhaps it doesn't make sense to add flags to OPT_ALIAS() at all?\n>> ...\n>\n> Just some food for thought. There are a couple of other instances where \n> we are currently using OPT_ALIAS to represent the deprecated variant of \n> an option. They are:\n>\n> 1. `--recursive` is a deprecated alias of `--recurse-submodule` in\n> `git clone`\n>\n> cf. bb62e0a99f (clone: teach --recurse-submodules to optionally\n> take a pathspec, 2017-03-17) and 5c387428f1 (parse-options: don't\n> emit \"ambiguous option\" for aliases, 2019-04-29)\n>\n> 2. `--negotiation-tip` is a deprecated alias of\n> `--negotiation-restrict` in `git fetch`\n>\n> cf. 1a445fc60b (fetch: add --negotiation-restrict option,\n> 2026-05-19)\n>\n> Note: The documentation clarifies that --negotiation-restrict is\n> the preferred variant but does not mention about deprecation.\n>\n> Since they are not hidden, the deprecated variants still show up in the \n> help output of those commands. So, we appear to be doing fine with a \n> public alias so far. So, may be it is not a big deal if we expose the \n> deprecated option publicly?\n\nThe OPT_HIDDEN bit for an option indeed is a mechanism for\ndeprecation and it is not limited to alias.\n\nWhen an option has a clearly better alternative, we would want to\neventually remove the old one and have everybody use the new one.\nFor that to happen, we need to let people know that the old thing is\non its way out, and \"git cmd -h\" is a good place to do so. We do\nnot want to use OPT_HIDDEN in earlier half of the deprecation.\nAfter sufficient time passes, there will be a lot of new users who\nare equally unfamiliar with old and new options. Telling them about\nold way that is on its way out does not help them at all. So at\nsome point, we want to start using OPT_HIDDEN for such options.\n\nWhen nobody uses the old option, we can remove the entry from the\noptions[] array, or we can keep it and use it only to cause an error\nmessage (i.e., \"This option used to do something, but no longer. Do\nnot use it anymore\").\n\nIf OPT_ALIAS() does not allow using OPT_HIDDEN, that is a bug in the\ninfrastructure. It does not have to block a new topic that uses\nOPT_ALIAS(), but we can leave a #leftoverbit mark to invite\ninterested parties to work on fixing it.\n\nThanks.\n"}]}