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[PATCH v6 5/5] builtin/stash: provide a way to import stashes from a ref

From
brian m. carlson <sandals@crustytoothpaste.net>
Date
May 22, 2025, 18:55 UTC
Message-ID
<20250522185524.18398-7-sandals@crustytoothpaste.net>
In-Reply-To
<20250522185524.18398-1-sandals@crustytoothpaste.net>

Now that we have a way to export stashes to a ref, let's provide a way to import them from such a ref back to the stash. This works much the way the export code does, except that we strip off the first parent chain commit and then store each resulting commit back to the stash.

We don't clear the stash first and instead add the specified stashes to the top of the stash. This is because users may want to export just a few stashes, such as to share a small amount of work in progress with a colleague, and it would be undesirable for the receiving user to lose all of their data. For users who do want to replace the stash, it's easy to do to: simply run "git stash clear" first.

We specifically rely on the fact that we'll produce identical stash commits on both sides in our tests. This provides a cheap, straightforward check for our tests and also makes it easy for users to see if they already have the same data in both repositories.

Signed-off-by: brian m. carlson <sandals@crustytoothpaste.net>
---
I'll need Phillip's sign-off for this patch.
 Documentation/git-stash.adoc |   7 ++
 builtin/stash.c              | 167 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 t/t3903-stash.sh             |  94 ++++++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 268 insertions(+)
diff --git a/Documentation/git-stash.adoc b/Documentation/git-stash.adoc
index e8efd43ba4..f8193b712e 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-stash.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/git-stash.adoc
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ SYNOPSIS
 'git stash' create [<message>]
 'git stash' store [(-m | --message) <message>] [-q | --quiet] <commit>
 'git stash' export (--print | --to-ref <ref>) [<stash>...]
+'git stash' import <commit>
 
 DESCRIPTION
 -----------
@@ -161,6 +162,12 @@ export ( --print | --to-ref <ref> ) [<stash>...]::
 	a chain of commits which can be transferred using the normal fetch and
 	push mechanisms, then imported using the `import` subcommand.
 
+import <commit>::
+
+	Import the specified stashes from the specified commit, which must have been
+	created by `export`, and add them to the list of stashes.  To replace the
+	existing stashes, use `clear` first.
+
 OPTIONS
 -------
 -a::
diff --git a/builtin/stash.c b/builtin/stash.c
index ca00663e36..59fcb461eb 100644
--- a/builtin/stash.c
+++ b/builtin/stash.c
@@ -61,6 +61,8 @@
 	N_("git stash create [<message>]")
 #define BUILTIN_STASH_EXPORT_USAGE \
 	N_("git stash export (--print | --to-ref <ref>) [<stash>...]")
+#define BUILTIN_STASH_IMPORT_USAGE \
+	N_("git stash import <commit>")
 #define BUILTIN_STASH_CLEAR_USAGE \
 	"git stash clear"
 
@@ -77,6 +79,7 @@ static const char * const git_stash_usage[] = {
 	BUILTIN_STASH_CREATE_USAGE,
 	BUILTIN_STASH_STORE_USAGE,
 	BUILTIN_STASH_EXPORT_USAGE,
+	BUILTIN_STASH_IMPORT_USAGE,
 	NULL
 };
 
@@ -135,6 +138,10 @@ static const char * const git_stash_export_usage[] = {
 	NULL
 };
 
+static const char * const git_stash_import_usage[] = {
+	BUILTIN_STASH_IMPORT_USAGE,
+	NULL
+};
 
 static const char ref_stash[] = "refs/stash";
 static struct strbuf stash_index_path = STRBUF_INIT;
@@ -144,6 +151,7 @@ static struct strbuf stash_index_path = STRBUF_INIT;
  * b_commit is set to the base commit
  * i_commit is set to the commit containing the index tree
  * u_commit is set to the commit containing the untracked files tree
+ * c_commit is set to the first parent (chain commit) when importing and is otherwise unset
  * w_tree is set to the working tree
  * b_tree is set to the base tree
  * i_tree is set to the index tree
@@ -154,6 +162,7 @@ struct stash_info {
 	struct object_id b_commit;
 	struct object_id i_commit;
 	struct object_id u_commit;
+	struct object_id c_commit;
 	struct object_id w_tree;
 	struct object_id b_tree;
 	struct object_id i_tree;
@@ -1992,6 +2001,163 @@ static int write_commit_with_parents(struct repository *r,
 	return ret;
 }
 
+static int do_import_stash(struct repository *r, const char *rev)
+{
+	struct object_id chain;
+	struct oid_array items = OID_ARRAY_INIT;
+	int res = 0;
+	ssize_t i;
+	const char *buffer = NULL;
+	unsigned long bufsize;
+	struct commit *this = NULL;
+	char *msg = NULL;
+
+	if (repo_get_oid(r, rev, &chain))
+		return error(_("not a valid revision: %s"), rev);
+
+	this = lookup_commit_reference(r, &chain);
+	if (!this)
+		return error(_("not a commit: %s"), rev);
+
+	/*
+	 * Walk the commit history, finding each stash entry, and load data into
+	 * the array.
+	 */
+	for (;;) {
+		const char *author, *committer;
+		size_t author_len, committer_len;
+		const char *p;
+		const char *expected = "git stash <git@stash> 1000684800 +0000";
+		const char *prefix = "git stash: ";
+		struct commit *stash;
+		struct tree *tree = repo_get_commit_tree(r, this);
+
+		if (!tree ||
+		    !oideq(&tree->object.oid, r->hash_algo->empty_tree) ||
+		    (this->parents &&
+		     (!this->parents->next || this->parents->next->next))) {
+			res = error(_("%s is not a valid exported stash commit"),
+					oid_to_hex(&this->object.oid));
+			goto out;
+		}
+
+		buffer = repo_get_commit_buffer(r, this, &bufsize);
+
+		if (!this->parents) {
+			/*
+			 * We don't have any parents.  Make sure this is our
+			 * root commit.
+			 */
+			author = find_commit_header(buffer, "author", &author_len);
+			committer = find_commit_header(buffer, "committer", &committer_len);
+
+			if (!author || !committer) {
+				error(_("cannot parse commit %s"), oid_to_hex(&this->object.oid));
+				goto out;
+			}
+
+			if (author_len != strlen(expected) ||
+			    committer_len != strlen(expected) ||
+			    memcmp(author, expected, author_len) ||
+			    memcmp(committer, expected, committer_len)) {
+				res = error(_("found root commit %s with invalid data"), oid_to_hex(&this->object.oid));
+				goto out;
+			}
+			break;
+		}
+
+		p = strstr(buffer, "\n\n");
+		if (!p) {
+			res = error(_("cannot parse commit %s"), oid_to_hex(&this->object.oid));
+			goto out;
+		}
+
+		p += 2;
+		if (((size_t)(bufsize - (p - buffer)) < strlen(prefix)) ||
+		    memcmp(prefix, p, strlen(prefix))) {
+			res = error(_("found stash commit %s with unexpected prefix"), oid_to_hex(&this->object.oid));
+			goto out;
+		}
+
+		stash = this->parents->next->item;
+
+		if (repo_parse_commit(r, this->parents->item) ||
+		    repo_parse_commit(r, stash)) {
+			res = error(_("cannot parse parents of commit: %s"),
+					oid_to_hex(&this->object.oid));
+			goto out;
+		}
+
+		if (check_stash_topology(r, stash)) {
+			res = error(_("%s does not look like a stash commit"),
+					oid_to_hex(&stash->object.oid));
+			goto out;
+		}
+
+		repo_unuse_commit_buffer(r, this, buffer);
+		buffer = NULL;
+		oid_array_append(&items, &stash->object.oid);
+		this = this->parents->item;
+	}
+
+	/*
+	 * Now, walk each entry, adding it to the stash as a normal stash
+	 * commit.
+	 */
+	for (i = (ssize_t)items.nr - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
+		const char *p;
+		const struct object_id *oid = items.oid + i;
+
+		this = lookup_commit_reference(r, oid);
+		buffer = repo_get_commit_buffer(r, this, &bufsize);
+		if (!buffer) {
+			res = error(_("cannot read commit buffer for %s"), oid_to_hex(oid));
+			goto out;
+		}
+
+		p = strstr(buffer, "\n\n");
+		if (!p) {
+			res = error(_("cannot parse commit %s"), oid_to_hex(oid));
+			goto out;
+		}
+
+		p += 2;
+		msg = xmemdupz(p, bufsize - (p - buffer));
+		repo_unuse_commit_buffer(r, this, buffer);
+		buffer = NULL;
+
+		if (do_store_stash(oid, msg, 1)) {
+			res = error(_("cannot save the stash for %s"), oid_to_hex(oid));
+			goto out;
+		}
+		FREE_AND_NULL(msg);
+	}
+out:
+	if (this && buffer)
+		repo_unuse_commit_buffer(r, this, buffer);
+	oid_array_clear(&items);
+	free(msg);
+
+	return res;
+}
+
+static int import_stash(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
+			struct repository *repo)
+{
+	struct option options[] = {
+		OPT_END()
+	};
+
+	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options,
+			     git_stash_import_usage,
+			     PARSE_OPT_KEEP_DASHDASH);
+
+	if (argc != 1)
+		usage_msg_opt("a revision is required", git_stash_import_usage, options);
+
+	return do_import_stash(repo, argv[0]);
+}
+
 static int do_export_stash(struct repository *r,
 			   const char *ref,
 			   int argc,
@@ -2165,6 +2331,7 @@ int cmd_stash(int argc,
 		OPT_SUBCOMMAND("create", &fn, create_stash),
 		OPT_SUBCOMMAND("push", &fn, push_stash_unassumed),
 		OPT_SUBCOMMAND("export", &fn, export_stash),
+		OPT_SUBCOMMAND("import", &fn, import_stash),
 		OPT_SUBCOMMAND_F("save", &fn, save_stash, PARSE_OPT_NOCOMPLETE),
 		OPT_END()
 	};
diff --git a/t/t3903-stash.sh b/t/t3903-stash.sh
index 74666ff3e4..c827709468 100755
--- a/t/t3903-stash.sh
+++ b/t/t3903-stash.sh
@@ -11,6 +11,13 @@ export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME
 . ./test-lib.sh
 . "$TEST_DIRECTORY"/lib-unique-files.sh
 
+test_expect_success 'setup' '
+	test_oid_cache <<-EOF
+	export_base sha1:73c9bab443d1f88ac61aa533d2eeaaa15451239c
+	export_base sha256:f210fa6346e3e2ce047bdb570426b17075980c1ac01fec8fc4b75bd3ab4bcfe4
+	EOF
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'usage on cmd and subcommand invalid option' '
 	test_expect_code 129 git stash --invalid-option 2>usage &&
 	grep "or: git stash" usage &&
@@ -1412,6 +1419,93 @@ test_expect_success 'stash --keep-index --include-untracked with empty tree' '
 	)
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'stash export and import round-trip stashes' '
+	git reset &&
+	>untracked &&
+	>tracked1 &&
+	>tracked2 &&
+	git add tracked* &&
+	git stash -- &&
+	>subdir/untracked &&
+	>subdir/tracked1 &&
+	>subdir/tracked2 &&
+	git add subdir/tracked* &&
+	git stash --include-untracked -- subdir/ &&
+	git tag t-stash0 stash@{0} &&
+	git tag t-stash1 stash@{1} &&
+	simple=$(git stash export --print) &&
+	git stash clear &&
+	git stash import "$simple" &&
+	test_cmp_rev stash@{0} t-stash0 &&
+	test_cmp_rev stash@{1} t-stash1 &&
+	git stash export --to-ref refs/heads/foo &&
+	test_cmp_rev "$(test_oid empty_tree)" foo: &&
+	test_cmp_rev "$(test_oid empty_tree)" foo^: &&
+	test_cmp_rev t-stash0 foo^2 &&
+	test_cmp_rev t-stash1 foo^^2 &&
+	git log --first-parent --format="%s" refs/heads/foo >log &&
+	grep "^git stash: " log >log2 &&
+	test_line_count = 13 log2 &&
+	git stash clear &&
+	git stash import foo &&
+	test_cmp_rev stash@{0} t-stash0 &&
+	test_cmp_rev stash@{1} t-stash1
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'stash import appends commits' '
+	git log --format=oneline -g refs/stash >out &&
+	cat out out >out2 &&
+	git stash import refs/heads/foo &&
+	git log --format=oneline -g refs/stash >actual &&
+	test_line_count = $(wc -l <out2) actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'stash export can accept specified stashes' '
+	git stash clear &&
+	git stash import foo &&
+	git stash export --to-ref refs/heads/bar stash@{1} stash@{0} &&
+	git stash clear &&
+	git stash import refs/heads/bar &&
+	test_cmp_rev stash@{1} t-stash0 &&
+	test_cmp_rev stash@{0} t-stash1 &&
+	git log --format=oneline -g refs/stash >actual &&
+	test_line_count = 2 actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'stash can import and export zero stashes' '
+	git stash clear &&
+	git stash export --to-ref refs/heads/baz &&
+	test_cmp_rev "$(test_oid empty_tree)" baz: &&
+	test_cmp_rev "$(test_oid export_base)" baz &&
+	test_must_fail git rev-parse baz^1 &&
+	git stash import baz &&
+	test_must_fail git rev-parse refs/stash
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'stash rejects invalid attempts to import commits' '
+	git stash import foo &&
+	test_must_fail git stash import HEAD 2>output &&
+	oid=$(git rev-parse HEAD) &&
+	grep "$oid is not a valid exported stash commit" output &&
+	test_cmp_rev stash@{0} t-stash0 &&
+
+	git checkout --orphan orphan &&
+	git commit-tree $(test_oid empty_tree) -p "$oid" -p "$oid^" -m "" >fake-commit &&
+	git update-ref refs/heads/orphan "$(cat fake-commit)" &&
+	oid=$(git rev-parse HEAD) &&
+	test_must_fail git stash import orphan 2>output &&
+	grep "found stash commit $oid with unexpected prefix" output &&
+	test_cmp_rev stash@{0} t-stash0 &&
+
+	git checkout --orphan orphan2 &&
+	git commit-tree $(test_oid empty_tree) -m "" >fake-commit &&
+	git update-ref refs/heads/orphan2 "$(cat fake-commit)" &&
+	oid=$(git rev-parse HEAD) &&
+	test_must_fail git stash import orphan2 2>output &&
+	grep "found root commit $oid with invalid data" output &&
+	test_cmp_rev stash@{0} t-stash0
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'stash apply should succeed with unmodified file' '
 	echo base >file &&
 	git add file &&
Previous: Junio C HamanoNext: Junio C Hamano
Message 60 of 72 in “Importing and exporting stashes to refs”
  1. 0/4 Importing and exporting stashes to refsbrian m. carlson, May 8, 2025
  2. 2/4 builtin/stash: factor out revision parsing into a functionbrian m. carlson, May 8, 2025
  3. Junio C HamanoMay 9, 2025
  4. 3/4 builtin/stash: provide a way to export stashes to a refbrian m. carlson, May 8, 2025
  5. Junio C HamanoMay 9, 2025
  6. Junio C HamanoMay 9, 2025
  7. Jeff KingMay 10, 2025
  8. Phillip WoodMay 12, 2025
  9. Junio C HamanoMay 12, 2025
  10. 1/4 object-name: make get_oid quietly return an errorbrian m. carlson, May 8, 2025
  11. Junio C HamanoMay 9, 2025
  12. brian m. carlsonMay 9, 2025
  13. 4/4 builtin/stash: provide a way to import stashes from a refbrian m. carlson, May 8, 2025
  14. Junio C HamanoMay 9, 2025
  15. brian m. carlsonMay 11, 2025
  16. Jeff KingMay 10, 2025
  17. Junio C HamanoMay 12, 2025
  18. Jeff KingMay 12, 2025
  19. Junio C HamanoMay 12, 2025
  20. brian m. carlsonMay 12, 2025
  21. Jeff KingMay 10, 2025
  22. Phillip WoodMay 12, 2025
  23. Junio C HamanoMay 9, 2025
  24. brian m. carlsonMay 9, 2025
  25. D. Ben KnobleMay 9, 2025
  26. brian m. carlsonMay 9, 2025
  27. D. Ben KnobleMay 10, 2025
  28. Makefile: avoid constant rebuilds with compilation databasebrian m. carlson, May 22, 2025
  29. 3/5 builtin/stash: factor out revision parsing into a functionbrian m. carlson, May 22, 2025
  30. Junio C HamanoMay 22, 2025
  31. brian m. carlsonMay 23, 2025
  32. Junio C HamanoMay 24, 2025
  33. brian m. carlsonMay 26, 2025
  34. 2/5 reflog-walk: expose read_complete_reflogbrian m. carlson, May 22, 2025
  35. Ramsay JonesMay 22, 2025
  36. brian m. carlsonMay 23, 2025
  37. Ramsay JonesMay 24, 2025
  38. brian m. carlsonMay 26, 2025
  39. Phillip WoodMay 29, 2025
  40. Junio C HamanoMay 29, 2025
  41. 0/5 Importing and exporting stashes to refsbrian m. carlson, May 22, 2025
  42. 0/4 Importing and exporting stashes to refsbrian m. carlson, Jun 1, 2025
  43. 1/4 object-name: make get_oid quietly return an errorbrian m. carlson, Jun 1, 2025
  44. 2/4 builtin/stash: factor out revision parsing into a functionbrian m. carlson, Jun 1, 2025
  45. 4/4 builtin/stash: provide a way to import stashes from a refbrian m. carlson, Jun 1, 2025
  46. 3/4 builtin/stash: provide a way to export stashes to a refbrian m. carlson, Jun 1, 2025
  47. Phillip WoodJun 5, 2025
  48. Kristoffer HaugsbakkJun 11, 2025
  49. brian m. carlsonJun 11, 2025
  50. Phillip WoodJun 5, 2025
  51. 0/4 Importing and exporting stashes to refsbrian m. carlson, Jun 12, 2025
  52. 2/4 builtin/stash: factor out revision parsing into a functionbrian m. carlson, Jun 12, 2025
  53. 1/4 object-name: make get_oid quietly return an errorbrian m. carlson, Jun 12, 2025
  54. 3/4 builtin/stash: provide a way to export stashes to a refbrian m. carlson, Jun 12, 2025
  55. 4/4 builtin/stash: provide a way to import stashes from a refbrian m. carlson, Jun 12, 2025
  56. Phillip WoodJun 25, 2025
  57. Junio C HamanoJun 25, 2025
  58. 1/5 object-name: make get_oid quietly return an errorbrian m. carlson, May 22, 2025
  59. Junio C HamanoMay 22, 2025
  60. 5/5 builtin/stash: provide a way to import stashes from a refbrian m. carlson, May 22, 2025
  61. Junio C HamanoMay 22, 2025
  62. brian m. carlsonMay 26, 2025
  63. Junio C HamanoMay 22, 2025
  64. Phillip WoodMay 23, 2025
  65. 4/5 builtin/stash: provide a way to export stashes to a refbrian m. carlson, May 22, 2025
  66. Junio C HamanoMay 22, 2025
  67. brian m. carlsonMay 26, 2025
  68. Phillip WoodMay 29, 2025
  69. brian m. carlsonMay 22, 2025
  70. Junio C HamanoMay 22, 2025
  71. Kristoffer HaugsbakkJun 11, 2025
  72. brian m. carlsonJun 12, 2025

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