git/list[1] front-page[2] threads[3] people[4] search[5] about
 

[PATCH] pull: add pull.autoStash config option

From
Lidong Yan <yldhome2d2@gmail.com>
Date
Jul 18, 2025, 03:52 UTC
Message-ID
<20250718035221.2293-1-yldhome2d2@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To
<20250717030732.75106-1-yldhome2d2@gmail.com>

Git uses `rebase.autostash` or `merge.autostash` to determine whether a dirty worktree is allowed during pull. However, this behavior is not clearly documented, making it difficult for users to discover how to enable autostash, or causing them to unknowingly enable it. Add new config option `pull.autostash` along with its documentation and test cases.

`pull.autostash` provides the same functionality as `rebase.autostash` and `merge.autostash`, but overrides them when set. If `pull.autostash` is not set, it falls back to `rebase.autostash` or `merge.autostash`, depending on the value of `pull.rebase`.

Signed-off-by: Lidong Yan <yldhome2d2@gmail.com>
---
 Documentation/config/pull.adoc | 11 +++++
 builtin/pull.c                 | 20 ++++++--
 t/t5520-pull.sh                | 90 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 118 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
diff --git a/Documentation/config/pull.adoc b/Documentation/config/pull.adoc
index 9349e09261..3aa1e67923 100644
--- a/Documentation/config/pull.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/config/pull.adoc
@@ -13,6 +13,17 @@ pull.rebase::
 	of merging the default branch from the default remote when "git
 	pull" is run. See "branch.<name>.rebase" for setting this on a
 	per-branch basis.
+
+pull.autoStash::
+	When true, Git will automatically perform a `git stash` before the
+	operation and then restore the local changes with `git stash pop`
+	after the pull is complete. This means that you can run pull on a
+	dirty worktree. If `pull.autostash` is set, it takes precedence over
+	`rebase.autostash` and `merge.autostash`. If `pull.autostash` is not
+	set, it falls back to `rebase.autostash` or `merge.autostash`,
+	depending on the value of `pull.rebase`. This option can be
+	overridden by the `--no-autostash` and `--autostash` options of
+	linkgit:git-pull[1]. Defaults to false.
 +
 When `merges` (or just 'm'), pass the `--rebase-merges` option to 'git rebase'
 so that the local merge commits are included in the rebase (see
diff --git a/builtin/pull.c b/builtin/pull.c
index c593f324fe..2a6c2e4a37 100644
--- a/builtin/pull.c
+++ b/builtin/pull.c
@@ -90,7 +90,8 @@ static char *opt_ff;
 static const char *opt_verify_signatures;
 static const char *opt_verify;
 static int opt_autostash = -1;
-static int config_autostash;
+static int config_rebase_autostash;
+static int config_pull_autostash = -1;
 static int check_trust_level = 1;
 static struct strvec opt_strategies = STRVEC_INIT;
 static struct strvec opt_strategy_opts = STRVEC_INIT;
@@ -367,7 +368,18 @@ static int git_pull_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 			   const struct config_context *ctx, void *cb)
 {
 	if (!strcmp(var, "rebase.autostash")) {
-		config_autostash = git_config_bool(var, value);
+		/*
+		 * run_rebase() also reads this option. The reason we handle it here is
+		 * that when pull.rebase is true, a fast-forward may occur without
+		 * invoking run_rebase(). We need to ensure that autostash is set even
+		 * in the fast-forward case.
+		 *
+		 * run_merge() handles merge.autostash, so we don't handle it here.
+		 */
+		config_rebase_autostash = git_config_bool(var, value);
+		return 0;
+	} else if (!strcmp(var, "pull.autostash")) {
+		config_pull_autostash = git_config_bool(var, value);
 		return 0;
 	} else if (!strcmp(var, "submodule.recurse")) {
 		recurse_submodules = git_config_bool(var, value) ?
@@ -1006,6 +1018,8 @@ int cmd_pull(int argc,
 	}
 
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, pull_options, pull_usage, 0);
+	if (opt_autostash == -1)
+		opt_autostash = config_pull_autostash;
 
 	if (recurse_submodules_cli != RECURSE_SUBMODULES_DEFAULT)
 		recurse_submodules = recurse_submodules_cli;
@@ -1052,7 +1066,7 @@ int cmd_pull(int argc,
 
 	if (opt_rebase) {
 		if (opt_autostash == -1)
-			opt_autostash = config_autostash;
+			opt_autostash = config_rebase_autostash;
 
 		if (is_null_oid(&orig_head) && !is_index_unborn(the_repository->index))
 			die(_("Updating an unborn branch with changes added to the index."));
diff --git a/t/t5520-pull.sh b/t/t5520-pull.sh
index 63c9a8f04b..134da2185c 100755
--- a/t/t5520-pull.sh
+++ b/t/t5520-pull.sh
@@ -472,6 +472,96 @@ test_expect_success 'pull --no-autostash & merge.autostash unset' '
 	test_pull_autostash_fail --no-autostash --no-rebase
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'pull succeeds with dirty working directory and pull.autostash set' '
+	test_config pull.autostash true &&
+	test_pull_autostash 1 --rebase &&
+	test_pull_autostash 2 --no-rebase
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull --autostash & pull.autostash=true' '
+	test_config pull.autostash true &&
+	test_pull_autostash 1 --autostash --rebase &&
+	test_pull_autostash 2 --autostash --no-rebase
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull --autostash & pull.autostash=false' '
+	test_config pull.autostash false &&
+	test_pull_autostash 1 --autostash --rebase &&
+	test_pull_autostash 2 --autostash --no-rebase
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull --autostash & pull.autostash unset' '
+	test_unconfig pull.autostash &&
+	test_pull_autostash 1 --autostash --rebase &&
+	test_pull_autostash 2 --autostash --no-rebase
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull --no-autostash & pull.autostash=true' '
+	test_config pull.autostash true &&
+	test_pull_autostash_fail --no-autostash --rebase &&
+	test_pull_autostash_fail --no-autostash --no-rebase
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull --no-autostash & pull.autostash=false' '
+	test_config pull.autostash false &&
+	test_pull_autostash_fail --no-autostash --rebase &&
+	test_pull_autostash_fail --no-autostash --no-rebase
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull --no-autostash & pull.autostash unset' '
+	test_unconfig pull.autostash &&
+	test_pull_autostash_fail --no-autostash --rebase &&
+	test_pull_autostash_fail --no-autostash --no-rebase
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull.autostash=true & rebase.autostash=true' '
+	test_config pull.autostash true &&
+	test_config rebase.autostash true &&
+	test_pull_autostash 1 --rebase
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull.autostash=true & rebase.autostash=false' '
+	test_config pull.autostash true &&
+	test_config rebase.autostash false &&
+	test_pull_autostash 1 --rebase
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull.autostash=false & rebase.autostash=true' '
+	test_config pull.autostash false &&
+	test_config rebase.autostash true &&
+	test_pull_autostash_fail --rebase
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull.autostash=false & rebase.autostash=false' '
+	test_config pull.autostash false &&
+	test_config rebase.autostash false &&
+	test_pull_autostash_fail --rebase
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull.autostash=true & merge.autostash=true' '
+	test_config pull.autostash true &&
+	test_config merge.autostash true &&
+	test_pull_autostash 2 --no-rebase
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull.autostash=true & merge.autostash=false' '
+	test_config pull.autostash true &&
+	test_config merge.autostash false &&
+	test_pull_autostash 2 --no-rebase
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull.autostash=false & merge.autostash=true' '
+	test_config pull.autostash false &&
+	test_config merge.autostash true &&
+	test_pull_autostash_fail --no-rebase
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull.autostash=false & merge.autostash=false' '
+	test_config pull.autostash false &&
+	test_config merge.autostash false &&
+	test_pull_autostash_fail --no-rebase
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'pull.rebase' '
 	git reset --hard before-rebase &&
 	test_config pull.rebase true &&

-- 
2.39.5 (Apple Git-154)
Previous: Junio C HamanoNext: Junio C Hamano
Message 18 of 23 in “[BUG] git pull ignores pull.autostash=true configuration when used with --git-dir and --work-tree flags on a bare repository”
  1. Bryan LeeJul 15, 2025
  2. Lidong YanJul 15, 2025
  3. Bryan LeeJul 15, 2025
  4. Bryan LeeJul 15, 2025
  5. Lidong YanJul 15, 2025
  6. Junio C HamanoJul 15, 2025
  7. Lidong YanJul 16, 2025
  8. Johannes SixtJul 16, 2025
  9. Lidong YanJul 16, 2025
  10. Junio C HamanoJul 16, 2025
  11. pull: add pull.autoStash config optionLidong Yan, Jul 17, 2025
  12. Eric SunshineJul 17, 2025
  13. Lidong YanJul 17, 2025
  14. Junio C HamanoJul 17, 2025
  15. Lidong YanJul 17, 2025
  16. Junio C HamanoJul 17, 2025
  17. Junio C HamanoJul 17, 2025
  18. pull: add pull.autoStash config optionLidong Yan, Jul 18, 2025
  19. Junio C HamanoJul 18, 2025
  20. Lidong YanJul 19, 2025
  21. pull: add pull.autoStash config optionLidong Yan, Jul 20, 2025
  22. Junio C HamanoJul 21, 2025
  23. Ben KnobleJul 17, 2025

Read the whole thread, see it on lore, or plain text.

$ cat FOOTERMessages come from the public archive at lore.kernel.org/git, fetched every hour. The front page is chosen and written each morning by an AI editor and can be wrong; the threads themselves are the record. About and API. For agents: an MCP server at https://gitlist.dev/mcp, and any thread, story or person page as Markdown by adding .md to its URL (or sending Accept: text/markdown). Details in /llms.txt.