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[PATCH v5 4/6] fetch: utilize rejected ref error details

From
Karthik Nayak <karthik.188@gmail.com>
Date
Jan 25, 2026, 22:52 UTC
Message-ID
<20260125-633-regression-lost-diagnostic-message-when-pushing-non-commit-objects-to-refs-heads-v5-4-d58f3a9edf98@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To
<20260125-633-regression-lost-diagnostic-message-when-pushing-non-commit-objects-to-refs-heads-v5-0-d58f3a9edf98@gmail.com>

In 0e358de64a (fetch: use batched reference updates, 2025-05-19), git-fetch(1) switched to using batched reference updates. This also introduced a regression wherein instead of providing detailed error messages for failed referenced updates, the users were provided generic error messages based on the error type.

Similar to the previous commit, switch to using detailed error messages if present for failed reference updates to fix this regression.

Reported-by: Elijah Newren <newren@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Jeff King <peff@peff.net>
Signed-off-by: Karthik Nayak <karthik.188@gmail.com>
---
 builtin/fetch.c  | 10 ++++++----
 t/t5510-fetch.sh |  8 ++++----
 2 files changed, 10 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)
diff --git a/builtin/fetch.c b/builtin/fetch.c
index d427adea61..49495be0b6 100644
--- a/builtin/fetch.c
+++ b/builtin/fetch.c
@@ -1649,7 +1649,7 @@ static void ref_transaction_rejection_handler(const char *refname,
 					      const char *old_target UNUSED,
 					      const char *new_target UNUSED,
 					      enum ref_transaction_error err,
-					      const char *details UNUSED,
+					      const char *details,
 					      void *cb_data)
 {
 	struct ref_rejection_data *data = cb_data;
@@ -1674,9 +1674,11 @@ static void ref_transaction_rejection_handler(const char *refname,
 			"branches"), data->remote_name);
 		data->conflict_msg_shown = true;
 	} else {
-		const char *reason = ref_transaction_error_msg(err);
-
-		error(_("fetching ref %s failed: %s"), refname, reason);
+		if (details)
+			error("%s", details);
+		else
+			error(_("fetching ref %s failed: %s"),
+			      refname, ref_transaction_error_msg(err));
 	}
 
 	*data->retcode = 1;
diff --git a/t/t5510-fetch.sh b/t/t5510-fetch.sh
index ce1c23684e..c69afb5a60 100755
--- a/t/t5510-fetch.sh
+++ b/t/t5510-fetch.sh
@@ -1516,7 +1516,7 @@ test_expect_success REFFILES 'existing reference lock in repo' '
 		git remote add origin ../base &&
 		touch refs/heads/foo.lock &&
 		test_must_fail git fetch -f origin "refs/heads/*:refs/heads/*" 2>err &&
-		test_grep "error: fetching ref refs/heads/foo failed: reference already exists" err &&
+		test_grep -e "error: cannot lock ref ${SQ}refs/heads/foo${SQ}: Unable to create" -e "refs/heads/foo.lock${SQ}: File exists." err &&
 		git rev-parse refs/heads/main >expect &&
 		git rev-parse refs/heads/branch >actual &&
 		test_cmp expect actual
@@ -1530,7 +1530,7 @@ test_expect_success CASE_INSENSITIVE_FS,REFFILES 'F/D conflict on case insensiti
 		cd case_insensitive &&
 		git remote add origin -- ../case_sensitive_fd &&
 		test_must_fail git fetch -f origin "refs/heads/*:refs/heads/*" 2>err &&
-		test_grep "failed: refname conflict" err &&
+		test_grep "cannot process ${SQ}refs/remotes/origin/foo${SQ} and ${SQ}refs/remotes/origin/foo/bar${SQ} at the same time" err &&
 		git rev-parse refs/heads/main >expect &&
 		git rev-parse refs/heads/foo/bar >actual &&
 		test_cmp expect actual
@@ -1544,7 +1544,7 @@ test_expect_success CASE_INSENSITIVE_FS,REFFILES 'D/F conflict on case insensiti
 		cd case_insensitive &&
 		git remote add origin -- ../case_sensitive_df &&
 		test_must_fail git fetch -f origin "refs/heads/*:refs/heads/*" 2>err &&
-		test_grep "failed: refname conflict" err &&
+		test_grep "cannot lock ref ${SQ}refs/remotes/origin/foo${SQ}: there is a non-empty directory ${SQ}./refs/remotes/origin/foo${SQ} blocking reference ${SQ}refs/remotes/origin/foo${SQ}" err &&
 		git rev-parse refs/heads/main >expect &&
 		git rev-parse refs/heads/Foo/bar >actual &&
 		test_cmp expect actual
@@ -1658,7 +1658,7 @@ test_expect_success REFFILES "FETCH_HEAD is updated even if ref updates fail" '
 		git remote add origin ../base &&
 		>refs/heads/foo.lock &&
 		test_must_fail git fetch -f origin "refs/heads/*:refs/heads/*" 2>err &&
-		test_grep "error: fetching ref refs/heads/foo failed: reference already exists" err &&
+		test_grep -e "error: cannot lock ref ${SQ}refs/heads/foo${SQ}: Unable to create" -e "refs/heads/foo.lock${SQ}: File exists." err &&
 		test_grep "branch ${SQ}branch${SQ} of ../base" FETCH_HEAD &&
 		test_grep "branch ${SQ}foo${SQ} of ../base" FETCH_HEAD
 	)
-- 
2.52.0
Previous: Karthik NayakNext: Karthik Nayak
Message 30 of 32 in “refs: provide detailed error messages when using batched update”
  1. 0/6 refs: provide detailed error messages when using batched updateKarthik Nayak, Jan 14, 2026
  2. 1/6 refs: remove unused headerKarthik Nayak, Jan 14, 2026
  3. Junio C HamanoJan 14, 2026
  4. Karthik NayakJan 15, 2026
  5. 2/6 refs: attach rejection details to updatesKarthik Nayak, Jan 14, 2026
  6. Jeff KingJan 14, 2026
  7. Karthik NayakJan 15, 2026
  8. Jeff KingJan 15, 2026
  9. Karthik NayakJan 16, 2026
  10. 3/6 refs: add rejection detail to the callback functionKarthik Nayak, Jan 14, 2026
  11. Jeff KingJan 14, 2026
  12. Karthik NayakJan 15, 2026
  13. 4/6 update-ref: utilize rejected error details if availableKarthik Nayak, Jan 14, 2026
  14. Junio C HamanoJan 14, 2026
  15. Jeff KingJan 14, 2026
  16. Karthik NayakJan 15, 2026
  17. 5/6 fetch: utilize rejected ref error detailsKarthik Nayak, Jan 14, 2026
  18. Junio C HamanoJan 14, 2026
  19. Karthik NayakJan 15, 2026
  20. Jeff KingJan 14, 2026
  21. Karthik NayakJan 15, 2026
  22. 6/6 receive-pack: utilize rejected ref error detailsKarthik Nayak, Jan 14, 2026
  23. Jeff KingJan 14, 2026
  24. Karthik NayakJan 15, 2026
  25. Junio C HamanoJan 14, 2026
  26. 0/6 refs: provide detailed error messages when using batched updateKarthik Nayak, Jan 25, 2026
  27. 1/6 refs: skip to next ref when current ref is rejectedKarthik Nayak, Jan 25, 2026
  28. 2/6 refs: add rejection detail to the callback functionKarthik Nayak, Jan 25, 2026
  29. 3/6 update-ref: utilize rejected error details if availableKarthik Nayak, Jan 25, 2026
  30. 4/6 fetch: utilize rejected ref error detailsKarthik Nayak, Jan 25, 2026
  31. 5/6 receive-pack: utilize rejected ref error detailsKarthik Nayak, Jan 25, 2026
  32. 6/6 fetch: delay user information post committing of transactionKarthik Nayak, Jan 25, 2026

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