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`git push --porcelain` has no effect when deleting a ref which does not exist

From
Xavier Morel <xmo@odoo.com>
Date
Aug 5, 2026, 07:19 UTC
Message-ID
<27d95520-409e-4d1b-b8b1-37a910bff604@odoo.com>

Using `push --delete --porcelain` with refs which are extant correctly outputs the relevant information in the documented format:

- :refs/heads/<branch1> [deleted] - :refs/heads/<branch2> [deleted]

However doing the same with refs which don't exist on the remote (e.g. because of a concurrent deletion) has the error written out in human-targeted text:

error: unable to delete '<branch1>': remote ref does not exist error: unable to delete '<branch2>': remote ref does not exist

I would have expected something along the lines of:
!	:refs/heads/<branch>	[remote failure]

which would be machine-readable as documented for the `--porcelain` flag. Was that intended or is it just something that fell through the cracks of code convolution?

Next: Junio C Hamano
Message 1 of 3 in “`git push --porcelain` has no effect when deleting a ref which does not exist”
  1. Xavier MorelAug 5, 2026
  2. Junio C HamanoAug 5, 2026
  3. Xavier MorelAug 7, 2026

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