[PATCH v3 2/2] remote.c: remove BUG in show_push_unqualified_ref_name_error()

From: Denton Liu <liu.denton@gmail.com>
Date: Aug 6, 2025, 04:53 UTC
Message-ID: <938dfb8d4e37ef962c811d6e0f32122a2522deb5.1754455931.git.liu.denton@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <cover.1754455931.git.liu.denton@gmail.com>

When "git push <remote> <src>:<dst>" does not spell out the destination side of the ref fully, and when <src> is not given as a reference but an object name, the code tries to give advice messages based on the type of that object.

The type is determined by calling odb_read_object_info() and signalled by its return value. The code however reported a programming error with BUG() when this function said that there is no such object, which happens when the object name is given as a full hexadecimal (if the object name is given as a partial hexadecimal or an non-existing ref, the function would have died without returning, so this BUG() wouldn't have triggered). This is wrong. It is an ordinary end-user mistake to give an object name that does not exist and treated as such.

An example of the error message produced is as follows:

	error: The destination you provided is not a full refname (i.e.,
	starting with "refs/"). We tried to guess what you meant by:

	- Looking for a ref that matches 'branch' on the remote side.
	- Checking if the <src> being pushed ('0000000000000000000000000000000000000001')
	  is a ref in "refs/{heads,tags}/". If so we add a corresponding
	  refs/{heads,tags}/ prefix on the remote side.

	Neither worked, so we gave up. You must fully qualify the ref.
	BUG: remote.c:1221: '0000000000000000000000000000000000000001' should be commit/tag/tree/blob, is '-1'
	fatal: the remote end hung up unexpectedly
	Aborted (core dumped)

Helped-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Signed-off-by: Denton Liu <liu.denton@gmail.com>
---
 remote.c              | 4 ++--
 t/t5516-fetch-push.sh | 5 +++++
 2 files changed, 7 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/remote.c b/remote.c
index e965f022f1..465e0ea0eb 100644
--- a/remote.c
+++ b/remote.c
@@ -1218,8 +1218,8 @@ static void show_push_unqualified_ref_name_error(const char *dst_value,
 			 "'%s:refs/tags/%s'?"),
 		       matched_src_name, dst_value);
 	} else {
-		BUG("'%s' should be commit/tag/tree/blob, is '%d'",
-		    matched_src_name, type);
+		advise(_("The <src> part of the refspec ('%s') is an object ID that doesn't exist.\n"),
+		       matched_src_name);
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/t/t5516-fetch-push.sh b/t/t5516-fetch-push.sh
index 8eddf3e40d..46926e7bbd 100755
--- a/t/t5516-fetch-push.sh
+++ b/t/t5516-fetch-push.sh
@@ -471,6 +471,11 @@ test_expect_success 'push ref expression with non-existent, incomplete dest' '
 	test_must_fail git push testrepo main^:branch
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'push ref expression with non-existent oid src' '
+	mk_test testrepo &&
+	test_must_fail git push testrepo $(test_oid 001):branch
+'
+
 for head in HEAD @
 do

-- 
2.50.1