Re: [PATCH v7] checkout: extend --track with a "fetch" mode to refresh start-point
- From
- Phillip Wood <phillip.wood123@gmail.com>
- Date
- May 11, 2026, 13:16 UTC
- Message-ID
- <98410b9c-8ed6-41df-b508-ca9e15d4ee53@gmail.com>
- In-Reply-To
- <pull.2281.v7.git.git.1778280727849.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
Hi Harald
On 08/05/2026 23:52, Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget wrote:
Show 22 quoted lines
> From: Harald Nordgren <haraldnordgren@gmail.com>
>
> +static void fetch_remote_for_start_point(const char *arg)
> +{
> + char *remote_name = NULL;
> + char *src_ref = NULL;
> + struct child_process cmd = CHILD_PROCESS_INIT;
> + struct strbuf dst_ref = STRBUF_INIT;
> + int have_existing_ref = 0;
> +
> + if (resolve_fetch_target(arg, &remote_name, &src_ref))
> + return;
> +
> + if (src_ref) {
> + const char *short_src = src_ref;
> + struct object_id oid;
> +
> + skip_prefix(short_src, "refs/heads/", &short_src);
> + strbuf_addf(&dst_ref, "refs/remotes/%s/%s", remote_name, short_src);
> + if (!refs_read_ref(get_main_ref_store(the_repository),
> + dst_ref.buf, &oid))
> + have_existing_ref = 1;src_ref is the name of the branch on the remote server, not the name of the remote tracking ref which is given by arg. If arg is a remote name then we need to resolve refs/remotes/$arg/HEAD to find the branch to check, otherwise we should be checking refs/remotes/$arg
I've only given this version a quick scan through, but I didn't notice any other issues.
Thanks
Phillip
Show 250 quoted lines
> + }
> +
> + strvec_pushl(&cmd.args, "fetch", remote_name, NULL);
> + if (src_ref)
> + strvec_push(&cmd.args, src_ref);
> + cmd.git_cmd = 1;
> + if (run_command(&cmd)) {
> + if (have_existing_ref)
> + warning(_("failed to fetch start-point '%s'; "
> + "using existing '%s'"),
> + arg, dst_ref.buf);
> + else
> + die(_("failed to fetch start-point '%s'"), arg);
> + }
> +
> + free(remote_name);
> + free(src_ref);
> + strbuf_release(&dst_ref);
> +}
> +
> +static int parse_opt_checkout_track(const struct option *opt,
> + const char *arg, int unset)
> +{
> + struct checkout_opts *opts = opt->value;
> + struct string_list tokens = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
> + struct string_list_item *item;
> + int saw_direct = 0, saw_inherit = 0;
> + int ret = 0;
> +
> + opts->fetch = 0;
> +
> + if (unset) {
> + opts->track = BRANCH_TRACK_NEVER;
> + return 0;
> + }
> +
> + opts->track = BRANCH_TRACK_EXPLICIT;
> + if (!arg)
> + return 0;
> +
> + string_list_split(&tokens, arg, ",", -1);
> + for_each_string_list_item(item, &tokens) {
> + if (!strcmp(item->string, "fetch")) {
> + opts->fetch = 1;
> + } else if (!strcmp(item->string, "direct")) {
> + saw_direct = 1;
> + opts->track = BRANCH_TRACK_EXPLICIT;
> + } else if (!strcmp(item->string, "inherit")) {
> + saw_inherit = 1;
> + opts->track = BRANCH_TRACK_INHERIT;
> + } else {
> + ret = error(_("option `%s' expects \"%s\", \"%s\", "
> + "or \"%s\""),
> + "--track", "direct", "inherit", "fetch");
> + goto out;
> + }
> + }
> +
> + if (saw_direct && saw_inherit)
> + ret = error(_("option `%s' cannot combine \"%s\" and \"%s\""),
> + "--track", "direct", "inherit");
> +
> +out:
> + string_list_clear(&tokens, 0);
> + return ret;
> +}
> +
> static void branch_info_release(struct branch_info *info)
> {
> free(info->name);
> @@ -1237,7 +1391,6 @@ static int git_checkout_config(const char *var, const char *value,
> opts->dwim_new_local_branch = git_config_bool(var, value);
> return 0;
> }
> -
> if (starts_with(var, "submodule."))
> return git_default_submodule_config(var, value, NULL);
>
> @@ -1734,10 +1887,10 @@ static struct option *add_common_switch_branch_options(
> {
> struct option options[] = {
> OPT_BOOL('d', "detach", &opts->force_detach, N_("detach HEAD at named commit")),
> - OPT_CALLBACK_F('t', "track", &opts->track, "(direct|inherit)",
> + OPT_CALLBACK_F('t', "track", opts, "(direct|inherit|fetch)[,...]",
> N_("set branch tracking configuration"),
> PARSE_OPT_OPTARG,
> - parse_opt_tracking_mode),
> + parse_opt_checkout_track),
> OPT__FORCE(&opts->force, N_("force checkout (throw away local modifications)"),
> PARSE_OPT_NOCOMPLETE),
> OPT_STRING(0, "orphan", &opts->new_orphan_branch, N_("new-branch"), N_("new unborn branch")),
> @@ -1942,8 +2095,13 @@ static int checkout_main(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
> opts->dwim_new_local_branch &&
> opts->track == BRANCH_TRACK_UNSPECIFIED &&
> !opts->new_branch;
> - int n = parse_branchname_arg(argc, argv, dwim_ok, which_command,
> - &new_branch_info, opts, &rev);
> + int n;
> +
> + if (opts->fetch)
> + fetch_remote_for_start_point(argv[0]);
> +
> + n = parse_branchname_arg(argc, argv, dwim_ok, which_command,
> + &new_branch_info, opts, &rev);
> argv += n;
> argc -= n;
> } else if (!opts->accept_ref && opts->from_treeish) {
> diff --git a/t/t7201-co.sh b/t/t7201-co.sh
> index 9bcf7c0b40..19ac6a1a2e 100755
> --- a/t/t7201-co.sh
> +++ b/t/t7201-co.sh
> @@ -801,4 +801,136 @@ test_expect_success 'tracking info copied with autoSetupMerge=inherit' '
> test_cmp_config "" --default "" branch.main2.merge
> '
>
> +test_expect_success 'setup upstream for --track=fetch tests' '
> + git checkout main &&
> + git init fetch_upstream &&
> + test_commit -C fetch_upstream u_main &&
> + git remote add fetch_upstream fetch_upstream &&
> + git fetch fetch_upstream &&
> + git -C fetch_upstream checkout -b fetch_new &&
> + test_commit -C fetch_upstream u_new
> +'
> +
> +test_expect_success 'checkout --track=fetch -b picks up branch created upstream after clone' '
> + git checkout main &&
> + test_must_fail git rev-parse --verify refs/remotes/fetch_upstream/fetch_new &&
> + git checkout --track=fetch -b local_new fetch_upstream/fetch_new &&
> + test_cmp_rev refs/remotes/fetch_upstream/fetch_new HEAD &&
> + test_cmp_config fetch_upstream branch.local_new.remote &&
> + test_cmp_config refs/heads/fetch_new branch.local_new.merge
> +'
> +
> +test_expect_success 'checkout --track=fetch <remote>/<branch> leaves other tracking branches untouched' '
> + git checkout main &&
> + git -C fetch_upstream checkout -b fetch_target &&
> + test_commit -C fetch_upstream u_target_pre &&
> + git -C fetch_upstream checkout -b fetch_other &&
> + test_commit -C fetch_upstream u_other_pre &&
> + git fetch fetch_upstream &&
> + other_before=$(git rev-parse refs/remotes/fetch_upstream/fetch_other) &&
> + git -C fetch_upstream checkout fetch_target &&
> + test_commit -C fetch_upstream u_target_post &&
> + git -C fetch_upstream checkout fetch_other &&
> + test_commit -C fetch_upstream u_other_post &&
> + git checkout --track=fetch -b local_target fetch_upstream/fetch_target &&
> + test_cmp_rev refs/remotes/fetch_upstream/fetch_target HEAD &&
> + test "$(git rev-parse refs/remotes/fetch_upstream/fetch_other)" = "$other_before"
> +'
> +
> +test_expect_success 'checkout --track=fetch with bare remote name fetches only <remote>/HEAD target' '
> + git checkout main &&
> + git -C fetch_upstream checkout main &&
> + git remote set-head fetch_upstream main &&
> + git -C fetch_upstream checkout -b fetch_unrelated &&
> + test_commit -C fetch_upstream u_unrelated_pre &&
> + git fetch fetch_upstream fetch_unrelated &&
> + unrelated_before=$(git rev-parse refs/remotes/fetch_upstream/fetch_unrelated) &&
> + git -C fetch_upstream checkout main &&
> + test_commit -C fetch_upstream u_main_post &&
> + git -C fetch_upstream checkout fetch_unrelated &&
> + test_commit -C fetch_upstream u_unrelated_post &&
> + git checkout --track=fetch -b local_from_remote fetch_upstream &&
> + test_cmp_rev refs/remotes/fetch_upstream/main HEAD &&
> + test "$(git rev-parse refs/remotes/fetch_upstream/fetch_unrelated)" = "$unrelated_before"
> +'
> +
> +test_expect_success 'checkout --track=fetch aborts and does not create branch when no existing ref' '
> + git checkout main &&
> + test_might_fail git branch -D bogus &&
> + test_must_fail git checkout --track=fetch -b bogus fetch_upstream/does_not_exist &&
> + test_must_fail git rev-parse --verify refs/heads/bogus
> +'
> +
> +test_expect_success 'checkout --track=fetch warns and proceeds when fetch fails but ref exists' '
> + git checkout main &&
> + git -C fetch_upstream checkout -b fetch_offline &&
> + test_commit -C fetch_upstream u_offline &&
> + git fetch fetch_upstream fetch_offline &&
> + saved_url=$(git config remote.fetch_upstream.url) &&
> + test_when_finished "git config remote.fetch_upstream.url \"$saved_url\"" &&
> + git config remote.fetch_upstream.url ./does-not-exist &&
> + git checkout --track=fetch -b local_offline fetch_upstream/fetch_offline 2>err &&
> + test_grep "failed to fetch" err &&
> + test_cmp_rev refs/remotes/fetch_upstream/fetch_offline HEAD
> +'
> +
> +test_expect_success 'checkout --track=fetch resolves through configured fetch refspec' '
> + git checkout main &&
> + git -C fetch_upstream checkout -b fetch_refspec &&
> + test_commit -C fetch_upstream u_refspec &&
> + git fetch fetch_upstream fetch_refspec &&
> + git remote add fetch_custom ./fetch_upstream &&
> + test_when_finished "git remote remove fetch_custom" &&
> + git config --replace-all remote.fetch_custom.fetch \
> + "+refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/custom-ns/*" &&
> + git fetch fetch_custom &&
> + test_commit -C fetch_upstream u_refspec_post &&
> + git checkout --track=fetch -b local_refspec custom-ns/fetch_refspec &&
> + test_cmp_rev refs/remotes/custom-ns/fetch_refspec HEAD
> +'
> +
> +test_expect_success 'checkout --track=inherit,direct is rejected' '
> + test_must_fail git checkout --track=inherit,direct -b bad fetch_upstream/fetch_new 2>err &&
> + test_grep "cannot combine" err
> +'
> +
> +test_expect_success 'checkout --track=fetch then --track=direct drops fetch (last-one-wins)' '
> + git checkout main &&
> + git -C fetch_upstream checkout -b fetch_lastwin &&
> + test_commit -C fetch_upstream u_lastwin &&
> + test_must_fail git rev-parse --verify refs/remotes/fetch_upstream/fetch_lastwin &&
> + test_must_fail git checkout --track=fetch --track=direct \
> + -b local_lastwin fetch_upstream/fetch_lastwin &&
> + test_must_fail git rev-parse --verify refs/remotes/fetch_upstream/fetch_lastwin
> +'
> +
> +test_expect_success 'checkout --track=fetch,inherit fetches and inherits' '
> + git checkout main &&
> + git -C fetch_upstream checkout -b fetch_inherit &&
> + test_commit -C fetch_upstream u_inherit &&
> + git fetch fetch_upstream fetch_inherit &&
> + git checkout -b base_inherit fetch_upstream/fetch_inherit &&
> + test_commit -C fetch_upstream u_inherit2 &&
> + git checkout main &&
> + git checkout --track=fetch,inherit -b local_inherit base_inherit &&
> + test_cmp_rev refs/remotes/fetch_upstream/fetch_inherit HEAD &&
> + test_cmp_config fetch_upstream branch.local_inherit.remote &&
> + test_cmp_config refs/heads/fetch_inherit branch.local_inherit.merge
> +'
> +
> +test_expect_success 'checkout --track=bogus reports an error' '
> + git checkout main &&
> + test_must_fail git checkout --track=bogus -b bogus_branch fetch_upstream/fetch_new 2>err &&
> + test_grep "expects" err
> +'
> +
> +test_expect_success 'switch --track=fetch -c picks up branch created upstream after clone' '
> + git checkout main &&
> + git -C fetch_upstream checkout -b fetch_switch &&
> + test_commit -C fetch_upstream u_switch &&
> + test_must_fail git rev-parse --verify refs/remotes/fetch_upstream/fetch_switch &&
> + git switch --track=fetch -c local_switch fetch_upstream/fetch_switch &&
> + test_cmp_rev refs/remotes/fetch_upstream/fetch_switch HEAD
> +'
> +
> test_done
>
> base-commit: 94f057755b7941b321fd11fec1b2e3ca5313a4e0