Re: [PATCH 0/5] git-add : Respect submodule ignore=all and only add changes with --force

>
> Hi Claus
>
> On 19/10/2025 22:39, Claus Schneider wrote:
> > On Sun, Oct 19, 2025, 17:34 Phillip Wood <phillip.wood123@gmail.com
> > <mailto:phillip.wood123@gmail.com>> wrote:
> >
> >> I was curious why, when "git add" uses the same machinery as "git diff"
> >> to figure out which paths need updating, it behaves differently. It
> >> turns out that add_files_to_cache() contains
> >>
> >>           rev.diffopt.flags.override_submodule_config = 1;
> >>
> >> which makes "git add" ignore "submodule.<name>.ignore". Tracing the
> >> history of this line, it originates from 5556808690e (add, reset: ensure
> >> submodules can be added or reset, 2017-07-25) which made a deliberate
> >> choice for both "git add" and "git reset" not to behave like "git diff".
>
> > Thank you for your feedback and for investigating this. I was not aware > of the setting that causes `add` and `reset` to override submodule
> > configuration, and I will need to look into `reset` further.
>
> You should mention the commit that added the current behavior and the
> reason it was added in the commit message where you change the behavior.
>
> > I understand the problematic aspect of not being able to add an update
> > of a submodule reference, which likely led to the overwrite setting.
> > From a Git developer's perspective, always adding it might have seemed
> > like the simplest approach.
> >
> > However, from an end-user perspective, it's not logical for `status` to
> > show nothing while `add` has an effect.
>
> I'm quite sympathetic to this view, I think you should explain this in the
> commit message where you change the behavior and see what others think.
>
> > A more intuitive workflow would
> > align with how ignored files are handled even though it is already tracked.
>
> As I said before do not think conflating ignoring changes to tracked files
> with ignoring files is a good idea. The two are fundamentally different
> because ignored files are not tracked. I would suggest adding a new option
> such as "--include-ignored-submodules" instead of piggybacking on "--force".
> Using a different option also means that user's will not accidentally stage
> ignored files when they're trying to stage a submodule whose changes are
> normally ignored.
>
> > My patch implements what I believe should have been in the first place.
> > My implementation still needs the `overwrite=1` set in order to get the
> > diff files list so I can 'operate' on it and make the `--force` logic
> > like the ignore files.
>
> Oh, you're right, if we want to print a warning we will need to keep
> overriding the submodule config.
>
> Hopefully someone with more experience of submodules will be able to review
> the code soon.
>
> Thanks
>
> Phillip