Re: [PATCH 0/2] replay: add --update-refs option

From: Christian Couder <christian.couder@gmail.com>
Date: Sep 8, 2025, 06:07 UTC
Message-ID: <CAP8UFD2XyqgypPfkQav4Fub0AEwyJjXpvfwMPe-adWyCKRa7fQ@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <20250908043620.57848-1-siddharthasthana31@gmail.com>

On Mon, Sep 8, 2025 at 6:36 AM Siddharth Asthana <siddharthasthana31@gmail.com> wrote:

Show 12 quoted lines

>
> This patch series adds a --update-refs option to git replay. Right now,
> when you use git replay, you need to pipe its output to git update-ref
> like this:
>
>     git replay --onto main topic1..topic2 | git update-ref --stdin
>
> This works fine, but it means running two commands and doesn't give you
> atomic transactions by default. The new --update-refs option lets you do
> the ref updates directly:
>
>     git replay --update-refs --onto main topic1..topic2

Thanks for working on this.

> I discussed this feature with Christian Couder earlier, and we agreed that
> it would be useful for server-side operations where you want atomic updates.

Yeah, right. This is something the Git team at GitLab has been interested in for some time.

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> The way it works:
> - By default, it uses atomic transactions (all refs get updated or none do)
> - There's a --batch option if you want some updates to succeed even if
>   others fail
> - It works with bare repositories, which is important for server operations
>   like Gitaly
> - When it succeeds, it doesn't print anything (just like git update-ref
>   --stdin)
> - You can't use --update-refs with the existing --update option

There is no existing --update option. This series also introduces the --update option.

> This should help with git replay's goal of being good for server-side
> operations. It also makes the command simpler to use since you don't need
> the pipeline anymore, and the atomic behavior is better for reliability.

I have commented only on the documentation patch for now as I think it's better to review the design of the new options first, and the documentation looks like a good place for that.

Thanks again.