From: Patrick Steinhardt Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2025 06:32:32 GMT Subject: Re: [GSoC][PATCH] builtin/refs: add 'get' subcommand Message-ID: In-Reply-To: On Tue, Sep 23, 2025 at 12:57:04PM -0400, Ben Knoble wrote: > With apologies if I cover well-trodden ground, as I haven’t been closely following this effort. > > > Le 23 sept. 2025 à 06:47, Meet Soni a écrit : > > > > While `git-rev-parse(1)` and `git-show-ref(1)` can be used to read > > reference values, they have drawbacks for scripting and discoverability. > > `rev-parse` performs DWIM expansion which is unpredictable for scripts, > > [snip] > > > To address this, introduce a new plumbing command, `git refs get `. > > This new command provides three key advantages: > > > > - It requires an exact refname and does not perform expansion, making > > it safer and more predictable for scripting. > > What are the disadvantages of rev-parse’s DWIMmery in scripts? I would > think it makes handling user input easier (e.g., my custom script can > take a local branch name without writing « refs/heads/ » on the > command-line). OTOH, a script that wants to precisely identify a ref > can do so already, no? > > Since rev-parse presumably won’t go away, it might be ok to have 2 > ways of parsing (one with magic and one without), but that might be > back to the same boat of not having a unified interface 😅 > > Perhaps later we can add a « --dwim » flag for looser parsing, giving > scripteds flexibility but strictness by default? I think having such a "--dwim" flag at a later point could be a good idea, yeah. Patrick