Re: [PATCH v4 3/4] refs: parse and use the reference storage payload
- From
Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks.im>
- Date
- Feb 6, 2026, 14:33 UTC
- Message-ID
- <aYX7w5flfNe_bUFD@pks.im>
- In-Reply-To
- <20260202-kn-alternate-ref-dir-v4-3-3b30430411e3@gmail.com>
On Mon, Feb 02, 2026 at 01:26:32PM +0100, Karthik Nayak wrote:
Show 19 quoted lines
> The previous commit extended the 'extensions.refStorage' config to add > support for a reference storage payload. The payload provides backend > specific information on where to store references for a given directory. > > Propagate this information to individual backends when initializing them > via the 'init()' function. Both the files and reftable backends will > parse the information to be filesystem paths to store references. > > To enable this, provide a 'refs_compute_filesystem_location()' function > which will parse the current 'gitdir' and the 'payload' to provide the > final reference directory and common reference directory (if working in > a linked worktree). > > Finally, for linked worktrees, traditionally references were stored in > the '$GIT_DIR/worktrees/<wt_id>' path. But when using an alternate > reference storage path, it doesn't make sense to store main worktree > references in the new path, and linked worktree references in the > $GIT_DIR path. So, let's store linked worktree references in > '$ALTERNATE_REFERENCE_DIR/worktrees/<wt_id'. To do this, create the
s/wt_id/&>/
Show 17 quoted lines
> diff --git a/Documentation/config/extensions.adoc b/Documentation/config/extensions.adoc > index 532456644b..df86da6aa7 100644 > --- a/Documentation/config/extensions.adoc > +++ b/Documentation/config/extensions.adoc > @@ -57,10 +57,24 @@ For historical reasons, this extension is respected regardless of the > `core.repositoryFormatVersion` setting. > > refStorage::: > - Specify the ref storage format to use. The acceptable values are: > + Specify the ref storage format and location to use. The value can be > + either a format name or a URI: > + > -- > +* A format name alone (e.g., `reftable` or `files`) uses the default > + location (the repository's common directory). > + > +* A URI format `<format>://<location>` explicitly specifies both the
I think I mentioned this before, but shouldn't we say payload instead of location here? It may not be a location for all backends.
Show 17 quoted lines
> diff --git a/builtin/worktree.c b/builtin/worktree.c > index fbdaf2eb2e..800a376ac5 100644 > --- a/builtin/worktree.c > +++ b/builtin/worktree.c > @@ -425,6 +425,40 @@ static int make_worktree_orphan(const char * ref, const struct add_opts *opts, > return run_command(&cp); > } > > +/* > + * References for worktress are generally stored in '$GIT_DIR/worktrees/<wt_id>'. > + * But when using alternate reference directories, we want to store the worktree > + * references in '$ALTERNATE_REFERENCE_DIR/worktrees/<wt_id>'. > + * > + * Create the necessary folder structure to facilitate the same. But to ensure > + * that the former path is still considered a Git directory, add stubs (similar > + * to how we do in the reftable backend). > + */
I think the last part in the braces isn't necessary to say anymore given that we simply shell out to a function now.
Show 13 quoted lines
> diff --git a/refs.c b/refs.c
> index 32b4edaf2d..c1d69082a9 100644
> --- a/refs.c
> +++ b/refs.c
> @@ -2224,7 +2225,11 @@ static struct ref_store *ref_store_init(struct repository *repo,
> if (!be)
> BUG("reference backend is unknown");
>
> - refs = be->init(repo, gitdir, flags);
> + /*
> + * TODO Send in a 'struct worktree' instead of a 'gitdir', and
> + * allow the backend to handle how it wants to deal with worktrees.
> + */It would be nice if the commit message mentioned why this isn't done now already.
Show 28 quoted lines
> diff --git a/refs/files-backend.c b/refs/files-backend.c
> index 240d3c3b26..160ecb53b7 100644
> --- a/refs/files-backend.c
> +++ b/refs/files-backend.c
> @@ -106,19 +106,24 @@ static void clear_loose_ref_cache(struct files_ref_store *refs)
> * set of caches.
> */
> static struct ref_store *files_ref_store_init(struct repository *repo,
> + const char *payload,
> const char *gitdir,
> unsigned int flags)
> {
> struct files_ref_store *refs = xcalloc(1, sizeof(*refs));
> struct ref_store *ref_store = (struct ref_store *)refs;
> - struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
> + struct strbuf ref_common_dir = STRBUF_INIT;
> + struct strbuf refdir = STRBUF_INIT;
> + bool is_worktree;
> +
> + refs_compute_filesystem_location(gitdir, payload, &is_worktree, &refdir,
> + &ref_common_dir);
>
> - base_ref_store_init(ref_store, repo, gitdir, &refs_be_files);
> + base_ref_store_init(ref_store, repo, refdir.buf, &refs_be_files);
> refs->store_flags = flags;
> - get_common_dir_noenv(&sb, gitdir);
> - refs->gitcommondir = strbuf_detach(&sb, NULL);
> + refs->gitcommondir = xstrdup(ref_common_dir.buf);We can use `strbuf_detach()` instead to save an allocation and then use `refs->gitcommondir` below.
Show 5 quoted lines
> refs->packed_ref_store = > - packed_ref_store_init(repo, refs->gitcommondir, flags); > + packed_ref_store_init(repo, payload, ref_common_dir.buf, flags); > refs->log_all_ref_updates = repo_settings_get_log_all_ref_updates(repo); > repo_config_get_bool(repo, "core.prefersymlinkrefs", &refs->prefer_symlink_refs);
Patrick