Re: [PATCH v4 1/3] http-fetch: correct --index-pack-arg documentation

From: Taylor Blau <ttaylorr@openai.com>
Date: Jul 24, 2026, 21:38 UTC
Message-ID: <amPbRCAOLr-pSWfj@com-79390>
In-Reply-To: <a6a40b80461377452a0b2c9204c3a659ab60a7d5.1784874850.git.tnyman@openai.com>

On Fri, Jul 24, 2026 at 01:14:23AM -0700, Ted Nyman wrote:

> The --packfile mode accepts one --index-pack-arg=<arg> option per
> argument passed to index-pack, but its documentation and option
> dependency errors still refer to the plural --index-pack-args form.

Good find, it looks like this dates all the way back to 27e35ba6c6 (http-fetch: allow custom index-pack args, 2021-02-22). Thanks for taking the time to correct it.

Show 17 quoted lines

> diff --git a/Documentation/git-http-fetch.adoc b/Documentation/git-http-fetch.adoc
> index 2200f073c4..09b5d675ee 100644
> --- a/Documentation/git-http-fetch.adoc
> +++ b/Documentation/git-http-fetch.adoc
> @@ -50,11 +50,11 @@ commit-id::
>  	URL and uses index-pack to generate corresponding .idx and .keep files.
>  	The hash is used to determine the name of the temporary file and is
>  	arbitrary. The output of index-pack is printed to stdout. Requires
> -	--index-pack-args.
> +	one or more --index-pack-arg options.
>
> ---index-pack-args=<args>::
> -	For internal use only. The command to run on the contents of the
> -	downloaded pack. Arguments are URL-encoded separated by spaces.
> +--index-pack-arg=<arg>::
> +	For internal use only. An argument to the command run on the contents
> +	of the downloaded pack. This option can be specified multiple times.

Interesting. The plural "--index-pack-args" form says that it specifies the command to run on the downloaded pack, as well as arguments which are separated by spaces. Two thoughts:

 - I think the "arguments are URL-encoded separated by spaces" claim was
   not true even in 27e35ba6c6, so dropping that seems like a strict
   improvement to me.

 - The new form says "An argument to the command run on [...]", but I
   believe that this option is also used to specify the name of the
   command to run itself. I wonder if it may be worth saying something
   like "The first instance specifies the command to run. Subsequent
   occurrences specify its arguments."

> diff --git a/http-fetch.c b/http-fetch.c
> index f9b6ecb061..601a77c3c1 100644
> --- a/http-fetch.c
> +++ b/http-fetch.c

Changes in this file look reasonable. Likewise, it makes sense that we do not have any changes in the test suite, since this option did not exist in a plural in the first place ;-).

Thanks, Taylor