Re: git-bisect(1) next after finding the commit
- From
- Alejandro Colomar <alx@kernel.org>
- Date
- Oct 3, 2026, 06:03 UTC
- Message-ID
- <asCaIXYuZFdlFU0J@debian>
- In-Reply-To
- <xmqqece7vimq.fsf@gitster.g>
Hi Junio,
Show 32 quoted lines
> Date: 2026-10-02 15:32:13-0700
> From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
>
> Jeff King <peff@peff.net> writes:
>
> > On Fri, Oct 02, 2026 at 11:49:01PM +0200, Alejandro Colomar wrote:
> >
> >> Is there a plumbing command for retrieving the bisected commit after
> >> a git-bisect(1) session has successfully found it (and of course before
> >> resetting the session)?
> >>
> >> I expected `git bisect next` would bring me to it, and then I'd rev-list
> >> HEAD -1, but it doesn't bring me to it.
> >
> > I'm not 100% sure, but I think "git show bisect/bad" should work.
> >
> > As the bisection progresses, we advance a single refs/bisect/bad from
> > the bottom of the range (the top is multiple refs/bisect/good-* refs).
> > So at the end, it should point to the blamed commit.
>
> The only code that gives "is the first .* commit" message is this bit
> in bisect.c:
>
> if (oideq(bisect_rev, current_bad_oid)) {
> res = error_if_skipped_commits(tried, current_bad_oid);
> if (res)
> goto cleanup;
> printf("%s is the first '%s' commit\n", oid_to_hex(bisect_rev),
> term_bad);
>
> it is fed bisect_rev only when it is the same as current_bad_oid,
> which was read from "refs/bisect/bad". So I think you are right.Thanks for confirming! It certainly works for me (I've tested it).
Show 22 quoted lines
> [Footnote] > > There is a last-step optimization that made me double check the > code, but the optimization is about not bothering to move HEAD and > not moving refs/bisect/bad pointer. > > We have a three-topic branch X, X is at the tip, X~1 at the middle > and X-2 at the bottom. X~3 is on the mainline. > > ----- X~3 ---- X~2 ---- X~1 ---- X > > We found X~2 to be good. X is bad. > > $ git bisect start X X~2 > > We are asked to test X~1. > > * It turns out to be bad. We move bisect/bad to X~1. And then we > report that X~1 is the first bad commit. > > * Or it turns out to be good. Then we report that X is the first > bad commit. But we do not move HEAD and checkout X.
Indeed, this optimization is what surprised me. I expected it would move the HEAD as with every other git-bisect(1) step, but the last one didn't move it. I can live with it, FWIW, since bisect/bad contains all the information I need (and anyway, I will move the HEAD myself, so I don't need the HEAD in any specific position). It was just surprising.
:)
Have a lovely day! Alex
-- <https://www.alejandro-colomar.es>