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Re: [PATCH v4 2/2] replay: add --revert mode to reverse commit changes

From
PWPhillip Wood <phillip.wood123@gmail.com>
Date
Mar 16, 2026, 16:57 UTC
Message-ID
<f18f9bb4-4c30-4972-a034-a74b81a3e1e6@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To
<20260313054035.26605-3-siddharthasthana31@gmail.com>
Hi Siddharth
On 13/03/2026 05:40, Siddharth Asthana wrote:
Show 27 quoted lines
> Add a `--revert <branch>` mode to git replay that undoes the changes
> introduced by the specified commits. Like --onto and --advance, --revert
> is a standalone mode: it takes a branch argument and updates that branch
> with the newly created revert commits.
> 
> At GitLab, we need this in Gitaly for reverting commits directly on bare
> repositories without requiring a working tree checkout.
> 
> The approach is the same as sequencer.c's do_pick_commit() -- cherry-pick
> and revert are just the same three-way merge with swapped arguments:
> 
>    - Cherry-pick: merge(ancestor=parent, ours=current, theirs=commit)
>    - Revert: merge(ancestor=commit, ours=current, theirs=parent)
> 
> We swap the base and pickme trees passed to merge_incore_nonrecursive()
> to reverse the diff direction.
> 
> Reverts are processed newest-first (matching git revert behavior) to
> reduce conflicts by peeling off changes from the top. Each revert
> builds on the result of the previous one via the last_commit fallback
> in the main replay loop, rather than relying on the parent-mapping
> used for cherry-pick.
> 
> Revert commit messages follow the usual git revert conventions: prefixed
> with "Revert" (or "Reapply" when reverting a revert), and including
> "This reverts commit <hash>.". The author is set to the current user
> rather than preserving the original author, matching git revert behavior.

This addresses all my comments on the previous version. I've one minor comment below but I'm not sure its worth a re-roll on its own.

Show 5 quoted lines
>   
>   test_expect_success 'cannot advance target ... ordering would be ill-defined' '
> -	echo "fatal: cannot advance target with multiple sources because ordering would be ill-defined" >expect &&
> +	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
> +	fatal: '"'"'--advance'"'"' cannot be used with multiple revision ranges because the ordering would be ill-defined

This quoting is a bit strange - we'd normally drop the '\' form '\EOF' above use ${SQ} instead. git grep shows there are 220 instances of ${SQ} vs 31 instances of '"'"' in the test suite.

Thanks
Phillip
Show 110 quoted lines
> +	EOF
>   	test_must_fail git replay --advance=main main topic1 topic2 2>actual &&
>   	test_cmp expect actual
>   '
> @@ -398,4 +399,105 @@ test_expect_success 'invalid replay.refAction value' '
>   	test_grep "invalid.*replay.refAction.*value" error
>   '
>   
> +test_expect_success 'argument to --revert must be a reference' '
> +	echo "fatal: argument to --revert must be a reference" >expect &&
> +	oid=$(git rev-parse main) &&
> +	test_must_fail git replay --revert=$oid topic1..topic2 2>actual &&
> +	test_cmp expect actual
> +'
> +
> +test_expect_success 'cannot revert with multiple sources' '
> +	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
> +	fatal: '"'"'--revert'"'"' cannot be used with multiple revision ranges because the ordering would be ill-defined
> +	EOF
> +	test_must_fail git replay --revert main main topic1 topic2 2>actual &&
> +	test_cmp expect actual
> +'
> +
> +test_expect_success 'using replay --revert to revert commits' '
> +	# Reuse existing topic4 branch (has commits I and J on top of main)
> +	START=$(git rev-parse topic4) &&
> +	test_when_finished "git branch -f topic4 $START" &&
> +
> +	# Revert commits I and J
> +	git replay --revert topic4 topic4~2..topic4 &&
> +
> +	# Verify the revert commits were created (newest-first ordering
> +	# means J is reverted first, then I on top)
> +	git log --format=%s -4 topic4 >actual &&
> +	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
> +	Revert "I"
> +	Revert "J"
> +	J
> +	I
> +	EOF
> +	test_cmp expect actual &&
> +
> +	# Verify commit message format includes hash (tip is Revert "I")
> +	test_commit_message topic4 <<-EOF &&
> +	Revert "I"
> +
> +	This reverts commit $(git rev-parse I).
> +	EOF
> +
> +	# Verify reflog message
> +	git reflog topic4 -1 --format=%gs >reflog-msg &&
> +	echo "replay --revert topic4" >expect-reflog &&
> +	test_cmp expect-reflog reflog-msg
> +'
> +
> +test_expect_success 'using replay --revert in bare repo' '
> +	# Reuse existing topic4 in bare repo
> +	START=$(git -C bare rev-parse topic4) &&
> +	test_when_finished "git -C bare update-ref refs/heads/topic4 $START" &&
> +
> +	# Revert commit J in bare repo
> +	git -C bare replay --revert topic4 topic4~1..topic4 &&
> +
> +	# Verify revert was created
> +	git -C bare log -1 --format=%s topic4 >actual &&
> +	echo "Revert \"J\"" >expect &&
> +	test_cmp expect actual
> +'
> +
> +test_expect_success 'revert of revert uses Reapply' '
> +	# Use topic4 and first revert J, then revert the revert
> +	START=$(git rev-parse topic4) &&
> +	test_when_finished "git branch -f topic4 $START" &&
> +
> +	# First revert J
> +	git replay --revert topic4 topic4~1..topic4 &&
> +	REVERT_J=$(git rev-parse topic4) &&
> +
> +	# Now revert the revert - should become Reapply
> +	git replay --revert topic4 topic4~1..topic4 &&
> +
> +	# Verify Reapply prefix and message format
> +	test_commit_message topic4 <<-EOF
> +	Reapply "J"
> +
> +	This reverts commit $REVERT_J.
> +	EOF
> +'
> +
> +test_expect_success 'git replay --revert with conflict' '
> +	# conflict branch has C.conflict which conflicts with topic1s C
> +	test_expect_code 1 git replay --revert conflict B..topic1
> +'
> +
> +test_expect_success 'git replay --revert incompatible with --contained' '
> +	test_must_fail git replay --revert topic4 --contained topic4~1..topic4 2>error &&
> +	test_grep "requires --onto" error
> +'
> +
> +test_expect_success 'git replay --revert incompatible with --onto' '
> +	test_must_fail git replay --revert topic4 --onto main topic4~1..topic4 2>error &&
> +	test_grep "cannot be used together" error
> +'
> +
> +test_expect_success 'git replay --revert incompatible with --advance' '
> +	test_must_fail git replay --revert topic4 --advance main topic4~1..topic4 2>error &&
> +	test_grep "cannot be used together" error
> +'
> +
>   test_done
Previous: Siddharth AsthanaNext: Toon Claes
Message 74 of 96 in “replay: add --revert option to reverse commit changes”
  1. 0/1 replay: add --revert option to reverse commit changesSiddharth Asthana, Nov 25, 2025
  2. 1/1 replay: add --revert option to reverse commit changesSiddharth Asthana, Nov 25, 2025
  3. Junio C HamanoNov 25, 2025
  4. Junio C HamanoNov 25, 2025
  5. Junio C HamanoNov 25, 2025
  6. Junio C HamanoNov 25, 2025
  7. Siddharth AsthanaNov 26, 2025
  8. Siddharth AsthanaNov 26, 2025
  9. Siddharth AsthanaNov 26, 2025
  10. Junio C HamanoNov 26, 2025
  11. Siddharth AsthanaNov 27, 2025
  12. Phillip WoodNov 26, 2025
  13. Elijah NewrenNov 26, 2025
  14. Junio C HamanoNov 26, 2025
  15. Junio C HamanoNov 26, 2025
  16. Elijah NewrenNov 26, 2025
  17. Junio C HamanoNov 26, 2025
  18. Elijah NewrenNov 26, 2025
  19. Siddharth AsthanaNov 26, 2025
  20. Siddharth AsthanaNov 26, 2025
  21. Phillip WoodNov 27, 2025
  22. Siddharth AsthanaNov 27, 2025
  23. Johannes SchindelinNov 25, 2025
  24. Junio C HamanoNov 25, 2025
  25. Siddharth AsthanaNov 26, 2025
  26. Junio C HamanoNov 26, 2025
  27. Siddharth AsthanaNov 27, 2025
  28. Junio C HamanoNov 27, 2025
  29. Elijah NewrenNov 28, 2025
  30. Siddharth AsthanaNov 28, 2025
  31. Junio C HamanoNov 28, 2025
  32. Elijah NewrenNov 28, 2025
  33. Junio C HamanoNov 28, 2025
  34. Elijah NewrenNov 28, 2025
  35. Junio C HamanoNov 29, 2025
  36. 0/2 replay: add --revert mode to reverse commit changesSiddharth Asthana, Dec 2, 2025
  37. 1/2 sequencer: extract revert message formatting into shared functionSiddharth Asthana, Dec 2, 2025
  38. Patrick SteinhardtDec 5, 2025
  39. Siddharth AsthanaDec 7, 2025
  40. Patrick SteinhardtDec 8, 2025
  41. Toon ClaesFeb 11, 2026
  42. Patrick SteinhardtFeb 11, 2026
  43. Kristoffer HaugsbakkFeb 11, 2026
  44. Junio C HamanoFeb 11, 2026
  45. Siddharth AsthanaFeb 18, 2026
  46. 2/2 replay: add --revert mode to reverse commit changesSiddharth Asthana, Dec 2, 2025
  47. Patrick SteinhardtDec 5, 2025
  48. Siddharth AsthanaDec 7, 2025
  49. Phillip WoodDec 16, 2025
  50. 0/2 replay: add --revert mode to reverse commit changesSiddharth Asthana, Feb 18, 2026
  51. 1/2 sequencer: extract revert message formatting into shared functionSiddharth Asthana, Feb 18, 2026
  52. Toon ClaesFeb 20, 2026
  53. Junio C HamanoFeb 25, 2026
  54. Siddharth AsthanaMar 6, 2026
  55. Siddharth AsthanaMar 6, 2026
  56. Phillip WoodFeb 26, 2026
  57. Siddharth AsthanaMar 6, 2026
  58. 2/2 replay: add --revert mode to reverse commit changesSiddharth Asthana, Feb 18, 2026
  59. Toon ClaesFeb 20, 2026
  60. Junio C HamanoFeb 20, 2026
  61. Christian CouderFeb 23, 2026
  62. Toon ClaesFeb 23, 2026
  63. Siddharth AsthanaMar 6, 2026
  64. Phillip WoodFeb 26, 2026
  65. Siddharth AsthanaMar 6, 2026
  66. Phillip WoodMar 6, 2026
  67. Siddharth AsthanaMar 6, 2026
  68. 0/2 replay: add --revert mode to reverse commit changesSiddharth Asthana, Mar 13, 2026
  69. 1/2 sequencer: extract revert message formatting into shared functionSiddharth Asthana, Mar 13, 2026
  70. Junio C HamanoMar 13, 2026
  71. Toon ClaesMar 16, 2026
  72. Phillip WoodMar 16, 2026
  73. 2/2 replay: add --revert mode to reverse commit changesSiddharth Asthana, Mar 13, 2026
  74. Phillip WoodMar 16, 2026
  75. Toon ClaesMar 16, 2026
  76. Phillip WoodMar 17, 2026
  77. Phillip WoodMar 16, 2026
  78. Toon ClaesMar 16, 2026
  79. 0/2 replay: add --revert mode to reverse commit changesSiddharth Asthana, Mar 24, 2026
  80. 1/2 sequencer: extract revert message formatting into shared functionSiddharth Asthana, Mar 24, 2026
  81. 2/2 replay: add --revert mode to reverse commit changesSiddharth Asthana, Mar 24, 2026
  82. Junio C HamanoMar 25, 2026
  83. Toon ClaesMar 25, 2026
  84. Siddharth AsthanaMar 25, 2026
  85. Phillip WoodMar 25, 2026
  86. Siddharth AsthanaMar 25, 2026
  87. 0/2 replay: add --revert mode to reverse commit changesSiddharth Asthana, Mar 25, 2026
  88. 1/2 sequencer: extract revert message formatting into shared functionSiddharth Asthana, Mar 25, 2026
  89. 2/2 replay: add --revert mode to reverse commit changesSiddharth Asthana, Mar 25, 2026
  90. Tian YuchenMar 28, 2026
  91. Siddharth AsthanaMar 29, 2026
  92. Tian YuchenMar 30, 2026
  93. Toon ClaesMar 31, 2026
  94. Toon ClaesMar 31, 2026
  95. 1/2 sequencer: extract revert message formatting into shared functionSiddharth Asthana, Mar 25, 2026
  96. 2/2 replay: add --revert mode to reverse commit changesSiddharth Asthana, Mar 25, 2026

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