Re: why doesn't "git reset" mention optional pathspec?

Duy Nguyen [off-list ref] writes:

Without --mixed, you're using the first form

    git reset [-q] [<tree-ish>] [--] <paths>...

which accepts pathspec. If it's not clear, of course patches are welcome.

Yup.  The deprecation is about spelling with "--mixed" when invoking
the "restore these paths out of tree-ish (or HEAD when omitted)
only in the index" mode.  The feature is of course not deprecated
(but it might have been better if it were "git checkout --cached").