Thread (141 messages) 141 messages, 8 authors, 2026-03-04

Re: [PATCH v17 2/2] status: show comparison with push remote tracking branch

From: Phillip Wood <hidden>
Date: 2026-01-09 14:56:41

Hi Harald

On 05/01/2026 10:17, Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget wrote:
From: Harald Nordgren <redacted>

"git status" on a branch that follows a remote branch compares
commits on the current branch and the remote-tracking branch it
builds upon, to show "ahead", "behind", or "diverged" status.

When working on a feature branch that tracks a remote feature branch,
but you also want to track progress relative to the push destination
tracking branch (which may differ from the upstream branch), git status
now shows an additional comparison.

When the upstream tracking branch differs from the push destination
tracking branch, git status shows both the comparison with the upstream
tracking branch (as before) and an additional comparison with the push
destination tracking branch. The push branch comparison appears on a
separate line after the upstream branch status, using the same format.

Example output when tracking origin/main but push destination is
origin/feature:
     On branch feature
     Your branch and 'origin/main' have diverged,
     and have 3 and 1 different commits each, respectively.
       (use "git pull" if you want to integrate the remote branch with yours)

     Your branch is ahead of 'origin/feature' by 1 commit.
       (use "git push" to publish your local commits)
The advice looks good
The comparison is only shown when the push destination tracking branch
differs from the upstream tracking branch, even if they are on the same
remote.
Sounds sensible
quoted hunk ↗ jump to hunk
diff --git a/remote.c b/remote.c
index 7163a8ec28..1f87b85b22 100644
--- a/remote.c
+++ b/remote.c
@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@
  
  enum map_direction { FROM_SRC, FROM_DST };
  
+enum branch_mode_flags {
+	BRANCH_MODE_PULL = (1 << 0),
+	BRANCH_MODE_PUSH = (1 << 1),
+};
Using an enum for a set of flags is a bit confusing.
+static char *get_remote_push_branch(struct branch *branch, char **full_ref_out)
+{
+	struct remote *remote;
+	const char *push_remote;
+	char *push_dst = NULL;
+	char *tracking_ref;
+	const char *resolved;
+	char *ret;
+
+	if (!branch)
+		return NULL;
+
+	push_remote = pushremote_for_branch(branch, NULL);
+	if (!push_remote)
+		return NULL;
+
+	remote = remotes_remote_get(the_repository, push_remote);
+	if (!remote)
+		return NULL;
+
+	push_dst = remote_ref_for_branch(branch, 1);
+	if (!push_dst) {
+		if (remote->push.nr)
+			return NULL;
+		push_dst = xstrdup(branch->refname);
+	}
+
+	tracking_ref = (char *)tracking_for_push_dest(remote, push_dst, NULL);
+	free(push_dst);
On reflection I wonder if we should be calling branch_get_push() instead 
of remote_ref_for_branch() and tracking_for_push_dest() as it respects 
'push.default' and so the branch it returns is the one that "git push" 
without any arguments would push to.
+	if (!tracking_ref)
+		return NULL;
+
+	resolved = refs_resolve_ref_unsafe(
+		get_main_ref_store(the_repository),
+		tracking_ref,
+		RESOLVE_REF_READING,
+		NULL, NULL);
+
+	if (!resolved) {
+		free(tracking_ref);
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
+	if (full_ref_out)
I think it would be simpler to just return the full refname and let the 
caller shorten it.
quoted hunk ↗ jump to hunk
+		*full_ref_out = xstrdup(resolved);
+
+	ret = refs_shorten_unambiguous_ref(
+		get_main_ref_store(the_repository), resolved, 0);
+	free(tracking_ref);
+	return ret;
+}
+
  static void format_branch_comparison(struct strbuf *sb,
  				     int sti,
  				     int ours, int theirs,
  				     const char *branch_name,
  				     enum ahead_behind_flags abf,
+				     enum branch_mode_flags advice_flags,
  				     int show_divergence_advice)
  {
  	if (!sti) {
@@ -2252,7 +2311,8 @@ static void format_branch_comparison(struct strbuf *sb,
  		strbuf_addf(sb,
  			    _("Your branch and '%s' refer to different commits.\n"),
  			    branch_name);
-		if (advice_enabled(ADVICE_STATUS_HINTS))
+		if ((advice_flags & BRANCH_MODE_PUSH) &&
Why are we checking for BRANCH_MODE_PUSH here? Don't we want to show 
this advice regardless of the mode?


 > +		    advice_enabled(ADVICE_STATUS_HINTS))
quoted hunk ↗ jump to hunk
  			strbuf_addf(sb, _("  (use \"%s\" for details)\n"),
  				    "git status --ahead-behind");
  	} else if (!theirs) {
@@ -2261,7 +2321,8 @@ static void format_branch_comparison(struct strbuf *sb,
  			   "Your branch is ahead of '%s' by %d commits.\n",
  			   ours),
  			branch_name, ours);
-		if (advice_enabled(ADVICE_STATUS_HINTS))
+		if ((advice_flags & BRANCH_MODE_PUSH) &&
+		    advice_enabled(ADVICE_STATUS_HINTS))
Having to test the flags each time is a bit cumbersome. We could define
a couple of local variables to simplify this

	bool want_push_advice = (advice_flags & BRANCH_MODE_PUSH) &&
				advice_enabled(ADVICE_STATUS_HINTS);
	bool want_pull_advice = advice_flags & BRANCH_MODE_PULL &&
				advice_enabled(ADVICE_STATUS_HINTS);

Then we can simplify the above to

	if (want_push_advice)
  			strbuf_addstr(sb,
  				_("  (use \"git push\" to publish your local commits)\n"));
  	} else if (!ours) {
 > [...]
quoted hunk ↗ jump to hunk
@@ -2285,7 +2347,8 @@ static void format_branch_comparison(struct strbuf *sb,
  			       "respectively.\n",
  			   ours + theirs),
  			branch_name, ours, theirs);
-		if (show_divergence_advice &&
+		if ((advice_flags & BRANCH_MODE_PULL) &&
+		    show_divergence_advice &&
If we don't want to show this can't we set show_divergance_adivce to 
false when we call this function - why is it guarded by BRANCH_MODE_PULL 
as well?
quoted hunk ↗ jump to hunk
  		    advice_enabled(ADVICE_STATUS_HINTS))
  			strbuf_addstr(sb,
  				_("  (use \"git pull\" if you want to integrate the remote branch with yours)\n"));
@@ -2303,6 +2366,11 @@ int format_tracking_info(struct branch *branch, struct strbuf *sb,
  	const char *full_base;
  	char *base;
  	int upstream_is_gone = 0;
+	enum branch_mode_flags base_branch_modes = BRANCH_MODE_PULL | BRANCH_MODE_PUSH;
Here we set an enum to a value that is not a member of the enum.
quoted hunk ↗ jump to hunk
+	int push_ours, push_theirs, push_sti;
+	char *full_push = NULL;
+	char *push = NULL;
+	enum branch_mode_flags push_branch_modes = 0;
  
  	sti = stat_tracking_info(branch, &ours, &theirs, &full_base, 0, abf);
  	if (sti < 0) {
@@ -2314,6 +2382,16 @@ int format_tracking_info(struct branch *branch, struct strbuf *sb,
  	base = refs_shorten_unambiguous_ref(get_main_ref_store(the_repository),
  					    full_base, 0);
  
+	push = get_remote_push_branch(branch, &full_push);
+	if (push && strcmp(base, push)) {
This is good - we only show the push branch separately if it differs 
from the upstream branch.
+		push_sti = stat_branch_pair(branch->refname, full_push,
+					   &push_ours, &push_theirs, abf);
+		if (push_sti >= 0) {
+			base_branch_modes = BRANCH_MODE_PULL;
+			push_branch_modes = BRANCH_MODE_PUSH;
+		}
This combined with checking "push_branch_modes & BRANCH_MODE_PUSH" below 
ensures we skip the push branch if push_sti < 0. That's good but it is a 
bit hard to follow.

Thanks

Phillip
quoted hunk ↗ jump to hunk
+	}
+
  	if (upstream_is_gone) {
  		strbuf_addf(sb,
  			_("Your branch is based on '%s', but the upstream is gone.\n"),
@@ -2322,10 +2400,19 @@ int format_tracking_info(struct branch *branch, struct strbuf *sb,
  			strbuf_addstr(sb,
  				_("  (use \"git branch --unset-upstream\" to fixup)\n"));
  	} else {
-		format_branch_comparison(sb, sti, ours, theirs, base, abf, show_divergence_advice);
+		format_branch_comparison(sb, sti, ours, theirs, base, abf,
+					 base_branch_modes, show_divergence_advice);
+	}
+
+	if (push_branch_modes & BRANCH_MODE_PUSH) {
+		strbuf_addstr(sb, "\n");
+		format_branch_comparison(sb, push_sti, push_ours, push_theirs, push, abf,
+					 push_branch_modes, 0);
  	}
  
  	free(base);
+	free(full_push);
+	free(push);
  	return 1;
  }
  
diff --git a/t/t6040-tracking-info.sh b/t/t6040-tracking-info.sh
index 0b719bbae6..cf5a926dcd 100755
--- a/t/t6040-tracking-info.sh
+++ b/t/t6040-tracking-info.sh
@@ -292,4 +292,266 @@ test_expect_success '--set-upstream-to @{-1}' '
  	test_cmp expect actual
  '
  
+test_expect_success 'status tracking origin/main shows only main' '
+	(
+		cd test &&
+		git checkout b4 &&
+		git status >../actual
+	) &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	On branch b4
+	Your branch is ahead of ${SQ}origin/main${SQ} by 2 commits.
+	  (use "git push" to publish your local commits)
+
+	nothing to commit, working tree clean
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'status --no-ahead-behind tracking origin/main shows only main' '
+	(
+		cd test &&
+		git checkout b4 &&
+		git status --no-ahead-behind >../actual
+	) &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	On branch b4
+	Your branch and ${SQ}origin/main${SQ} refer to different commits.
+	  (use "git status --ahead-behind" for details)
+
+	nothing to commit, working tree clean
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'status shows ahead of both origin/main and feature branch' '
+	(
+		cd test &&
+		git checkout -b feature2 origin/main &&
+		git push origin HEAD &&
+		advance work &&
+		git status >../actual
+	) &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	On branch feature2
+	Your branch is ahead of ${SQ}origin/main${SQ} by 1 commit.
+
+	Your branch is ahead of ${SQ}origin/feature2${SQ} by 1 commit.
+	  (use "git push" to publish your local commits)
+
+	nothing to commit, working tree clean
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'checkout shows ahead of both origin/main and feature branch' '
+	(
+		cd test &&
+		git checkout feature2 >../actual
+	) &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	Your branch is ahead of ${SQ}origin/main${SQ} by 1 commit.
+
+	Your branch is ahead of ${SQ}origin/feature2${SQ} by 1 commit.
+	  (use "git push" to publish your local commits)
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'setup for ahead of tracked but diverged from main' '
+	(
+		cd test &&
+		git checkout -b feature4 origin/main &&
+		advance work1 &&
+		git checkout origin/main &&
+		advance work2 &&
+		git push origin HEAD:main &&
+		git checkout feature4 &&
+		advance work3
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'status shows diverged from origin/main and ahead of feature branch' '
+	(
+		cd test &&
+		git checkout feature4 &&
+		git branch --set-upstream-to origin/main &&
+		git push origin HEAD &&
+		advance work &&
+		git status >../actual
+	) &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	On branch feature4
+	Your branch and ${SQ}origin/main${SQ} have diverged,
+	and have 3 and 1 different commits each, respectively.
+	  (use "git pull" if you want to integrate the remote branch with yours)
+
+	Your branch is ahead of ${SQ}origin/feature4${SQ} by 1 commit.
+	  (use "git push" to publish your local commits)
+
+	nothing to commit, working tree clean
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'status --no-ahead-behind shows diverged from origin/main and ahead of feature branch' '
+	(
+		cd test &&
+		git checkout feature4 &&
+		git status --no-ahead-behind >../actual
+	) &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	On branch feature4
+	Your branch and ${SQ}origin/main${SQ} refer to different commits.
+
+	Your branch and ${SQ}origin/feature4${SQ} refer to different commits.
+	  (use "git status --ahead-behind" for details)
+
+	nothing to commit, working tree clean
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'setup upstream remote' '
+	(
+		cd test &&
+		git remote add upstream ../. &&
+		git fetch upstream &&
+		git config remote.pushDefault origin
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'status with upstream remote and push.default set to origin' '
+	(
+		cd test &&
+		git checkout -b feature5 upstream/main &&
+		git push origin &&
+		advance work &&
+		git status >../actual
+	) &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	On branch feature5
+	Your branch is ahead of ${SQ}upstream/main${SQ} by 1 commit.
+
+	Your branch is ahead of ${SQ}origin/feature5${SQ} by 1 commit.
+	  (use "git push" to publish your local commits)
+
+	nothing to commit, working tree clean
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'status with upstream remote and push.default set to origin and diverged' '
+	(
+		cd test &&
+		git checkout -b feature6 upstream/main &&
+		advance work &&
+		git push origin &&
+		git reset --hard upstream/main &&
+		advance work &&
+		git status >../actual
+	) &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	On branch feature6
+	Your branch is ahead of ${SQ}upstream/main${SQ} by 1 commit.
+
+	Your branch and ${SQ}origin/feature6${SQ} have diverged,
+	and have 1 and 1 different commits each, respectively.
+
+	nothing to commit, working tree clean
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'status with upstream remote and push branch up to date' '
+	(
+		cd test &&
+		git checkout -b feature7 upstream/main &&
+		git push origin &&
+		git status >../actual
+	) &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	On branch feature7
+	Your branch is up to date with ${SQ}upstream/main${SQ}.
+
+	Your branch is up to date with ${SQ}origin/feature7${SQ}.
+
+	nothing to commit, working tree clean
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'status --no-ahead-behind with upstream remote and push branch up to date' '
+	(
+		cd test &&
+		git checkout feature7 &&
+		git push origin &&
+		git status --no-ahead-behind >../actual
+	) &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	On branch feature7
+	Your branch is up to date with ${SQ}upstream/main${SQ}.
+
+	Your branch is up to date with ${SQ}origin/feature7${SQ}.
+
+	nothing to commit, working tree clean
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'checkout shows push branch up to date' '
+	(
+		cd test &&
+		git checkout feature7 >../actual
+	) &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	Your branch is up to date with ${SQ}upstream/main${SQ}.
+
+	Your branch is up to date with ${SQ}origin/feature7${SQ}.
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'status shows remapped push refspec' '
+	(
+		cd test &&
+		git checkout -b feature8 origin/main &&
+		git config remote.origin.push refs/heads/feature8:refs/heads/remapped &&
+		git push &&
+		advance work &&
+		git status >../actual
+	) &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	On branch feature8
+	Your branch is ahead of ${SQ}origin/main${SQ} by 1 commit.
+
+	Your branch is ahead of ${SQ}origin/remapped${SQ} by 1 commit.
+	  (use "git push" to publish your local commits)
+
+	nothing to commit, working tree clean
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'status shows remapped push refspec with upstream remote' '
+	(
+		cd test &&
+		git checkout -b feature9 upstream/main &&
+		git config remote.origin.push refs/heads/feature9:refs/heads/remapped &&
+		git push origin &&
+		advance work &&
+		git status >../actual
+	) &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	On branch feature9
+	Your branch is ahead of ${SQ}upstream/main${SQ} by 1 commit.
+
+	Your branch is ahead of ${SQ}origin/remapped${SQ} by 1 commit.
+	  (use "git push" to publish your local commits)
+
+	nothing to commit, working tree clean
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
  test_done
  
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