[PATCH v8 2/6] refs: extract out `refs_create_refdir_stubs()`
From: Karthik Nayak <hidden>
Date: 2026-02-23 08:01:48
Subsystem:
the rest · Maintainer:
Linus Torvalds
For Git to recognize a directory as a Git directory, it requires the
directory to contain:
1. 'HEAD' file
2. 'objects/' directory
3. 'refs/' directory
Here, #1 and #3 are part of the reference storage mechanism,
specifically the files backend. Since then, newer backends such as the
reftable backend have moved to using their own path ('reftable/') for
storing references. But to ensure Git still recognizes the directory as
a Git directory, we create stubs.
There are two locations where we create stubs:
- In 'refs/reftable-backend.c' when creating the reftable backend.
- In 'clone.c' before spawning transport helpers.
In a following commit, we'll add another instance. So instead of
repeating the code, let's extract out this code to
`refs_create_refdir_stubs()` and use it.
Signed-off-by: Karthik Nayak <redacted>
---
builtin/clone.c | 7 +------
refs.c | 23 +++++++++++++++++++++++
refs.h | 13 +++++++++++++
refs/reftable-backend.c | 14 ++------------
4 files changed, 39 insertions(+), 18 deletions(-)
diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index cd43bb5aa2..697c5bb5cb 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c@@ -1225,12 +1225,7 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc, initialize_repository_version(GIT_HASH_UNKNOWN, the_repository->ref_storage_format, 1); - strbuf_addf(&buf, "%s/HEAD", git_dir); - write_file(buf.buf, "ref: refs/heads/.invalid"); - - strbuf_reset(&buf); - strbuf_addf(&buf, "%s/refs", git_dir); - safe_create_dir(the_repository, buf.buf, 1); + refs_create_refdir_stubs(the_repository, git_dir, NULL); /* * additional config can be injected with -c, make sure it's included
diff --git a/refs.c b/refs.c
index 627b7f8698..77b93d655b 100644
--- a/refs.c
+++ b/refs.c@@ -2163,6 +2163,29 @@ const char *refs_resolve_ref_unsafe(struct ref_store *refs, return NULL; } +void refs_create_refdir_stubs(struct repository *repo, const char *refdir, + const char *refs_heads_content) +{ + struct strbuf path = STRBUF_INIT; + + strbuf_addf(&path, "%s/HEAD", refdir); + write_file(path.buf, "ref: refs/heads/.invalid"); + adjust_shared_perm(repo, path.buf); + + strbuf_reset(&path); + strbuf_addf(&path, "%s/refs", refdir); + safe_create_dir(repo, path.buf, 1); + + if (refs_heads_content) { + strbuf_reset(&path); + strbuf_addf(&path, "%s/refs/heads", refdir); + write_file(path.buf, "%s", refs_heads_content); + adjust_shared_perm(repo, path.buf); + } + + strbuf_release(&path); +} + /* backend functions */ int ref_store_create_on_disk(struct ref_store *refs, int flags, struct strbuf *err) {
diff --git a/refs.h b/refs.h
index f0abfa1d93..9d8890fdff 100644
--- a/refs.h
+++ b/refs.h@@ -1427,4 +1427,17 @@ void ref_iterator_free(struct ref_iterator *ref_iterator); int do_for_each_ref_iterator(struct ref_iterator *iter, each_ref_fn fn, void *cb_data); +/* + * Git only recognizes a directory as a repository if it contains: + * - HEAD file + * - refs/ folder + * While it is necessary within the files backend, newer backends may not + * follow the same structure. To go around this, we create stubs as necessary. + * + * If provided with a 'refs_heads_msg', we create the 'refs/heads/head' file + * with the provided message. + */ +void refs_create_refdir_stubs(struct repository *repo, const char *refdir, + const char *refs_heads_msg); + #endif /* REFS_H */
diff --git a/refs/reftable-backend.c b/refs/reftable-backend.c
index fe74af73af..d8651fe779 100644
--- a/refs/reftable-backend.c
+++ b/refs/reftable-backend.c@@ -491,18 +491,8 @@ static int reftable_be_create_on_disk(struct ref_store *ref_store, safe_create_dir(the_repository, sb.buf, 1); strbuf_reset(&sb); - strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/HEAD", refs->base.gitdir); - write_file(sb.buf, "ref: refs/heads/.invalid"); - adjust_shared_perm(the_repository, sb.buf); - strbuf_reset(&sb); - - strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/refs", refs->base.gitdir); - safe_create_dir(the_repository, sb.buf, 1); - strbuf_reset(&sb); - - strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/refs/heads", refs->base.gitdir); - write_file(sb.buf, "this repository uses the reftable format"); - adjust_shared_perm(the_repository, sb.buf); + refs_create_refdir_stubs(the_repository, refs->base.gitdir, + "this repository uses the reftable format"); strbuf_release(&sb); return 0;
--
2.53.GIT