[PATCH 2/2] push: fix --force-if-includes detached HEAD advice
From: Tyler Cipriani <hidden>
Date: 2026-09-04 21:01:54
Subsystem:
documentation, the rest · Maintainers:
Jonathan Corbet, Linus Torvalds
When a --force-if-includes push is rejected due to a detached HEAD
state where there is no per-branch reflog to consult, the advice is
misleading:
! [rejected] HEAD -> main (remote ref updated since checkout)
error: failed to push some refs to '<remote>'
hint: Updates were rejected because the tip of the remote-tracking
hint: branch has been updated since the last checkout. If you want
hint: to integrate the remote changes, use 'git pull' before
hint: pushing again. See the 'Note about fast-forwards' in 'git
hint: push --help' for details.
But a `git pull` will not fix this rejection. What is required is either
- Specify the expected remote tip with --force-with-lease=<ref>:<expect>
- Ignore the error with --no-force-if-includes
Add ref->unverifiable to differentiate between a detached HEAD rejection
vs. a remote update rejection.
Ensure tests check the rejection message.
Reported-by: D. Ben Knoble <redacted>
Signed-off-by: Tyler Cipriani <redacted>
---
Documentation/config/advice.adoc | 4 ++++
advice.c | 1 +
advice.h | 1 +
builtin/push.c | 15 +++++++++++++++
builtin/send-pack.c | 5 +++++
remote.c | 5 ++++-
remote.h | 10 +++++++---
send-pack.c | 1 +
t/t5533-push-cas.sh | 7 +++++--
transport-helper.c | 5 +++++
transport.c | 8 ++++++++
transport.h | 1 +
12 files changed, 57 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)
diff --git a/Documentation/config/advice.adoc b/Documentation/config/advice.adoc
index 257db58918..a0eff8bbd6 100644
--- a/Documentation/config/advice.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/config/advice.adoc@@ -90,6 +90,10 @@ all advice messages. Shown when linkgit:git-push[1] rejects a forced update of a branch when its remote-tracking ref has updates that we do not have locally. + pushRefUnverifiable:: + Shown when linkgit:git-push[1] rejects a forced update of + a branch when we are unable to verify the remote-tracking + ref is available locally. pushUnqualifiedRefname:: Shown when linkgit:git-push[1] gives up trying to guess based on the source and destination refs what
diff --git a/advice.c b/advice.c
index 0018501b7b..08842deb66 100644
--- a/advice.c
+++ b/advice.c@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ static struct { [ADVICE_PUSH_NON_FF_CURRENT] = { "pushNonFFCurrent" }, [ADVICE_PUSH_NON_FF_MATCHING] = { "pushNonFFMatching" }, [ADVICE_PUSH_REF_NEEDS_UPDATE] = { "pushRefNeedsUpdate" }, + [ADVICE_PUSH_REF_UNVERIFIABLE] = { "pushRefUnverifiable" }, [ADVICE_PUSH_UNQUALIFIED_REF_NAME] = { "pushUnqualifiedRefName" }, [ADVICE_PUSH_UPDATE_REJECTED] = { "pushUpdateRejected" }, [ADVICE_PUSH_UPDATE_REJECTED_ALIAS] = { "pushNonFastForward" }, /* backwards compatibility */
diff --git a/advice.h b/advice.h
index 8def280688..189eadc089 100644
--- a/advice.h
+++ b/advice.h@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ enum advice_type { ADVICE_PUSH_NON_FF_CURRENT, ADVICE_PUSH_NON_FF_MATCHING, ADVICE_PUSH_REF_NEEDS_UPDATE, + ADVICE_PUSH_REF_UNVERIFIABLE, ADVICE_PUSH_UNQUALIFIED_REF_NAME, ADVICE_PUSH_UPDATE_REJECTED, ADVICE_PUSH_UPDATE_REJECTED_ALIAS,
diff --git a/builtin/push.c b/builtin/push.c
index 6021b71d66..9676c6241f 100644
--- a/builtin/push.c
+++ b/builtin/push.c@@ -319,6 +319,12 @@ static const char message_advice_ref_needs_update[] = "remote changes, use 'git pull' before pushing again.\n" "See the 'Note about fast-forwards' in 'git push --help' for details."); +static const char message_advice_ref_unverifiable[] = + N_("Updates were rejected because the tip of the remote-tracking branch\n" + "cannot be checked against a detached HEAD. If you want to push anyway,\n" + "specify the expected value with '--force-with-lease=<ref>:<expect>'\n" + "or use '--no-force-if-includes' to skip this check."); + static void advise_pull_before_push(void) { if (!advice_enabled(ADVICE_PUSH_NON_FF_CURRENT) || !advice_enabled(ADVICE_PUSH_UPDATE_REJECTED))
@@ -361,6 +367,13 @@ static void advise_ref_needs_update(void) advise(_(message_advice_ref_needs_update)); } +static void advise_ref_unverifiable(void) +{ + if (!advice_enabled(ADVICE_PUSH_REF_UNVERIFIABLE) || !advice_enabled(ADVICE_PUSH_UPDATE_REJECTED)) + return; + advise(_(message_advice_ref_unverifiable)); +} + static int push_with_options(struct transport *transport, struct refspec *rs, int flags) {
@@ -412,6 +425,8 @@ static int push_with_options(struct transport *transport, struct refspec *rs, advise_ref_needs_force(); } else if (reject_reasons & REJECT_REF_NEEDS_UPDATE) { advise_ref_needs_update(); + } else if (reject_reasons & REJECT_REF_UNVERIFIABLE) { + advise_ref_unverifiable(); } return 1;
diff --git a/builtin/send-pack.c b/builtin/send-pack.c
index 1412b49bc8..07accb6e6b 100644
--- a/builtin/send-pack.c
+++ b/builtin/send-pack.c@@ -76,6 +76,11 @@ static void print_helper_status(struct ref *ref) msg = "remote ref updated since checkout"; break; + case REF_STATUS_REJECT_UNVERIFIABLE: + res = "error"; + msg = "remote ref unverifiable"; + break; + case REF_STATUS_REJECT_ALREADY_EXISTS: res = "error"; msg = "already exists";
diff --git a/remote.c b/remote.c
index 326af76eeb..72bfc4dbc4 100644
--- a/remote.c
+++ b/remote.c@@ -1701,6 +1701,9 @@ void set_ref_status_for_push(struct ref *remote_refs, int send_mirror, else if (ref->check_reachable && ref->unreachable) reject_reason = REF_STATUS_REJECT_REMOTE_UPDATED; + else if (ref->check_reachable && ref->unverifiable) + reject_reason = + REF_STATUS_REJECT_UNVERIFIABLE; else /* * If the ref isn't stale, and is reachable
@@ -2823,7 +2826,7 @@ static void check_if_includes_upstream(struct ref *remote) "HEAD", 0, NULL, &flag); if (!name || !(flag & REF_ISSYMREF)) { /* detached HEAD: no per-branch reflog to consult */ - remote->unreachable = 1; + remote->unverifiable = 1; return; } }
diff --git a/remote.h b/remote.h
index 54b17e4b02..8e2d56c2c2 100644
--- a/remote.h
+++ b/remote.h@@ -169,10 +169,13 @@ struct ref { /* Need to check if local reflog reaches the remote tip. */ check_reachable:1, /* - * Store the result of the check enabled by "check_reachable"; - * implies the local reflog does not reach the remote tip. + * Store the result of the check enabled by "check_reachable". + * "unreachable" implies the local reflog does not reach the remote + * tip. "unverifiable" implies no local branch reflog to check; i.e., + * detached HEAD. */ - unreachable:1; + unreachable:1, + unverifiable:1; enum { REF_NOT_MATCHED = 0, /* initial value */
@@ -203,6 +206,7 @@ struct ref { REF_STATUS_REJECT_STALE, REF_STATUS_REJECT_SHALLOW, REF_STATUS_REJECT_REMOTE_UPDATED, + REF_STATUS_REJECT_UNVERIFIABLE, REF_STATUS_UPTODATE, REF_STATUS_REMOTE_REJECT, REF_STATUS_EXPECTING_REPORT,
diff --git a/send-pack.c b/send-pack.c
index 3bb5afc687..6b78470f37 100644
--- a/send-pack.c
+++ b/send-pack.c@@ -322,6 +322,7 @@ static int check_to_send_update(const struct ref *ref, const struct send_pack_ar case REF_STATUS_REJECT_NEEDS_FORCE: case REF_STATUS_REJECT_STALE: case REF_STATUS_REJECT_REMOTE_UPDATED: + case REF_STATUS_REJECT_UNVERIFIABLE: case REF_STATUS_REJECT_NODELETE: return CHECK_REF_STATUS_REJECTED; case REF_STATUS_UPTODATE:
diff --git a/t/t5533-push-cas.sh b/t/t5533-push-cas.sh
index 0c02151747..fe6af3f41c 100755
--- a/t/t5533-push-cas.sh
+++ b/t/t5533-push-cas.sh@@ -311,7 +311,8 @@ test_expect_success 'background updates to remote can be mitigated with "--force git switch main && test_commit J && git fetch --all && - test_must_fail git push --force-with-lease --force-if-includes --all + test_must_fail git push --force-with-lease --force-if-includes --all 2>err && + test_grep "remote ref updated since checkout" err ) && git ls-remote dst refs/heads/main >actual.main && git ls-remote dst refs/heads/branch >actual.branch &&
@@ -457,7 +458,9 @@ test_expect_success '"--force-if-includes" should reject forced update from deta git reset --hard origin/main && git switch -c newbranch origin/main && git checkout HEAD^ && - test_must_fail git push --force-if-includes --force-with-lease origin HEAD:main + test_must_fail git push --force-if-includes --force-with-lease origin HEAD:main 2>err && + test_grep "remote ref unverifiable" err && + test_grep "no-force-if-includes" err ) '
diff --git a/transport-helper.c b/transport-helper.c
index 80f90eb7ba..1763570352 100644
--- a/transport-helper.c
+++ b/transport-helper.c@@ -893,6 +893,10 @@ static int push_update_ref_status(struct strbuf *buf, status = REF_STATUS_REJECT_REMOTE_UPDATED; FREE_AND_NULL(msg); } + else if (!strcmp(msg, "remote ref unverifiable")) { + status = REF_STATUS_REJECT_UNVERIFIABLE; + FREE_AND_NULL(msg); + } else if (!strcmp(msg, "forced update")) { forced = 1; FREE_AND_NULL(msg);
@@ -1046,6 +1050,7 @@ static int push_refs_with_push(struct transport *transport, case REF_STATUS_REJECT_STALE: case REF_STATUS_REJECT_ALREADY_EXISTS: case REF_STATUS_REJECT_REMOTE_UPDATED: + case REF_STATUS_REJECT_UNVERIFIABLE: if (atomic) { reject_atomic_push(remote_refs, mirror); string_list_clear(&cas_options, 0);
diff --git a/transport.c b/transport.c
index 0f5ec30247..3d60d6de54 100644
--- a/transport.c
+++ b/transport.c@@ -779,6 +779,11 @@ static int print_one_push_report(struct ref *ref, const char *dest, int count, "remote ref updated since checkout", report, porcelain, summary_width); break; + case REF_STATUS_REJECT_UNVERIFIABLE: + print_ref_status('!', "[rejected]", ref, ref->peer_ref, + "remote ref unverifiable", + report, porcelain, summary_width); + break; case REF_STATUS_REJECT_SHALLOW: print_ref_status('!', "[rejected]", ref, ref->peer_ref, "new shallow roots not allowed",
@@ -893,6 +898,8 @@ void transport_print_push_status(const char *dest, struct ref *refs, *reject_reasons |= REJECT_NEEDS_FORCE; } else if (ref->status == REF_STATUS_REJECT_REMOTE_UPDATED) { *reject_reasons |= REJECT_REF_NEEDS_UPDATE; + } else if (ref->status == REF_STATUS_REJECT_UNVERIFIABLE) { + *reject_reasons |= REJECT_REF_UNVERIFIABLE; } } free(head);
@@ -1348,6 +1355,7 @@ static int pre_push_hook_feed_stdin(int hook_stdin_fd, void *pp_cb UNUSED, void switch (r->status) { case REF_STATUS_REJECT_NONFASTFORWARD: case REF_STATUS_REJECT_REMOTE_UPDATED: + case REF_STATUS_REJECT_UNVERIFIABLE: case REF_STATUS_REJECT_STALE: case REF_STATUS_UPTODATE: return 0; /* skip refs which won't be pushed */
diff --git a/transport.h b/transport.h
index 7e5867cffa..eaa3b616ee 100644
--- a/transport.h
+++ b/transport.h@@ -256,6 +256,7 @@ void transport_set_verbosity(struct transport *transport, int verbosity, #define REJECT_FETCH_FIRST 0x08 #define REJECT_NEEDS_FORCE 0x10 #define REJECT_REF_NEEDS_UPDATE 0x20 +#define REJECT_REF_UNVERIFIABLE 0x40 int transport_push(struct repository *repo, struct transport *connection,
--
2.47.3