Subject: Re: bug: for-each-repo malfunctions in worktree due to GIT_DIR

From: Derrick Stolee <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2026 20:52:10 -0500

On 2/23/26 5:58 PM, Matthew Gabeler-Lee wrote:
> I noticed some scripts I have that utilize `git for-each-repo` don't
> work if I run them from within a git worktree, but they do work fine
> from within other directories, including the parent git clone of those
> worktrees. The symptom is that the command I pass to `for-each-repo`
> is run as if from within the worktree each time, instead of the repos
> fetched from the corresponding config entry.
> 
> After a bit of sleuthing with strace, I think I identified the cause:
> $GIT_DIR is set in the `git for-each-repo` process, and gets passed to
> the child git invocations it launches.
> 
> And thus, from within that worktree, `git for-each-repo
> --config=foo.bar -- branch` becomes the equivalent of:
> 
> GIT_DIR=/worktree-parent/.git git -C /unrelated-repo branch
> 
> Which of course is not what the `for-each-repo` invocation would be
> expected to do.
You're absolutely right on this. It's a subtle oversight, as it's not
one of the worktree-specific variables, but GIT_DIR is being set by
the worktree logic.

I have a test and a fix on the way in [1]. You'll be CC'd when I send
the patches after a CI run.

[1] https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/pull/2056

Thanks,
-Stolee