Subject: [PATCH 0/5] refs: reduce reliance on the_repository global state

From: Shreyansh Paliwal <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2026 22:14:17 +0530

This series continues the effort to reduce reliance on the_repository
global state by making repository context explicit across the refs
subsystem. The patches focus on passing struct repository through various
ref helpers and backends, and replacing uses of global state such as
the_repository and the_hash_algo with the appropriate repository instance.

Patch 1/5: Making branch name helper functions (copy_branchname(),
check_branch_ref(), validate_branchname(), and validate_new_branchname())
repository-aware. (built on top of jw/object-name-bitset-to-enum)

Patch 2/5: Updating get_files_ref_lock_timeout_ms() to take a repository
and propagating it through files-backend, including callback paths.

Patch 3/5: Replacing uses of the_hash_algo in refs.c with the hash
algorithm from the appropriate repository.

Patch 4/5: Removing remaining uses of the_repository in reftable-backend.c
where a repository instance is already available.

Patch 5/5: Replacing the single instance of the_repository in
packed-backend.c, thus dropping the USE_THE_REPOSITORY_VARIABLE macro.

Shreyansh Paliwal (5):
  refs: make branchname helpers repository aware
  refs: make get_files_ref_lock_timeout_ms() repostory aware
  refs: remove the_hash_algo global state
  refs/reftable-backend: drop uses of the_repository
  refs/packed-backend: use ref_store->repo instead of the_repository

 branch.c                   | 15 ++++++++-------
 branch.h                   |  5 +++--
 builtin/branch.c           | 14 +++++++-------
 builtin/check-ref-format.c |  3 ++-
 builtin/checkout.c         |  6 +++---
 builtin/merge.c            |  2 +-
 builtin/worktree.c         | 10 +++++-----
 refs.c                     | 28 +++++++++++++---------------
 refs.h                     |  5 +++--
 refs/files-backend.c       | 19 +++++++++++++------
 refs/packed-backend.c      |  3 +--
 refs/refs-internal.h       |  2 +-
 refs/reftable-backend.c    |  6 +++---
 13 files changed, 63 insertions(+), 55 deletions(-)

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2.53.0