From: "Kristoffer Haugsbakk" <kristofferhaugsbakk@fastmail•com>
To: "Patrick Steinhardt" <ps@pks•im>, git@vger•kernel.org
Cc: "Junio C Hamano" <gitster@pobox•com>,
"D. Ben Knoble" <ben.knoble@gmail•com>
Subject: Re: [PATCH v2 3/5] builtin/history: replace "--ref-action=print" with "--dry-run"
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2026 18:30:10 +0100 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <315801b6-bc9e-42b4-8356-12fd8b83223c@app.fastmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260213-b4-pks-history-dry-run-v2-3-756ac376e9e5@pks.im>
On Fri, Feb 13, 2026, at 10:12, Patrick Steinhardt wrote:
> The git-history(1) command has the ability to perform a dry-run
> that will not end up modifying any references. Instead, we'll only print
> any ref updates that would happen as a consequence of performing the
> operation.
>
> This mode is somewhat hidden though behind the "--ref-action=print"
> option. This command line option has its origin in git-replay(1), where
> it's probably an okayish interface as this command is sitting more on
> the plumbing side of tools. But git-history(1) is a user-facing tool,
> and this way of achieving a dry-run is way too technical and thus not
> very discoverable.
It makes sense to use this command as a dry run and then pass the output
on to git-update-ref(1) for the wet run.
git history --dry-run ... | git update-ref --stdin
Looks good.
>
> Besides usability issues, it also has another issue: the dry-run mode
> will always operate as if the user wanted to rewrite all branches. But
> in fact, the user also has the option to only update the HEAD reference,
> and they might want to perform a dry-run of such an operation, too. We
> could of course introduce "--ref-actoin=print-head", but that would
s/--ref-actoin/--ref-action/
> become even less ergonomic.
>
> Replace "--ref-action=print" with a new "--dry-run" toggle. This new
> toggle works with both "--ref-action={head,branches}" and is way more
> discoverable.
>
> Add a test to verify that both "--ref-action=" values behave as
> expected.
>
> This patch is best viewed with "--ignore-space-change".
>
> Signed-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks•im>
> ---
>[snip]
> +`--ref-action=(branches|head)`::
> Control which references will be updated by the command, if any. With
> `branches`, all local branches that point to commits which are
> descendants of the original commit will be rewritten. With `head`, only
> - the current `HEAD` reference will be rewritten. With `print`, all
> - updates as they would be performed with `branches` are printed in a
> - format that can be consumed by linkgit:git-update-ref[1].
> + the current `HEAD` reference will be rewritten.
`HEAD` is mentioned here because it could be detached `HEAD`. So you
can’t just say the current branch.
“the current `HEAD` reference” seems a bit much. Is this less precise?
only `HEAD` is rewritten.
>
> GIT
> ---
>[snip]
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-02-13 17:30 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 34+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-02-12 12:44 [PATCH 0/4] builtin/history: some smaller UI improvements Patrick Steinhardt
2026-02-12 12:44 ` [PATCH 1/4] builtin/history: perform revwalk checks before asking for user input Patrick Steinhardt
2026-02-12 20:04 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-02-13 5:51 ` Patrick Steinhardt
2026-02-13 17:02 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-02-12 12:44 ` [PATCH 2/4] builtin/history: check for merges " Patrick Steinhardt
2026-02-12 22:20 ` D. Ben Knoble
2026-02-12 22:26 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-02-13 5:51 ` Patrick Steinhardt
2026-02-13 5:51 ` Patrick Steinhardt
2026-02-13 13:42 ` Ben Knoble
2026-02-12 12:44 ` [PATCH 3/4] builtin/history: replace "--ref-action=print" with "--dry-run" Patrick Steinhardt
2026-02-12 20:19 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-02-13 5:50 ` Patrick Steinhardt
2026-02-12 22:20 ` D. Ben Knoble
2026-02-13 5:50 ` Patrick Steinhardt
2026-02-12 12:44 ` [PATCH 4/4] builtin/history: rename "--ref-action=" to "--update-refs=" Patrick Steinhardt
2026-02-13 9:12 ` [PATCH v2 0/5] builtin/history: some smaller UI improvements Patrick Steinhardt
2026-02-13 9:12 ` [PATCH v2 1/5] builtin/history: perform revwalk checks before asking for user input Patrick Steinhardt
2026-02-13 17:20 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-02-13 9:12 ` [PATCH v2 2/5] builtin/history: check for merges " Patrick Steinhardt
2026-02-13 9:12 ` [PATCH v2 3/5] builtin/history: replace "--ref-action=print" with "--dry-run" Patrick Steinhardt
2026-02-13 17:30 ` Kristoffer Haugsbakk [this message]
2026-02-16 6:39 ` Patrick Steinhardt
2026-02-18 16:09 ` Kristoffer Haugsbakk
2026-02-13 9:12 ` [PATCH v2 4/5] builtin/history: rename "--ref-action=" to "--update-refs=" Patrick Steinhardt
2026-02-13 9:12 ` [PATCH v2 5/5] Documentation/git-history: document default for "--update-refs=" Patrick Steinhardt
2026-02-13 17:21 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-02-16 6:45 ` [PATCH v3 0/5] builtin/history: some smaller UI improvements Patrick Steinhardt
2026-02-16 6:45 ` [PATCH v3 1/5] builtin/history: perform revwalk checks before asking for user input Patrick Steinhardt
2026-02-16 6:45 ` [PATCH v3 2/5] builtin/history: check for merges " Patrick Steinhardt
2026-02-16 6:45 ` [PATCH v3 3/5] builtin/history: replace "--ref-action=print" with "--dry-run" Patrick Steinhardt
2026-02-16 6:45 ` [PATCH v3 4/5] builtin/history: rename "--ref-action=" to "--update-refs=" Patrick Steinhardt
2026-02-16 6:45 ` [PATCH v3 5/5] Documentation/git-history: document default for "--update-refs=" Patrick Steinhardt
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