From: Phillip Wood <phillip.wood123@gmail•com>
To: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox•com>
Cc: Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget <gitgitgadget@gmail•com>,
git@vger•kernel.org, Harald Nordgren <haraldnordgren@gmail•com>
Subject: Re: [PATCH] checkout: add --autostash option for branch switching
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2026 16:36:10 +0000 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <564a8207-6a96-4f42-b0bc-807edafff330@gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <xmqqms0awcs8.fsf@gitster.g>
On 14/03/2026 17:17, Junio C Hamano wrote:
> Phillip Wood <phillip.wood123@gmail•com> writes:
>
>> On 12/03/2026 14:40, Junio C Hamano wrote:
>>>
>>> Perhaps doing it this way would make it more worth doing?
>>>
>>> - At the beginning of branch switching, ask a new helper function
>>> that takes the branch we are switching to as an argument this
>>> question:
>>>
>>> Do any paths that are different between the current branch and
>>> the branch we are switching to have local (i.e., either in the
>>> index or in the working tree) change [Yes/No]?
>>>
>>> - When the answer is "yes", save the local changes to a new stash
>>> entry, and clear the local changes from the index and from the
>>> working tree. If not, do not bother with stash at all.
>>
>> Can we avoid the extra check and stash if the user passed "--autostash"
>> and unpack_trees() fails because it would overwrite local changes in
>> merge_working_tree()?
>
> Sorry, but I couldn't quite figure out what you are saying here.
>
> My guess on one part of what it says is that an explicit
> "--autostash", we should stash without second guessing the user
> (i.e., avoid chedk and stash). But then the latter part of the
> sentence "and unpack_trees() fails ..." do not quite parse.
>
> If the user gave "--autostash" and we check with unpack_trees()
> dry-run and find out that a normal branch switch will be interfered
> by the local changes, then we would stash, but that check made by a
> dry-run unpack_trees() is not an "extra" check, so, that does not
> work as a guess of what you are saying, either.
Why is the dry-run of unpack_trees() not an extra check? I was assuming
that it was because we do the dry-run and then do it for real after
possibly stashing any local changes. That's why I was wondering if we
could avoid the dry-run by creating the stash if the non-dry-run
unpack_trees() failed. Looking at the unpack_trees() implementation it
can fail for a variety of reasons, only some (one?) of which can be
addressed by stashing local changes but there does not seem to be a way
for the caller to determine what caused it to fail.
>>> If we can sell it as an improved implementation of "-m", we probably
>>> can lose some code that the current "-m" implementation uses to do
>>> its merge; we'd be instead using the "unstash" code paths.
>>
>> That would be nice but I think "git checkout --recurse-submodules -m
>> <branch>" currently updates submodules whereas "git stash" does not know
>> how to recurse submodules.
>
> Hmph, I do not do submodules outside what we already have, and I
> certainly do not do "checkout --recurse-submodules" with or without
> "-m" with local changes in our submodule.
>
> But does "git stash" even need to know about recursing into
> submodules for this? When checkout recurses into a submodule, that
> checkout that is working in the repository of the submodule can
> handle "-m" itself, which may stash the local changes made in the
> submodule, no?
Oh, because this all happens in a single command then yes, I think we
can. When I wrote that I'd been thinking about a recent question about
rebase not recursing submodules on discord and what it would take to
make "git rebase --recurse-submodules --autostash" work. There we need
to be able to retrive the stash in a different process to the one that
created it so we need some way of tracking the stashed changes in each
submodule.
It turns out I'd misremembered what "git checkout -m
--recurse-submodules" does at the moment - after testing it, it seems to
simply nuke an uncommitted submodule changes rather than merging them.
Thanks
Phillip
>> It would be nice to teach "git stash" to recurse submodules but I don't
>> think it is completly straight forward as we'd need to store the object
>> id of the submodule's stash commit in the parent stash.
>
> No, let's not add more commands that take "--recurse-submodules", if
> we do not have to.
>
> Thanks.
>
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-03-16 16:36 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 168+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-03-12 13:26 [PATCH] checkout: add --autostash option for branch switching Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-03-12 14:40 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-03-12 19:33 ` [PATCH v31 0/2] status: add status.compareBranches config for multiple branch comparisons Harald Nordgren
2026-03-13 14:29 ` [PATCH] checkout: add --autostash option for branch switching Phillip Wood
2026-03-14 17:17 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-03-16 16:36 ` Phillip Wood [this message]
2026-03-16 20:04 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-03-17 9:47 ` Harald Nordgren
2026-03-19 8:25 ` Harald Nordgren
2026-03-19 16:48 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-03-31 12:16 ` Harald Nordgren
2026-04-09 11:50 ` Harald Nordgren
2026-04-09 12:06 ` Harald Nordgren
2026-04-09 18:35 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-04-09 21:29 ` Harald Nordgren
2026-04-09 12:12 ` Harald Nordgren
2026-03-12 19:33 ` [PATCH v2] " Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-03-12 19:50 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-03-13 9:22 ` [PATCH] " Harald Nordgren
2026-03-13 9:23 ` [PATCH v3] " Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-03-13 17:16 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-03-13 19:33 ` [PATCH] " Harald Nordgren
2026-03-13 20:30 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-03-14 9:59 ` [PATCH v4] checkout: -m (--merge) uses autostash when switching branches Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-03-15 2:25 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-03-15 11:19 ` [PATCH v5 0/4] checkout: 'autostash' for branch switching Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-03-15 11:19 ` [PATCH v5 1/4] stash: add --ours-label, --theirs-label, --base-label for apply Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-03-15 11:19 ` [PATCH v5 2/4] sequencer: allow create_autostash to run silently Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-03-15 11:19 ` [PATCH v5 3/4] sequencer: teach autostash apply to take optional conflict marker labels Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-03-15 11:19 ` [PATCH v5 4/4] checkout: -m (--merge) uses autostash when switching branches Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-03-17 9:35 ` [PATCH v6 0/4] checkout: 'autostash' for branch switching Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-03-17 9:35 ` [PATCH v6 1/4] stash: add --ours-label, --theirs-label, --base-label for apply Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-03-17 9:35 ` [PATCH v6 2/4] sequencer: allow create_autostash to run silently Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-03-17 9:35 ` [PATCH v6 3/4] sequencer: teach autostash apply to take optional conflict marker labels Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-03-17 9:35 ` [PATCH v6 4/4] checkout: -m (--merge) uses autostash when switching branches Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-09 13:27 ` [PATCH v7 0/4] checkout: 'autostash' for branch switching Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-09 13:27 ` [PATCH v7 1/4] stash: add --ours-label, --theirs-label, --base-label for apply Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-09 17:25 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-04-09 20:31 ` [PATCH] checkout: add --autostash option for branch switching Harald Nordgren
2026-04-09 13:27 ` [PATCH v7 2/4] sequencer: allow create_autostash to run silently Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-09 13:27 ` [PATCH v7 3/4] sequencer: teach autostash apply to take optional conflict marker labels Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-09 17:32 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-04-09 21:20 ` [PATCH] checkout: add --autostash option for branch switching Harald Nordgren
2026-04-09 13:27 ` [PATCH v7 4/4] checkout: -m (--merge) uses autostash when switching branches Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-09 17:55 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-04-09 20:32 ` [PATCH] checkout: add --autostash option for branch switching Harald Nordgren
2026-04-09 17:00 ` [PATCH v7 0/4] checkout: 'autostash' " Junio C Hamano
2026-04-09 21:23 ` [PATCH] checkout: add --autostash option " Harald Nordgren
2026-04-09 19:17 ` [PATCH v8 0/4] checkout: 'autostash' " Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-09 19:17 ` [PATCH v8 1/4] stash: add --ours-label, --theirs-label, --base-label for apply Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-10 15:39 ` Phillip Wood
2026-04-10 16:15 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-04-10 19:18 ` [PATCH] checkout: add --autostash option for branch switching Harald Nordgren
2026-04-09 19:17 ` [PATCH v8 2/4] sequencer: allow create_autostash to run silently Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-10 15:39 ` Phillip Wood
2026-04-10 16:16 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-04-10 18:53 ` [PATCH] checkout: add --autostash option for branch switching Harald Nordgren
2026-04-09 19:17 ` [PATCH v8 3/4] sequencer: teach autostash apply to take optional conflict marker labels Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-10 15:39 ` Phillip Wood
2026-04-10 16:34 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-04-10 18:48 ` [PATCH] checkout: add --autostash option for branch switching Harald Nordgren
2026-04-09 19:17 ` [PATCH v8 4/4] checkout: -m (--merge) uses autostash when switching branches Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-09 23:49 ` Chris Torek
2026-04-10 14:38 ` [PATCH] checkout: add --autostash option for branch switching Harald Nordgren
2026-04-10 21:01 ` [PATCH v9 0/4] checkout: 'autostash' " Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-10 21:01 ` [PATCH v9 1/4] stash: add --label-ours, --label-theirs, --label-base for apply Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-10 21:01 ` [PATCH v9 2/4] sequencer: allow create_autostash to run silently Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-10 21:01 ` [PATCH v9 3/4] sequencer: teach autostash apply to take optional conflict marker labels Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-10 21:01 ` [PATCH v9 4/4] checkout: -m (--merge) uses autostash when switching branches Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-11 18:38 ` Jeff King
2026-04-11 18:51 ` [PATCH] checkout: add --autostash option for branch switching Harald Nordgren
2026-04-11 19:11 ` Jeff King
2026-04-11 19:07 ` [PATCH v9 4/4] checkout: -m (--merge) uses autostash when switching branches Jeff King
2026-04-10 21:53 ` [PATCH v9 0/4] checkout: 'autostash' for branch switching Junio C Hamano
2026-04-12 11:51 ` [PATCH v10 " Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-12 11:51 ` [PATCH v10 1/4] stash: add --label-ours, --label-theirs, --label-base for apply Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-12 11:51 ` [PATCH v10 2/4] sequencer: allow create_autostash to run silently Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-12 11:51 ` [PATCH v10 3/4] sequencer: teach autostash apply to take optional conflict marker labels Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-12 11:51 ` [PATCH v10 4/4] checkout: -m (--merge) uses autostash when switching branches Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-12 20:01 ` [PATCH v10 0/4] checkout: 'autostash' for branch switching Jeff King
2026-04-13 22:45 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-04-14 7:29 ` [PATCH] checkout: add --autostash option " Harald Nordgren
2026-04-14 13:29 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-04-14 14:14 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-04-14 17:42 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-04-14 10:50 ` [PATCH v11 0/4] checkout: 'autostash' " Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-14 10:50 ` [PATCH v11 1/4] stash: add --label-ours, --label-theirs, --label-base for apply Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-14 10:50 ` [PATCH v11 2/4] sequencer: allow create_autostash to run silently Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-14 10:50 ` [PATCH v11 3/4] sequencer: teach autostash apply to take optional conflict marker labels Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-14 10:50 ` [PATCH v11 4/4] checkout: -m (--merge) uses autostash when switching branches Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-14 12:59 ` [PATCH v12 0/4] checkout: 'autostash' for branch switching Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-14 12:59 ` [PATCH v12 1/4] stash: add --label-ours, --label-theirs, --label-base for apply Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-14 14:05 ` Phillip Wood
2026-04-14 16:23 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-04-14 18:56 ` [PATCH] checkout: add --autostash option for branch switching Harald Nordgren
2026-04-14 20:08 ` Harald Nordgren
2026-04-15 9:34 ` Phillip Wood
2026-04-15 15:34 ` Harald Nordgren
2026-04-14 12:59 ` [PATCH v12 2/4] sequencer: allow create_autostash to run silently Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-14 14:06 ` Phillip Wood
2026-04-14 18:35 ` [PATCH] checkout: add --autostash option for branch switching Harald Nordgren
2026-04-14 12:59 ` [PATCH v12 3/4] sequencer: teach autostash apply to take optional conflict marker labels Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-14 14:06 ` Phillip Wood
2026-04-14 18:44 ` [PATCH] checkout: add --autostash option for branch switching Harald Nordgren
2026-04-14 12:59 ` [PATCH v12 4/4] checkout: -m (--merge) uses autostash when switching branches Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-14 14:07 ` Phillip Wood
2026-04-14 16:39 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-04-14 20:06 ` [PATCH] checkout: add --autostash option for branch switching Harald Nordgren
2026-04-15 9:35 ` Phillip Wood
2026-04-14 20:13 ` Harald Nordgren
2026-04-15 8:19 ` Harald Nordgren
2026-04-15 9:34 ` Phillip Wood
2026-04-15 8:16 ` Harald Nordgren
2026-04-15 9:36 ` Phillip Wood
2026-04-14 15:56 ` [PATCH v12 0/4] checkout: 'autostash' " Junio C Hamano
2026-04-14 20:16 ` [PATCH] checkout: add --autostash option " Harald Nordgren
2026-04-14 20:56 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-04-16 10:05 ` Harald Nordgren
2026-04-16 14:45 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-04-16 17:53 ` Harald Nordgren
2026-04-15 11:11 ` [PATCH v13 0/5] checkout: 'autostash' " Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-15 11:11 ` [PATCH v13 1/5] stash: add --label-ours, --label-theirs, --label-base for apply Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-15 11:11 ` [PATCH v13 2/5] sequencer: allow create_autostash to run silently Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-15 11:11 ` [PATCH v13 3/5] sequencer: teach autostash apply to take optional conflict marker labels Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-15 11:11 ` [PATCH v13 4/5] checkout: rollback lock on early returns in merge_working_tree Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-15 11:11 ` [PATCH v13 5/5] checkout -m: autostash when switching branches Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-15 16:24 ` [PATCH v14 0/5] checkout: 'autostash' for branch switching Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-15 16:24 ` [PATCH v14 1/5] stash: add --label-ours, --label-theirs, --label-base for apply Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-15 16:24 ` [PATCH v14 2/5] sequencer: allow create_autostash to run silently Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-15 16:24 ` [PATCH v14 3/5] sequencer: teach autostash apply to take optional conflict marker labels Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-15 16:24 ` [PATCH v14 4/5] checkout: rollback lock on early returns in merge_working_tree Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-15 16:24 ` [PATCH v14 5/5] checkout -m: autostash when switching branches Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-24 15:47 ` Phillip Wood
2026-04-24 20:52 ` Comments on Phillip's review Harald Nordgren
2026-04-21 7:53 ` [PATCH] checkout: add --autostash option for branch switching Harald Nordgren
2026-04-21 9:34 ` Phillip Wood
2026-04-22 17:58 ` Harald Nordgren
2026-04-24 15:52 ` [PATCH v14 0/5] checkout: 'autostash' " Phillip Wood
2026-04-24 21:10 ` [PATCH v15 " Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-24 21:10 ` [PATCH v15 1/5] stash: add --label-ours, --label-theirs, --label-base for apply Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-28 9:32 ` Phillip Wood
2026-04-28 15:16 ` [PATCH] checkout: add --autostash option for branch switching Harald Nordgren
2026-04-24 21:10 ` [PATCH v15 2/5] sequencer: allow create_autostash to run silently Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-28 9:32 ` Phillip Wood
2026-04-24 21:10 ` [PATCH v15 3/5] sequencer: teach autostash apply to take optional conflict marker labels Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-28 9:33 ` Phillip Wood
2026-04-28 15:21 ` [PATCH] checkout: add --autostash option for branch switching Harald Nordgren
2026-04-24 21:10 ` [PATCH v15 4/5] checkout: rollback lock on early returns in merge_working_tree Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-28 9:33 ` Phillip Wood
2026-04-24 21:10 ` [PATCH v15 5/5] checkout -m: autostash when switching branches Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-28 9:35 ` Phillip Wood
2026-04-28 18:08 ` [PATCH] checkout: add --autostash option for branch switching Harald Nordgren
2026-04-28 9:35 ` [PATCH v15 0/5] checkout: 'autostash' " Phillip Wood
2026-04-28 18:39 ` [PATCH v16 " Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-28 18:39 ` [PATCH v16 1/5] stash: add --label-ours, --label-theirs, --label-base for apply Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-28 18:39 ` [PATCH v16 2/5] sequencer: allow create_autostash to run silently Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-28 18:39 ` [PATCH v16 3/5] sequencer: teach autostash apply to take optional conflict marker labels Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-28 18:39 ` [PATCH v16 4/5] checkout: rollback lock on early returns in merge_working_tree Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-28 18:39 ` [PATCH v16 5/5] checkout -m: autostash when switching branches Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-29 10:02 ` Phillip Wood
2026-04-29 10:02 ` [PATCH v16 0/5] checkout: 'autostash' for branch switching Phillip Wood
2026-04-29 11:11 ` [PATCH] checkout: add --autostash option " Harald Nordgren
2026-05-07 20:11 ` [PATCH v16 0/5] checkout: 'autostash' " Harald Nordgren
2026-05-08 13:02 ` Phillip Wood
-- strict thread matches above, loose matches on Subject: below --
2026-03-14 9:12 [PATCH] remote: use plural-only message for diverged branch status Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-03-14 9:16 ` [PATCH] checkout: add --autostash option for branch switching Harald Nordgren
2026-05-03 20:59 [PATCH v5] checkout: extend --track with a "fetch" mode to refresh start-point Junio C Hamano
2026-05-03 22:32 ` [PATCH] checkout: add --autostash option for branch switching Harald Nordgren
2026-05-03 22:39 [PATCH] fetch: add fetch.pruneLocalBranches config Junio C Hamano
2026-05-04 18:28 ` [PATCH] checkout: add --autostash option for branch switching Harald Nordgren
2026-05-10 1:01 ` Junio C Hamano
Reply instructions:
You may reply publicly to this message via plain-text email
using any one of the following methods:
* Save the following mbox file, import it into your mail client,
and reply-to-all from there: mbox
Avoid top-posting and favor interleaved quoting:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Interleaved_style
* Reply using the --to, --cc, and --in-reply-to
switches of git-send-email(1):
git send-email \
--in-reply-to=564a8207-6a96-4f42-b0bc-807edafff330@gmail.com \
--to=phillip.wood123@gmail$(echo .)com \
--cc=git@vger$(echo .)kernel.org \
--cc=gitgitgadget@gmail$(echo .)com \
--cc=gitster@pobox$(echo .)com \
--cc=haraldnordgren@gmail$(echo .)com \
--cc=phillip.wood@dunelm$(echo .)org.uk \
/path/to/YOUR_REPLY
https://kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-send-email.html
Be sure your reply has a Subject: header at the top and a blank line
before the message body.
This is a public inbox, see mirroring instructions
for how to clone and mirror all data and code used for this inbox