Subject: [PATCH] rename default branch from 'master' to 'main' in refs and test scripts

From: "Wing Huang via GitGitGadget" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2025 04:52:01 +0000

From: Wing Huang <[email-masked]>

Signed-off-by: Wing Huang <[email-masked]>

	modified:   refs.c
	modified:   remote.c
	modified:   t/test-lib.sh
---
    rename default branch from 'master' to 'main' in refs and test scripts
    
    This patch updates Git's default branch name from 'master' to 'main' to
    align with modern naming conventions adopted across the industry.
    
    The change affects only newly initialized repositories and maintains
    full backward compatibility through the existing init.defaultBranch
    configuration option.
    
    Changes made:
    
     * refs.c: Update hardcoded default branch name to 'main'
     * remote.c: Update fallback branch name for remote operations
     * t/test-lib.sh: Update test suite default to 'main'
    
    Compatibility notes:
    
     * Existing repositories are unaffected
     * Users can still set init.defaultBranch=master if preferred
     * The change only applies to new git init operations when no explicit
       branch name is configured
    
    This follows the precedent set when init.defaultBranch configuration was
    introduced in Git 2.28, which already acknowledged the community's move
    toward more inclusive default branch names.

Published-As: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/releases/tag/pr-1961%2Fhuangsen365%2Fmaster-v1
Fetch-It-Via: git fetch https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git pr-1961/huangsen365/master-v1
Pull-Request: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/pull/1961

 refs.c        | 2 +-
 remote.c      | 2 +-
 t/test-lib.sh | 2 +-
 3 files changed, 3 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/refs.c b/refs.c
index 4ff55cf24f6..929e9ce60c6 100644
--- a/refs.c
+++ b/refs.c
@@ -653,7 +653,7 @@ char *repo_default_branch_name(struct repository *r, int quiet)
 		die(_("could not retrieve `%s`"), config_display_key);
 
 	if (!ret) {
-		ret = xstrdup("master");
+		ret = xstrdup("main");
 		if (!quiet)
 			advise_if_enabled(ADVICE_DEFAULT_BRANCH_NAME,
 					  _(default_branch_name_advice), ret);
diff --git a/remote.c b/remote.c
index 81d8fc017e1..ffc4089a1c2 100644
--- a/remote.c
+++ b/remote.c
@@ -2379,7 +2379,7 @@ struct ref *guess_remote_head(const struct ref *head,
 			return copy_ref(r);
 
 		/* Fall back to the hard-coded historical default */
-		r = find_ref_by_name(refs, "refs/heads/master");
+		r = find_ref_by_name(refs, "refs/heads/main");
 		if (r && oideq(&r->old_oid, &head->old_oid))
 			return copy_ref(r);
 	}
diff --git a/t/test-lib.sh b/t/test-lib.sh
index 621cd31ae1d..4e273a6e94d 100644
--- a/t/test-lib.sh
+++ b/t/test-lib.sh
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ fi
 
 # Explicitly set the default branch name for testing, to avoid the
 # transitory "git init" warning under --verbose.
-: ${GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME:=master}
+: ${GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME:=main}
 export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME
 
 ################################################################

base-commit: 1fa68948c3d76328236cac73d2adf33c905bd8e3
-- 
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