git/refs/reftable-backend.c, branch main

reftable/stack: provide fsync(3p) via system header

2026-04-02T17:45:43Z

Users of the reftable library are expected to provide their own function callback in cases they want to sync(3p) data to disk via the reftable write options. But if no such function was provided we end up calling fsync(3p) directly, which may not even be available on some systems. While dropping the explicit call to fsync(3p) would work, it would lead to an unsafe default behaviour where a project may have forgotten to set up the callback function, and that could lead to potential data loss. So this is not a great solution. Instead, drop the callback function and make it mandatory for the project to define fsync(3p). In the case of Git, we can then easily inject our custom implementation via the "reftable-system.h" header so that we continue to use `fsync_component()`. Signed-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano

Merge branch 'ps/refs-for-each'

2026-03-09T21:36:55Z

Code refactoring around refs-for-each-* API functions. * ps/refs-for-each: refs: replace `refs_for_each_fullref_in()` refs: replace `refs_for_each_namespaced_ref()` refs: replace `refs_for_each_glob_ref()` refs: replace `refs_for_each_glob_ref_in()` refs: replace `refs_for_each_rawref_in()` refs: replace `refs_for_each_rawref()` refs: replace `refs_for_each_ref_in()` refs: improve verification for-each-ref options refs: generalize `refs_for_each_fullref_in_prefixes()` refs: generalize `refs_for_each_namespaced_ref()` refs: speed up `refs_for_each_glob_ref_in()` refs: introduce `refs_for_each_ref_ext` refs: rename `each_ref_fn` refs: rename `do_for_each_ref_flags` refs: move `do_for_each_ref_flags` further up refs: move `refs_head_ref_namespaced()` refs: remove unused `refs_for_each_include_root_ref()`

Merge branch 'kn/ref-location'

2026-03-04T18:52:59Z

Allow the directory in which reference backends store their data to be specified. * kn/ref-location: refs: add GIT_REFERENCE_BACKEND to specify reference backend refs: allow reference location in refstorage config refs: receive and use the reference storage payload refs: move out stub modification to generic layer refs: extract out `refs_create_refdir_stubs()` setup: don't modify repo in `create_reference_database()`

refs: receive and use the reference storage payload

2026-02-25T17:27:12Z

An upcoming commit will add support for providing an URI via the 'extensions.refStorage' config. The URI will contain the reference backend and a corresponding payload. The payload can be then used for providing an alternate locations for the reference backend. To prepare for this, modify the existing backends to accept such an argument when initializing via the 'init()' function. Both the files and reftable backends will parse the information to be filesystem paths to store references. Given that no callers pass any payload yet this is essentially a no-op change for now. To enable this, provide a 'refs_compute_filesystem_location()' function which will parse the current 'gitdir' and the 'payload' to provide the final reference directory and common reference directory (if working in a linked worktree). The documentation and tests will be added alongside the extension of the config variable. Helped-by: Patrick Steinhardt Signed-off-by: Karthik Nayak Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano

refs: move out stub modification to generic layer

2026-02-25T17:27:12Z

When creating the reftable reference backend on disk, we create stubs to ensure that the directory can be recognized as a Git repository. This is done by calling `refs_create_refdir_stubs()`. Move this to the generic layer as this is needed for all backends excluding from the files backends. In an upcoming commit where we introduce alternate reference backend locations, we'll have to also create stubs in the $GIT_DIR irrespective of the backend being used. This commit builds the base to add that logic. Similarly, move the logic for deletion of stubs to the generic layer. The files backend recursively calls the remove function of the 'packed-backend', here skip calling the generic function since that would try to delete stubs. Signed-off-by: Karthik Nayak Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano

refs: extract out `refs_create_refdir_stubs()`

2026-02-25T17:27:12Z

For Git to recognize a directory as a Git directory, it requires the directory to contain: 1. 'HEAD' file 2. 'objects/' directory 3. 'refs/' directory Here, #1 and #3 are part of the reference storage mechanism, specifically the files backend. Since then, newer backends such as the reftable backend have moved to using their own path ('reftable/') for storing references. But to ensure Git still recognizes the directory as a Git directory, we create stubs. There are two locations where we create stubs: - In 'refs/reftable-backend.c' when creating the reftable backend. - In 'clone.c' before spawning transport helpers. In a following commit, we'll add another instance. So instead of repeating the code, let's extract out this code to `refs_create_refdir_stubs()` and use it. Signed-off-by: Karthik Nayak Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano

refs: rename `do_for_each_ref_flags`

2026-02-23T21:21:18Z

The enum `do_for_each_ref_flags` and its individual values don't match to our current best practices when it comes to naming things. Rename it to `refs_for_each_flag`. Signed-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano

Merge branch 'kn/ref-batch-output-error-reporting-fix'

2026-02-09T20:09:10Z

A handful of code paths that started using batched ref update API (after Git 2.51 or so) lost detailed error output, which have been corrected. * kn/ref-batch-output-error-reporting-fix: fetch: delay user information post committing of transaction receive-pack: utilize rejected ref error details fetch: utilize rejected ref error details update-ref: utilize rejected error details if available refs: add rejection detail to the callback function refs: skip to next ref when current ref is rejected

refs: skip to next ref when current ref is rejected

2026-01-26T06:27:33Z

In `refs_verify_refnames_available()` we have two nested loops: the outer loop iterates over all references to check, while the inner loop checks for filesystem conflicts for a given ref by breaking down its path. With batched updates, when we detect a filesystem conflict, we mark the update as rejected and execute 'continue'. However, this only skips to the next iteration of the inner loop, not the outer loop as intended. This causes the same reference to be repeatedly rejected. Fix this by using a goto statement to skip to the next reference in the outer loop. Signed-off-by: Karthik Nayak Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano

refs/reftable: introduce generic checks for refs

2026-01-12T14:55:41Z

In a preceding commit we have extracted generic checks for both direct and symbolic refs that apply for all backends. Wire up those checks for the "reftable" backend. Note that this is done by iterating through all refs manually with the low-level reftable ref iterator. We explicitly don't want to use the higher-level iterator that is exposed to users of the reftable backend as that iterator may swallow for example broken refs. Signed-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano