push: suggest <remote> <branch> for a slash slip
When pushing the 'main' branch to the remote 'origin', i.e., $ git push origin main it is easy to mistakenly write $ git push origin/main That is parsed as the repository to push to, and since 'origin/main' is neither a configured remote nor a path it dies with: fatal: 'origin/main' does not appear to be a git repository Often 'origin/main' does not exist as a repository, so the command fails without doing any harm, but it gives no hint that a space was meant instead of a slash and can leave the user puzzled. When the argument is not an existing path or configured remote but its part before the first slash names one, suggest the intended '<remote> <branch>' form: $ git push origin main The suggestion is shown as advice so it can be silenced with advice.pushRepoLooksLikeRef. Signed-off-by: Harald Nordgren <haraldnordgren@gmail.com> Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Harald Nordgren committed
Jun 27, 2026 at 18:02 UTC
a85a43c4802c124a504c42c63129a97d7f8346c1
5 files changed
+74
-1
Documentation/config/advice.adoc
+5
index 257db58918..fa77a5110e 100644
--- a/Documentation/config/advice.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/config/advice.adoc
@@ -90,6 +90,11 @@ all advice messages.
Shown when linkgit:git-push[1] rejects a forced update of
a branch when its remote-tracking ref has updates that we
do not have locally.
+ pushRepoLooksLikeRef::
+ Shown when the repository given to linkgit:git-push[1] is not
+ a configured remote but looks like a `<remote>/<branch>` ref,
+ suggesting that the remote and branch be given as separate
+ arguments.
pushUnqualifiedRefname::
Shown when linkgit:git-push[1] gives up trying to
guess based on the source and destination refs what
advice.c
+1
index 0018501b7b..63bf8b0c5f 100644
--- a/advice.c
+++ b/advice.c
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ static struct {
[ADVICE_PUSH_NON_FF_CURRENT] = { "pushNonFFCurrent" },
[ADVICE_PUSH_NON_FF_MATCHING] = { "pushNonFFMatching" },
[ADVICE_PUSH_REF_NEEDS_UPDATE] = { "pushRefNeedsUpdate" },
+ [ADVICE_PUSH_REPO_LOOKS_LIKE_REF] = { "pushRepoLooksLikeRef" },
[ADVICE_PUSH_UNQUALIFIED_REF_NAME] = { "pushUnqualifiedRefName" },
[ADVICE_PUSH_UPDATE_REJECTED] = { "pushUpdateRejected" },
[ADVICE_PUSH_UPDATE_REJECTED_ALIAS] = { "pushNonFastForward" }, /* backwards compatibility */
advice.h
+1
index 8def280688..66f6cd6a77 100644
--- a/advice.h
+++ b/advice.h
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ enum advice_type {
ADVICE_PUSH_NON_FF_CURRENT,
ADVICE_PUSH_NON_FF_MATCHING,
ADVICE_PUSH_REF_NEEDS_UPDATE,
+ ADVICE_PUSH_REPO_LOOKS_LIKE_REF,
ADVICE_PUSH_UNQUALIFIED_REF_NAME,
ADVICE_PUSH_UPDATE_REJECTED,
ADVICE_PUSH_UPDATE_REJECTED_ALIAS,
builtin/push.c
+36
-1
index 6021b71d66..1b2ad3b8df 100644
--- a/builtin/push.c
+++ b/builtin/push.c
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
#include "advice.h"
#include "branch.h"
#include "config.h"
+#include "dir.h"
#include "environment.h"
#include "gettext.h"
#include "hex.h"
@@ -662,6 +663,29 @@ static int push_multiple(struct string_list *list,
return result;
}
+static void die_if_repo_looks_like_ref(const char *repo)
+{
+ const char *slash = strchr(repo, '/');
+ struct strbuf name = STRBUF_INIT;
+ int code;
+
+ if (!slash || !slash[1] || file_exists(repo))
+ return;
+
+ strbuf_add(&name, repo, slash - repo);
+ if (!remote_is_configured(remote_get(name.buf), 0)) {
+ strbuf_release(&name);
+ return;
+ }
+
+ code = die_message(_("'%s' is not a valid push target"), repo);
+ advise_if_enabled(ADVICE_PUSH_REPO_LOOKS_LIKE_REF,
+ _("Did you mean to use: git push %s %s?"),
+ name.buf, slash + 1);
+ strbuf_release(&name);
+ exit(code);
+}
+
int cmd_push(int argc,
const char **argv,
const char *prefix,
@@ -744,6 +768,17 @@ int cmd_push(int argc,
if (repo) {
if (!add_remote_or_group(repo, &remote_group)) {
+ struct remote *r;
+
+ /*
+ * Check the advice up front to avoid the remote
+ * lookup when the hint is off. The helper still
+ * calls advise_if_enabled() so the hint carries the
+ * standard "disable this message" instructions.
+ */
+ if (advice_enabled(ADVICE_PUSH_REPO_LOOKS_LIKE_REF))
+ die_if_repo_looks_like_ref(repo);
+
/*
* Not a configured remote name or group name.
* Try treating it as a direct URL or path, e.g.
@@ -753,7 +788,7 @@ int cmd_push(int argc,
* from the URL so the loop below can handle it
* identically to a named remote.
*/
- struct remote *r = pushremote_get(repo);
+ r = pushremote_get(repo);
if (!r)
die(_("bad repository '%s'"), repo);
string_list_append(&remote_group, r->name);
t/t5529-push-errors.sh
+31
index 80b06a0cd2..2294645902 100755
--- a/t/t5529-push-errors.sh
+++ b/t/t5529-push-errors.sh
@@ -54,6 +54,37 @@ test_expect_success 'detect empty remote with targeted refspec' '
grep "fatal: bad repository ${SQ}${SQ}" stderr
'
+test_expect_success 'suggest <remote> <branch> for a <remote>/<branch> slip' '
+ test_must_fail git push origin/main 2>stderr &&
+ test_grep "${SQ}origin/main${SQ} is not a valid push target" stderr &&
+ test_grep "hint: Did you mean to use: git push origin main?" stderr &&
+ test_must_fail git -c advice.pushRepoLooksLikeRef=false push origin/main 2>stderr &&
+ test_grep ! "Did you mean" stderr
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'suggest <remote> <branch> when the branch has slashes' '
+ test_must_fail git push origin/feature/x 2>stderr &&
+ test_grep "hint: Did you mean to use: git push origin feature/x?" stderr
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'no suggestion when prefix is not a configured remote' '
+ test_must_fail git push not-a-remote/main 2>stderr &&
+ test_grep ! "Did you mean" stderr
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'no suggestion for a trailing slash with no branch' '
+ test_must_fail git push origin/ 2>stderr &&
+ test_grep ! "Did you mean" stderr
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'no suggestion when the argument is an existing path' '
+ test_when_finished "rm -rf origin" &&
+ git init --bare origin/main &&
+ git push origin/main HEAD:refs/heads/pushed 2>stderr &&
+ test_grep ! "Did you mean" stderr &&
+ git -C origin/main rev-parse --verify refs/heads/pushed
+'
+
test_expect_success 'detect ambiguous refs early' '
git branch foo &&
git tag foo &&