builtin/history: rename "--ref-action=" to "--update-refs="

With the preceding commit we have changed "--ref-action=" to only control which refs are supposed to be updated, not what happens with them. As a consequence, the option is now somewhat misnamed, as we don't control the action itself anymore. Rename it to "--update-refs=" to better align it with its new use. Signed-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks.im> Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>

Patrick Steinhardt committed Feb 16, 2026 at 07:45 UTC 060e602dcb4ce94cd57ccdc4256a136fc36d9c40
3 files changed +10 -10
Documentation/git-history.adoc
+2 -2
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ git-history - EXPERIMENTAL: Rewrite history
8 SYNOPSIS
9 --------
10 [synopsis]
11 -git history reword <commit> [--dry-run] [--ref-action=(branches|head)]
11 +git history reword <commit> [--dry-run] [--update-refs=(branches|head)]
12
13 DESCRIPTION
14 -----------
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ OPTIONS
66 objects will be written into the repository, so applying these printed
67 ref updates is generally safe.
68
69 -`--ref-action=(branches|head)`::
69 +`--update-refs=(branches|head)`::
70 Control which references will be updated by the command, if any. With
71 `branches`, all local branches that point to commits which are
72 descendants of the original commit will be rewritten. With `head`, only
builtin/history.c
+4 -4
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
18 #include "wt-status.h"
19
20 #define GIT_HISTORY_REWORD_USAGE \
21 - N_("git history reword <commit> [--dry-run] [--ref-action=(branches|head)]")
21 + N_("git history reword <commit> [--dry-run] [--update-refs=(branches|head)]")
22
23 static void change_data_free(void *util, const char *str UNUSED)
24 {
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ static int setup_revwalk(struct repository *repo,
258 goto out;
259 } else if (!ret) {
260 ret = error(_("rewritten commit must be an ancestor "
261 - "of HEAD when using --ref-action=head"));
261 + "of HEAD when using --update-refs=head"));
262 goto out;
263 }
264
@@ -416,8 +416,8 @@ static int cmd_history_reword(int argc,
416 enum ref_action action = REF_ACTION_DEFAULT;
417 int dry_run = 0;
418 struct option options[] = {
419 - OPT_CALLBACK_F(0, "ref-action", &action, N_("<action>"),
420 - N_("control ref update behavior (branches|head)"),
419 + OPT_CALLBACK_F(0, "update-refs", &action, N_("<action>"),
420 + N_("control which refs should be updated (branches|head)"),
421 PARSE_OPT_NONEG, parse_ref_action),
422 OPT_BOOL('n', "dry-run", &dry_run,
423 N_("perform a dry-run without updating any refs")),
t/t3451-history-reword.sh
+4 -4
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ test_expect_success '--dry-run prints ref updates without modifying repo' '
233 test_commit theirs &&
234
235 git refs list >refs-expect &&
236 - reword_with_message --dry-run --ref-action=head base >updates <<-\EOF &&
236 + reword_with_message --dry-run --update-refs=head base >updates <<-\EOF &&
237 reworded commit
238 EOF
239 git refs list >refs-actual &&
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ test_expect_success '--dry-run prints ref updates without modifying repo' '
258 )
259 '
260
261 -test_expect_success '--ref-action=head updates only HEAD' '
261 +test_expect_success '--update-refs=head updates only HEAD' '
262 test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
263 git init repo --initial-branch=main &&
264 (
@@ -271,10 +271,10 @@ test_expect_success '--ref-action=head updates only HEAD' '
271
272 # When told to update HEAD, only, the command will refuse to
273 # rewrite commits that are not an ancestor of HEAD.
274 - test_must_fail git -c core.editor=false history reword --ref-action=head theirs 2>err &&
274 + test_must_fail git -c core.editor=false history reword --update-refs=head theirs 2>err &&
275 test_grep "rewritten commit must be an ancestor of HEAD" err &&
276
277 - reword_with_message --ref-action=head base >updates <<-\EOF &&
277 + reword_with_message --update-refs=head base >updates <<-\EOF &&
278 reworded base
279 EOF
280 expect_log HEAD <<-\EOF &&