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
@@ -90,6 +90,11 @@ all advice messages.
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Shown when linkgit:git-push[1] rejects a forced update of
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a branch when its remote-tracking ref has updates that we
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do not have locally.
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+ pushRepoLooksLikeRef::
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+ Shown when the repository given to linkgit:git-push[1] is not
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+ a configured remote but looks like a `<remote>/<branch>` ref,
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+ suggesting that the remote and branch be given as separate
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+ arguments.
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pushUnqualifiedRefname::
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Shown when linkgit:git-push[1] gives up trying to
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guess based on the source and destination refs what
advice.c
+1
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ static struct {
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[ADVICE_PUSH_NON_FF_CURRENT] = { "pushNonFFCurrent" },
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[ADVICE_PUSH_NON_FF_MATCHING] = { "pushNonFFMatching" },
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[ADVICE_PUSH_REF_NEEDS_UPDATE] = { "pushRefNeedsUpdate" },
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+ [ADVICE_PUSH_REPO_LOOKS_LIKE_REF] = { "pushRepoLooksLikeRef" },
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[ADVICE_PUSH_UNQUALIFIED_REF_NAME] = { "pushUnqualifiedRefName" },
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[ADVICE_PUSH_UPDATE_REJECTED] = { "pushUpdateRejected" },
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[ADVICE_PUSH_UPDATE_REJECTED_ALIAS] = { "pushNonFastForward" }, /* backwards compatibility */
advice.h
+1
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ enum advice_type {
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ADVICE_PUSH_NON_FF_CURRENT,
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ADVICE_PUSH_NON_FF_MATCHING,
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ADVICE_PUSH_REF_NEEDS_UPDATE,
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+ ADVICE_PUSH_REPO_LOOKS_LIKE_REF,
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ADVICE_PUSH_UNQUALIFIED_REF_NAME,
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ADVICE_PUSH_UPDATE_REJECTED,
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ADVICE_PUSH_UPDATE_REJECTED_ALIAS,
builtin/push.c
+36
-1
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
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#include "advice.h"
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#include "branch.h"
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#include "config.h"
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+#include "dir.h"
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#include "environment.h"
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#include "gettext.h"
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#include "hex.h"
@@ -662,6 +663,29 @@ static int push_multiple(struct string_list *list,
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return result;
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}
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+static void die_if_repo_looks_like_ref(const char *repo)
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+{
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+ const char *slash = strchr(repo, '/');
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+ struct strbuf name = STRBUF_INIT;
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+ int code;
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+
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+ if (!slash || !slash[1] || file_exists(repo))
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+ return;
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+
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+ strbuf_add(&name, repo, slash - repo);
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+ if (!remote_is_configured(remote_get(name.buf), 0)) {
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+ strbuf_release(&name);
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+ return;
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+ }
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+
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+ code = die_message(_("'%s' is not a valid push target"), repo);
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+ advise_if_enabled(ADVICE_PUSH_REPO_LOOKS_LIKE_REF,
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+ _("Did you mean to use: git push %s %s?"),
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+ name.buf, slash + 1);
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+ strbuf_release(&name);
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+ exit(code);
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+}
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+
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int cmd_push(int argc,
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const char **argv,
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const char *prefix,
@@ -744,6 +768,17 @@ int cmd_push(int argc,
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if (repo) {
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if (!add_remote_or_group(repo, &remote_group)) {
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+ struct remote *r;
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+
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+ /*
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+ * Check the advice up front to avoid the remote
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+ * lookup when the hint is off. The helper still
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+ * calls advise_if_enabled() so the hint carries the
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+ * standard "disable this message" instructions.
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+ */
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+ if (advice_enabled(ADVICE_PUSH_REPO_LOOKS_LIKE_REF))
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+ die_if_repo_looks_like_ref(repo);
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+
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/*
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* Not a configured remote name or group name.
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* Try treating it as a direct URL or path, e.g.
@@ -753,7 +788,7 @@ int cmd_push(int argc,
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* from the URL so the loop below can handle it
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* identically to a named remote.
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*/
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- struct remote *r = pushremote_get(repo);
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+ r = pushremote_get(repo);
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if (!r)
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die(_("bad repository '%s'"), repo);
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string_list_append(&remote_group, r->name);
t/t5529-push-errors.sh
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@@ -54,6 +54,37 @@ test_expect_success 'detect empty remote with targeted refspec' '
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grep "fatal: bad repository ${SQ}${SQ}" stderr
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'
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+test_expect_success 'suggest <remote> <branch> for a <remote>/<branch> slip' '
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+ test_must_fail git push origin/main 2>stderr &&
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+ test_grep "${SQ}origin/main${SQ} is not a valid push target" stderr &&
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+ test_grep "hint: Did you mean to use: git push origin main?" stderr &&
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+ test_must_fail git -c advice.pushRepoLooksLikeRef=false push origin/main 2>stderr &&
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+ test_grep ! "Did you mean" stderr
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+'
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+
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+test_expect_success 'suggest <remote> <branch> when the branch has slashes' '
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+ test_must_fail git push origin/feature/x 2>stderr &&
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+ test_grep "hint: Did you mean to use: git push origin feature/x?" stderr
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+'
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+
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+test_expect_success 'no suggestion when prefix is not a configured remote' '
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+ test_must_fail git push not-a-remote/main 2>stderr &&
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+ test_grep ! "Did you mean" stderr
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+'
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+
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+test_expect_success 'no suggestion for a trailing slash with no branch' '
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+ test_must_fail git push origin/ 2>stderr &&
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+ test_grep ! "Did you mean" stderr
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+'
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+
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+test_expect_success 'no suggestion when the argument is an existing path' '
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+ test_when_finished "rm -rf origin" &&
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+ git init --bare origin/main &&
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+ git push origin/main HEAD:refs/heads/pushed 2>stderr &&
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+ test_grep ! "Did you mean" stderr &&
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+ git -C origin/main rev-parse --verify refs/heads/pushed
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+'
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+
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test_expect_success 'detect ambiguous refs early' '
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git branch foo &&
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git tag foo &&