Re: [PATCH v2 5/9] reset: introduce ability to skip reference updates

[Phillip Wood <phillip.wood123@gmail.com>]

Hi Patrick

On 03/06/2026 17:14, Patrick Steinhardt wrote:
> In a subsequent commit we'll introduce a new caller to `reset_head()`
> that really only wants to update the index and working tree, without
> updating any references. Introduce a new flag that lets the caller
> perform this operation.

We already have a flag to update ORIG_HEAD so would it make more sense 
to have a flag to update HEAD, rather than adding a flag to disable the 
updates? It would mean updating the existing callers but I think it is a 
clearer api and it avoids the pitfall of

	RESET_HEAD_ORIG_HEAD | RESET_HEAD_SKIP_REF_UPDATES

I wonder about the function name as well if we make updating HEAD 
optional then what does reset_head() mean? Maybe we should rename it 
something along the lines of reset_worktree() or update_working_copy()? 
I'm not really sure what a good name would be.

Thanks

Phillip

> Signed-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks.im>
> ---
>   reset.c | 7 ++++++-
>   reset.h | 3 +++
>   2 files changed, 9 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
> 
> diff --git a/reset.c b/reset.c
> index a8d7eea4d6..ed9df6ca5c 100644
> --- a/reset.c
> +++ b/reset.c
> @@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ int reset_head(struct repository *r, const struct reset_head_opts *opts)
>   	unsigned refs_only = opts->flags & RESET_HEAD_REFS_ONLY;
>   	unsigned update_orig_head = opts->flags & RESET_HEAD_ORIG_HEAD;
>   	unsigned dry_run = opts->flags & RESET_HEAD_DRY_RUN;
> +	unsigned skip_ref_updates = opts->flags & RESET_HEAD_SKIP_REF_UPDATES;
>   	struct object_id *head = NULL, head_oid;
>   	struct tree_desc desc[2] = { { NULL }, { NULL } };
>   	struct lock_file lock = LOCK_INIT;
> @@ -112,6 +113,9 @@ int reset_head(struct repository *r, const struct reset_head_opts *opts)
>   	if (opts->branch_msg && !opts->branch)
>   		BUG("branch reflog message given without a branch");
>   
> +	if (skip_ref_updates && (opts->branch || refs_only))
> +		BUG("asked to perform ref updates and skip them at the same time");
> +
>   	if (!refs_only && !dry_run && repo_hold_locked_index(r, &lock, LOCK_REPORT_ON_ERROR) < 0) {
>   		ret = -1;
>   		goto leave_reset_head;
> @@ -196,7 +200,8 @@ int reset_head(struct repository *r, const struct reset_head_opts *opts)
>   		goto leave_reset_head;
>   	}
>   
> -	if (oid != &head_oid || update_orig_head || switch_to_branch)
> +	if (!skip_ref_updates &&
> +	    (oid != &head_oid || update_orig_head || switch_to_branch))
>   		ret = update_refs(r, opts, oid, head);
>   
>   leave_reset_head:
> diff --git a/reset.h b/reset.h
> index 9f696382c1..cb0700ffa7 100644
> --- a/reset.h
> +++ b/reset.h
> @@ -27,6 +27,9 @@ enum reset_head_flags {
>   	 * any user-visible state.
>   	 */
>   	RESET_HEAD_DRY_RUN = (1 << 5),
> +
> +	/* Skip updating any references, only update the worktree and index. */
> +	RESET_HEAD_SKIP_REF_UPDATES = (1 << 6),
>   };
>   
>   struct reset_head_opts {
>