Re: `git remote set-branches (without --add) <name> <branch>… ` does not add refspecs to `remote.<remote>.fetch` when `remote.<remote>.fetch` does not exist

[Han Jiang <jhcarl0814@gmail.com>]

A way to get into the state is `git remote set-branches <remote>`
(followed by zero <branch>es), which removes `remote.server.fetch`
configuration variable. After that, `git remote set-branches <remote>
<branch>…` does not work. (But `git remote set-branches --add` can be
used to get out of the corrupted state.)

Shortened version of the example:
git remote add server git@example.com
git config list --local
git remote set-branches server
git config list --local
git remote set-branches server branch1 branch2
git config list --local

On Thu, Sep 5, 2024 at 9:07 PM Phillip Wood <phillip.wood123@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On 03/09/2024 11:37, Han Jiang wrote:
> > Thank you for filling out a Git bug report!
> > Please answer the following questions to help us understand your issue.
> >
> > What did you do before the bug happened? (Steps to reproduce your issue)
>
> It is always helpful to show how to reproduce a bug but please try and
> aim for a minimal reproduction recipe. It is much easier to follow if
> you show which output lines come from which command. In this case one
> can reproduce the issue with
>
> $ git remote add test git@example.com
> $ git config --get-all remote.test.fetch
> +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/test/*
> $ git config --unset-all remote.test.fetch
> $ git config --get-all remote.test.fetch
> $ git remote set-branches test main topic
> $ git config --get-all remote.test.fetch
>
> I haven't looked into what causes this. I wonder how likely users are to
> be affected - how did you get into a state where there was no fetch
> refspec set for your remote?
>
> Best Wishes
>
> Phillip
>
> > cd '/'; cd '/'; rm --force --recursive -- './test_git'; mkdir "$_"; cd "$_";
> > mkdir --parents -- './server' './client';
> > git -C './client' init './repo'
> > git -C './client/repo' remote --verbose
> > git -C './client/repo' config list --local --show-scope --show-origin
> > git -C './client/repo' remote add server 'file://'"$(realpath
> > './server/repo.git')"
> > git -C './client/repo' remote --verbose
> > git -C './client/repo' config list --local --show-scope --show-origin
> > git -C './client/repo' remote set-branches server branch1 branch2
> > git -C './client/repo' config list --local --show-scope --show-origin
> > git -C './client/repo' remote set-branches --add server branch3 branch4
> > git -C './client/repo' config list --local --show-scope --show-origin
> > git -C './client/repo' remote set-branches --add server branch3 branch4
> > git -C './client/repo' config list --local --show-scope --show-origin
> > git -C './client/repo' remote set-branches server
> > git -C './client/repo' config list --local --show-scope --show-origin
> > git -C './client/repo' remote set-branches server branch1 branch2
> > git -C './client/repo' config list --local --show-scope --show-origin
> > git -C './client/repo' remote set-branches --add server branch3 branch4
> > git -C './client/repo' config list --local --show-scope --show-origin
> > git -C './client/repo' remote set-branches --add server branch3 branch4
> > git -C './client/repo' config list --local --show-scope --show-origin
> >
> > What did you expect to happen? (Expected behavior)
> >
> > (local config has branch1 and branch2:)
> > remote.server.fetch=+refs/heads/branch1:refs/remotes/server/branch1
> > remote.server.fetch=+refs/heads/branch2:refs/remotes/server/branch2
> > remote.server.fetch=+refs/heads/branch3:refs/remotes/server/branch3
> > remote.server.fetch=+refs/heads/branch4:refs/remotes/server/branch4
> > remote.server.fetch=+refs/heads/branch3:refs/remotes/server/branch3
> > remote.server.fetch=+refs/heads/branch4:refs/remotes/server/branch4
> >
> > What happened instead? (Actual behavior)
> >
> > (local config does not have branch1 and branch2:)
> > remote.server.fetch=+refs/heads/branch3:refs/remotes/server/branch3
> > remote.server.fetch=+refs/heads/branch4:refs/remotes/server/branch4
> > remote.server.fetch=+refs/heads/branch3:refs/remotes/server/branch3
> > remote.server.fetch=+refs/heads/branch4:refs/remotes/server/branch4
> >
> > What's different between what you expected and what actually happened?
> >
> > Anything else you want to add:
> >
> > Please review the rest of the bug report below.
> > You can delete any lines you don't wish to share.
> >
> >
> > [System Info]
> > git version:
> > git version 2.46.0.windows.1
> > cpu: x86_64
> > built from commit: 2e6a859ffc0471f60f79c1256f766042b0d5d17d
> > sizeof-long: 4
> > sizeof-size_t: 8
> > shell-path: D:/git-sdk-64-build-installers/usr/bin/sh
> > feature: fsmonitor--daemon
> > libcurl: 8.9.0
> > OpenSSL: OpenSSL 3.2.2 4 Jun 2024
> > zlib: 1.3.1
> > uname: Windows 10.0 22631
> > compiler info: gnuc: 14.1
> > libc info: no libc information available
> > $SHELL (typically, interactive shell): C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\bash.exe
> >
> >
> > [Enabled Hooks]
> > not run from a git repository - no hooks to show
> >