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From: "Julia Evans via GitGitGadget" <gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
To: git@vger.kernel.org
Cc: Julia Evans <julia@jvns.ca>, Julia Evans <julia@jvns.ca>
Subject: [PATCH 3/4] doc: git-push: clarify "what to push"
Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2025 20:40:21 +0000	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <ac554cbe75444880bbb2791c4d85dcf083d833d7.1756240823.git.gitgitgadget@gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <pull.1964.git.1756240823.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>

From: Julia Evans <julia@jvns.ca>

- Be more explicit about what we're describing ("which branches" instead
  of "what to push")
- Split out the ways to specify which branches into a numbered list,
  since there are 5 different ways to specify it and it's a lot to parse
  in paragraph form
- The explanation of "push.default=simple" is confusing to some users,
  use an explanation more similar to the one in `man git-config`
- Mention the most common case where push.default=simple is likely to
  fail, and how to handle it

Signed-off-by: Julia Evans <julia@jvns.ca>
---
 Documentation/git-push.adoc | 23 +++++++++++++----------
 1 file changed, 13 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/git-push.adoc b/Documentation/git-push.adoc
index 5c934486c33d..0232195515c9 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-push.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/git-push.adoc
@@ -27,18 +27,21 @@ argument (for example `git push dev`), then if that's not specified the
 `branch.*.remote` configuration for the current branch, and then defaults
 to `origin`.
 
-When the command line does not specify what to push with `<refspec>...`
-arguments or `--all`, `--mirror`, `--tags` options, the command finds
-the default `<refspec>` by consulting `remote.*.push` configuration,
-and if it is not found, honors `push.default` configuration to decide
-what to push (See linkgit:git-config[1] for the meaning of `push.default`).
+To decide which branches, tags, or other refs to push, Git uses
+(in order of precedence):
+
+1. The <refspec> argument(s) (for example `main` in `git push origin main`)
+   or the `--all`, `--mirror`, or `--tags` options
+2. The `remote.*.push` configuration for the current branch
+3. The `push.default` configuration (See linkgit:git-config[1] for
+   the meaning of `push.default`).
 
 When neither the command-line nor the configuration specifies what to
-push, the default behavior is used, which corresponds to the `simple`
-value for `push.default`: the current branch is pushed to the
-corresponding upstream branch, but as a safety measure, the push is
-aborted if the upstream branch does not have the same name as the
-local one.
+push, the current branch is pushed to the branch with the same name
+on the remote. The current branch must have a configured upstream with
+the same name, so this will fail when pushing a new branch.
+You can run `git push -u <repository> <current-branch>`
+to configure the upstream.
 
 You can make interesting things happen to a repository
 every time you push into it, by setting up 'hooks' there.  See
-- 
gitgitgadget


  parent reply	other threads:[~2025-08-26 20:40 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 87+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2025-08-26 20:40 [PATCH 0/4] doc: git-push: clarify DESCRIPTION section & refspec definition Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-26 20:40 ` [PATCH 1/4] doc: git-push: update intro Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-28 13:53   ` D. Ben Knoble
2025-08-28 16:18     ` Junio C Hamano
2025-08-29  7:20       ` Kristoffer Haugsbakk
2025-08-28 17:47     ` Julia Evans
2025-08-28 19:39       ` D. Ben Knoble
2025-08-26 20:40 ` [PATCH 2/4] doc: git-push: clarify "where to push" Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-27  0:05   ` Junio C Hamano
2025-08-26 20:40 ` Julia Evans via GitGitGadget [this message]
2025-08-26 23:57   ` [PATCH 3/4] doc: git-push: clarify "what " Junio C Hamano
2025-08-27 13:52     ` Julia Evans
2025-08-28 14:25   ` D. Ben Knoble
2025-08-26 20:40 ` [PATCH 4/4] doc: git-push: rewrite refspec specification Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-26 23:34   ` Junio C Hamano
2025-08-27 13:10     ` Julia Evans
2025-08-28 19:28   ` D. Ben Knoble
2025-09-12 18:55 ` [PATCH v2 0/4] doc: git-push: clarify DESCRIPTION section & refspec definition Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-12 18:55   ` [PATCH v2 1/4] doc: git-push: clarify intro Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-12 20:54     ` Junio C Hamano
2025-09-15 20:00       ` Julia Evans
2025-09-16  1:44         ` Junio C Hamano
2025-09-16 18:46           ` Julia Evans
2025-09-16 20:38             ` Ben Knoble
2025-09-16 21:59               ` Junio C Hamano
2025-09-17 18:42           ` Junio C Hamano
2025-09-18 14:20             ` Julia Evans
2025-09-12 18:55   ` [PATCH v2 2/4] doc: add an UPSTREAM BRANCHES section to pull/push/fetch Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-12 21:17     ` Junio C Hamano
2025-09-15 20:19       ` Julia Evans
2025-09-15 21:48         ` Junio C Hamano
2025-09-15 23:09           ` Julia Evans
2025-09-16  5:25     ` Junio C Hamano
2025-09-16  5:33       ` Junio C Hamano
2025-09-16  5:39         ` Junio C Hamano
2025-09-18 21:02           ` Julia Evans
2025-09-12 18:55   ` [PATCH v2 3/4] doc: git-push: clarify "where to push" Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-12 21:18     ` Junio C Hamano
2025-09-12 21:19     ` Junio C Hamano
2025-09-15 20:52       ` Julia Evans
2025-09-12 18:55   ` [PATCH v2 4/4] doc: git-push: clarify "what " Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-23 17:44   ` [PATCH v3 0/4] doc: git-push: clarify DESCRIPTION section Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-23 17:44     ` [PATCH v3 1/4] doc: git-push: clarify intro Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-23 17:44     ` [PATCH v3 2/4] doc: add an UPSTREAM BRANCHES section to pull/push/fetch Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-24 19:51       ` Junio C Hamano
2025-09-30 19:20         ` Julia Evans
2025-09-23 17:44     ` [PATCH v3 3/4] doc: git-push: clarify "where to push" Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-23 17:44     ` [PATCH v3 4/4] doc: git-push: clarify "what " Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-24 20:01       ` Junio C Hamano
2025-09-25 20:50         ` Julia Evans
2025-09-25 21:15           ` Junio C Hamano
2025-09-25 22:34             ` Julia Evans
2025-09-26  1:27               ` Junio C Hamano
2025-09-26 15:29                 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-09-26 17:31                   ` Julia Evans
2025-09-26 19:03                     ` Junio C Hamano
2025-09-26 22:27                       ` Julia Evans
2025-09-26 23:07                         ` Junio C Hamano
2025-09-28 21:38                           ` D. Ben Knoble
2025-09-23 17:56     ` [PATCH v3 0/4] doc: git-push: clarify DESCRIPTION section D. Ben Knoble
2025-09-30 19:58     ` [PATCH v4 0/5] " Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-30 19:58       ` [PATCH v4 1/5] doc: git-push: clarify intro Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-30 19:58       ` [PATCH v4 2/5] doc: add an UPSTREAM BRANCHES section to pull/push/fetch Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-30 23:39         ` Junio C Hamano
2025-10-03 18:23           ` Julia Evans
2025-10-03 19:12             ` Junio C Hamano
2025-10-01 17:30         ` Jean-Noël AVILA
2025-10-03 17:54           ` Julia Evans
2025-09-30 19:58       ` [PATCH v4 3/5] doc: git-push: clarify "where to push" Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-30 19:58       ` [PATCH v4 4/5] doc: git-push: clarify "what " Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-09-30 21:01         ` Junio C Hamano
2025-10-01 17:36         ` Jean-Noël AVILA
2025-09-30 19:58       ` [PATCH v4 5/5] doc: git-push: Add explanation of `git push origin main` Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-10-01 22:29         ` D. Ben Knoble
2025-10-03 17:58           ` Julia Evans
2025-10-01 22:28       ` [PATCH v4 0/5] doc: git-push: clarify DESCRIPTION section D. Ben Knoble
2025-10-06 18:58       ` [PATCH v5 " Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-10-06 18:58         ` [PATCH v5 1/5] doc: git-push: clarify intro Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-10-06 18:58         ` [PATCH v5 2/5] doc: add an UPSTREAM BRANCHES section to pull/push/fetch Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-10-07 12:23           ` Kristoffer Haugsbakk
2025-10-07 13:35             ` Julia Evans
2025-10-07 18:35               ` D. Ben Knoble
2025-10-06 18:58         ` [PATCH v5 3/5] doc: git-push: clarify "where to push" Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-10-06 18:58         ` [PATCH v5 4/5] doc: git-push: clarify "what " Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-10-06 18:58         ` [PATCH v5 5/5] doc: git-push: Add explanation of `git push origin main` Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-10-06 21:53         ` [PATCH v5 0/5] doc: git-push: clarify DESCRIPTION section D. Ben Knoble
2025-10-06 22:07         ` Junio C Hamano

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