From: Jimmy Aguilar Mena <kratsbinovish@gmail.com>
To: git@vger.kernel.org
Subject: [PATCH 2/3] worktree: add --recurse-submodules flag to worktree add
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 2026 18:35:36 +0200 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <aeEPk7m5gwPnmMUZ@RTX> (raw)
When "git submodule update --init" is run inside a linked worktree,
submodule_name_to_gitdir() returns a per-worktree path:
$GIT_COMMON_DIR/worktrees/<id>/modules/<name>
rather than the main worktree's:
$GIT_COMMON_DIR/modules/<name>
If the main worktree already has the submodule cloned, the per-worktree
gitdir does not yet exist and clone_submodule() falls through to fetch
from the remote URL -- wasting bandwidth and disk space when all the
objects are already present locally.
Detect this case: when the target sm_gitdir does not exist, differs
from the common-dir path, and the common-dir path is a valid git
directory, skip the remote clone and instead run:
git clone --local --no-checkout --separate-git-dir <sm_gitdir> \
<common_sm_gitdir> <working_tree_path>
"--local" makes Git use hardlinks for pack files and loose objects, so
no extra disk space is consumed for data that is already present. The
per-worktree gitdir gets its own HEAD, index, and config, just like any
other worktree, while sharing the object store with the main worktree's
submodule repository. Mutable per-worktree files (HEAD, refs, index,
config) start out as hardlinks but become independent on the first write
via Git's atomic rename(2) approach.
Signed-off-by: Jimmy Aguilar Mena <kratsbinovish@gmail.com>
---
builtin/submodule--helper.c | 54 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1 file changed, 54 insertions(+)
diff --git a/builtin/submodule--helper.c b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
index 2f589e3b37..2da59e8c93 100644
--- a/builtin/submodule--helper.c
+++ b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
@@ -1914,6 +1914,59 @@ static int clone_submodule(const struct module_clone_data *clone_data,
clone_data_path = to_free = xstrfmt("%s/%s", repo_get_work_tree(the_repository),
clone_data->path);
+ /*
+ * If we are populating a submodule in a linked worktree and the main
+ * worktree already has this submodule cloned, reuse its objects via a
+ * local clone (hardlinks) instead of fetching from the network. The
+ * common-dir path "$GIT_COMMON_DIR/modules/<name>" is where the main
+ * worktree stores the submodule gitdir; the per-worktree path returned
+ * by submodule_name_to_gitdir() diverges from it only in linked
+ * worktrees.
+ */
+ {
+ struct strbuf common_sm_gitdir = STRBUF_INIT;
+ strbuf_addf(&common_sm_gitdir, "%s/modules/%s",
+ the_repository->commondir, clone_data->name);
+
+ if (!file_exists(sm_gitdir) &&
+ strcmp(sm_gitdir, common_sm_gitdir.buf) &&
+ is_git_directory(common_sm_gitdir.buf)) {
+ /*
+ * Main worktree has the submodule; reuse it locally.
+ * git clone --local creates hardlinks for pack files so
+ * no extra disk space is needed for existing objects.
+ */
+ if (clone_data->require_init && !stat(clone_data_path, &st) &&
+ !is_empty_dir(clone_data_path))
+ die(_("directory not empty: '%s'"), clone_data_path);
+
+ if (safe_create_leading_directories_const(the_repository, sm_gitdir) < 0)
+ die(_("could not create directory '%s'"), sm_gitdir);
+
+ strvec_push(&cp.args, "clone");
+ strvec_push(&cp.args, "--local");
+ strvec_push(&cp.args, "--no-checkout");
+ if (clone_data->quiet)
+ strvec_push(&cp.args, "--quiet");
+ strvec_pushl(&cp.args, "--separate-git-dir", sm_gitdir, NULL);
+ strvec_push(&cp.args, "--");
+ strvec_push(&cp.args, common_sm_gitdir.buf);
+ strvec_push(&cp.args, clone_data_path);
+
+ cp.git_cmd = 1;
+ prepare_submodule_repo_env(&cp.env);
+ cp.no_stdin = 1;
+
+ if (run_command(&cp))
+ die(_("local clone of '%s' into submodule path '%s' failed"),
+ common_sm_gitdir.buf, clone_data_path);
+
+ strbuf_release(&common_sm_gitdir);
+ goto connect_wt;
+ }
+ strbuf_release(&common_sm_gitdir);
+ }
+
if (!file_exists(sm_gitdir)) {
if (clone_data->require_init && !stat(clone_data_path, &st) &&
!is_empty_dir(clone_data_path))
@@ -2005,6 +2058,7 @@ static int clone_submodule(const struct module_clone_data *clone_data,
sm_gitdir);
}
+connect_wt:
connect_work_tree_and_git_dir(clone_data_path, sm_gitdir, 0);
p = repo_submodule_path(the_repository, clone_data_path, "config");
next reply other threads:[~2026-04-16 16:35 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 2+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-04-16 16:35 Jimmy Aguilar Mena [this message]
2026-04-16 17:27 ` [PATCH 2/3] worktree: add --recurse-submodules flag to worktree add Junio C Hamano
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