Re: [PATCH 5/7] environment: split up concerns of `is_bare_repository_cfg`

[Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks.im>]

On Wed, Jun 10, 2026 at 05:22:04PM -0500, Justin Tobler wrote:
> On 26/06/10 08:56AM, Patrick Steinhardt wrote:
> > diff --git a/builtin/init-db.c b/builtin/init-db.c
> > index 52aa92fb0a..566732c9f4 100644
> > --- a/builtin/init-db.c
> > +++ b/builtin/init-db.c
> > @@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ int cmd_init_db(int argc,
> >  	const char *template_dir = NULL;
> >  	char *template_dir_to_free = NULL;
> >  	unsigned int flags = 0;
> > -	int bare = is_bare_repository_cfg;
> > +	int bare = startup_info->force_bare_repository ? 1 : -1;
> 
> Any particular reason to continue mapping `force_bare_repository=false`
> to -1? Or was this to just minimize changes?

The `-1` value doesn't mean "false", but it rather means "undecided".
The effect of this is that "core.bare" will eventually override this.

> > diff --git a/setup.c b/setup.c
> > index 71fc6b33da..2b690da8ca 100644
> > --- a/setup.c
> > +++ b/setup.c
> > @@ -795,10 +795,16 @@ static int check_repository_format_gently(const char *gitdir,
> >  		has_common = 0;
> >  	}
> >  
> > -	if (!has_common) {
> > -		if (candidate->is_bare != -1)
> > -			is_bare_repository_cfg = candidate->is_bare;
> > -	} else {
> > +	if (startup_info->force_bare_repository) {
> > +		candidate->is_bare = 1;
> > +		FREE_AND_NULL(candidate->work_tree);
> > +	} else if (has_common) {
> > +		/*
> > +		 * When sharing a common dir with another repository (e.g. a
> > +		 * linked worktree), do not let this repository's config
> > +		 * dictate bareness; it is inherited from the main worktree.
> > +		 */
> > +		candidate->is_bare = -1;
> >  		FREE_AND_NULL(candidate->work_tree);
> 
> Previously, when there was a common dir, `candidate->work_tree` was left
> untouched, but now we are expclicitly setting it. I'm not sure I fully
> understand this change.

I cannot blame you. All of this logic is so unbelievably tangled and
hard to follow.

In any case, I think you might have missed the fact that we `else if`
branch is now `has_common` as compared to `!has_common`? To explain the
different cases a bit:

  - When we have `force_bare_repository` we are being told that the
    repository should be treated as bare. So we set `is_bare` and also
    clear the work tree that may have been discovered.

  - When we have a commondir we know that we're in a worktree.
    Previously we did nothing in this case, and that had the implicit
    effect that `is_bare_repository_cfg` would remain at `-1`. So to
    match that behaviour we have to also reset the candidate's bareness
    to `-1`, so that we parse it via the repository's configuration at a
    later point in time.

    The other part here is that we also reset `candidate->work_tree`.
    This is because the expectation is that `$GIT_DIR/common` should
    override any "core.worktree" settings. Quoting git-config(1):

        If GIT_COMMON_DIR environment variable is set, core.worktree is
        ignored and not used for determining the root of working tree.

  - When we don't have a commondir we previosuly had to also adapt the
    global `is_bare_repository_cfg` variable. This part is not necessary
    anymore, so we basically just drop this case altogether.

Patrick