From: "Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget" <gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
To: git@vger.kernel.org
Cc: Harald Nordgren <haraldnordgren@gmail.com>,
Harald Nordgren <haraldnordgren@gmail.com>
Subject: [PATCH] config: suggest the correct form when key contains "="
Date: Wed, 13 May 2026 13:58:45 +0000 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <pull.2302.git.git.1778680725459.gitgitgadget@gmail.com> (raw)
From: Harald Nordgren <haraldnordgren@gmail.com>
When a user types "git config foo.bar=baz", git_config_parse_key()
rejects the key with "error: invalid key: foo.bar=baz" but gives no
indication of what the user should have written. The mistake is a
common one for users who reach for INI-file syntax or for the
"--flag=value" convention used by other command-line tools.
Since "=" is never a valid character in a config key, treat its
presence as a strong signal of this specific mistake and follow the
error with a one-line suggestion in the "(did you mean ...)" style
used elsewhere in git, e.g.:
$ git config pull.rebase=false
error: invalid key: pull.rebase=false
(did you mean "git config set pull.rebase false"?)
The hint is emitted only when the offending character is "="; other
invalid characters (newlines, "@", etc.) keep their existing error
unchanged.
Signed-off-by: Harald Nordgren <harald.nordgren@kostdoktorn.se>
---
config: suggest the correct form when key contains "="
Published-As: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/releases/tag/pr-git-2302%2FHaraldNordgren%2Fconfig-hint-equals-key-v1
Fetch-It-Via: git fetch https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git pr-git-2302/HaraldNordgren/config-hint-equals-key-v1
Pull-Request: https://github.com/git/git/pull/2302
config.c | 4 ++++
1 file changed, 4 insertions(+)
diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index a1b92fe083..6e658d71d1 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -580,6 +580,10 @@ int git_config_parse_key(const char *key, char **store_key, size_t *baselen_)
if (!iskeychar(c) ||
(i == baselen + 1 && !isalpha(c))) {
error(_("invalid key: %s"), key);
+ if (c == '=')
+ fprintf_ln(stderr,
+ _(" (did you mean \"git config set %.*s %s\"?)"),
+ (int)i, key, key + i + 1);
goto out_free_ret_1;
}
c = tolower(c);
base-commit: 59ff4886a579f4bc91e976fe18590b9ae02c7a08
--
gitgitgadget
next reply other threads:[~2026-05-13 13:58 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 7+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-05-13 13:58 Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget [this message]
2026-05-14 21:26 ` [PATCH] config: suggest the correct form when key contains "=" Junio C Hamano
2026-05-14 22:16 ` [PATCH] fetch: add fetch.pruneLocalBranches config Harald Nordgren
2026-05-15 1:28 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-05-15 7:56 ` Email issues Harald Nordgren
2026-05-15 12:02 ` Kristoffer Haugsbakk
2026-05-15 9:39 ` [PATCH] fetch: add fetch.pruneLocalBranches config Harald Nordgren
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