From: "Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget" <gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
To: git@vger.kernel.org
Cc: Kristoffer Haugsbakk <kristofferhaugsbakk@fastmail.com>,
Harald Nordgren <haraldnordgren@gmail.com>,
Harald Nordgren <haraldnordgren@gmail.com>
Subject: [PATCH v2] config: suggest the correct form when key contains "=" in set context
Date: Sat, 16 May 2026 12:52:56 +0000 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <pull.2302.v2.git.git.1778935976330.gitgitgadget@gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <pull.2302.git.git.1778680725459.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
From: Harald Nordgren <haraldnordgren@gmail.com>
A user who types "git config pull.rebase=false" gets only "error:
invalid key: pull.rebase=false" with no clue what went wrong.
Emit a "did you mean ..." hint suggesting the split form. Restrict it
to plausible-set contexts ("git config set", bare "git config <key>",
and their 2-arg forms); explicit "get"/"unset" keep the existing error.
"=" is legal inside a subsection, so only fire when "=" lands after
the last ".". When the user supplied a separate value, use it in the
suggestion instead of the suffix after "=":
$ git config set pull.rebase=false true
error: invalid key: pull.rebase=false
hint: did you mean "git config set pull.rebase true"?
Signed-off-by: Harald Nordgren <harald.nordgren@kostdoktorn.se>
---
config: suggest the correct form when key contains "="
* Hint moved from git_config_parse_key() to a new
advise_setting_with_equals() in builtin/config.c; wired only into set
and bare paths.
* Only fires when = is after the last .; 2-arg forms use the user's
value.
Published-As: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/releases/tag/pr-git-2302%2FHaraldNordgren%2Fconfig-hint-equals-key-v2
Fetch-It-Via: git fetch https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git pr-git-2302/HaraldNordgren/config-hint-equals-key-v2
Pull-Request: https://github.com/git/git/pull/2302
Range-diff vs v1:
1: 56eb3ce6fd < -: ---------- config: suggest the correct form when key contains "="
-: ---------- > 1: 40d9eb3e5c config: suggest the correct form when key contains "=" in set context
builtin/config.c | 30 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
t/t1300-config.sh | 47 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2 files changed, 77 insertions(+)
diff --git a/builtin/config.c b/builtin/config.c
index cf4ba0f7cc..f14a30e720 100644
--- a/builtin/config.c
+++ b/builtin/config.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
#define USE_THE_REPOSITORY_VARIABLE
#include "builtin.h"
#include "abspath.h"
+#include "advice.h"
#include "config.h"
#include "color.h"
#include "date.h"
@@ -210,6 +211,22 @@ static void check_argc(int argc, int min, int max)
exit(129);
}
+static void advise_setting_with_equals(const char *key, const char *value)
+{
+ const char *last_dot = strrchr(key, '.');
+ const char *eq;
+
+ if (!last_dot)
+ return;
+ eq = strchr(last_dot + 1, '=');
+ if (!eq)
+ return;
+ if (!value)
+ value = eq + 1;
+ advise(_("did you mean \"git config set %.*s %s\"?"),
+ (int)(eq - key), key, value);
+}
+
static void show_config_origin(const struct config_display_options *opts,
const struct key_value_info *kvi,
struct strbuf *buf)
@@ -1133,6 +1150,11 @@ static int cmd_config_set(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, opts, builtin_config_set_usage,
PARSE_OPT_STOP_AT_NON_OPTION);
+ if (argc == 1 && strchr(argv[0], '=')) {
+ error(_("wrong number of arguments, should be 2"));
+ advise_setting_with_equals(argv[0], NULL);
+ exit(129);
+ }
check_argc(argc, 2, 2);
if ((flags & CONFIG_FLAGS_FIXED_VALUE) && !value_pattern)
@@ -1160,6 +1182,8 @@ static int cmd_config_set(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
error(_("cannot overwrite multiple values with a single value\n"
" Use --value=<pattern>, --append or --all to change %s."), argv[0]);
}
+ if (ret == CONFIG_INVALID_KEY)
+ advise_setting_with_equals(argv[0], argv[1]);
location_options_release(&location_opts);
free(comment);
@@ -1371,6 +1395,7 @@ static int cmd_config_actions(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
};
char *value = NULL, *comment = NULL;
int ret = 0;
+ int actions_implicit;
struct key_value_info default_kvi = KVI_INIT;
argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, opts,
@@ -1385,6 +1410,7 @@ static int cmd_config_actions(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
exit(129);
}
+ actions_implicit = (actions == 0);
if (actions == 0)
switch (argc) {
case 1: actions = ACTION_GET; break;
@@ -1485,6 +1511,8 @@ static int cmd_config_actions(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
if (ret == CONFIG_NOTHING_SET)
error(_("cannot overwrite multiple values with a single value\n"
" Use a regexp, --add or --replace-all to change %s."), argv[0]);
+ else if (ret == CONFIG_INVALID_KEY)
+ advise_setting_with_equals(argv[0], argv[1]);
}
else if (actions == ACTION_SET_ALL) {
check_write(&location_opts.source);
@@ -1515,6 +1543,8 @@ static int cmd_config_actions(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
check_argc(argc, 1, 2);
ret = get_value(&location_opts, &display_opts, argv[0], argv[1],
0, flags);
+ if (ret == CONFIG_INVALID_KEY && actions_implicit)
+ advise_setting_with_equals(argv[0], NULL);
}
else if (actions == ACTION_GET_ALL) {
check_argc(argc, 1, 2);
diff --git a/t/t1300-config.sh b/t/t1300-config.sh
index 128971ee12..f46c081413 100755
--- a/t/t1300-config.sh
+++ b/t/t1300-config.sh
@@ -462,6 +462,53 @@ test_expect_success 'invalid key' '
test_must_fail git config inval.2key blabla
'
+test_expect_success 'misplaced "=" in key: bare 1-arg form hints' '
+ test_must_fail git config pull.rebase=false 2>err &&
+ test_grep "invalid key: pull\\.rebase=false" err &&
+ test_grep "did you mean .git config set pull\\.rebase false." err
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'misplaced "=" in key: bare 2-arg form uses given value' '
+ test_must_fail git config pull.rebase=false true 2>err &&
+ test_grep "did you mean .git config set pull\\.rebase true." err
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'misplaced "=" in key: set subcommand uses given value' '
+ test_must_fail git config set pull.rebase=false true 2>err &&
+ test_grep "did you mean .git config set pull\\.rebase true." err
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'misplaced "=" in key: set with single arg hints' '
+ test_must_fail git config set pull.rebase=false 2>err &&
+ test_grep "wrong number of arguments" err &&
+ test_grep "did you mean .git config set pull\\.rebase false." err
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'misplaced "=" in key: explicit --get does not hint' '
+ test_must_fail git config --get pull.rebase=false 2>err &&
+ test_grep "invalid key: pull\\.rebase=false" err &&
+ test_grep ! "did you mean" err
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'misplaced "=" in key: get subcommand does not hint' '
+ test_must_fail git config get pull.rebase=false 2>err &&
+ test_grep ! "did you mean" err
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'misplaced "=" in key: unset subcommand does not hint' '
+ test_must_fail git config unset pull.rebase=false 2>err &&
+ test_grep ! "did you mean" err
+'
+
+test_expect_success '"=" inside subsection is valid, no hint' '
+ test_when_finished "rm -f subsection.cfg" &&
+ git config set -f subsection.cfg foo.bar=baz.boo qux 2>err &&
+ test_grep ! "did you mean" err &&
+ echo qux >expect &&
+ git config get -f subsection.cfg foo.bar=baz.boo >actual &&
+ test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
test_expect_success 'correct key' '
git config 123456.a123 987
'
base-commit: 59ff4886a579f4bc91e976fe18590b9ae02c7a08
--
gitgitgadget
prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-05-16 12:52 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 9+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-05-13 13:58 [PATCH] config: suggest the correct form when key contains "=" Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget
2026-05-14 21:26 ` 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
2026-05-16 12:51 ` [PATCH] config: suggest the correct form when key contains "=" Harald Nordgren
2026-05-16 12:52 ` Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget [this message]
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