From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
To: Phil Sainty <psainty@orcon.net.nz>
Cc: git@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: GIT_WORK_TREE is not exported for post-checkout-hook
Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2026 14:39:49 -0700 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <xmqqqzisvpsq.fsf@gitster.g> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <17f331aef833b34fbddbefd66c330465@orcon.net.nz> (Phil Sainty's message of "Tue, 15 Sep 2026 20:24:31 +1200")
Phil Sainty <psainty@orcon.net.nz> writes:
> I have a post-checkout-hook shell script which indirectly calls
> "git rev-parse --show-toplevel", and I've found that when that hook
> runs for a checkout within a worktree directory, GIT_DIR is set but
> GIT_WORK_TREE is not set, which leads to the CWD being returned
> instead of the genuine toplevel value.
>
> The script is seeing a GIT_DIR value like this:
>
> GIT_DIR=/path/to/repo/.git/worktrees/name
>
> The only other git variables in the environment are GIT_EXEC_PATH
> and GIT_PREFIX.
>
> The outcome I'm seeing is explained by
> https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Internals-Environment-Variables#_repository_locations
> which says:
>
> "If --git-dir or GIT_DIR is specified but none of --work-tree,
> GIT_WORK_TREE or core.worktree is specified, the current working
> directory is regarded as the top level of your working tree."
>
> The current githooks(5) man page talks about this somewhat:
>
> "Environment variables, such as GIT_DIR, GIT_WORK_TREE, etc., are
> exported so that Git commands run by the hook can correctly locate
> the repository. If your hook needs to invoke Git commands in a
> foreign repository or in a different working tree of the same
> repository, then it should clear these environment variables so
> they do not interfere with Git operations at the foreign
> location."
>
> Unsetting GIT_DIR certainly fixes the problem, but I don't think that
> ought to be necessary in my case, as my hook script is calling git in
> the *same* working copy where the checkout happens. It is not dealing
> with "a foreign" repository [or] a different working tree".
>
> My impression is that GIT_WORK_TREE should also be set for this hook
> when dealing with a worktree. I have tested this in git version 2.34
> and 2.55 (maint) and also 2.56.0.rc0.355.g945ea7012d (next).
That certainly would be a possible workaround. I do not know why we
need to export GIT_DIR in the first place, though.
The attached patch would export GIT_WORK_TREE when worktree exists
and GIT_DIR would also be exported, but there is a large NEEDSWORK
comment in the precontext of the hunk, which merits consideration
before moving forward.
setup.c | 5 ++++-
1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
diff --git c/setup.c w/setup.c
index 0d157ac254..d0c0b2f68a 100644
--- c/setup.c
+++ w/setup.c
@@ -2064,8 +2064,11 @@ const char *setup_git_directory_gently(struct repository *repo, int *nongit_ok)
startup_info->have_repository ||
/* GIT_DIR_EXPLICIT */
getenv(GIT_DIR_ENVIRONMENT)) {
- if (discovery.worktree)
+ if (discovery.worktree) {
set_git_work_tree(repo, discovery.worktree);
+ if (discovery.gitdir || getenv(GIT_DIR_ENVIRONMENT))
+ xsetenv(GIT_WORK_TREE_ENVIRONMENT, discovery.worktree, 1);
+ }
if (discovery.gitdir) {
apply_and_export_relative_gitdir(repo, discovery.gitdir, 0);
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-09-16 21:39 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 3+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-09-15 8:24 GIT_WORK_TREE is not exported for post-checkout-hook Phil Sainty
2026-09-16 21:39 ` Junio C Hamano [this message]
2026-09-25 7:11 ` Phil Sainty
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