Re: [PATCH b4] send: add --in-reply-to option for threading cover letters

[Konstantin Ryabitsev <konstantin@linuxfoundation.org>]

On Fri, Mar 06, 2026 at 04:26:52PM +0100, Christian Brauner wrote:
> > > Add a --in-reply-to flag to b4 send that sets the In-Reply-To and
> > > References headers on the cover letter (or single patch). This allows
> > > sending a new series version as a reply to the previous version or to
> > > an existing discussion thread, which is a common workflow on mailing
> > > lists that b4 did not directly support until now.
> > 
> > Isn't this already implemented with send-same-thread?
> > https://b4.docs.kernel.org/en/latest/config.html#term-b4.send-same-thread
> 
> I don't think so. At leat not for what I want to use this for.
> Here's an example where I used b4 send --in-reply-to already:
> 
> https://lore.kernel.org/all/20260306-work-kernel-exit-v1-1-8f871f6281cb@kernel.org
> 
> I wanted the bugfix to be a reply to the original bug and I didn't see a
> good way of doing this.

I see the desire to do this, but this is also the kind of pattern that causes
all sorts of grief:

- you have to pass --no-parent if you want to retrieve your patch

- you can no longer retrieve the parent series at all. Try it yourself:
  b4 am 20260120-work-pidfs-rhashtable-v2-1-d593c4d0f576@kernel.org
  You will only be able to retrieve your patch now, not the original patch.

I don't see a way to reconcile what you're trying to do and keeping automation
working reliably, do you?

-- 
KR