Remote-tracking refs can accumulate in local repositories even as branches
are deleted on remotes, impacting git performance. While git fetch --prune
helps clean these up, it requires a full fetch operation which is expensive
for large repositories.
Add a new maintenance task 'prune-remote-refs' that runs 'git remote prune'
for each configured remote. This provides an automated way to clean up stale
remote-tracking refs without requiring full fetches or manual intervention.
This task is disabled by default.
Signed-off-by: Shubham Kanodia <shubham.kanodia10@xxxxxxxxx>
---
Documentation/git-maintenance.txt | 14 ++++++++++
builtin/gc.c | 42 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
t/t7900-maintenance.sh | 44 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
3 files changed, 100 insertions(+)
diff --git a/Documentation/git-maintenance.txt
b/Documentation/git-maintenance.txt
index 6e6651309d..3e0ca84de2 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-maintenance.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-maintenance.txt
@@ -158,6 +158,20 @@ pack-refs::
need to iterate across many references. See linkgit:git-pack-refs[1]
for more information.
+prune-remote-refs::
+ The `prune-remote-refs` task runs `git remote prune` on each remote
+ repository registered in the local repository. This task helps clean
+ up deleted remote branches, improving the performance of operations
+ that iterate through the refs. See linkgit:git-remote[1] for more
+ information. This task is disabled by default and must be enabled
+ manually.
++
+NOTE: This task is opt-in to prevent unexpected removal of remote refs
+for users of git-maintenance. It is recommended for power users who
+are comfortable with configuring maintenance tasks and understand the
+implications of automatic pruning. For others, running `git remote prune`
+manually might be more appropriate.
+
OPTIONS
-------
--auto::
diff --git a/builtin/gc.c b/builtin/gc.c
index 4ae5196aed..9acf1d2989 100644
--- a/builtin/gc.c
+++ b/builtin/gc.c
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
#include "lockfile.h"
#include "parse-options.h"
#include "run-command.h"
+#include "remote.h"
#include "sigchain.h"
#include "strvec.h"
#include "commit.h"
@@ -913,6 +914,40 @@ static int maintenance_opt_schedule(const struct
option *opt, const char *arg,
return 0;
}
+static int collect_remote(struct remote *remote, void *cb_data)
+{
+ struct string_list *list = cb_data;
+
+ if (!remote->url.nr)
+ return 0;
+
+ string_list_append(list, remote->name);
+ return 0;
+}
+
+static int maintenance_task_prune_remote(struct maintenance_run_opts
*opts UNUSED,
+ struct gc_config *cfg UNUSED)
+{
+ struct string_list_item *item;
+ struct string_list remotes_list = STRING_LIST_INIT_NODUP;
+ struct child_process child = CHILD_PROCESS_INIT;
+ int result = 0;
+
+ for_each_remote(collect_remote, &remotes_list);
+
+ for_each_string_list_item (item, &remotes_list) {
+ const char *remote_name = item->string;
+ child.git_cmd = 1;
+ strvec_pushl(&child.args, "remote", "prune", remote_name, NULL);
+
+ if (run_command(&child))
+ result = error(_("failed to prune '%s'"), remote_name);
+ }
+
+ string_list_clear(&remotes_list, 0);
+ return result;
+}
+
/* Remember to update object flag allocation in object.h */
#define SEEN (1u<<0)
@@ -1375,6 +1410,7 @@ enum maintenance_task_label {
TASK_GC,
TASK_COMMIT_GRAPH,
TASK_PACK_REFS,
+ TASK_PRUNE_REMOTE_REFS,
/* Leave as final value */
TASK__COUNT
@@ -1411,6 +1447,10 @@ static struct maintenance_task tasks[] = {
maintenance_task_pack_refs,
pack_refs_condition,
},
+ [TASK_PRUNE_REMOTE_REFS] = {
+ "prune-remote-refs",
+ maintenance_task_prune_remote,
+ },
};
static int compare_tasks_by_selection(const void *a_, const void *b_)
@@ -1505,6 +1545,8 @@ static void initialize_maintenance_strategy(void)
tasks[TASK_LOOSE_OBJECTS].schedule = SCHEDULE_DAILY;
tasks[TASK_PACK_REFS].enabled = 1;
tasks[TASK_PACK_REFS].schedule = SCHEDULE_WEEKLY;
+ tasks[TASK_PRUNE_REMOTE_REFS].enabled = 0;
+ tasks[TASK_PRUNE_REMOTE_REFS].schedule = SCHEDULE_DAILY;
}
}
diff --git a/t/t7900-maintenance.sh b/t/t7900-maintenance.sh
index 0ce4ba1cbe..60a0c3f835 100755
--- a/t/t7900-maintenance.sh
+++ b/t/t7900-maintenance.sh
@@ -446,6 +446,50 @@ test_expect_success 'pack-refs task' '
test_subcommand git pack-refs --all --prune <pack-refs.txt
'
+test_expect_success 'prune-remote-refs task not enabled by default' '
+ git clone . prune-test &&
+ (
+ cd prune-test &&
+ GIT_TRACE2_EVENT="$(pwd)/prune.txt" git maintenance run 2>err &&
+ test_subcommand ! git remote prune origin <prune.txt
+ )
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'prune-remote-refs task cleans stale remote refs' '
+ test_commit initial &&
+
+ # Create two separate remote repos
+ git clone . remote1 &&
+ git clone . remote2 &&
+
+ git clone . prune-test-clean &&
+ (
+ cd prune-test-clean &&
+ git config maintenance.prune-remote-refs.enabled true &&
+
+ # Add both remotes
+ git remote add remote1 "../remote1" &&
+ git remote add remote2 "../remote2" &&
+
+ # Create and push branches to both remotes
+ git branch -f side2 HEAD &&
+ git push remote1 side2 &&
+ git push remote2 side2 &&
+
+ # Rename branches in each remote to simulate a stale branch
+ git -C ../remote1 branch -m side2 side3 &&
+ git -C ../remote2 branch -m side2 side4 &&
+
+ GIT_TRACE2_EVENT="$(pwd)/prune.txt" git maintenance run
--task=prune-remote-refs &&
+
+ # Verify pruning happened for both remotes
+ test_subcommand git remote prune remote1 <prune.txt &&
+ test_subcommand git remote prune remote2 <prune.txt &&
+ test_must_fail git rev-parse refs/remotes/remote1/side2 &&
+ test_must_fail git rev-parse refs/remotes/remote2/side2
+ )
+'
+
test_expect_success '--auto and --schedule incompatible' '
test_must_fail git maintenance run --auto --schedule=daily 2>err &&
test_grep "at most one" err
--
2.46.2
