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environment: migrate more variables#10

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environment: migrate more variables#10
malon7782 wants to merge 9 commits into
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strings-1

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@malon7782 malon7782 commented Jul 8, 2026

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Final version?

Subject: [PATCH v8 0/9] migrate more variables into repo_config_values

Hi everyone,

This patch series continues the ongoing libification effort by migrating
a batch of global configuration variables into struct repo_config_values.

What does this series do:

infrastructure & strings (commits 1-6):
Introduce 'repo_config_values_clear()' to manage the lifecycle
of heap-allocated configuration strings. This infrastructure is utilized
to migrate string variables, including 'excludes_file', 'apply' whitespace
configs, and external programs including 'editor', 'pager', 'askpass'.

enums (commits 7-9):
Migrate enumerations 'push_default', 'autorebase', and
'object_creation_mode'. Care was taken to make these types available
to the configuration structure without triggering circular header
dependencies.

RFC:

Commit 3~5. Is it really necessary to migrate _program variables?
https://lore.kernel.org/git/8e657184-ee0b-453a-9f2d-a98080d3582e@gmail.com/

Commit 6~9. Previous related discussions on 'git_branch_track'.
https://lore.kernel.org/git/CAD=f0L-mPX+KECUjXk-WBzEbTP7wCa8sB56GySQT0yh9mfUOWw@mail.gmail.com/

Note:

Since a new getter 'repo_excludes_file()' is introduced, as previously
promised, once it is finally merged into 'master', there will be a patch to
update and squash the comments.

Similarly, I've noticed that the classification and sorting of variables in
'repo_config_values' don't seem to be correct. There will also be a patch
to fix this, and I think it will form a commit series along with the comment
patch?

Change since v7:

Fixed a memory leak in pager.c.

Thanks!

Tian Yuchen (9):
repository: introduce repo_config_values_clear()
environment: move excludes_file into repo_config_values
environment: move editor_program into repo_config_values
environment: move pager_program into repo_config_values
environment: move askpass_program into repo_config_values
environment: migrate apply_default_whitespace and
apply_default_ignorewhitespace
environment: move push_default into repo_config_values
environment: move autorebase into repo_config_values
environment: move object_creation_mode into repo_config_values

apply.c | 20 +++++++-----
branch.c | 2 +-
builtin/push.c | 8 ++---
dir.c | 4 +--
editor.c | 4 +--
environment.c | 87 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---------------
environment.h | 75 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++----------------
object-file.c | 2 +-
pager.c | 21 +++++++-----
prompt.c | 3 +-
remote.c | 2 +-
repository.c | 1 +
12 files changed, 148 insertions(+), 81 deletions(-)

malon7782 added 9 commits July 6, 2026 21:44
As part of the ongoing libification effort, dynamically allocated
global configuration variables are being moved into
'struct repo_config_values'. To prevent memory leaks, we need a
destructor to free these heap-allocated variables when a repository
instance is torn down.

Introduce 'repo_config_values_clear()' in environment.c and invoke it
from 'repo_clear()' in repository.c. As a starting point, update this
new function to handle the cleanup of 'attributes_file'.

Note:

Submodules are currently not supported by repo_config_values(), which
explicitly BUG()s out if 'repo != the_repository'. Since repo_clear()
cleans up all repository instances, we must bypass them to prevent
crashing.

Mentored-by: Christian Couder <christian.couder@gmail.com>
Mentored-by: Ayush Chandekar <ayu.chandekar@gmail.com>
Mentored-by: Olamide Caleb Bello <belkid98@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Tian Yuchen <cat@malon.dev>
The global variable 'excludes_file' is used to track the path to the
global ignore file. If this variable is NULL,
'setup_standard_excludes()'
in 'dir.c' forcefully evaluates and assigns the XDG default path to it.

Continue the libification effort by encapsulating this lazy-loading
fallback logic into a proper getter and moving the variable into
'struct repo_config_values'.

Since 'excludes_file' is a dynamically allocated string, it requires
proper heap memory management. It is safely freed using the newly
introduced `repo_config_values_clear()` function when the repository
is torn down.

Mentored-by: Christian Couder <christian.couder@gmail.com>
Mentored-by: Ayush Chandekar <ayu.chandekar@gmail.com>
Mentored-by: Olamide Caleb Bello <belkid98@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Tian Yuchen <cat@malon.dev>
The global variable 'editor_program' holds the path to the user's
preferred editor. Move 'editor_program' into
'struct repo_config_values' to continue the libification effort.

There have been discussions on whether external programs like
editors truly need to be configured on a per-repository basis within
the same process. While a single process might rarely invoke
different editors, this migration is necessary for two reasons:

1. Developers frequently use different toolchains for different
   projects. Per-repo configuration respects this.

2. Moving this string into 'repo_config_values' eliminates mutable
   global state. As the codebase moves toward becoming a long-running
   processes managing multiple repositories concurrently must
   not overwrite each other's program configurations.

No standalone getter function is introduced. Callers directly access
the field via 'repo_config_values()'. Heap memory is safely reclaimed
in 'repo_config_values_clear()'.

Mentored-by: Christian Couder <christian.couder@gmail.com>
Mentored-by: Ayush Chandekar <ayu.chandekar@gmail.com>
Mentored-by: Olamide Caleb Bello <belkid98@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Tian Yuchen <cat@malon.dev>
The 'pager_program' variable is currently defined as a file-scoped
static string in pager.c. Move it into 'struct repo_config_values'.

The configuration parsing logic remains strictly within pager.c to
respect subsystem boundaries. The read/write operations are simply
redirected to the repository-specific structure using
'repo_config_values()'.

Similar to the recent editor_program migration, no standalone getter
is introduced to keep the code minimal. The dynamically allocated
memory is now managed by 'repo_config_values_clear()'.

On top of that, fix a memory leak in pager.c while we are at it.

Mentored-by: Christian Couder <christian.couder@gmail.com>
Mentored-by: Ayush Chandekar <ayu.chandekar@gmail.com>
Mentored-by: Olamide Caleb Bello <belkid98@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Tian Yuchen <cat@malon.dev>
The global variable 'askpass_program' stores the path to the program
used to prompt the user for credentials. Move it into repo_config_values
to continue the libification effort.

While it is uncommon for a single process to require different askpass
programs for different repositories, maintaining this value as a mutable
global string is a blocker for libification. Global heap-allocated
strings introduce thread-safety issues in a multi-repo environment.

Move 'askpass_program' into 'struct repo_config_values' to eliminate
this global state. The memory is now safely managed and freed via
'repo_config_values_clear()'.

Mentored-by: Christian Couder <christian.couder@gmail.com>
Mentored-by: Ayush Chandekar <ayu.chandekar@gmail.com>
Mentored-by: Olamide Caleb Bello <belkid98@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Tian Yuchen <cat@malon.dev>
…ewhitespace

The global variables 'apply_default_whitespace' and
'apply_default_ignorewhitespace' are used to store the default
whitespace configuration for 'git apply'. Move these variables
into 'struct repo_config_values' to continue the libification
effort.

Dynamically allocated strings fetched via 'repo_config_get_string()'
are now tracked per-repository and safely freed in
'repo_config_values_clear()'.

As part of this transition, update 'git_apply_config()' to accept a
'struct repository *' argument rather than relying on the
'the_repository' global.

Mentored-by: Christian Couder <christian.couder@gmail.com>
Mentored-by: Ayush Chandekar <ayu.chandekar@gmail.com>
Mentored-by: Olamide Caleb Bello <belkid98@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Tian Yuchen <cat@malon.dev>
The global variable 'push_default' specifies the default behavior of
'git push' when no explicit refspec is provided. Move 'push_default'
into 'struct repo_config_values' to continue the libification effort.

While 'enum push_default_type' ideally belongs in 'remote.h', moving it
there introduces a circular dependency chain:

  remote.h -> hash.h -> repository.h -> environment.h.

Therefore, the enum definition is kept in 'environment.h' just above
'struct repo_config_values' with a NEEDSWORK comment for future cleanup.

Modify the configuration parsing in environment.c to update the
per-repository structure directly, and update caller across the
codebase to access the value via 'repo_config_values()'.

Mentored-by: Christian Couder <christian.couder@gmail.com>
Mentored-by: Ayush Chandekar <ayu.chandekar@gmail.com>
Mentored-by: Olamide Caleb Bello <belkid98@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Tian Yuchen <cat@malon.dev>
The global variable 'autorebase' dictates whether a newly created
branch should be configured to automatically rebase by default.
Move it into 'struct repo_config_values' to continue the
libification effort.

The 'enum rebase_setup_type' definition is moved higher up in
'environment.h' so that it is visible to the repository-specific
structure. The default state AUTOREBASE_NEVER is now correctly
initialized in 'repo_config_values_init()'.

Configuration parsing in 'git_default_branch_config()' is updated to
write directly to the repository's configuration instance.

Mentored-by: Christian Couder <christian.couder@gmail.com>
Mentored-by: Ayush Chandekar <ayu.chandekar@gmail.com>
Mentored-by: Olamide Caleb Bello <belkid98@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Tian Yuchen <cat@malon.dev>
The global variable 'object_creation_mode' controls how Git creates
object files, specifically determining whether to use hardlinks or
renames when moving temporary files into the object database. Move
it into 'struct repo_config_values' to continue the libification
effort.

Move the 'enum object_creation_mode' definition higher up in
'environment.h' to ensure it is visible to the structure. Initialize
the per-repository value to its default macro value
OBJECT_CREATION_MODE inside 'repo_config_values_init()'.

Update configuration parsing in 'git_default_core_config()' to write
directly to the repository-specific configuration structure.

Mentored-by: Christian Couder <christian.couder@gmail.com>
Mentored-by: Ayush Chandekar <ayu.chandekar@gmail.com>
Mentored-by: Olamide Caleb Bello <belkid98@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Tian Yuchen <cat@malon.dev>
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