From: Kristoffer Haugsbakk <code@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
git-whatchanged(1) is deprecated and you need to pass
`--i-still-use-this` in order to force it to work as before.
There are two affected users, or usages:
1. people who use the command in scripts; and
2. people who are used to using it interactively.
For (1) the replacement is straightforward.[1] But people in (2) might
like the name or be really used to typing it.[3]
An obvious first thought is to suggest aliasing `whatchanged` to the
git-log(1) equivalent.[1] But this doesn’t work and is awkward since you
cannot shadow builtins via aliases.
Now you are left in an uncomfortable limbo; your alias won’t work until
the command is removed for good.
Let’s lift this limitation by allowing *deprecated* builtins to be
shadowed by aliases.
The only observed demand for aliasing has been for git-whatchanged(1),
not for git-pack-redundant(1). But let’s be consistent and treat all
deprecated commands the same.
[1]:
git log --raw --no-merges
With a minor caveat: you get different outputs if you happen to
have empty commits (no changes)[2]
[2]: https://lore.kernel.org/git/20250825085428.GA367101@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/
[3]: https://lore.kernel.org/git/BL3P221MB0449288C8B0FA448A227FD48833AA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/
Based-on-patch-by: Jeff King <peff@xxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Kristoffer Haugsbakk <code@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
Notes (series):
v4:
Better `is_deprecated_command` implementation.
v3 (new):
Prerequisite for telling the user that they can alias `whatchanged` to
`git log --raw --no-merged`.
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/git/cover.1756311355.git.code@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/T/#md434b0968f499263262fb1805d82b788b8349d9a
> I think that is good advice, but... it won't do anything until we
> actually drop the whatchanged command, since until then we'll refuse to
> override the command (even the crippled --i-still-use-this one).
>
> We'd need something like the patch here:
❦
The
test_file_not_empty expect
is here because the git(1) command could fail. Make sure that it did
indeed output anyhing on stdout. (Or if a previous redirect to `expect`
outputted something it should be completely different to `actual` in any
case)
I don’t know if this is just a waste.
Documentation/config/alias.adoc | 3 ++-
git.c | 19 +++++++++++++++++++
t/t0014-alias.sh | 17 +++++++++++++++++
3 files changed, 38 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
diff --git a/Documentation/config/alias.adoc b/Documentation/config/alias.adoc
index 2c5db0ad842..3c8fab3a95c 100644
--- a/Documentation/config/alias.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/config/alias.adoc
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@ alias.*::
after defining `alias.last = cat-file commit HEAD`, the invocation
`git last` is equivalent to `git cat-file commit HEAD`. To avoid
confusion and troubles with script usage, aliases that
- hide existing Git commands are ignored. Arguments are split by
+ hide existing Git commands are ignored except for deprecated
+ commands. Arguments are split by
spaces, the usual shell quoting and escaping are supported.
A quote pair or a backslash can be used to quote them.
+
diff --git a/git.c b/git.c
index fca6ebfce3d..b3aafebfe4c 100644
--- a/git.c
+++ b/git.c
@@ -801,6 +801,12 @@ static void execv_dashed_external(const char **argv)
exit(128);
}
+static int is_deprecated_command(const char *cmd)
+{
+ struct cmd_struct *builtin = get_builtin(cmd);
+ return builtin && (builtin->option & DEPRECATED);
+}
+
static int run_argv(struct strvec *args)
{
int done_alias = 0;
@@ -808,6 +814,19 @@ static int run_argv(struct strvec *args)
struct string_list_item *seen;
while (1) {
+ /*
+ * Allow deprecated commands to be overridden by aliases. This
+ * creates a seamless path forward for people who want to keep
+ * using the name after it is gone, but want to skip the
+ * deprecation complaint in the meantime.
+ */
+ if (is_deprecated_command(args->v[0]) &&
+ alias_lookup(args->v[0])) {
+ if (!handle_alias(args))
+ break;
+ done_alias = 1;
+ continue;
+ }
/*
* If we tried alias and futzed with our environment,
* it no longer is safe to invoke builtins directly in
diff --git a/t/t0014-alias.sh b/t/t0014-alias.sh
index 854d59ec58c..89bedb9f73b 100755
--- a/t/t0014-alias.sh
+++ b/t/t0014-alias.sh
@@ -55,4 +55,21 @@ test_expect_success 'tracing a shell alias with arguments shows trace of prepare
test_cmp expect actual
'
+can_alias_deprecated_builtin () {
+ cmd="$1" &&
+ # some git(1) commands will fail for `-h` (the case for
+ # git-status as of 2025-09-07)
+ test_might_fail git status -h >expect &&
+ test_file_not_empty expect &&
+ test_might_fail git -c alias."$cmd"=status "$cmd" -h >actual &&
+ test_cmp expect actual
+}
+
+test_expect_success 'can alias-shadow deprecated builtins' '
+ for cmd in $(git --list-cmds=deprecated)
+ do
+ can_alias_deprecated_builtin "$cmd" || return 1
+ done
+'
+
test_done
--
2.51.0.16.gcd94ab5bf81
