Are your Git repository's subtrees up to date? Can't remember the remote you pulled them from? This Git subcommand diffs, adds, and updates the given subtrees (or all) in the current Git repository, finding their remote based on their paths/prefixes/basenames.
If your subtree has a prefix of path/to/vim-fireplace, there's a good chance the remote was https://github.com/tpope/vim-fireplace.git. This subcommand looks that up and runs the appropriate git subtree pull for you.
The power of Git subtree notes that subtrees do not track the remote they came from. This makes them difficult to diff or keep up to date automatically. You have to remember where they came from, and/or write down the command you used to acquire the subtree in the first place.
I have a particular use case where my subtree prefixes partially encode the remote name, a repo on GitHub. Therefore, I can find the remote via GitHub's search API with confidence. For low confidence matches, I can prompt the user for a manual selection.
Automatic diff and update of my subtrees got a lot easier.
Your subtree remote must be on GitHub. The subtree prefix must match one of the following rules. The examples all resolve to the GitHub repo "tpope/vim-fireplace".
| Rule | Example Prefix |
|---|---|
| The dirname + basename is a full, exact GitHub repo name. | path/to/tpope/vim-fireplace |
| The basename is a camelized, full GitHub repo name. | path/to/tpope-vim-fireplace |
| The basename is a short (no author), exact GitHub repo name. | path/to/vim-fireplace |
If your subtree's remote isn't on GitHub or the subtree's prefix doesn't follow these conventions, git subtree-remote won't help you. But I'm interested in PRs to make this more general!
Also, keep an eye on the author of the above article. The author is getting Git to record git-subtree-repo: <repo-url-here> in subtree commits. That would make this project vastly simpler. Or outright foldable into Git's own subtree command.
git clonethis repositorypython setup.py install
Run the following in a Git repository with subtrees.
See what subtrees are outdated.
git subtree-remote diff (path/to/some/subtree/prefix...|--all)If the subtree doesn't exist, this will try to find a matching GitHub remote. If found, indicate that pulling would add a new subtree. If not found, exit with error.
Add or update the given subtrees.
git subtree-remote pull (path/to/some/subtree/prefix...|--all)If the subtree doesn't exist, this is the same as git subtree add, but it looks up the GitHub remote for you.
If the subtree exists, same as git subtree pull, but you don't have to remember the remote. Or it can find and update all your subtrees.
This subcommand uses GitHub's search API, which is rate limited. The script can take a while if you're updating dozens of subtrees. Set your GITHUB_TOKEN env var to a GitHub API token to get a faster rate.