How to remove remote branch with JGit

Question

I'm not able to figure out how to remove a remote branch.

I was trying to mimic the following GIT command: git push origin :branchToDelete

The following code and it's variations with the empty source:

RefSpec refSpec = new RefSpec();
refSpec = refSpec.setSource("");
// remove branch from origin:
git.push().setRefSpecs(refSpec).add(branchToDelete).call();

throws and exception like:

org.eclipse.jgit.api.errors.JGitInternalException: Exception caught during execution of push command
    at org.eclipse.jgit.api.PushCommand.call(PushCommand.java:175)
    at org.gitscripts.DeleteBranchOperation.execute(DeleteBranchOperation.java:27)
    at org.gitscripts.Main.main(Main.java:27)
Caused by: java.io.IOException: Source ref  doesnt resolve to any object.
    at org.eclipse.jgit.transport.RemoteRefUpdate.<init>(RemoteRefUpdate.java:285)
    at org.eclipse.jgit.transport.RemoteRefUpdate.<init>(RemoteRefUpdate.java:189)
    at org.eclipse.jgit.transport.Transport.findRemoteRefUpdatesFor(Transport.java:612)
    at org.eclipse.jgit.transport.Transport.findRemoteRefUpdatesFor(Transport.java:1150)
    at org.eclipse.jgit.api.PushCommand.call(PushCommand.java:149)
    ... 2 more

Thanks in advance for your ideas and solutions.

Breathless

From your error it seems there is a problem with your refSpec. You sure it is correct? – Enforcement

Answer 1

This should help you out:

//delete branch 'branchToDelete' locally
git.branchDelete().setBranchNames('refs/heads/branchToDelete').call();

//delete branch 'branchToDelete' on remote 'origin'
RefSpec refSpec = new RefSpec()
        .setSource(null)
        .setDestination("refs/heads/branchToDelete");
git.push().setRefSpecs(refSpec).setRemote("origin").call();

tested with jgit 2.0.0.201206130900-r

Swimmingly

Answer 2

As per regular git syntax, shouldn't your RefSpec() be: :branchToDelete?

Henriettehenriha

Yes, either using new RefSpec(":branchToDelete") or new RefSpec().setSource("").setDestination("branchToDelete"). – Harm

@Vince No, if the source is empty, it means that the target branch should be deleted on the remote. (That's what the question was about.) – Harm

Answer 3

I never did it, but did you simply try a DeleteBranchCommand by specifying origin/branchToDelete?

EDIT : I particularly mean Git/JGit references remote branches via the structure <remote name>/<branch name> (and using the ListBranchCommand will help you make sure you got the correct spelling).

To know the exact spelling of the branch name, you can use a ListBranchCommand (don't forget to call setListMode(REMOTE)).

Note: Git allows more weird behaviours than JGit, so unless it is written somewhere, don't expect them.

EDIT : I mean that a refspec is supposed to have the following syntax: <remote branch>:<local branch> (or probably the other way around), but don't expect it works in JGit if you miss one end, even if it works in Git.

Beluga

OP doesn't want to only delete the remote-tracking branch locally, but push the branch deletion instead. – Harm

yeah, I got it. What I meant is you can display the remote branch (different from the local branch tracking it) and then delete the remote one. By the way, a refspec is made to specify the link between a local tracking branch and the remote one. I edited my answer for better understanding – Beluga

Brilliant! Passing origin/branchToDelete (or to be precise, refs/remotes/origin/branchToDelete) to the DeleteBranchCommand worked. The key thing of working with JGit: don't try to mimic GIT commands – Breathless

Well, @Vince, after running the following code git.branchDelete().setBranchNames("refs/remotes/origin/" + branchToDelete).setForce(true).call(); the git branch -a doesn't contain entry for the branchToDelete That's why I decided that everything works fine. But when I run git pull, I was surprised to see * [new branch] test1 -> origin/test1, and on GitHub the branch is still showed. So it looks like the DeleteBranch command deleted only a local reference to the branch, but didn't affect the remote branch itself. I'm stuck again... – Breathless

you can try to run a git push after you delete the branch. I mean, Git is a two-step tool, with which you first record your changes locally and then to the remote repository. So I think you should delete the tracking branch or the remote branch and then push that. – Beluga

it's interesting though, how would Git react if you run git branch -d branchToDelete and then git push origin, with branchToDelete being a remote-tracking branch? – Beluga

Nothing will happen, you still just deleted the remote tracking branch in your local repository. – Collayer

Answer 4

I could make it work with this:

StoredConfig config = git.getRepository().getConfig();
config.unsetSection("remote", "origin");
try {
    config.save();
} catch (IOException e) {
    logger.error(e.getMessage());
}

Hope it helps.

Davena

He wants to delete a branch on the remote, not the remote from the local configuration. – Collayer