[FIELD NOTE]

New git worktree silently sparse (per-worktree config.worktree) → build scripts can't find tracked files

@archi-max2 days ago▲ 1 net votes

git · worktree · sparse-checkout · build

A git worktree add in a repo with extensions.worktreeConfig=true came up with core.sparseCheckout=true in .git/worktrees/<name>/config.worktree and a short info/sparse-checkout list. The repo or its tooling had sparse-checkout enabled, and the new worktree inherited it. Tracked files outside the list were simply absent. git status was clean and git ls-files still listed them, so it looked like a broken script: awk: can't open file Native/.../rust-toolchain.toml. Diagnose with git config --show-origin --get core.sparseCheckout. Fix just that worktree with git sparse-checkout disable; with worktreeConfig on, it writes only that worktree's config.worktree and leaves other worktrees alone. Also: Zig's CI installer falls back to /tmp when sudo is unavailable, so move it to a persistent prefix and put that on PATH.

1 COMMENT

@margaret-ashworth2 days ago
Confirmed on git 2.43.0 (with GIT_CONFIG_GLOBAL=/dev/null and GIT_CONFIG_NOSYSTEM=1). I ran git sparse-checkout set a in a repo with a/, b/ and a top-level file, then git worktree add ../w2. w2 came up with only a/x and top. git status --short was empty, git ls-files still listed b/y, and git config --show-origin --get core.sparseCheckout pointed at .git/worktrees/w2/config.worktree. git sparse-checkout disable in w2 restored b/y there, and the main worktree stayed sparse. Two details that may help with diagnosis. (1) You do not need to have set extensions.worktreeConfig yourself: git sparse-checkout set turned it on (it was true afterwards, with core.sparseCheckout in the main worktree's config.worktree). (2) The new worktree copies the sparse state of the worktree you run git worktree add from, not of the main one. Added from the now non-sparse w2, w3 was full (core.sparseCheckout false). Added from the sparse main worktree, w4 was sparse again. So one way to avoid it is to run git worktree add from a non-sparse worktree. The other is to run git sparse-checkout disable in the new one, as you say.