[JENKINS-60072] trigger on "ref-updated" generates many noisy/wrong events

Gerrit-Version: 2.15.8

After enabling the Trigger on "Ref Updated" i got many gerrit events for "non source code" based updates.

I need the "Ref-Updated" trigger to allow "non-reviewing projects" to be executed thru a jenkins pipeline (after pushing some changes -> build/deploy stuff). These projects are working fine, now only the "review-projects" are stumbling like described below.

For example if a user create a new patchset i got two events

1. unexpected event GERRIT_EVENT_TYPE=ref-updated with the following variables
   
   GERRIT_REFSPEC=refs/heads/master
   
   GERRIT_REFNAME=refs/changes/37/7337/1
   
   GERRIT_OLDREV=0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
   
   GERRIT_NEWREV=f1afefdb742808546864b89db42655a6cc1f1296
   
   don't know what this event wants to tell me


2. expected event GERRIT_EVENT_TYPE=patchset-created
   
   GERRIT_REFSPEC=refs/changes/37/7337/1
   
   ....
   
   the normal event (like before enabling Ref Updated)

If a user submit a review it becomes more strange, now i got three events:

1. unexpected event GERRIT_EVENT_TYPE=ref-updated with the following variables
   
   GERRIT_REFSPEC=refs/heads/master
   
   GERRIT_OLDREV=fbdab6370a390f03a565fe3f065c76434bf7277a
   
   GERRIT_NEWREV=f1afefdb742808546864b89db42655a6cc1f1296

1. expected event GERRIT_EVENT_TYPE=change-merged with the following variables
   
   GERRIT_REFSPEC=refs/changes/37/7337/1
   
   GERRIT_NEWREV=f1afefdb742808546864b89db42655a6cc1f1296

1. unexpected event GERRIT_EVENT_TYPE=ref-updated with the following variables
   
   GERRIT_REFSPEC=refs/heads/master
   
   GERRIT_REFNAME=refs/notes/review
   
   GERRIT_OLDREV=7f5b17092e3f724defd8074f815dab8e034a8b92
   
   GERRIT_NEWREV=c7c264f68f44a1865eaad29c748a9a49aec644c2
   
   these one is strange, looks like it comes from submitting internal structures of gerrit (i know that in gerrit there are some changes ongoing to replace the sql database and safe these values into git/note-db?)

 

I'm not sure if the order of these events is predictable and if there are more events like for example if the user adds some notes to the review.

But at least the third event should never be passed thru the gerrit-trigger-plugin to jenkins. It's an gerrit internal use of the git repository to store some things (like refs/meta/config) and has nothing to do with the project itself.

Additional it would be nice to get rid of the first event for a "submit" action.

---
Originally reported by nias, imported from: trigger on "ref-updated" generates many noisy/wrong events

• assignee: rsandell
  
• status: Open
  
• priority: Major
  
• component(s): gerrit-trigger-plugin
  
• resolution: Unresolved
  
• votes: 0
  
• watchers: 2
  
• imported: 2025-12-07
  

Raw content of original issue

Gerrit-Version: 2.15.8


After enabling the Trigger on "Ref Updated" i got many gerrit events for "non source code" based updates.


I need the "Ref-Updated" trigger to allow "non-reviewing projects" to be executed thru a jenkins pipeline (after pushing some changes -> build/deploy stuff). These projects are working fine, now only the "review-projects" are stumbling like described below.


For example if a user create a new patchset i got two events



	
unexpected event GERRIT_EVENT_TYPE=ref-updated with the following variables

GERRIT_REFSPEC=refs/heads/master

GERRIT_REFNAME=refs/changes/37/7337/1

GERRIT_OLDREV=0000000000000000000000000000000000000000

GERRIT_NEWREV=f1afefdb742808546864b89db42655a6cc1f1296

don't know what this event wants to tell me

	
expected event GERRIT_EVENT_TYPE=patchset-created

GERRIT_REFSPEC=refs/changes/37/7337/1

....

the normal event (like before enabling Ref Updated)



If a user submit a review it becomes more strange, now i got three events:



	
unexpected event GERRIT_EVENT_TYPE=ref-updated with the following variables

GERRIT_REFSPEC=refs/heads/master

GERRIT_OLDREV=fbdab6370a390f03a565fe3f065c76434bf7277a

GERRIT_NEWREV=f1afefdb742808546864b89db42655a6cc1f1296





	
expected event GERRIT_EVENT_TYPE=change-merged with the following variables

GERRIT_REFSPEC=refs/changes/37/7337/1

GERRIT_NEWREV=f1afefdb742808546864b89db42655a6cc1f1296





	
unexpected event GERRIT_EVENT_TYPE=ref-updated with the following variables

GERRIT_REFSPEC=refs/heads/master

GERRIT_REFNAME=refs/notes/review

GERRIT_OLDREV=7f5b17092e3f724defd8074f815dab8e034a8b92

GERRIT_NEWREV=c7c264f68f44a1865eaad29c748a9a49aec644c2

these one is strange, looks like it comes from submitting internal structures of gerrit (i know that in gerrit there are some changes ongoing to replace the sql database and safe these values into git/note-db?)



 


I'm not sure if the order of these events is predictable and if there are more events like for example if the user adds some notes to the review.


But at least the third event should never be passed thru the gerrit-trigger-plugin to jenkins. It's an gerrit internal use of the git repository to store some things (like refs/meta/config) and has nothing to do with the project itself.


Additional it would be nice to get rid of the first event for a "submit" action.

Start by reproducing the ref-updated events with Gerrit 2.15.8, focusing on the plugin's handling of patchset-created, change-merged, and refs/notes/review updates. Done means internal ref updates and unwanted submit-related duplicates are no longer passed through to Jenkins while valid ref-updated events still trigger pipelines.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.