[JENKINS-65183] Default branch handling is missing in pipeline git step

Currently many GitHub projects are changing the default branch from master to main.  Some projects have both branches.  The following produce different results:

Shell:

git clone url #checks out main

Pipeline:

git 'url' # checks out master 

It is certainly possible to specify a branch in both git and checkout step, but the default behavior is unintuitive.  As the default branch switch to main continues, I expect to encounter many (more) projects that have both branches (for better or for worse).

I noticed that docs were recently updated (JENKINS-64320), but I don't believe that every job referencing a repository (in this way) should change when the upstream default branch configuration changes.

---
Originally reported by akom, imported from: Default branch handling is missing in pipeline git step

• status: Open
  
• priority: Minor
  
• component(s): git-plugin
  
• label(s): pipeline, user-experience
  
• resolution: Unresolved
  
• votes: 0
  
• watchers: 2
  
• imported: 2025-12-02
  

Currently many GitHub projects are changing the default branch from master to main.  Some projects have both branches.  The following produce different results:


Shell:



git clone url #checks out main





Pipeline:



git 'url' # checks out master 



It is certainly possible to specify a branch in both git and checkout step, but the default behavior is unintuitive.  As the default branch switch to main continues, I expect to encounter many (more) projects that have both branches (for better or for worse).


I noticed that docs were recently updated (JENKINS-64320), but I don't believe that every job referencing a repository (in this way) should change when the upstream default branch configuration changes.