libgit2 / libgit2/pygit2

`Index.add()` accepts files behind symlinks

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Description

Hey.

Not sure whether this is a bug or considered valid (though probably strange) usage, but Index.add() - and presumably Index.add_all() as well as IndexEntry, too - accept paths where even non-final components are symbolic links, like in symlink-to-dir/some-non-dir-file.

git-add itself rejects these with an error like:

$ git add symlink-to-dir/some-non-dir-file
fatal: pathspec 'symlink-to-dir/some-non-dir-file' is beyond a symbolic link

The Index object even uses these pathnames and doesn't just resolve them:

list(r.index)
[<pygit2.index.IndexEntry path=symlink-to-dir/some-non-dir-file id=e69de29bb2d1d6434b8b29ae775ad8c2e48c5391 mode=33188>]

Creating a commit of that works, too.

Now the problem with such pathnames is that symlink-to-dir is not added as a symbolic link to the index (at least not automatically), instead it seems to behave as if there were a true directory of that name which contained the file, but which is then immediately gone after adding.

IMO hat leads to all kinds of unexpected stuff (which is probably the reason why git-add forbids it instead of e.g either resolving it or doing something else (like resolving it and adding the file under its real dir).

Maybe pygit2 should also reject these? Not sure what libgit2 does, though.

Cheers,
Chris.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reproducing the reported Index.add() behavior with a non-final symlink component, then compare it with git-add's rejection of the same path. Check whether Index.add_all() and IndexEntry behave similarly and review the corresponding libgit2 behavior. Done means the expected handling is established and covered by a regression test.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
git, python
Domain
devtools
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Active
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
55/100

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