Hub: Update default branch support

[elisboa]

I have a project that relies on changing the default branch everyday. So, I wish I could use hub to update the remote default branch, as today I do it via GitHub web interface.

[mislav]

You should be able to do this today with:

hub api -XPATCH repos/{owner}/{repo} -f default_branch=master

[elisboa]

I'd just like to thank you, it worked perfectly.

I just had to set some environment variables, such as GIT_DIR and GIT_WORK_TREE, since I couldn't pass them as arguments (as I usually do with git binary).

[mislav]

@elisboa Did this not work for you?

hub --git-dir=/path/to/project/.git api ...

For me with hub 2.13 this works just as if I cd'd into /path/to/project and run hub api ... from there.

[gibfahn]

Tried this and ran into this issue (on GHE, unsure if still needed on public GitHub)

Solution in that link worked for me, namely:

hub api -XPATCH repos/{owner}/{repo} -f name={repo} -f default_branch=master

[mislav]

@gibfahn Thanks for sharing your workaround. This smells like a bug with GitHub API. You're welcome to report it to our Support 🙇

[elisboa]

Sorry for the delay. When I tried to run hub setting --git-dir and --work-tree it didin't work.

But actually, to set the default REMOTE branch, it wasn't needed, so I ran without setting it and it just worked, thanks :)

[elisboa]

Just as a proof or evidence, here it goes below (it's a private repo):

hub api -XPATCH repos/elisboa/tmgit-files -f default_branch=2019.12.06
{"id":219029841,"node_id":"MDEwOlJlcG9zaXRvcnkyMTkwMjk4NDE=","name":"tmgit-files","full_name":"elisboa/tmgit-files","private":true,"owner":{"login":"elisboa","id":5649134,"node_id":"MDQ6VXNlcjU2NDkxMzQ=","avatar_url":"https://avatars3.githubusercontent.com/u/5649134?v=4","gravatar_id":"","url":"https://api.github.com/users/elisboa","html_url":"https://github.com/elisboa","followers_url":"https://api.github.com/users/elisboa/followers","following_url":"https://api.github.com/users/elisboa/following{/other_user}","gists_url":"https://api.github.com/users/elisboa/gists{/gist_id}","starred_url":"https://api.github.com/users/elisboa/starred{/owner}{/repo}","subscriptions_url":"https://api.github.com/users/elisboa/subscriptions","organizations_url":"https://api.github.com/users/elisboa/orgs","repos_url":"https://api.github.com/users/elisboa/repos","events_url":"https://api.github.com/users/elisboa/events{/privacy}","received_events_url":"https://api.github.com/users/elisboa/received_events","type":"User","site_admin":false},"html_url":"https://github.com/elisboa/tmgit-files","description":"My personal and private files","fork":false,"url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files","forks_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/forks","keys_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/keys{/key_id}","collaborators_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/collaborators{/collaborator}","teams_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/teams","hooks_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/hooks","issue_events_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/issues/events{/number}","events_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/events","assignees_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/assignees{/user}","branches_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/branches{/branch}","tags_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/tags","blobs_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/git/blobs{/sha}","git_tags_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/git/tags{/sha}","git_refs_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/git/refs{/sha}","trees_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/git/trees{/sha}","statuses_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/statuses/{sha}","languages_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/languages","stargazers_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/stargazers","contributors_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/contributors","subscribers_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/subscribers","subscription_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/subscription","commits_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/commits{/sha}","git_commits_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/git/commits{/sha}","comments_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/comments{/number}","issue_comment_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/issues/comments{/number}","contents_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/contents/{+path}","compare_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/compare/{base}...{head}","merges_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/merges","archive_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/{archive_format}{/ref}","downloads_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/downloads","issues_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/issues{/number}","pulls_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/pulls{/number}","milestones_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/milestones{/number}","notifications_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/notifications{?since,all,participating}","labels_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/labels{/name}","releases_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/releases{/id}","deployments_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/elisboa/tmgit-files/deployments","created_at":"2019-11-01T17:14:30Z","updated_at":"2019-12-05T23:00:37Z","pushed_at":"2019-12-06T18:00:35Z","git_url":"git://github.com/elisboa/tmgit-files.git","ssh_url":"[email protected]:elisboa/tmgit-files.git","clone_url":"https://github.com/elisboa/tmgit-files.git","svn_url":"https://github.com/elisboa/tmgit-files","homepage":null,"size":9594,"stargazers_count":0,"watchers_count":0,"language":"Shell","has_issues":true,"has_projects":true,"has_downloads":true,"has_wiki":true,"has_pages":false,"forks_count":0,"mirror_url":null,"archived":false,"disabled":false,"open_issues_count":0,"license":null,"forks":0,"open_issues":0,"watchers":0,"default_branch":"2019.12.06","permissions":{"admin":true,"push":true,"pull":true},"allow_squash_merge":true,"allow_merge_commit":true,"allow_rebase_merge":true,"network_count":0,"subscribers_count":1}%

[mislav]

But actually, to set the default REMOTE branch, it wasn't needed, so I ran without setting it and it just worked, thanks :)

To change the default branch for the "origin" git remote (or any other remote) in your LOCAL git repo, you can use:

git remote set-head origin 2019.12.06

You probably want to do that in your local repo after you've successfully changed the default branch of the GitHub repository. 👍