gitgit-log

Why doesn't git log show reachable ancestors?

With git log --graph --all --oneline I have:

* G (HEAD -> main, origin/main)
...
* F
* E
* D
* C
* B 
| * Z
|/ 
* A

But if the --all flag is omitted, then the graph is:

* G (HEAD -> main, origin/main)
...
* F
* E

My questions are:

Solution

  • A, B, C, D or Z seems to be reachable from main. Why doesn't git log show them?

    It's because the --oneline flag accidentally obfuscates the graph, making them look like being reachable from main, while in fact they aren't. Omitting that flag reveals that there are actually two root commits, E and A, and the disconnection between them.

    There is no branch or tag attaching to A, B, C, D or Z. Why does git log --all show them?

    It's because there are more refs than branches, tags and HEAD, and I suspect the command only show them by default. To reveal all refs, use git log --all --source. Or you can use git for-each-ref to examine only the commits being attached to a ref:

    git for-each-ref --format="%(objectname:short) %(refname)"
G refs/heads/main
D refs/original/refs/heads/main
Z refs/original/refs/tags/Cấutrúc1
C refs/original/refs/tags/Cấutrúc1.1
G refs/remotes/origin/main

    To solve the problem, open the file .git/packed-refs and delete all lines containing the refs/original/refs/ string.

    Next question: What does refs/original do?

    Thanks TTT, matt, LeGEC for helping me investigate the problem.