How to Make a Pull Request to Hubzilla?

2025-02-11 00:05:49

adminsforum@hubzilla.org

Scott's Code Journal wrote the following post Tue, 11 Feb 2025 00:05:59 +0100

How to Make a Pull Request to Hubzilla?

How do I get this commit into the Hubzilla addons repository, preferably using GitLab?

#^https://framagit.org/federated-works/hubzilla-forks/addons/-/compare/master...dev?from_project_id=27085

Forked from hubzilla / addons
1 commit ahead of the upstream repository.

If I create a merge request, it defaults to wanting to merge to hubzilla/addon master.

If I try to change it to the dev branch, it forces me to compare branches and then asks me to merge both your changes and my changes. I just want to create a merge request with my changes only.

Do I create a merge request to Hubzilla master with 1 change? If not, how do I only submit my one commit to the Hubzilla dev branch?

show all 11 comments

2025-02-11 08:46:30

Harald Eilertsen

harald@hub.volse.no

We should probably doc this, but here's a short explanation I wrote to a MR a few days ago:

make sure you have the latest dev branch checked out locally (git switch dev)
make your changes
create a new branch (git switch -c my-cool-fixes)
commit your changes (git commit -a)
push to your repo (git push origin my-cool-fixes)
now create the merge request towards the source repo, dev branch.

The important thing is to base your changes on the dev branch, not the master branch.

2025-02-11 10:02:25

Scott M. Stolz

scott@loves.tech

I did base my changes on the Hubzilla dev branch. And according to GitLab, I am only 1 commit ahead of the Hubzilla dev branch.

Also, I did all of this in GitLab on Framagit, so there was no command line codes anywhere. I am not even sure where to enter the commands.

2025-02-11 10:12:07

Scott M. Stolz

scott@loves.tech

@Harald Eilertsen Also, I don't even think I have access to commit changes directly to the Hubzilla addon repo. I definitely am not allowed to create a new branch. I tried that already.

I cloned the addon repo, made my changes there with a commit, and am now trying to get my changes in my repo into yours.

2025-02-11 10:19:04

Harald Eilertsen

harald@hub.volse.no

@Scott M. Stolz I highly recommend setting up a local dev environment, so that you can also test your changes properly before submitting them. Other than that, I have no idea how to do this through the gitlab web ui.

Create a merge request, and I'll have a look at it.

2025-02-11 10:20:06

Harald Eilertsen

harald@hub.volse.no

@Scott M. Stolz No, you need to fork the repo you want to contribute to, make your changes there and then submit a merge request.

2025-02-11 10:57:41

Scott M. Stolz

scott@loves.tech

It took me awhile, but I figured out how to do it.

The pitfall I was making was updating the dev branch. DO NOT "Update Fork" on the Dev Branch in GitLab!

The short version is:

1. Clone the Hubzilla repo.
2. Make the changes to your own branch.
3. Create a merge request back to the source dev branch.

As long as you do not press the "Update Fork" button on the Dev branch, you are fine. You can and should press it on the main branch, but NOT when viewing the dev branch.

For some reason, pressing the "Update Fork" branch on the dev branch merges it with main? I have no clue what is happening, but basically, don't do it.

2025-02-11 11:11:53

Scott M. Stolz

scott@loves.tech

@Harald Eilertsen I have a local dev environment. I just do not use the command line. I use VBCode and GitHub Desktop. It handles the cloning and commits for me. Although I still have to do the merge requests on GitLab.

2025-02-11 11:18:56

Harald Eilertsen

harald@hub.volse.no

@Scott M. Stolz That's of course fine, but I can't help with random UI frontends, so I explain with the base git commands. The concepts should be the same, though.

2025-02-11 11:21:42

Harald Eilertsen

harald@hub.volse.no

@Scott M. Stolz I think the "update fork"-button updates the entire repo, not just the branch you happen to be viewing when pressing the button?

In any case, I find it safer to push the updates to my fork manually from the local clone instead. That way I'm in control over what is happening.

2025-02-11 11:26:19

Scott M. Stolz

scott@loves.tech

@Harald Eilertsen The process is the same. It was the "Update Fork" button on the dev branch that was messing everything up.

It does not behave the same as when you press "Update Fork" on the main branch. I think the button is labelled incorrectly when viewing the dev branch.

2025-02-11 11:52:08

Scott M. Stolz

scott@loves.tech

For documentation purposes, I am following this process:

1. Clone Hubzilla repo to Federated Works repo on Framagit.
2. Clone Federated Works repo on my local dev environment.
3. Create a new branch just for my changes.
4. Make changes locally and save as commits.
5. Merge my local changes (in my branch) back to the Federated Works repo (also in my branch).
6. Create a merge request from my branch in the Federated Works repo back to Hubzilla repo dev.
7. My branch gets deleted once my changes are accepted on the Hubzilla repo.

There are a couple of reasons why it is done this way:

1. I am not allowed to commit directly to the Hubzilla repo, so this stores my changes in a repo that I control.
2. I work with other developers, and they may also be making changes. This way I can make a merge request from our repo with both my changes and my developer's changes. I can also see what the other developer is doing before it gets merged with Hubzilla's repo.
3. This also lets me test both my and my developer's code before making the merge request to Hubzilla dev.