repo-sync-deleted-remote-branch-and-unrelated-history-recovery

name	repo-sync-deleted-remote-branch-and-unrelated-history-recovery
description	Recover multi-repo sync failures caused by deleted upstream branches, stale git index locks, and local branches with unrelated history to the remote default branch.
version	1.0.0
source	learned-from-execution

Repo Sync: Deleted Remote Branch + Unrelated History Recovery

Use this when ./scripts/repository_sync pull all or equivalent multi-repo sync fails and the failing repos are not simply dirty/diverged. This pattern covers three recurring failure modes seen in workspace-hub subrepos:

1. local branch tracks a remote branch that was deleted
2. a stale .git/index.lock blocks checkout/pull
3. local branch history is unrelated to the remote default branch, so git pull fails with refusing to merge unrelated histories

Symptoms

Deleted tracked branch

git pull shows:

Your configuration specifies to merge with the ref 'refs/heads/<branch>'
from the remote, but no such ref was fetched.

Stale lock

fatal: Unable to create '.git/index.lock': File exists.

Unrelated histories

fatal: refusing to merge unrelated histories

Workflow

1. Diagnose the failing repo precisely

For each failed repo:

git branch --show-current
git rev-parse --abbrev-ref --symbolic-full-name @{u} 2>/dev/null || echo none
git status --short
git remote -v
git fetch --prune origin

Also inspect remote default branch if needed:

git remote show origin | sed -n '/HEAD branch/s/.*: //p'
git branch -r

2. If the tracked remote branch was deleted

Do not keep retrying git pull on the stale branch.

Recovery:

git fetch --prune origin
git checkout <default-branch>
git branch --set-upstream-to=origin/<default-branch> <default-branch>
git pull --no-rebase origin <default-branch>

Notes:

• In the observed case, chore/gitignore-claude-worktrees had been deleted remotely in multiple repos.
• main already existed locally and was the correct recovery target.
• After fetch --prune, the stale remote-tracking branch disappeared and normal pull succeeded.

3. If a stale .git/index.lock blocks the fix

Before removing the lock, verify no active git process is operating in that repo.

ps -ef | grep '[g]it'

If the lock is stale, remove it and retry:

rm .git/index.lock
git fetch --prune origin
git checkout <default-branch>
git branch --set-upstream-to=origin/<default-branch> <default-branch>
git pull --no-rebase origin <default-branch>

4. If local branch has unrelated history to remote default branch

Do not merge unrelated histories during sync. Preserve local work first, then align to the remote default branch cleanly.

Recovery:

git fetch --prune origin
git branch preserve/pre-sync-$(date +%Y%m%d) <local-branch>
git checkout -B <remote-default-branch> origin/<remote-default-branch>
git branch --set-upstream-to=origin/<remote-default-branch> <remote-default-branch>
git pull --no-rebase origin <remote-default-branch>

Notes:

• This preserves the old local history for later review instead of destroying it.
• In the observed case, local main was unrelated to origin/master, so the safe fix was:
  • preserve local main
  • switch to a clean local master tracking origin/master
• Do not use --allow-unrelated-histories for repo hygiene sync.

5. Re-verify repo and ecosystem state

Per repo:

git status --short --branch

Across workspace:

./scripts/repository_sync status all

Success means each repo reports:

• correct tracked branch
• no local changes
• up to date with remote

Important caveat: root workspace-hub may still be dirty while subrepos are clean

repository_sync status all reflects the subrepos it manages. It can report all repos clean/up to date while the workspace-hub root repo is still changing due to active review/background processes.

So after syncing subrepos, separately check the root repo:

git -C /mnt/local-analysis/workspace-hub status --short --branch
ps -ef | grep -E '[c]odex|[g]emini|[c]laude'

If active processes are still writing artifacts, root cleanliness is not stable yet. Commit only what is appropriate, and expect additional follow-up commits until those processes finish.

Do not

• do not force-push
• do not merge unrelated histories just to make pull succeed
• do not delete old local history without preserving it on a backup branch
• do not remove .git/index.lock without first checking for active git processes
• do not declare the whole workspace clean based only on subrepo status if the root repo is still being mutated by running jobs