Add a button to clone branches

[szmarczak]

To clone a branch manually:

1. Go to the branch you want to clone.
2. Click Edit on any file. Do not make any changes.
3. Make sure you have selected this:

4. Open Chrome Dev Tools.
5. Inspect the Propose file change button.
6. Remove the disabled attribute.
7. Click Propose file change.

🎉 In other words, it makes a spin off from your branch and makes an empty commit (I don't know of any solution that wouldn't create an empty commit).

[yakov116]

Only way it through v3 api
https://gist.github.com/potherca/3964930

[fregante]

You can already clone it:

1. Visit branch
2. Open branch selector
3. Type new branch name
4. Click create

[yakov116]

@fregante wow I never knew that!!

[fregante]

If this “Duplicate” button is added to the Branches page, it can replace this feature request: #2500, also because renaming isn’t a safe operation

[yakov116]

@fregante curious why is renaming not a safe option?

[fregante]

Explained in #2500: it doesn’t move PRs

[yakov116]

query GetBranchInfo {
  repository(owner: "yakov116", name: "TestR") {
    id
    ref(qualifiedName: "Test") {
      target {
        oid
      }
    }
  }
}

mutation CreateBrach {
  createRef(input: {repositoryId: "MDEwOlJlcG9zaXRvcnkyNDQyMTU0NzY=", oid: "a1a98b7b5460f87a31cc6e12699a6e71e2390988", name: "refs/head/yes"}) {
    clientMutationId
    ref {
      id
    }
  }
}

@fregante like this? Or do you want to hack the drop down menu?

[fregante]

If v3 only requires a fetch we can use that instead of v4, we don't get about its body anyway

[fregante]

On https://github.com/sindresorhus/refined-github/branches

1. Add icon-only button next to each delete button
2. On click, ask name via prompt ("cancel" or empty name will cancel the action)
3. Change the icon to "Creating..."
4. await api.v3(...)
5. Update UI (I think just location.reload())

[yakov116]

If v3 only requires a fetch we can use that instead of v4, we don't get about its body anyway

They both require 2 calls. One to get the commit the brach is up to. And one to create the branch.

Creating the branch via V3 is simple.

[fregante]

Ugh. The GraphQL schema for this is awful. Private IDs should not be exposed at all.

Two v3 calls are fine since it's a specific user action.

This is not exactly a high-priority feature though.

[yakov116]

await api.v3(repos/${user}/${repo}/git/refs/heads);
Gives all the branches
Only make the call after the user clicks?
The benefit of using v3 for the branches is that we get all of them at once
To create is
POST /repos/:owner/:repo/git/refs
OR
use V4 and only get that branch info, then use v3 to create the branch

[fregante]

The last OR sounds good. V4 GET, V3 POST

[yakov116]

V3 I can get the direct info

[fregante]

What’s direct info? V4 also has the commit info, it’s just what we need. V4 requests are light, v3 GET requests aren’t

[yakov116]

await api.v3(repos/${user}/${repo}/git/refs/heads/${branchName!});

[yakov116]

I have every thing done I am having a hard time making a post

[fregante]

Only make the call after the user clicks?

Why do you keep asking this? I said it before. Is this going to be like your last PR of me saying the same thing 4 different ways before the code was updated?

[yakov116]

No no. I know I know. Your right.

It was a mistake that line got in there

[fregante]

@szmarczak why do you need to clone a branch?

[yakov116]

Owh... I thought you closed the issue

[szmarczak]

Sometimes I need to rebase a PR I'm working on (e.g. start from scratch with a different implementation) and I don't want to lose the current progress.

[fregante]

Commits aren't lost, you just need to save the commit hash

[szmarczak]

IKR, but I'm lazy to do so :(

[szmarczak]

I think that the clone-branch feature would be a safer option :)