Synchronization literal reference identity

This family preserves the selected branch and remote bytes through Sync's outgoing projection, checkout, tracking configuration and transport. It adds no new controls. The existing local picker distinguishes Git reference names by bytes; Git execution must preserve that selection too.

Source behavior

The pinned TortoiseGit source is 7338078f8ddd924b8cddee35f512f2286072136d. SyncDlg.cpp::FetchOutList (lines 1360–1445) reads the remote, remote branch and local branch, resolves those names and uses their commits for outgoing history and files. AskSetTrackedBranch (lines 108–134) writes the captured local branch keys, remote value and stripped remote branch merge value after Yes; it does not add a separate branch-existence restriction. Pull and Push call that question from their selected fields. The action paths retain those identities for checkout and transport.

macOS Git can precompose command arguments when core.precomposeunicode=true. Two packed references can have canonically equivalent display names and different bytes and commits. Passing a selected name through ordinary Git argument normalization can inspect or change the other reference. Swift's ordinary String equality can likewise conflate those names in a stale-selection witness.

Connected implementation

Sync uses invocation-only -c core.precomposeunicode=false for selected revision resolution, branch-specific configuration, both separate and direct checkout paths, actual transport and fast-forward continuation. Outgoing history/files and incoming comparisons resolve the selected names to object IDs before later readers. Email patch ranges likewise capture exact endpoint IDs before the shared Format Patch reader. Stored worktree precomposition configuration is unchanged.

setSynchronizationTracking performs the source's two sequential approved config writes using the captured local branch, remote and remote branch bytes. The native owner retains its existing question, suppression preference, cancellation and closed-owner gates and calls this Core boundary after Yes. The method does not introduce a transaction or branch-existence rule absent from source. The remote branch follows source prefix stripping and trailing-whitespace trimming.

Public transport plans and executedArguments retain the requested command. Internal invocation configuration is removed from public Git failure arguments; stream delivery metadata and stderr are retained. Engine selection, source mapping decisions and command-completion ownership remain unchanged. Existing byte-exact native picker and form witnesses continue to fence stale actions; no defensive changes to unrelated history matching are included.

The separate checkout child receives the same captured repository object used by its subsequent transport. This preserves both the selected backend and Core's checkpoint identity guard. Previously the controller created checkout with the original repository while transport used its captured copy, so an approved Pull checkout could complete and then its continuation was refused as stale.

Validation and limits

The grouped checkpoint records 51 distinct Core methods cumulatively passing, including nine new exact-reference methods. Initial fixture failures read the invocation override instead of local stored configuration, and attempted a wildcard update of colliding loose ref paths; focused repairs retain the exact identity and configuration assertions.

Six distinct native case/engine pairs pass cumulatively: Push, Pull and held tracking lifetime with system and bundled Git. They exercise real offscreen windows and the shipping local-picker binding, outgoing projections, exact tracking writes, actual transport, the default controller-owned checkout child, stale form receipts and cancellation/closure. Physical popup dispatch is not established by the binding checks. Initial attempts assumed an AppKit picker class that SwiftUI does not expose here and used a filesystem-aliasing direct ref lookup. Raw reference enumeration proves the selected and sibling logical names and object IDs without repacking the tested remote.

The native Pull case also exposed the repository-copy handoff defect described above. Only the affected native application was rebuilt after its repair; Core production remained unchanged. The final build exits zero with two contradictory generic compiler exit-zero diagnostics recorded. See the dated checkpoint for failures, focused repairs, retained progress checks and process ownership evidence. Existing tag operations already use literal invocation arguments and are not a new feature of this batch.

On a filename-normalizing macOS filesystem, Git's files reference backend can still fail when a wildcard fetch simultaneously updates two equivalent-looking loose reference paths. Literal argv cannot remove that filesystem constraint. Packed references support the distinct names used by this family; the configured Pull fixtures use a narrow mapping so only the selected tracking reference must become loose. The port retains the actual Git failure when a real mapping cannot be materialized; it does not silently rename or discard either reference.

Full hosted integration, authenticated servers, physical Finder and keyboard acceptance, complete IDD_SYNC layout parity and signed distribution remain separate requirements.