Note that rustfmt has not migrated to josh yet, so the git subtree sync is somewhat involved.
This procedure is mostly adapted from the clippy subtree sync process at
https://doc.rust-lang.org/stable/clippy/development/infrastructure/sync.html, but adapted for
rustfmt. We are keeping a separate copy of the instructions for rustfmt in case clippy moves
off of git subtree in the mean time (and also slightly adjusted to be rustfmt-specific.
Note
Note that AFAIK, eventually both clippy and rustfmt would like to move to the josh-sync
workflow, just that rustfmt is blocked on actually doing a bidirectional sync first, while
clippy is sorting out some issues related to tags and git history (due to usage of git subtree).
The git-subtree tooling still has a bug that prevents it from working properly with the
rust-lang/rust repository. This means that you need to build and use a patched version of
git-subtree.
Note
The patched version of git-subtree is the sources corresponding to the stale PR
gitgitgadget/git#493.
On Linux, place git-subtree under /usr/lib/git-core (make sure to keep a backup copy of the
'standard' git-subtree), and make sure it has proper permissions:
$ sudo cp --backup /path/to/patched/git-subtree.sh /usr/lib/git-core/git-subtree
$ sudo chmod --reference=/usr/lib/git-core/git-subtree~ /usr/lib/git-core/git-subtree
$ sudo chown --reference=/usr/lib/git-core/git-subtree~ /usr/lib/git-core/git-subtreeNote
Running git subtree push for the first time requires building a cache, which involves going
through the entire history of rustfmt once. You likely will need to increase the stack limit via
$ ulimit -s 60000Note
The following steps assume that you have configured the rustfmt remote as upstream, i.e.
$ git remote add upstream git@github.com:rust-lang/rustfmtWarning
For this subtree-push direction, all commands described must be run within the rust-lang/rust
checkout.
Either acquire a clone of rust-lang/rust, or if you already have a checkout, make sure the
checkout is up-to-date via git fetch.
You can fetch the commit hash of the latest available nightly by inspecting rustup check output.
Warning
Make sure to either use a fresh branch, e.g. subtree-push, or delete the branch beforehand.
Changes cannot be fast forwarded and you have to run this command again.
$ git subtree push -P src/tools/rustfmt /path/to/rustfmt/checkout subtree-pushMost of the time, you will need to create a merge commit in the rustfmt repository. Note that
this must be done in the subtree repo (i.e. rustfmt repo) and not in the rust-copy of rustfmt.
Assuming the upstream remote is the rust-lang/rust remote:
$ git fetch upstream
$ git switch subtree-push
$ git merge upstream/main --no-ffWarning
You may have to manually resolve certain merge conflicts. Pay extra attention when resolving them, since it's easy to accidentally resolve the conflict in incorrect ways.
Tip
Subtree syncs are one of the rare occasions where a merge commit is allowed in a PR.
Using the same latest nightly date (that you can obtain by inspecting rustup check output),
manually edit rust-toolchain:
[toolchain]
-channel = "nightly-2025-04-02"
+channel = "nightly-$LATEST_NIGHTLY_DATE"
components = ["llvm-tools", "rustc-dev"]Substituting $LATEST_NIGHTLY_DATE with the latest nightly date.
Create a separate commit dedicated to making the rust-toolchain change. You can use the following
commit message template.
chore: bump rustfmt toolchain to nightly-$LATEST_NIGHTLY_DATE
Bumping the toolchain version as part of a git subtree push.
current toolchain (nightly-$CURRENT_NIGHTLY_DATE):
- $CURRENT_NIGHTLY_VERSION-nightly ($CURRENT_NIGHTLY_HASH $CURRENT_NIGHTLY_DATE)
latest toolchain (nightly-$LATEST_NIGHTLY_DATE):
- $LATEST_NIGHTLY_VERSION-nightly ($LATEST_NIGHTLY_HASH $LATEST_NIGHTLY_DATE)
Substituting the placeholders with the right information.
Tip
Example bump commit message:
chore: bump rustfmt toolchain to nightly-2025-10-07
Bumping the toolchain version as part of a git subtree push.
current toolchain (nightly-2025-04-02): - 1.88.0-nightly (e2014e876 2025-04-01)
latest toolchain (nightly-2025-10-07): - 1.92.0-nightly (f6aa851db 2025-10-07)
And wait for the sync PR to be merged. The rustfmt maintainers will run Diff Check against the PR
to catch any unexpected formatting changes. Once Diff Check failures are investigated and are
resolved, the PR can then be merged.
For the PR:
- Use the title
subtree-push nightly-$LATEST_NIGHTLY_DATEfor consistency with previous subtree-pushes. - Include a copy of the bump commit message in the PR description for quick reference. Feel free to include additional notes that might be helpful for the maintainers when reviewing.
Tip
Example subtree-push PR title and description:
PR title: subtree-push nightly-2025-10-07
PR description:
Bumping the toolchain version as part of a git subtree push.
current toolchain (nightly-2025-04-02):
- 1.88.0-nightly (e2014e876 2025-04-01)
latest toolchain (nightly-2025-10-07):
- 1.92.0-nightly (f6aa851db 2025-10-07)
Warning
Make sure to immediately follow-up with a subtree-pull direction, syncing rustfmt to
rust-lang/rust. We need the {subtree-push, subtree-pull} directions to be performed in
lock-step, to minimize any changes in between that makes the logistics more complex.
Warning
For this subtree-pull direction, all commands must also be performed within the
rust-lang/rust checkout.
$ git switch -c rustfmt-subtree-update
$ git subtree pull -P src/tools/rustfmt /path/to/rustfmt/checkout mainUse the PR title
rustfmtsubtree update
so that triagebot will not warn against the PR containing a merge commit, and makes it easy for
rustfmt maintainers to discover.
Back link to the rustfmt subtree-push PR as helpful context.