Gerrit Workflow

Gerrit Workflow

Gerrit is a code review system that sits in front of a git repository. The key difference from GitHub/GitLab: changes go through a review queue before landing in the branch. This changes several git workflows in important ways.

Core Concepts

Changes and Patch Sets

A Change is the unit of review in Gerrit — it corresponds to one logical commit. Each change has:

• A numeric Change number (e.g., 12345)
• A Change-Id trailer in the commit message (e.g., Change-Id: Ic8aaa0728a43936cd4c6e1ed590e01ba8f0fbf5b)

When a commit is revised and re-uploaded, the new version becomes a new patch set on the same change. Gerrit associates them via the Change-Id trailer — this is what makes the Change-Id essential.

The Magic refs/for/<branch> Ref

Gerrit intercepts pushes to refs/for/<branch>. These pushes never actually create that ref; instead Gerrit creates or updates a Change for review. To land code in master:

# NOT this (bypasses review):
git push origin HEAD:refs/heads/master

# This — submits for review:
git push origin HEAD:refs/for/master

The commit-msg Hook

Gerrit provides a commit-msg hook that auto-inserts Change-Id trailers. Without it, the Change-Id must be added manually. To install:

# Via curl (HTTP):
curl -Lo .git/hooks/commit-msg <gerrit-url>/tools/hooks/commit-msg
chmod u+x .git/hooks/commit-msg

# Via scp (SSH):
scp -p -P 29418 <user>@<gerrit-host>:hooks/commit-msg .git/hooks/
chmod u+x .git/hooks/commit-msg

Check if it is already installed:

ls -la .git/hooks/commit-msg

Common Workflows

1. Create a New Change

# Make changes, then commit (hook adds Change-Id automatically)
git add <files>
git commit -m "Fix the foo widget"

# Verify Change-Id was added:
git log -1

# Push for review against a target branch:
git push origin HEAD:refs/for/master

The server prints the URL of the new change.

2. Update an Existing Change (New Patch Set)

After receiving review feedback, amend the commit. Do not modify or remove the Change-Id line — Gerrit uses it to associate the new commit with the existing change.

# Edit files, then:
git add <files>
git commit --amend   # keep Change-Id unchanged in the editor

# Push again — Gerrit creates patch set 2 on the same change:
git push origin HEAD:refs/for/master

3. Work on Multiple Independent Changes

Each change should be its own commit on its own local branch:

git checkout -b fix-foo origin/master
# make change A, commit, push for review

git checkout -b fix-bar origin/master
# make change B, commit, push for review

Do not stack unrelated changes on a single branch unless they are intentionally dependent (see below).

4. Dependent / Stacked Changes

Gerrit supports chains of dependent changes. Push multiple commits in one push; Gerrit creates one change per commit, linked in a relation chain:

git checkout -b feature origin/master
git commit -m "Step 1: add plumbing"       # Change-Id: I111...
git commit -m "Step 2: wire up the UI"     # Change-Id: I222...
git push origin HEAD:refs/for/master       # creates two linked changes

Each change can be reviewed and submitted independently, but Gerrit shows the dependency chain.

5. Rebase and Re-push

When the target branch has moved on, rebase and re-push. Keep Change-Ids intact:

git fetch origin
git rebase origin/master   # Change-Ids are preserved automatically
git push origin HEAD:refs/for/master

6. Squashing Commits Before Push

When squashing several commits, keep exactly one Change-Id — prefer the one already known to Gerrit (i.e., the one that was previously pushed, if any). Remove the others:

git rebase -i origin/master   # squash commits
# In the resulting commit message, delete all but one Change-Id line
git push origin HEAD:refs/for/master

7. Cherry-pick to Another Branch

To propose the same fix on a maintenance branch, cherry-pick and generate a new Change-Id (delete the old one so the hook creates a fresh one):

git checkout -b backport-3.10 origin/stable-3.10
git cherry-pick <commit-sha>
git commit --amend   # delete the Change-Id line; save
# hook regenerates a new Change-Id
git push origin HEAD:refs/for/stable-3.10

Or, keep the original Change-Id to have Gerrit treat it as a replacement for the same change on that branch.

Push Options

Additional metadata can be sent with the push via % options or -o:

# Add a topic (groups related changes):
git push origin HEAD:refs/for/master%topic=my-feature

# Request specific reviewers:
git push origin HEAD:refs/for/master%r=alice@example.com,cc=bob@example.com

# Mark as work-in-progress:
git push origin HEAD:refs/for/master%wip

# Mark ready for review:
git push origin HEAD:refs/for/master%ready

# Apply a review label on push:
git push origin HEAD:refs/for/master%l=Verified+1

# Suppress notifications:
git push origin HEAD:refs/for/master%notify=NONE

# Combine options with commas:
git push origin HEAD:refs/for/master%topic=my-feature,r=alice@example.com

Fetching Changes

To check out an existing change locally (e.g., to test it):

# The change page shows a "Download" command; it looks like:
git fetch origin refs/changes/45/12345/3 && git checkout FETCH_HEAD

# Where: refs/changes/<last-two-digits-of-change-num>/<change-num>/<patch-set>

Common Errors and Fixes

missing Change-Id in commit message footer

The commit has no Change-Id. Fix:

# If hook is installed, amend will add it:
git commit --amend --no-edit

# If hook is NOT installed, add it manually:
# Copy the Change-Id from the Gerrit web UI change page, then:
git commit --amend   # paste "Change-Id: I..." into the footer

! [remote rejected] ... (prohibited by Gerrit)

Direct push to refs/heads/* was rejected. Push to refs/for/<branch> instead.

Change xxx: patch set already exists

The commit hash hasn't changed since the last push (no new patch set was made). Amend the commit to create a distinct object, then push again.

! [remote rejected] ... (no new changes)

All commits being pushed are already known to Gerrit. This often means the branch is already up to date with the target.

Critical Rules

• Never push directly to refs/heads/* unless intentionally bypassing review (requires special permissions).
• Never change or remove the Change-Id trailer when amending a commit that is already under review — doing so creates a second, orphaned change.
• One logical change = one commit. Gerrit reviews commits, not branches.
• Always verify Change-Id is present with git log -1 before pushing.
• Keep Change-Ids when rebasing — git preserves them through rebase automatically.

Additional Resources

• references/gerrit-vs-github.md — Side-by-side comparison of Gerrit and GitHub/GitLab workflows for common tasks
• references/change-id-details.md — Deep dive on Change-Id: creation, squashing, cherry-picks, and edge cases