fix: av stack submit incorrectly picks base branch

[Roshan931]

Fixes #77

Root cause

Stale refs/remotes/origin/HEAD yields a nonexistent default branch

Changes

• Validate the remote HEAD symbolic ref in git.OpenRepo: require it to point at a refs/remotes// branch and require that target ref to resolve. Otherwise fail early with an actionable message suggesting git remote set-head --auto <remote>, instead of deriving a bogus default branch. Added a regression test that points refs/remotes/origin/HEAD at a nonexistent branch and asserts OpenRepo errors.

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Bug Fixes
  • Repository opening now checks that the configured remote’s default branch reference points to an existing remote branch. If the reference is missing, invalid, or stale, opening the repository returns an error instead of selecting an invalid default branch.
  • Warnings now identify the configured remote when its HEAD needs to be set; missing-reference warnings continue to recommend setting origin’s HEAD.

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🔃 FlexReview Status

Common Owner: aviator-co/engineering (expert-load-balance assignment)
Owner and Assignment:

• 🔒 aviator-co/engineering (expert-load-balance assignment)
  • Slack: #fr-eng-notifications
  • Assigned: simsinght
  Owned Files

  • 🔒 internal/git/git.go
  • 🔒 internal/git/git_test.go

Review SLO: 7 business hours if PR size is <= 200 LOC for the first response.

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ℹ️ Recent review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: Organization UI

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Advanced

Run ID: e3752d68-638f-41ad-b4a6-51c7ed3a1a83

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 6a11f1e and b851aca.

📒 Files selected for processing (2)

• internal/git/git.go
• internal/git/git_test.go

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

OpenRepo now validates the configured remote’s symbolic HEAD before setting the default branch. It returns an error if the target is outside the remote’s tracking refs or if the target branch does not exist. A new test checks the stale-reference error.

Changes

Remote HEAD validation

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Validate remote HEAD target internal/git/git.go, internal/git/git_test.go	OpenRepo checks that the remote HEAD targets an existing remote-tracking branch before storing its branch name. The test verifies that a stale origin/HEAD target returns an error containing the reference path.

Priority: ➖ Normal

Estimated code review effort: 2 (Simple) | ~8 minutes

Change: Bug fix · Severity of issue fixed: Medium

Suggested reviewers: jainankit, tulioz

Merge Risk: ⚪ Minimal · up to b851a

Opening a repository with a stale remote HEAD now fails early with a clear error instead of picking a nonexistent default branch. No merge-blocking risk was identified. This does not make submission use the correct base branch as issue #77 asks; it only rejects the invalid state early.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 3 | ❌ 2

❌ Failed checks (2 warnings)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Linked Issues check	⚠️ Warning	Issue #77 requires av stack submit to use the correct existing base branch, such as main, instead of master. The PR changes OpenRepo to reject a remote HEAD that targets a missing branch and…	Change default-branch resolution so av stack submit can select the existing correct base branch when the remote HEAD is stale, or otherwise implement an equivalent successful main base selection. Add a regression test for that behavio…
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 50.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 4 functions across 2 files.	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

✅ Passed checks (3 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly describes the primary user-facing issue: av stack submit selecting an incorrect base branch. The changes address this issue by validating stale remote HEAD references before dete…
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	The changes validate the remote HEAD used to determine the default base branch and add a regression test for a stale remote HEAD. These changes directly address the incorrect-base-branch failure i…

Full details: Linked Issues check

Explanation

Issue #77 requires av stack submit to use the correct existing base branch, such as main, instead of master. The PR changes OpenRepo to reject a remote HEAD that targets a missing branch and suggests git remote set-head --auto <remote>. The added test verifies the error for origin/master; it does not verify successful submission or base-branch selection for main.

Resolution

Change default-branch resolution so av stack submit can select the existing correct base branch when the remote HEAD is stale, or otherwise implement an equivalent successful main base selection. Add a regression test for that behavior.

• Fix all pre-merge checks with AI

✨ Finishing Touches

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create a new PR

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