Creating Git pre-add Hook Alternatives | Generated by AI
Git doesn’t have a built-in pre-add hook, but there are several ways you can achieve similar functionality. Here are some approaches:
1. Git Aliases (Recommended Approach)
You can create a Git alias that runs your checks before calling git add:
git config --global alias.safe-add '!your-pre-add-script.sh && git add'
Then use git safe-add instead of git add.
2. Wrapper Script
Create a script named git-pre-add in your PATH that:
- Runs your pre-add checks
- Calls
git addif checks pass
#!/bin/bash
# Your pre-add validation logic here
if [ some_condition ]; then
git add "$@"
else
echo "Pre-add checks failed"
exit 1
fi
3. Using Existing Hooks
You could leverage existing hooks in creative ways:
- pre-commit: While this runs after add but before commit, you could check staged files here
- prepare-commit-msg: Similar to pre-commit but earlier in the process
4. Filesystem Monitoring
For more advanced needs, you could use:
- inotifywait (Linux) to watch your working directory
- fswatch (Mac) for similar functionality
Example Pre-Add Check Script
Here’s a simple example that prevents adding files with trailing whitespace:
#!/bin/bash
# .git/hooks/pre-commit (but works on staged files)
# Check for whitespace errors
if git diff --cached --check; then
exit 0
else
echo "Found whitespace errors in staged files"
exit 1
fi
Remember to make any hook scripts executable (chmod +x script.sh).
Would you like me to elaborate on any particular approach for your use case?