git subtree pull vs git pull

git subtree pull vs git pull

[Sven R. Kunze]

Hey everyone,

that's my first question here, so please bare with me. I got an 
unexplained behavior using git-subtree.


Please consider (git --version := 2.30.0):

me@host:~/repo$ git status
On branch master
Your branch is up to date with 'origin/master'.

Changes not staged for commit:
   (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
   (use "git restore <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
         modified: somechanges

no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")

me@host:~/repo$ git pull --no-rebase
Already up to date.

me@host:~/repo$ git subtree pull --prefix=prefix/ subtree-origin master
Working tree has modifications.  Cannot add.


My expectation would be that I can pull the subtree as I could pull the 
main repo without any issue. The subtree does not even touch the 
modified file.

Is there a reason for this or can this restriction be lifted?

Where am I coming from? The work-around would be "git stash, git subtree 
pull, git stash pop" which would work on a first glance, but other tools 
like IDEs lose their context information regarding these changes (e.g. 
changelists). This can be a little bit annoying given that mostly there 
are not changes at the subtree-origin.

Best regards,
Sven