Merge 45abae3e9f into 71cf2267d8

feat: Honor preserve-local-changes flag when repository URL changes
Makes preserve-local-changes option work consistently in all scenarios, including when repository URL changes. Updates warning message to correctly reflect this behavior.
2026-07-02 18:33:48 +08:00 · 2025-11-03 13:32:32 -08:00 · 2025-08-11 14:10:22 +01:00 · 2025-08-11 13:00:43 +01:00 · 2025-08-11 12:48:35 +01:00 · 2025-08-11 12:47:29 +01:00
28 changed files with 589 additions and 979 deletions
--- a/.github/workflows/check-dist.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/check-dist.yml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ jobs:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4.1.6

      - name: Set Node.js 24.x
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
--- a/.github/workflows/codeql-analysis.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/codeql-analysis.yml
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ jobs:

    steps:
    - name: Checkout repository
-      uses: actions/checkout@v6
+      uses: actions/checkout@v4.1.6

    - name: Initialize CodeQL
      uses: github/codeql-action/init@v3
--- a/.github/workflows/licensed.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/licensed.yml
@@ -9,6 +9,6 @@ jobs:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    name: Check licenses
    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4.1.6
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run licensed-check
--- a/.github/workflows/publish-immutable-actions.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish-immutable-actions.yml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ jobs:

    steps:
      - name: Checking out
-        uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Publish
        id: publish
        uses: actions/publish-immutable-action@0.0.3
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ jobs:
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 24.x
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4.1.6
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run build
      - run: npm run format-check
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ jobs:
    steps:
      # Clone this repo
      - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4.1.6

      # Basic checkout
      - name: Checkout basic
@@ -87,17 +87,6 @@ jobs:
      - name: Verify fetch filter
        run: __test__/verify-fetch-filter.sh

-      # Fetch tags
-      - name: Checkout with fetch-tags
-        uses: ./
-        with:
-          ref: test-data/v2/basic
-          path: fetch-tags-test
-          fetch-tags: true
-      - name: Verify fetch-tags
-        shell: bash
-        run: __test__/verify-fetch-tags.sh
-
      # Sparse checkout
      - name: Sparse checkout
        uses: ./
@@ -176,22 +165,6 @@ jobs:
      - name: Verify submodules recursive
        run: __test__/verify-submodules-recursive.sh

-      # Worktree credentials
-      - name: Checkout for worktree test
-        uses: ./
-        with:
-          path: worktree-test
-      - name: Verify worktree credentials
-        shell: bash
-        run: __test__/verify-worktree.sh worktree-test worktree-branch
-
-      # Worktree credentials in container step
-      - name: Verify worktree credentials in container step
-        if: runner.os == 'Linux'
-        uses: docker://bitnami/git:latest
-        with:
-          args: bash __test__/verify-worktree.sh worktree-test container-worktree-branch
-
      # Basic checkout using REST API
      - name: Remove basic
        if: runner.os != 'windows'
@@ -229,7 +202,7 @@ jobs:
    steps:
      # Clone this repo
      - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4.1.6

      # Basic checkout using git
      - name: Checkout basic
@@ -261,7 +234,7 @@ jobs:
    steps:
      # Clone this repo
      - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4.1.6

      # Basic checkout using git
      - name: Checkout basic
@@ -291,7 +264,7 @@ jobs:
    steps:
      # Clone this repo
      - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4.1.6
        with:
          path: localClone

@@ -318,8 +291,8 @@ jobs:
          git fetch --no-tags --depth=1 origin +refs/heads/main:refs/remotes/origin/main

      # needed to make checkout post cleanup succeed
-      - name: Fix Checkout v6
-        uses: actions/checkout@v6
+      - name: Fix Checkout v4
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4.1.6
        with:
          path: localClone

@@ -328,7 +301,7 @@ jobs:
    steps:
      # Clone this repo
      - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4.1.6
        with:
          path: actions-checkout

--- a/.github/workflows/update-main-version.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/update-main-version.yml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ jobs:
    # Note this update workflow can also be used as a rollback tool.
    # For that reason, it's best to pin `actions/checkout` to a known, stable version
    # (typically, about two releases back).
-    - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v4.1.6
      with:
        fetch-depth: 0
    - name: Git config
--- a/.github/workflows/update-test-ubuntu-git.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/update-test-ubuntu-git.yml
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ jobs:
 
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      # Use `docker/login-action` to log in to GHCR.io. 
      # Once published, the packages are scoped to the account defined here.
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,29 +1,10 @@
 # Changelog

-## v6.0.3
-* Fix checkout init for SHA-256 repositories by @yaananth in https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/2439
-* fix: expand merge commit SHA regex and add SHA-256 test cases by @yaananth in https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/2414
-
-## v6.0.2
-* Fix tag handling: preserve annotations and explicit fetch-tags by @ericsciple in https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/2356
-
-## v6.0.1
-* Add worktree support for persist-credentials includeIf by @ericsciple in https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/2327
-
-## v6.0.0
-* Persist creds to a separate file by @ericsciple in https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/2286
-* Update README to include Node.js 24 support details and requirements by @salmanmkc in https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/2248
-
-## v5.0.1
-* Port v6 cleanup to v5 by @ericsciple in https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/2301
-
-## v5.0.0
+## V5.0.0
 * Update actions checkout to use node 24 by @salmanmkc in https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/2226

-## v4.3.1
-* Port v6 cleanup to v4 by @ericsciple in https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/2305

-## v4.3.0
+## V4.3.0
 * docs: update README.md by @motss in https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/1971
 * Add internal repos for checking out multiple repositories by @mouismail in https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/1977
 * Documentation update - add recommended permissions to Readme by @benwells in https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/2043
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
 [![Build and Test](https://github.com/actions/checkout/actions/workflows/test.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/actions/checkout/actions/workflows/test.yml)

-# Checkout v6
+# Checkout v6-beta

 ## What's new

- Improved credential security: `persist-credentials` now stores credentials in a separate file under `$RUNNER_TEMP` instead of directly in `.git/config`
- No workflow changes required — `git fetch`, `git push`, etc. continue to work automatically
- Running authenticated git commands from a [Docker container action](https://docs.github.com/actions/sharing-automations/creating-actions/creating-a-docker-container-action) requires Actions Runner [v2.329.0](https://github.com/actions/runner/releases/tag/v2.329.0) or later
+- Updated `persist-credentials` to store the credentials under `$RUNNER_TEMP` instead of directly in the local git config.
+  - This requires a minimum Actions Runner version of [v2.329.0](https://github.com/actions/runner/releases/tag/v2.329.0) to access the persisted credentials for [Docker container action](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/tutorials/use-containerized-services/create-a-docker-container-action) scenarios.

 # Checkout v5

@@ -52,7 +51,7 @@ Please refer to the [release page](https://github.com/actions/checkout/releases/

 <!-- start usage -->
 ```yaml
- uses: actions/checkout@v6
+- uses: actions/checkout@v5
  with:
    # Repository name with owner. For example, actions/checkout
    # Default: ${{ github.repository }}
@@ -112,6 +111,12 @@ Please refer to the [release page](https://github.com/actions/checkout/releases/
    # Default: true
    clean: ''

+    # Whether to preserve local changes during checkout. If true, tries to preserve
+    # local files that are not tracked by Git. By default, all files will be
+    # overwritten.
+    # Default: false
+    preserve-local-changes: ''
+
    # Partially clone against a given filter. Overrides sparse-checkout if set.
    # Default: null
    filter: ''
@@ -191,7 +196,7 @@ Please refer to the [release page](https://github.com/actions/checkout/releases/
 ## Fetch only the root files

 ```yaml
- uses: actions/checkout@v6
+- uses: actions/checkout@v5
  with:
    sparse-checkout: .
 ```
@@ -199,7 +204,7 @@ Please refer to the [release page](https://github.com/actions/checkout/releases/
 ## Fetch only the root files and `.github` and `src` folder

 ```yaml
- uses: actions/checkout@v6
+- uses: actions/checkout@v5
  with:
    sparse-checkout: |
      .github
@@ -209,7 +214,7 @@ Please refer to the [release page](https://github.com/actions/checkout/releases/
 ## Fetch only a single file

 ```yaml
- uses: actions/checkout@v6
+- uses: actions/checkout@v5
  with:
    sparse-checkout: |
      README.md
@@ -219,7 +224,7 @@ Please refer to the [release page](https://github.com/actions/checkout/releases/
 ## Fetch all history for all tags and branches

 ```yaml
- uses: actions/checkout@v6
+- uses: actions/checkout@v5
  with:
    fetch-depth: 0
 ```
@@ -227,7 +232,7 @@ Please refer to the [release page](https://github.com/actions/checkout/releases/
 ## Checkout a different branch

 ```yaml
- uses: actions/checkout@v6
+- uses: actions/checkout@v5
  with:
    ref: my-branch
 ```
@@ -235,7 +240,7 @@ Please refer to the [release page](https://github.com/actions/checkout/releases/
 ## Checkout HEAD^

 ```yaml
- uses: actions/checkout@v6
+- uses: actions/checkout@v5
  with:
    fetch-depth: 2
 - run: git checkout HEAD^
@@ -245,12 +250,12 @@ Please refer to the [release page](https://github.com/actions/checkout/releases/

 ```yaml
 - name: Checkout
-  uses: actions/checkout@v6
+  uses: actions/checkout@v5
  with:
    path: main

 - name: Checkout tools repo
-  uses: actions/checkout@v6
+  uses: actions/checkout@v5
  with:
    repository: my-org/my-tools
    path: my-tools
@@ -261,10 +266,10 @@ Please refer to the [release page](https://github.com/actions/checkout/releases/

 ```yaml
 - name: Checkout
-  uses: actions/checkout@v6
+  uses: actions/checkout@v5

 - name: Checkout tools repo
-  uses: actions/checkout@v6
+  uses: actions/checkout@v5
  with:
    repository: my-org/my-tools
    path: my-tools
@@ -275,12 +280,12 @@ Please refer to the [release page](https://github.com/actions/checkout/releases/

 ```yaml
 - name: Checkout
-  uses: actions/checkout@v6
+  uses: actions/checkout@v5
  with:
    path: main

 - name: Checkout private tools
-  uses: actions/checkout@v6
+  uses: actions/checkout@v5
  with:
    repository: my-org/my-private-tools
    token: ${{ secrets.GH_PAT }} # `GH_PAT` is a secret that contains your PAT
@@ -293,7 +298,7 @@ Please refer to the [release page](https://github.com/actions/checkout/releases/
 ## Checkout pull request HEAD commit instead of merge commit

 ```yaml
- uses: actions/checkout@v6
+- uses: actions/checkout@v5
  with:
    ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}
 ```
@@ -309,7 +314,7 @@ jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v5
 ```

 ## Push a commit using the built-in token
@@ -320,7 +325,7 @@ jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v5
      - run: |
          date > generated.txt
          # Note: the following account information will not work on GHES
@@ -342,7 +347,7 @@ jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v5
        with:
          ref: ${{ github.head_ref }}
      - run: |
@@ -357,6 +362,21 @@ jobs:

 *NOTE:* The user email is `{user.id}+{user.login}@users.noreply.github.com`. See users API: https://api.github.com/users/github-actions%5Bbot%5D

+## Preserve local changes during checkout
+
+```yaml
+steps:
+  - name: Create file before checkout
+    shell: pwsh
+    run: New-Item -Path . -Name "example.txt" -ItemType "File"
+    
+  - name: Checkout with preserving local changes
+    uses: actions/checkout@v5
+    with:
+      clean: false
+      preserve-local-changes: true
+```
+
 # Recommended permissions

 When using the `checkout` action in your GitHub Actions workflow, it is recommended to set the following `GITHUB_TOKEN` permissions to ensure proper functionality, unless alternative auth is provided via the `token` or `ssh-key` inputs:
--- a/test/git-auth-helper.test.ts
+++ b/test/git-auth-helper.test.ts
@@ -1163,6 +1163,7 @@ async function setup(testName: string): Promise<void> {
    submodules: false,
    nestedSubmodules: false,
    persistCredentials: true,
+    preserveLocalChanges: false,
    ref: 'refs/heads/main',
    repositoryName: 'my-repo',
    repositoryOwner: 'my-org',
--- a/test/git-command-manager.test.ts
+++ b/test/git-command-manager.test.ts
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ describe('Test fetchDepth and fetchTags options', () => {
    jest.restoreAllMocks()
  })

-  it('should call execGit with the correct arguments when fetchDepth is 0', async () => {
+  it('should call execGit with the correct arguments when fetchDepth is 0 and fetchTags is true', async () => {
    jest.spyOn(exec, 'exec').mockImplementation(mockExec)
    const workingDirectory = 'test'
    const lfs = false
@@ -122,7 +122,45 @@ describe('Test fetchDepth and fetchTags options', () => {
    const refSpec = ['refspec1', 'refspec2']
    const options = {
      filter: 'filterValue',
-      fetchDepth: 0
+      fetchDepth: 0,
+      fetchTags: true
+    }
+
+    await git.fetch(refSpec, options)
+
+    expect(mockExec).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.any(String),
+      [
+        '-c',
+        'protocol.version=2',
+        'fetch',
+        '--prune',
+        '--no-recurse-submodules',
+        '--filter=filterValue',
+        'origin',
+        'refspec1',
+        'refspec2'
+      ],
+      expect.any(Object)
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('should call execGit with the correct arguments when fetchDepth is 0 and fetchTags is false', async () => {
+    jest.spyOn(exec, 'exec').mockImplementation(mockExec)
+
+    const workingDirectory = 'test'
+    const lfs = false
+    const doSparseCheckout = false
+    git = await commandManager.createCommandManager(
+      workingDirectory,
+      lfs,
+      doSparseCheckout
+    )
+    const refSpec = ['refspec1', 'refspec2']
+    const options = {
+      filter: 'filterValue',
+      fetchDepth: 0,
+      fetchTags: false
    }

    await git.fetch(refSpec, options)
@@ -145,45 +183,7 @@ describe('Test fetchDepth and fetchTags options', () => {
    )
  })

-  it('should call execGit with the correct arguments when fetchDepth is 0 and refSpec includes tags', async () => {
-    jest.spyOn(exec, 'exec').mockImplementation(mockExec)
-
-    const workingDirectory = 'test'
-    const lfs = false
-    const doSparseCheckout = false
-    git = await commandManager.createCommandManager(
-      workingDirectory,
-      lfs,
-      doSparseCheckout
-    )
-    const refSpec = ['refspec1', 'refspec2', '+refs/tags/*:refs/tags/*']
-    const options = {
-      filter: 'filterValue',
-      fetchDepth: 0
-    }
-
-    await git.fetch(refSpec, options)
-
-    expect(mockExec).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-      expect.any(String),
-      [
-        '-c',
-        'protocol.version=2',
-        'fetch',
-        '--no-tags',
-        '--prune',
-        '--no-recurse-submodules',
-        '--filter=filterValue',
-        'origin',
-        'refspec1',
-        'refspec2',
-        '+refs/tags/*:refs/tags/*'
-      ],
-      expect.any(Object)
-    )
-  })
-
-  it('should call execGit with the correct arguments when fetchDepth is 1', async () => {
+  it('should call execGit with the correct arguments when fetchDepth is 1 and fetchTags is false', async () => {
    jest.spyOn(exec, 'exec').mockImplementation(mockExec)

    const workingDirectory = 'test'
@@ -197,7 +197,8 @@ describe('Test fetchDepth and fetchTags options', () => {
    const refSpec = ['refspec1', 'refspec2']
    const options = {
      filter: 'filterValue',
-      fetchDepth: 1
+      fetchDepth: 1,
+      fetchTags: false
    }

    await git.fetch(refSpec, options)
@@ -221,7 +222,7 @@ describe('Test fetchDepth and fetchTags options', () => {
    )
  })

-  it('should call execGit with the correct arguments when fetchDepth is 1 and refSpec includes tags', async () => {
+  it('should call execGit with the correct arguments when fetchDepth is 1 and fetchTags is true', async () => {
    jest.spyOn(exec, 'exec').mockImplementation(mockExec)

    const workingDirectory = 'test'
@@ -232,10 +233,11 @@ describe('Test fetchDepth and fetchTags options', () => {
      lfs,
      doSparseCheckout
    )
-    const refSpec = ['refspec1', 'refspec2', '+refs/tags/*:refs/tags/*']
+    const refSpec = ['refspec1', 'refspec2']
    const options = {
      filter: 'filterValue',
-      fetchDepth: 1
+      fetchDepth: 1,
+      fetchTags: true
    }

    await git.fetch(refSpec, options)
@@ -246,15 +248,13 @@ describe('Test fetchDepth and fetchTags options', () => {
        '-c',
        'protocol.version=2',
        'fetch',
-        '--no-tags',
        '--prune',
        '--no-recurse-submodules',
        '--filter=filterValue',
        '--depth=1',
        'origin',
        'refspec1',
-        'refspec2',
-        '+refs/tags/*:refs/tags/*'
+        'refspec2'
      ],
      expect.any(Object)
    )
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ describe('Test fetchDepth and fetchTags options', () => {
    )
  })

-  it('should call execGit with the correct arguments when showProgress is true and refSpec includes tags', async () => {
+  it('should call execGit with the correct arguments when fetchTags is true and showProgress is true', async () => {
    jest.spyOn(exec, 'exec').mockImplementation(mockExec)

    const workingDirectory = 'test'
@@ -349,9 +349,10 @@ describe('Test fetchDepth and fetchTags options', () => {
      lfs,
      doSparseCheckout
    )
-    const refSpec = ['refspec1', 'refspec2', '+refs/tags/*:refs/tags/*']
+    const refSpec = ['refspec1', 'refspec2']
    const options = {
      filter: 'filterValue',
+      fetchTags: true,
      showProgress: true
    }

@@ -363,187 +364,15 @@ describe('Test fetchDepth and fetchTags options', () => {
        '-c',
        'protocol.version=2',
        'fetch',
-        '--no-tags',
        '--prune',
        '--no-recurse-submodules',
        '--progress',
        '--filter=filterValue',
        'origin',
        'refspec1',
-        'refspec2',
-        '+refs/tags/*:refs/tags/*'
+        'refspec2'
      ],
      expect.any(Object)
    )
  })
 })
-
-describe('repository initialization object format', () => {
-  beforeEach(async () => {
-    jest.spyOn(fshelper, 'fileExistsSync').mockImplementation(jest.fn())
-    jest.spyOn(fshelper, 'directoryExistsSync').mockImplementation(jest.fn())
-  })
-
-  afterEach(() => {
-    jest.restoreAllMocks()
-  })
-
-  it('initializes SHA-256 repositories with the matching object format', async () => {
-    mockExec.mockImplementation((path, args, options) => {
-      if (args.includes('version')) {
-        options.listeners.stdout(Buffer.from('git version 2.50.1'))
-      }
-
-      return 0
-    })
-    jest.spyOn(exec, 'exec').mockImplementation(mockExec)
-
-    git = await commandManager.createCommandManager('test', false, false)
-
-    await git.init('sha256')
-
-    expect(mockExec).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-      expect.any(String),
-      ['init', '--object-format=sha256', 'test'],
-      expect.any(Object)
-    )
-  })
-
-  it('initializes SHA-1 repositories with existing default arguments', async () => {
-    mockExec.mockImplementation((path, args, options) => {
-      if (args.includes('version')) {
-        options.listeners.stdout(Buffer.from('git version 2.50.1'))
-      }
-
-      return 0
-    })
-    jest.spyOn(exec, 'exec').mockImplementation(mockExec)
-
-    git = await commandManager.createCommandManager('test', false, false)
-
-    await git.init('sha1')
-
-    expect(mockExec).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-      expect.any(String),
-      ['init', 'test'],
-      expect.any(Object)
-    )
-  })
-})
-
-describe('git user-agent with orchestration ID', () => {
-  beforeEach(async () => {
-    jest.spyOn(fshelper, 'fileExistsSync').mockImplementation(jest.fn())
-    jest.spyOn(fshelper, 'directoryExistsSync').mockImplementation(jest.fn())
-  })
-
-  afterEach(() => {
-    jest.restoreAllMocks()
-    // Clean up environment variable to prevent test pollution
-    delete process.env['ACTIONS_ORCHESTRATION_ID']
-  })
-
-  it('should include orchestration ID in user-agent when ACTIONS_ORCHESTRATION_ID is set', async () => {
-    const orchId = 'test-orch-id-12345'
-    process.env['ACTIONS_ORCHESTRATION_ID'] = orchId
-
-    let capturedEnv: any = null
-    mockExec.mockImplementation((path, args, options) => {
-      if (args.includes('version')) {
-        options.listeners.stdout(Buffer.from('2.18'))
-      }
-      // Capture env on any command
-      capturedEnv = options.env
-      return 0
-    })
-    jest.spyOn(exec, 'exec').mockImplementation(mockExec)
-
-    const workingDirectory = 'test'
-    const lfs = false
-    const doSparseCheckout = false
-    git = await commandManager.createCommandManager(
-      workingDirectory,
-      lfs,
-      doSparseCheckout
-    )
-
-    // Call a git command to trigger env capture after user-agent is set
-    await git.init()
-
-    // Verify the user agent includes the orchestration ID
-    expect(git).toBeDefined()
-    expect(capturedEnv).toBeDefined()
-    expect(capturedEnv['GIT_HTTP_USER_AGENT']).toBe(
-      `git/2.18 (github-actions-checkout) actions_orchestration_id/${orchId}`
-    )
-  })
-
-  it('should sanitize invalid characters in orchestration ID', async () => {
-    const orchId = 'test (with) special/chars'
-    process.env['ACTIONS_ORCHESTRATION_ID'] = orchId
-
-    let capturedEnv: any = null
-    mockExec.mockImplementation((path, args, options) => {
-      if (args.includes('version')) {
-        options.listeners.stdout(Buffer.from('2.18'))
-      }
-      // Capture env on any command
-      capturedEnv = options.env
-      return 0
-    })
-    jest.spyOn(exec, 'exec').mockImplementation(mockExec)
-
-    const workingDirectory = 'test'
-    const lfs = false
-    const doSparseCheckout = false
-    git = await commandManager.createCommandManager(
-      workingDirectory,
-      lfs,
-      doSparseCheckout
-    )
-
-    // Call a git command to trigger env capture after user-agent is set
-    await git.init()
-
-    // Verify the user agent has sanitized orchestration ID (spaces, parentheses, slash replaced)
-    expect(git).toBeDefined()
-    expect(capturedEnv).toBeDefined()
-    expect(capturedEnv['GIT_HTTP_USER_AGENT']).toBe(
-      'git/2.18 (github-actions-checkout) actions_orchestration_id/test__with__special_chars'
-    )
-  })
-
-  it('should not modify user-agent when ACTIONS_ORCHESTRATION_ID is not set', async () => {
-    delete process.env['ACTIONS_ORCHESTRATION_ID']
-
-    let capturedEnv: any = null
-    mockExec.mockImplementation((path, args, options) => {
-      if (args.includes('version')) {
-        options.listeners.stdout(Buffer.from('2.18'))
-      }
-      // Capture env on any command
-      capturedEnv = options.env
-      return 0
-    })
-    jest.spyOn(exec, 'exec').mockImplementation(mockExec)
-
-    const workingDirectory = 'test'
-    const lfs = false
-    const doSparseCheckout = false
-    git = await commandManager.createCommandManager(
-      workingDirectory,
-      lfs,
-      doSparseCheckout
-    )
-
-    // Call a git command to trigger env capture after user-agent is set
-    await git.init()
-
-    // Verify the user agent does NOT contain orchestration ID
-    expect(git).toBeDefined()
-    expect(capturedEnv).toBeDefined()
-    expect(capturedEnv['GIT_HTTP_USER_AGENT']).toBe(
-      'git/2.18 (github-actions-checkout)'
-    )
-  })
-})
--- a/test/git-directory-helper.test.ts
+++ b/test/git-directory-helper.test.ts
@@ -143,12 +143,41 @@ describe('git-directory-helper tests', () => {
      repositoryPath,
      repositoryUrl,
      clean,
-      ref
+      ref,
+      false // preserveLocalChanges = false
    )

    // Assert
    const files = await fs.promises.readdir(repositoryPath)
-    expect(files).toHaveLength(0)
+    expect(files).toEqual(['.git']) // Expect just the .git directory to remain
+    expect(git.tryClean).toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(core.warning).toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(git.tryReset).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+  
+  const preservesContentsWhenCleanFailsAndPreserveLocalChanges = 'preserves contents when clean fails and preserve-local-changes is true'
+  it(preservesContentsWhenCleanFailsAndPreserveLocalChanges, async () => {
+    // Arrange
+    await setup(preservesContentsWhenCleanFailsAndPreserveLocalChanges)
+    await fs.promises.writeFile(path.join(repositoryPath, 'my-file'), '')
+    let mockTryClean = git.tryClean as jest.Mock<any, any>
+    mockTryClean.mockImplementation(async () => {
+      return false
+    })
+
+    // Act
+    await gitDirectoryHelper.prepareExistingDirectory(
+      git,
+      repositoryPath,
+      repositoryUrl,
+      clean,
+      ref,
+      true // preserveLocalChanges = true
+    )
+
+    // Assert
+    const files = await fs.promises.readdir(repositoryPath)
+    expect(files.sort()).toEqual(['.git', 'my-file']) // Expect both .git and user files to remain
    expect(git.tryClean).toHaveBeenCalled()
    expect(core.warning).toHaveBeenCalled()
    expect(git.tryReset).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
@@ -170,16 +199,50 @@ describe('git-directory-helper tests', () => {
      repositoryPath,
      differentRepositoryUrl,
      clean,
-      ref
+      ref,
+      false // preserveLocalChanges = false
    )

    // Assert
    const files = await fs.promises.readdir(repositoryPath)
-    expect(files).toHaveLength(0)
+    expect(files).toEqual(['.git']) // Expect just the .git directory to remain
    expect(core.warning).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
    expect(git.isDetached).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
  })

+  const keepsContentsWhenDifferentRepositoryUrlAndPreserveLocalChanges =
+    'keeps contents when different repository url and preserve-local-changes is true'
+  it(keepsContentsWhenDifferentRepositoryUrlAndPreserveLocalChanges, async () => {
+    // Arrange
+    await setup(keepsContentsWhenDifferentRepositoryUrlAndPreserveLocalChanges)
+    clean = false
+    
+    // Create a file that we expect to be preserved
+    await fs.promises.writeFile(path.join(repositoryPath, 'my-file'), '')
+    
+    // Simulate a different repository by simply removing the .git directory
+    await io.rmRF(path.join(repositoryPath, '.git'))
+    await fs.promises.mkdir(path.join(repositoryPath, '.git'))
+    
+    const differentRepositoryUrl = 'https://github.com/my-different-org/my-different-repo'
+    
+    // Act
+    await gitDirectoryHelper.prepareExistingDirectory(
+      git,
+      repositoryPath,
+      differentRepositoryUrl, // Use a different URL
+      clean,
+      ref,
+      true // preserveLocalChanges = true
+    )
+
+    // Assert
+    const files = await fs.promises.readdir(repositoryPath)
+    console.log('Files after operation:', files)
+    // When preserveLocalChanges is true, files should be preserved even with different repo URL
+    expect(files.sort()).toEqual(['.git', 'my-file'].sort())
+  })
+
  const removesContentsWhenNoGitDirectory =
    'removes contents when no git directory'
  it(removesContentsWhenNoGitDirectory, async () => {
@@ -221,12 +284,41 @@ describe('git-directory-helper tests', () => {
      repositoryPath,
      repositoryUrl,
      clean,
-      ref
+      ref,
+      false // preserveLocalChanges = false
    )

    // Assert
    const files = await fs.promises.readdir(repositoryPath)
-    expect(files).toHaveLength(0)
+    expect(files).toEqual(['.git']) // Expect just the .git directory to remain
+    expect(git.tryClean).toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(git.tryReset).toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(core.warning).toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
+  const preservesContentsWhenResetFailsAndPreserveLocalChanges = 'preserves contents when reset fails and preserve-local-changes is true'
+  it(preservesContentsWhenResetFailsAndPreserveLocalChanges, async () => {
+    // Arrange
+    await setup(preservesContentsWhenResetFailsAndPreserveLocalChanges)
+    await fs.promises.writeFile(path.join(repositoryPath, 'my-file'), '')
+    let mockTryReset = git.tryReset as jest.Mock<any, any>
+    mockTryReset.mockImplementation(async () => {
+      return false
+    })
+
+    // Act
+    await gitDirectoryHelper.prepareExistingDirectory(
+      git,
+      repositoryPath,
+      repositoryUrl,
+      clean,
+      ref,
+      true // preserveLocalChanges = true
+    )
+
+    // Assert
+    const files = await fs.promises.readdir(repositoryPath)
+    expect(files.sort()).toEqual(['.git', 'my-file']) // Expect both .git and user files to remain
    expect(git.tryClean).toHaveBeenCalled()
    expect(git.tryReset).toHaveBeenCalled()
    expect(core.warning).toHaveBeenCalled()
@@ -246,12 +338,13 @@ describe('git-directory-helper tests', () => {
      repositoryPath,
      repositoryUrl,
      clean,
-      ref
+      ref,
+      false // preserveLocalChanges = false
    )

    // Assert
    const files = await fs.promises.readdir(repositoryPath)
-    expect(files).toHaveLength(0)
+    expect(files).toEqual(['.git']) // Expect just the .git directory to remain
    expect(core.warning).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
  })

@@ -302,12 +395,13 @@ describe('git-directory-helper tests', () => {
      repositoryPath,
      repositoryUrl,
      clean,
-      ref
+      ref,
+      false // preserveLocalChanges = false
    )

    // Assert
    const files = await fs.promises.readdir(repositoryPath)
-    expect(files).toHaveLength(0)
+    expect(files).toEqual(['.git']) // Expect just the .git directory to remain
    expect(git.tryClean).toHaveBeenCalled()
  })

--- a/test/github-api-helper.test.ts
+++ b/test/github-api-helper.test.ts
@@ -1,98 +0,0 @@
-import * as core from '@actions/core'
-import * as github from '@actions/github'
-import * as githubApiHelper from '../lib/github-api-helper'
-
-describe('github-api-helper object format', () => {
-  let getOctokitSpy: jest.SpyInstance
-  let debugSpy: jest.SpyInstance
-  let request: jest.Mock
-
-  function mockHashAlgorithmApi(hashAlgorithm: string): void {
-    request = jest.fn(async () => ({
-      data: {
-        hash_algorithm: hashAlgorithm
-      }
-    }))
-    getOctokitSpy = jest.spyOn(github, 'getOctokit').mockReturnValue({
-      request
-    } as any)
-  }
-
-  beforeEach(() => {
-    debugSpy = jest.spyOn(core, 'debug').mockImplementation(jest.fn())
-  })
-
-  afterEach(() => {
-    jest.restoreAllMocks()
-  })
-
-  it('detects SHA-256 from the repository hash algorithm endpoint', async () => {
-    mockHashAlgorithmApi('sha256')
-
-    await expect(
-      githubApiHelper.tryGetRepositoryObjectFormat('token', 'owner', 'repo')
-    ).resolves.toEqual({format: 'sha256', succeeded: true})
-
-    expect(getOctokitSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-      'token',
-      expect.objectContaining({baseUrl: 'https://api.github.com'})
-    )
-    expect(request).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-      'GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/hash-algorithm',
-      {owner: 'owner', repo: 'repo'}
-    )
-  })
-
-  it('detects SHA-1 from the repository hash algorithm endpoint', async () => {
-    mockHashAlgorithmApi('sha1')
-
-    await expect(
-      githubApiHelper.tryGetRepositoryObjectFormat('token', 'owner', 'repo')
-    ).resolves.toEqual({format: 'sha1', succeeded: true})
-  })
-
-  it('detects object format from an existing commit without API calls', async () => {
-    const commitSha =
-      '9422233ca7ee1b17f1e905d0e141faf0c401556c41cdc6acd71c6bd685da2e92'
-    getOctokitSpy = jest.spyOn(github, 'getOctokit')
-
-    await expect(
-      githubApiHelper.tryGetRepositoryObjectFormat(
-        'token',
-        'owner',
-        'repo',
-        undefined,
-        commitSha
-      )
-    ).resolves.toEqual({format: 'sha256', succeeded: true})
-
-    expect(getOctokitSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
-  })
-
-  it('returns unsuccessful when the hash algorithm endpoint value is not recognized', async () => {
-    mockHashAlgorithmApi('unknown')
-
-    await expect(
-      githubApiHelper.tryGetRepositoryObjectFormat('token', 'owner', 'repo')
-    ).resolves.toEqual({format: '', succeeded: false})
-    expect(debugSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-      'Unable to determine repository object format from hash-algorithm endpoint'
-    )
-  })
-
-  it('returns unsuccessful when the hash algorithm API lookup fails', async () => {
-    request = jest.fn(async () => {
-      throw new Error('not found')
-    })
-    jest.spyOn(github, 'getOctokit').mockReturnValue({
-      request
-    } as any)
-
-    await expect(
-      githubApiHelper.tryGetRepositoryObjectFormat('token', 'owner', 'repo')
-    ).resolves.toEqual({format: '', succeeded: false})
-    expect(debugSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-      'Unable to determine repository object format from hash-algorithm endpoint: not found'
-    )
-  })
-})
--- a/test/input-helper.test.ts
+++ b/test/input-helper.test.ts
@@ -133,16 +133,6 @@ describe('input-helper tests', () => {
    expect(settings.commit).toBe('1111111111222222222233333333334444444444')
  })

-  it('sets ref to empty when explicit sha-256', async () => {
-    inputs.ref =
-      '1111111111222222222233333333334444444444555555555566666666667777'
-    const settings: IGitSourceSettings = await inputHelper.getInputs()
-    expect(settings.ref).toBeFalsy()
-    expect(settings.commit).toBe(
-      '1111111111222222222233333333334444444444555555555566666666667777'
-    )
-  })
-
  it('sets sha to empty when explicit ref', async () => {
    inputs.ref = 'refs/heads/some-other-ref'
    const settings: IGitSourceSettings = await inputHelper.getInputs()
--- a/test/ref-helper.test.ts
+++ b/test/ref-helper.test.ts
@@ -1,12 +1,8 @@
 import * as assert from 'assert'
-import * as core from '@actions/core'
-import * as github from '@actions/github'
 import * as refHelper from '../lib/ref-helper'
 import {IGitCommandManager} from '../lib/git-command-manager'

 const commit = '1234567890123456789012345678901234567890'
-const sha256Commit =
-  '1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234'
 let git: IGitCommandManager

 describe('ref-helper tests', () => {
@@ -41,12 +37,6 @@ describe('ref-helper tests', () => {
    expect(checkoutInfo.startPoint).toBeFalsy()
  })

-  it('getCheckoutInfo sha-256 only', async () => {
-    const checkoutInfo = await refHelper.getCheckoutInfo(git, '', sha256Commit)
-    expect(checkoutInfo.ref).toBe(sha256Commit)
-    expect(checkoutInfo.startPoint).toBeFalsy()
-  })
-
  it('getCheckoutInfo refs/heads/', async () => {
    const checkoutInfo = await refHelper.getCheckoutInfo(
      git,
@@ -162,22 +152,7 @@ describe('ref-helper tests', () => {
  it('getRefSpec sha + refs/tags/', async () => {
    const refSpec = refHelper.getRefSpec('refs/tags/my-tag', commit)
    expect(refSpec.length).toBe(1)
-    expect(refSpec[0]).toBe(`+refs/tags/my-tag:refs/tags/my-tag`)
-  })
-
-  it('getRefSpec sha + refs/tags/ with fetchTags', async () => {
-    // When fetchTags is true, only include tags wildcard (specific tag is redundant)
-    const refSpec = refHelper.getRefSpec('refs/tags/my-tag', commit, true)
-    expect(refSpec.length).toBe(1)
-    expect(refSpec[0]).toBe('+refs/tags/*:refs/tags/*')
-  })
-
-  it('getRefSpec sha + refs/heads/ with fetchTags', async () => {
-    // When fetchTags is true, include both the branch refspec and tags wildcard
-    const refSpec = refHelper.getRefSpec('refs/heads/my/branch', commit, true)
-    expect(refSpec.length).toBe(2)
-    expect(refSpec[0]).toBe('+refs/tags/*:refs/tags/*')
-    expect(refSpec[1]).toBe(`+${commit}:refs/remotes/origin/my/branch`)
+    expect(refSpec[0]).toBe(`+${commit}:refs/tags/my-tag`)
  })

  it('getRefSpec sha only', async () => {
@@ -193,14 +168,6 @@ describe('ref-helper tests', () => {
    expect(refSpec[1]).toBe('+refs/tags/my-ref*:refs/tags/my-ref*')
  })

-  it('getRefSpec unqualified ref only with fetchTags', async () => {
-    // When fetchTags is true, skip specific tag pattern since wildcard covers all
-    const refSpec = refHelper.getRefSpec('my-ref', '', true)
-    expect(refSpec.length).toBe(2)
-    expect(refSpec[0]).toBe('+refs/tags/*:refs/tags/*')
-    expect(refSpec[1]).toBe('+refs/heads/my-ref*:refs/remotes/origin/my-ref*')
-  })
-
  it('getRefSpec refs/heads/ only', async () => {
    const refSpec = refHelper.getRefSpec('refs/heads/my/branch', '')
    expect(refSpec.length).toBe(1)
@@ -220,159 +187,4 @@ describe('ref-helper tests', () => {
    expect(refSpec.length).toBe(1)
    expect(refSpec[0]).toBe('+refs/tags/my-tag:refs/tags/my-tag')
  })
-
-  it('getRefSpec refs/tags/ only with fetchTags', async () => {
-    // When fetchTags is true, only include tags wildcard (specific tag is redundant)
-    const refSpec = refHelper.getRefSpec('refs/tags/my-tag', '', true)
-    expect(refSpec.length).toBe(1)
-    expect(refSpec[0]).toBe('+refs/tags/*:refs/tags/*')
-  })
-
-  it('getRefSpec refs/heads/ only with fetchTags', async () => {
-    // When fetchTags is true, include both the branch refspec and tags wildcard
-    const refSpec = refHelper.getRefSpec('refs/heads/my/branch', '', true)
-    expect(refSpec.length).toBe(2)
-    expect(refSpec[0]).toBe('+refs/tags/*:refs/tags/*')
-    expect(refSpec[1]).toBe(
-      '+refs/heads/my/branch:refs/remotes/origin/my/branch'
-    )
-  })
-
-  describe('checkCommitInfo', () => {
-    const repositoryOwner = 'some-owner'
-    const repositoryName = 'some-repo'
-    const ref = 'refs/pull/123/merge'
-    const sha1Head = '1111111111222222222233333333334444444444'
-    const sha1Base = 'aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbccccccccccdddddddddd'
-    const sha256Head =
-      '1111111111222222222233333333334444444444555555555566666666667777'
-    const sha256Base =
-      'aaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbccccccccccddddddddddeeeeeeeeeeffffffffff0000'
-    let debugSpy: jest.SpyInstance
-    let getOctokitSpy: jest.SpyInstance
-    let repoGetSpy: jest.Mock
-    let originalEventName: string
-    let originalPayload: unknown
-    let originalRef: string
-    let originalSha: string
-
-    function setPullRequestContext(
-      expectedHeadSha: string,
-      expectedBaseSha: string,
-      mergeCommit: string
-    ): void {
-      ;(github.context as any).eventName = 'pull_request'
-      github.context.ref = ref
-      github.context.sha = mergeCommit
-      ;(github.context as any).payload = {
-        action: 'synchronize',
-        after: expectedHeadSha,
-        number: 123,
-        pull_request: {
-          base: {
-            sha: expectedBaseSha
-          }
-        },
-        repository: {
-          private: false
-        }
-      }
-    }
-
-    beforeEach(() => {
-      originalEventName = github.context.eventName
-      originalPayload = github.context.payload
-      originalRef = github.context.ref
-      originalSha = github.context.sha
-
-      jest.spyOn(github.context, 'repo', 'get').mockReturnValue({
-        owner: repositoryOwner,
-        repo: repositoryName
-      })
-      debugSpy = jest.spyOn(core, 'debug').mockImplementation(jest.fn())
-      repoGetSpy = jest.fn(async () => ({}))
-      getOctokitSpy = jest.spyOn(github, 'getOctokit').mockReturnValue({
-        rest: {
-          repos: {
-            get: repoGetSpy
-          }
-        }
-      } as any)
-    })
-
-    afterEach(() => {
-      ;(github.context as any).eventName = originalEventName
-      ;(github.context as any).payload = originalPayload
-      github.context.ref = originalRef
-      github.context.sha = originalSha
-      jest.restoreAllMocks()
-    })
-
-    it('returns early for SHA-1 merge commit', async () => {
-      setPullRequestContext(sha1Head, sha1Base, commit)
-
-      await refHelper.checkCommitInfo(
-        'token',
-        `Merge ${sha1Head} into ${sha1Base}`,
-        repositoryOwner,
-        repositoryName,
-        ref,
-        commit
-      )
-
-      expect(getOctokitSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
-      expect(repoGetSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
-    })
-
-    it('matches SHA-256 merge commit info', async () => {
-      const actualHeadSha =
-        '9999999999888888888877777777776666666666555555555544444444443333'
-      setPullRequestContext(sha256Head, sha256Base, sha256Commit)
-
-      await refHelper.checkCommitInfo(
-        'token',
-        `Merge ${actualHeadSha} into ${sha256Base}`,
-        repositoryOwner,
-        repositoryName,
-        ref,
-        sha256Commit
-      )
-
-      expect(getOctokitSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-        'token',
-        expect.objectContaining({
-          userAgent: expect.stringContaining(
-            `expected_head_sha=${sha256Head};actual_head_sha=${actualHeadSha}`
-          )
-        })
-      )
-      expect(repoGetSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
-        owner: repositoryOwner,
-        repo: repositoryName
-      })
-      expect(debugSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-        `Expected head sha ${sha256Head}; actual head sha ${actualHeadSha}`
-      )
-      expect(debugSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalledWith('Unexpected message format')
-    })
-
-    it('does not match 50-char hex as a valid merge', async () => {
-      const invalidHeadSha =
-        '99999999998888888888777777777766666666665555555555'
-      setPullRequestContext(sha1Head, sha1Base, commit)
-
-      await refHelper.checkCommitInfo(
-        'token',
-        `Merge ${invalidHeadSha} into ${sha1Base}`,
-        repositoryOwner,
-        repositoryName,
-        ref,
-        commit
-      )
-
-      expect(getOctokitSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
-      expect(repoGetSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
-      expect(debugSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith('Unexpected message format')
-    })
-  })
 })
--- a/test/verify-fetch-tags.sh
+++ b/test/verify-fetch-tags.sh
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/sh
-
-# Verify tags were fetched
-TAG_COUNT=$(git -C ./fetch-tags-test tag | wc -l)
-if [ "$TAG_COUNT" -eq 0 ]; then
-    echo "Expected tags to be fetched, but found none"
-    exit 1
-fi
-echo "Found $TAG_COUNT tags"
--- a/test/verify-worktree.sh
+++ b/test/verify-worktree.sh
@@ -1,51 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-set -e
-
-# Verify worktree credentials
-# This test verifies that git credentials work in worktrees created after checkout
-# Usage: verify-worktree.sh <checkout-path> <worktree-name>
-
-CHECKOUT_PATH="$1"
-WORKTREE_NAME="$2"
-
-if [ -z "$CHECKOUT_PATH" ] || [ -z "$WORKTREE_NAME" ]; then
-  echo "Usage: verify-worktree.sh <checkout-path> <worktree-name>"
-  exit 1
-fi
-
-cd "$CHECKOUT_PATH"
-
-# Add safe directory for container environments
-git config --global --add safe.directory "*" 2>/dev/null || true
-
-# Show the includeIf configuration
-echo "Git config includeIf entries:"
-git config --list --show-origin | grep -i include || true
-
-# Create the worktree
-echo "Creating worktree..."
-git worktree add "../$WORKTREE_NAME" HEAD --detach
-
-# Change to worktree directory
-cd "../$WORKTREE_NAME"
-
-# Verify we're in a worktree
-echo "Verifying worktree gitdir:"
-cat .git
-
-# Verify credentials are available in worktree by checking extraheader is configured
-echo "Checking credentials in worktree..."
-if git config --list --show-origin | grep -q "extraheader"; then
-  echo "Credentials are configured in worktree"
-else
-  echo "ERROR: Credentials are NOT configured in worktree"
-  echo "Full git config:"
-  git config --list --show-origin
-  exit 1
-fi
-
-# Verify fetch works in the worktree
-echo "Fetching in worktree..."
-git fetch origin
-
-echo "Worktree credentials test passed!"
--- a/action.yml
+++ b/action.yml
@@ -56,7 +56,10 @@ inputs:
    description: 'Relative path under $GITHUB_WORKSPACE to place the repository'
  clean:
    description: 'Whether to execute `git clean -ffdx && git reset --hard HEAD` before fetching'
-    default: true
+    default: 'true'
+  preserve-local-changes:
+    description: 'Whether to preserve local changes during checkout. If true, tries to preserve local files that are not tracked by Git. By default, all files will be overwritten.'
+    default: 'false'
  filter:
    description: >
      Partially clone against a given filter.
--- a/dist/index.js
+++ b/dist/index.js
@@ -412,9 +412,6 @@ class GitAuthHelper {
                // Configure host includeIf
                const hostIncludeKey = `includeIf.gitdir:${gitDir}.path`;
                yield this.git.config(hostIncludeKey, credentialsConfigPath);
-                // Configure host includeIf for worktrees
-                const hostWorktreeIncludeKey = `includeIf.gitdir:${gitDir}/worktrees/*.path`;
-                yield this.git.config(hostWorktreeIncludeKey, credentialsConfigPath);
                // Container git directory
                const workingDirectory = this.git.getWorkingDirectory();
                const githubWorkspace = process.env['GITHUB_WORKSPACE'];
@@ -427,9 +424,6 @@ class GitAuthHelper {
                // Configure container includeIf
                const containerIncludeKey = `includeIf.gitdir:${containerGitDir}.path`;
                yield this.git.config(containerIncludeKey, containerCredentialsPath);
-                // Configure container includeIf for worktrees
-                const containerWorktreeIncludeKey = `includeIf.gitdir:${containerGitDir}/worktrees/*.path`;
-                yield this.git.config(containerWorktreeIncludeKey, containerCredentialsPath);
            }
        });
    }
@@ -653,6 +647,7 @@ const fs = __importStar(__nccwpck_require__(7147));
 const fshelper = __importStar(__nccwpck_require__(7219));
 const io = __importStar(__nccwpck_require__(7436));
 const path = __importStar(__nccwpck_require__(1017));
+const refHelper = __importStar(__nccwpck_require__(8601));
 const regexpHelper = __importStar(__nccwpck_require__(3120));
 const retryHelper = __importStar(__nccwpck_require__(2155));
 const git_version_1 = __nccwpck_require__(3142);
@@ -780,9 +775,17 @@ class GitCommandManager {
            yield fs.promises.appendFile(sparseCheckoutPath, `\n${sparseCheckout.join('\n')}\n`);
        });
    }
-    checkout(ref, startPoint) {
-        return __awaiter(this, void 0, void 0, function* () {
-            const args = ['checkout', '--progress', '--force'];
+    checkout(ref_1, startPoint_1) {
+        return __awaiter(this, arguments, void 0, function* (ref, startPoint, options = []) {
+            const args = ['checkout', '--progress'];
+            // Add custom options (like --merge) if provided
+            if (options.length > 0) {
+                args.push(...options);
+            }
+            else {
+                // Default behavior - use force
+                args.push('--force');
+            }
            if (startPoint) {
                args.push('-B', ref, startPoint);
            }
@@ -830,9 +833,9 @@ class GitCommandManager {
    fetch(refSpec, options) {
        return __awaiter(this, void 0, void 0, function* () {
            const args = ['-c', 'protocol.version=2', 'fetch'];
-            // Always use --no-tags for explicit control over tag fetching
-            // Tags are fetched explicitly via refspec when needed
-            args.push('--no-tags');
+            if (!refSpec.some(x => x === refHelper.tagsRefSpec) && !options.fetchTags) {
+                args.push('--no-tags');
+            }
            args.push('--prune', '--no-recurse-submodules');
            if (options.showProgress) {
                args.push('--progress');
@@ -896,14 +899,9 @@ class GitCommandManager {
    getWorkingDirectory() {
        return this.workingDirectory;
    }
-    init(objectFormat) {
+    init() {
        return __awaiter(this, void 0, void 0, function* () {
-            const args = ['init'];
-            if (objectFormat === 'sha256') {
-                args.push('--object-format=sha256');
-            }
-            args.push(this.workingDirectory);
-            yield this.execGit(args);
+            yield this.execGit(['init', this.workingDirectory]);
        });
    }
    isDetached() {
@@ -1210,17 +1208,7 @@ class GitCommandManager {
                }
            }
            // Set the user agent
-            let gitHttpUserAgent = `git/${this.gitVersion} (github-actions-checkout)`;
-            // Append orchestration ID if set
-            const orchId = process.env['ACTIONS_ORCHESTRATION_ID'];
-            if (orchId) {
-                // Sanitize the orchestration ID to ensure it contains only valid characters
-                // Valid characters: 0-9, a-z, _, -, .
-                const sanitizedId = orchId.replace(/[^a-z0-9_.-]/gi, '_');
-                if (sanitizedId) {
-                    gitHttpUserAgent = `${gitHttpUserAgent} actions_orchestration_id/${sanitizedId}`;
-                }
-            }
+            const gitHttpUserAgent = `git/${this.gitVersion} (github-actions-checkout)`;
            core.debug(`Set git useragent to: ${gitHttpUserAgent}`);
            this.gitEnv['GIT_HTTP_USER_AGENT'] = gitHttpUserAgent;
        });
@@ -1281,13 +1269,17 @@ const fs = __importStar(__nccwpck_require__(7147));
 const fsHelper = __importStar(__nccwpck_require__(7219));
 const io = __importStar(__nccwpck_require__(7436));
 const path = __importStar(__nccwpck_require__(1017));
-function prepareExistingDirectory(git, repositoryPath, repositoryUrl, clean, ref) {
-    return __awaiter(this, void 0, void 0, function* () {
+function prepareExistingDirectory(git_1, repositoryPath_1, repositoryUrl_1, clean_1, ref_1) {
+    return __awaiter(this, arguments, void 0, function* (git, repositoryPath, repositoryUrl, clean, ref, preserveLocalChanges = false) {
        var _a;
        assert.ok(repositoryPath, 'Expected repositoryPath to be defined');
        assert.ok(repositoryUrl, 'Expected repositoryUrl to be defined');
        // Indicates whether to delete the directory contents
        let remove = false;
+        // If preserveLocalChanges is true, log it
+        if (preserveLocalChanges) {
+            core.info(`Preserve local changes is enabled, will attempt to keep local files`);
+        }
        // Check whether using git or REST API
        if (!git) {
            remove = true;
@@ -1368,14 +1360,28 @@ function prepareExistingDirectory(git, repositoryPath, repositoryUrl, clean, ref
                remove = true;
            }
        }
-        if (remove) {
+        if (remove && !preserveLocalChanges) {
            // Delete the contents of the directory. Don't delete the directory itself
            // since it might be the current working directory.
            core.info(`Deleting the contents of '${repositoryPath}'`);
            for (const file of yield fs.promises.readdir(repositoryPath)) {
+                // Skip .git directory as we need it to determine if a file is tracked
+                if (file === '.git') {
+                    continue;
+                }
                yield io.rmRF(path.join(repositoryPath, file));
            }
        }
+        else if (remove && preserveLocalChanges) {
+            core.info(`Skipping deletion of directory contents due to preserve-local-changes setting`);
+            // We still need to make sure we have a git repository to work with
+            if (!git) {
+                core.info(`Initializing git repository to prepare for checkout with preserved changes`);
+                yield fs.promises.mkdir(path.join(repositoryPath, '.git'), {
+                    recursive: true
+                });
+            }
+        }
    });
 }

@@ -1472,7 +1478,7 @@ function getSource(settings) {
            }
            // Prepare existing directory, otherwise recreate
            if (isExisting) {
-                yield gitDirectoryHelper.prepareExistingDirectory(git, settings.repositoryPath, repositoryUrl, settings.clean, settings.ref);
+                yield gitDirectoryHelper.prepareExistingDirectory(git, settings.repositoryPath, repositoryUrl, settings.clean, settings.ref, settings.preserveLocalChanges);
            }
            if (!git) {
                // Downloading using REST API
@@ -1491,17 +1497,8 @@ function getSource(settings) {
            stateHelper.setRepositoryPath(settings.repositoryPath);
            // Initialize the repository
            if (!fsHelper.directoryExistsSync(path.join(settings.repositoryPath, '.git'))) {
-                core.startGroup('Determining repository object format');
-                const objectFormatResult = yield githubApiHelper.tryGetRepositoryObjectFormat(settings.authToken, settings.repositoryOwner, settings.repositoryName, settings.githubServerUrl, settings.commit);
-                const objectFormat = objectFormatResult.succeeded
-                    ? objectFormatResult.format
-                    : '';
-                if (objectFormat === 'sha256') {
-                    core.info('Detected SHA-256 repository object format');
-                }
-                core.endGroup();
                core.startGroup('Initializing the repository');
-                yield git.init(objectFormat);
+                yield git.init();
                yield git.remoteAdd('origin', repositoryUrl);
                core.endGroup();
            }
@@ -1552,26 +1549,13 @@ function getSource(settings) {
                if (!(yield refHelper.testRef(git, settings.ref, settings.commit))) {
                    refSpec = refHelper.getRefSpec(settings.ref, settings.commit);
                    yield git.fetch(refSpec, fetchOptions);
-                    // Verify the ref now matches. For branches, the targeted fetch above brings
-                    // in the specific commit. For tags (fetched by ref), this will fail if
-                    // the tag was moved after the workflow was triggered.
-                    if (!(yield refHelper.testRef(git, settings.ref, settings.commit))) {
-                        throw new Error(`The ref '${settings.ref}' does not point to the expected commit '${settings.commit}'. ` +
-                            `The ref may have been updated after the workflow was triggered.`);
-                    }
                }
            }
            else {
                fetchOptions.fetchDepth = settings.fetchDepth;
-                const refSpec = refHelper.getRefSpec(settings.ref, settings.commit, settings.fetchTags);
+                fetchOptions.fetchTags = settings.fetchTags;
+                const refSpec = refHelper.getRefSpec(settings.ref, settings.commit);
                yield git.fetch(refSpec, fetchOptions);
-                // For tags, verify the ref still points to the expected commit.
-                // Tags are fetched by ref (not commit), so if a tag was moved after the
-                // workflow was triggered, we would silently check out the wrong commit.
-                if (!(yield refHelper.testRef(git, settings.ref, settings.commit))) {
-                    throw new Error(`The ref '${settings.ref}' does not point to the expected commit '${settings.commit}'. ` +
-                        `The ref may have been updated after the workflow was triggered.`);
-                }
            }
            core.endGroup();
            // Checkout info
@@ -1607,7 +1591,104 @@ function getSource(settings) {
            }
            // Checkout
            core.startGroup('Checking out the ref');
-            yield git.checkout(checkoutInfo.ref, checkoutInfo.startPoint);
+            if (settings.preserveLocalChanges) {
+                core.info('Attempting to preserve local changes during checkout');
+                // List and store local files before checkout
+                const fs = __nccwpck_require__(7147);
+                const path = __nccwpck_require__(1017);
+                const localFiles = new Map();
+                try {
+                    // Get all files in the workspace that aren't in the .git directory
+                    const workspacePath = process.cwd();
+                    core.info(`Current workspace path: ${workspacePath}`);
+                    // List all files in the current directory using fs
+                    const listFilesRecursively = (dir) => {
+                        let results = [];
+                        const list = fs.readdirSync(dir);
+                        list.forEach((file) => {
+                            const fullPath = path.join(dir, file);
+                            const relativePath = path.relative(workspacePath, fullPath);
+                            // Skip .git directory
+                            if (relativePath.startsWith('.git'))
+                                return;
+                            const stat = fs.statSync(fullPath);
+                            if (stat && stat.isDirectory()) {
+                                // Recursively explore subdirectories
+                                results = results.concat(listFilesRecursively(fullPath));
+                            }
+                            else {
+                                // Store file content in memory
+                                try {
+                                    const content = fs.readFileSync(fullPath);
+                                    localFiles.set(relativePath, content);
+                                    results.push(relativePath);
+                                }
+                                catch (readErr) {
+                                    core.warning(`Failed to read file ${relativePath}: ${readErr}`);
+                                }
+                            }
+                        });
+                        return results;
+                    };
+                    const localFilesList = listFilesRecursively(workspacePath);
+                    core.info(`Found ${localFilesList.length} local files to preserve:`);
+                    localFilesList.forEach(file => core.info(`  - ${file}`));
+                }
+                catch (error) {
+                    core.warning(`Failed to list local files: ${error}`);
+                }
+                // Perform normal checkout
+                yield git.checkout(checkoutInfo.ref, checkoutInfo.startPoint);
+                // Restore local files that were not tracked by git
+                core.info('Restoring local files after checkout');
+                try {
+                    let restoredCount = 0;
+                    const execOptions = {
+                        cwd: process.cwd(),
+                        silent: true,
+                        ignoreReturnCode: true
+                    };
+                    for (const [filePath, content] of localFiles.entries()) {
+                        // Check if file exists in git using a child process instead of git.execGit
+                        const { exec } = __nccwpck_require__(1514);
+                        let exitCode = 0;
+                        const output = {
+                            stdout: '',
+                            stderr: ''
+                        };
+                        // Capture output
+                        const options = Object.assign(Object.assign({}, execOptions), { listeners: {
+                                stdout: (data) => {
+                                    output.stdout += data.toString();
+                                },
+                                stderr: (data) => {
+                                    output.stderr += data.toString();
+                                }
+                            } });
+                        exitCode = yield exec('git', ['ls-files', '--error-unmatch', filePath], options);
+                        if (exitCode !== 0) {
+                            // File is not tracked by git, safe to restore
+                            const fullPath = path.join(process.cwd(), filePath);
+                            // Ensure directory exists
+                            fs.mkdirSync(path.dirname(fullPath), { recursive: true });
+                            fs.writeFileSync(fullPath, content);
+                            core.info(`Restored local file: ${filePath}`);
+                            restoredCount++;
+                        }
+                        else {
+                            core.info(`Skipping ${filePath} as it's tracked by git`);
+                        }
+                    }
+                    core.info(`Successfully restored ${restoredCount} local files`);
+                }
+                catch (error) {
+                    core.warning(`Failed to restore local files: ${error}`);
+                }
+            }
+            else {
+                // Use the default behavior with --force
+                yield git.checkout(checkoutInfo.ref, checkoutInfo.startPoint);
+            }
            core.endGroup();
            // Submodules
            if (settings.submodules) {
@@ -1824,7 +1905,6 @@ var __awaiter = (this && this.__awaiter) || function (thisArg, _arguments, P, ge
 Object.defineProperty(exports, "__esModule", ({ value: true }));
 exports.downloadRepository = downloadRepository;
 exports.getDefaultBranch = getDefaultBranch;
-exports.tryGetRepositoryObjectFormat = tryGetRepositoryObjectFormat;
 const assert = __importStar(__nccwpck_require__(9491));
 const core = __importStar(__nccwpck_require__(2186));
 const fs = __importStar(__nccwpck_require__(7147));
@@ -1926,40 +2006,6 @@ function getDefaultBranch(authToken, owner, repo, baseUrl) {
        }));
    });
 }
-function tryGetRepositoryObjectFormat(authToken, owner, repo, baseUrl, commit) {
-    return __awaiter(this, void 0, void 0, function* () {
-        var _a;
-        const commitFormat = getObjectFormat(commit);
-        if (commitFormat) {
-            return { format: commitFormat, succeeded: true };
-        }
-        try {
-            const octokit = github.getOctokit(authToken, {
-                baseUrl: (0, url_helper_1.getServerApiUrl)(baseUrl)
-            });
-            const response = yield octokit.request('GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/hash-algorithm', { owner, repo });
-            const hashAlgorithm = response.data.hash_algorithm;
-            if (hashAlgorithm === 'sha256' || hashAlgorithm === 'sha1') {
-                return { format: hashAlgorithm, succeeded: true };
-            }
-            core.debug('Unable to determine repository object format from hash-algorithm endpoint');
-            return { format: '', succeeded: false };
-        }
-        catch (err) {
-            core.debug(`Unable to determine repository object format from hash-algorithm endpoint: ${(_a = err === null || err === void 0 ? void 0 : err.message) !== null && _a !== void 0 ? _a : err}`);
-            return { format: '', succeeded: false };
-        }
-    });
-}
-function getObjectFormat(sha) {
-    if (/^[0-9a-fA-F]{64}$/.test(sha || '')) {
-        return 'sha256';
-    }
-    if (/^[0-9a-fA-F]{40}$/.test(sha || '')) {
-        return 'sha1';
-    }
-    return '';
-}
 function downloadArchive(authToken, owner, repo, ref, commit, baseUrl) {
    return __awaiter(this, void 0, void 0, function* () {
        const octokit = github.getOctokit(authToken, {
@@ -2070,7 +2116,7 @@ function getInputs() {
            }
        }
        // SHA?
-        else if (result.ref.match(/^(?:[0-9a-fA-F]{40}|[0-9a-fA-F]{64})$/)) {
+        else if (result.ref.match(/^[0-9a-fA-F]{40}$/)) {
            result.commit = result.ref;
            result.ref = '';
        }
@@ -2079,6 +2125,11 @@ function getInputs() {
        // Clean
        result.clean = (core.getInput('clean') || 'true').toUpperCase() === 'TRUE';
        core.debug(`clean = ${result.clean}`);
+        // Preserve local changes
+        result.preserveLocalChanges =
+            (core.getInput('preserve-local-changes') || 'false').toUpperCase() ===
+                'TRUE';
+        core.debug(`preserveLocalChanges = ${result.preserveLocalChanges}`);
        // Filter
        const filter = core.getInput('filter');
        if (filter) {
@@ -2345,67 +2396,53 @@ function getRefSpecForAllHistory(ref, commit) {
    }
    return result;
 }
-function getRefSpec(ref, commit, fetchTags) {
+function getRefSpec(ref, commit) {
    if (!ref && !commit) {
        throw new Error('Args ref and commit cannot both be empty');
    }
    const upperRef = (ref || '').toUpperCase();
-    const result = [];
-    // When fetchTags is true, always include the tags refspec
-    if (fetchTags) {
-        result.push(exports.tagsRefSpec);
-    }
    // SHA
    if (commit) {
        // refs/heads
        if (upperRef.startsWith('REFS/HEADS/')) {
            const branch = ref.substring('refs/heads/'.length);
-            result.push(`+${commit}:refs/remotes/origin/${branch}`);
+            return [`+${commit}:refs/remotes/origin/${branch}`];
        }
        // refs/pull/
        else if (upperRef.startsWith('REFS/PULL/')) {
            const branch = ref.substring('refs/pull/'.length);
-            result.push(`+${commit}:refs/remotes/pull/${branch}`);
+            return [`+${commit}:refs/remotes/pull/${branch}`];
        }
        // refs/tags/
        else if (upperRef.startsWith('REFS/TAGS/')) {
-            if (!fetchTags) {
-                result.push(`+${ref}:${ref}`);
-            }
+            return [`+${commit}:${ref}`];
        }
        // Otherwise no destination ref
        else {
-            result.push(commit);
+            return [commit];
        }
    }
    // Unqualified ref, check for a matching branch or tag
    else if (!upperRef.startsWith('REFS/')) {
-        result.push(`+refs/heads/${ref}*:refs/remotes/origin/${ref}*`);
-        if (!fetchTags) {
-            result.push(`+refs/tags/${ref}*:refs/tags/${ref}*`);
-        }
+        return [
+            `+refs/heads/${ref}*:refs/remotes/origin/${ref}*`,
+            `+refs/tags/${ref}*:refs/tags/${ref}*`
+        ];
    }
    // refs/heads/
    else if (upperRef.startsWith('REFS/HEADS/')) {
        const branch = ref.substring('refs/heads/'.length);
-        result.push(`+${ref}:refs/remotes/origin/${branch}`);
+        return [`+${ref}:refs/remotes/origin/${branch}`];
    }
    // refs/pull/
    else if (upperRef.startsWith('REFS/PULL/')) {
        const branch = ref.substring('refs/pull/'.length);
-        result.push(`+${ref}:refs/remotes/pull/${branch}`);
+        return [`+${ref}:refs/remotes/pull/${branch}`];
    }
    // refs/tags/
-    else if (upperRef.startsWith('REFS/TAGS/')) {
-        if (!fetchTags) {
-            result.push(`+${ref}:${ref}`);
-        }
-    }
-    // Other refs
    else {
-        result.push(`+${ref}:${ref}`);
+        return [`+${ref}:${ref}`];
    }
-    return result;
 }
 /**
 * Tests whether the initial fetch created the ref at the expected commit
@@ -2441,9 +2478,7 @@ function testRef(git, ref, commit) {
        // refs/tags/
        else if (upperRef.startsWith('REFS/TAGS/')) {
            const tagName = ref.substring('refs/tags/'.length);
-            // Use ^{commit} to dereference annotated tags to their underlying commit
-            return ((yield git.tagExists(tagName)) &&
-                commit === (yield git.revParse(`${ref}^{commit}`)));
+            return ((yield git.tagExists(tagName)) && commit === (yield git.revParse(ref)));
        }
        // Unexpected
        else {
@@ -2493,7 +2528,7 @@ function checkCommitInfo(token, commitInfo, repositoryOwner, repositoryName, ref
                return;
            }
            // Extract details from message
-            const match = commitInfo.match(/Merge ([0-9a-f]{40}|[0-9a-f]{64}) into ([0-9a-f]{40}|[0-9a-f]{64})/);
+            const match = commitInfo.match(/Merge ([0-9a-f]{40}) into ([0-9a-f]{40})/);
            if (!match) {
                core.debug('Unexpected message format');
                return;
--- a/src/git-auth-helper.ts
+++ b/src/git-auth-helper.ts
@@ -374,10 +374,6 @@ class GitAuthHelper {
      const hostIncludeKey = `includeIf.gitdir:${gitDir}.path`
      await this.git.config(hostIncludeKey, credentialsConfigPath)

-      // Configure host includeIf for worktrees
-      const hostWorktreeIncludeKey = `includeIf.gitdir:${gitDir}/worktrees/*.path`
-      await this.git.config(hostWorktreeIncludeKey, credentialsConfigPath)
-
      // Container git directory
      const workingDirectory = this.git.getWorkingDirectory()
      const githubWorkspace = process.env['GITHUB_WORKSPACE']
@@ -399,13 +395,6 @@ class GitAuthHelper {
      // Configure container includeIf
      const containerIncludeKey = `includeIf.gitdir:${containerGitDir}.path`
      await this.git.config(containerIncludeKey, containerCredentialsPath)
-
-      // Configure container includeIf for worktrees
-      const containerWorktreeIncludeKey = `includeIf.gitdir:${containerGitDir}/worktrees/*.path`
-      await this.git.config(
-        containerWorktreeIncludeKey,
-        containerCredentialsPath
-      )
    }
  }

--- a/src/git-command-manager.ts
+++ b/src/git-command-manager.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ export interface IGitCommandManager {
  disableSparseCheckout(): Promise<void>
  sparseCheckout(sparseCheckout: string[]): Promise<void>
  sparseCheckoutNonConeMode(sparseCheckout: string[]): Promise<void>
-  checkout(ref: string, startPoint: string): Promise<void>
+  checkout(ref: string, startPoint: string, options?: string[]): Promise<void>
  checkoutDetach(): Promise<void>
  config(
    configKey: string,
@@ -37,13 +37,14 @@ export interface IGitCommandManager {
    options: {
      filter?: string
      fetchDepth?: number
+      fetchTags?: boolean
      showProgress?: boolean
    }
  ): Promise<void>
  getDefaultBranch(repositoryUrl: string): Promise<string>
  getSubmoduleConfigPaths(recursive: boolean): Promise<string[]>
  getWorkingDirectory(): string
-  init(objectFormat?: string): Promise<void>
+  init(): Promise<void>
  isDetached(): Promise<boolean>
  lfsFetch(ref: string): Promise<void>
  lfsInstall(): Promise<void>
@@ -220,8 +221,21 @@ class GitCommandManager {
    )
  }

-  async checkout(ref: string, startPoint: string): Promise<void> {
-    const args = ['checkout', '--progress', '--force']
+  async checkout(
+    ref: string,
+    startPoint: string,
+    options: string[] = []
+  ): Promise<void> {
+    const args = ['checkout', '--progress']
+
+    // Add custom options (like --merge) if provided
+    if (options.length > 0) {
+      args.push(...options)
+    } else {
+      // Default behavior - use force
+      args.push('--force')
+    }
+
    if (startPoint) {
      args.push('-B', ref, startPoint)
    } else {
@@ -279,13 +293,14 @@ class GitCommandManager {
    options: {
      filter?: string
      fetchDepth?: number
+      fetchTags?: boolean
      showProgress?: boolean
    }
  ): Promise<void> {
    const args = ['-c', 'protocol.version=2', 'fetch']
-    // Always use --no-tags for explicit control over tag fetching
-    // Tags are fetched explicitly via refspec when needed
-    args.push('--no-tags')
+    if (!refSpec.some(x => x === refHelper.tagsRefSpec) && !options.fetchTags) {
+      args.push('--no-tags')
+    }

    args.push('--prune', '--no-recurse-submodules')
    if (options.showProgress) {
@@ -364,14 +379,8 @@ class GitCommandManager {
    return this.workingDirectory
  }

-  async init(objectFormat?: string): Promise<void> {
-    const args = ['init']
-    if (objectFormat === 'sha256') {
-      args.push('--object-format=sha256')
-    }
-    args.push(this.workingDirectory)
-
-    await this.execGit(args)
+  async init(): Promise<void> {
+    await this.execGit(['init', this.workingDirectory])
  }

  async isDetached(): Promise<boolean> {
@@ -734,19 +743,7 @@ class GitCommandManager {
      }
    }
    // Set the user agent
-    let gitHttpUserAgent = `git/${this.gitVersion} (github-actions-checkout)`
-
-    // Append orchestration ID if set
-    const orchId = process.env['ACTIONS_ORCHESTRATION_ID']
-    if (orchId) {
-      // Sanitize the orchestration ID to ensure it contains only valid characters
-      // Valid characters: 0-9, a-z, _, -, .
-      const sanitizedId = orchId.replace(/[^a-z0-9_.-]/gi, '_')
-      if (sanitizedId) {
-        gitHttpUserAgent = `${gitHttpUserAgent} actions_orchestration_id/${sanitizedId}`
-      }
-    }
-
+    const gitHttpUserAgent = `git/${this.gitVersion} (github-actions-checkout)`
    core.debug(`Set git useragent to: ${gitHttpUserAgent}`)
    this.gitEnv['GIT_HTTP_USER_AGENT'] = gitHttpUserAgent
  }
--- a/src/git-directory-helper.ts
+++ b/src/git-directory-helper.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@ export async function prepareExistingDirectory(
  repositoryPath: string,
  repositoryUrl: string,
  clean: boolean,
-  ref: string
+  ref: string,
+  preserveLocalChanges: boolean = false
 ): Promise<void> {
  assert.ok(repositoryPath, 'Expected repositoryPath to be defined')
  assert.ok(repositoryUrl, 'Expected repositoryUrl to be defined')
@@ -19,6 +20,13 @@ export async function prepareExistingDirectory(
  // Indicates whether to delete the directory contents
  let remove = false

+  // If preserveLocalChanges is true, log it
+  if (preserveLocalChanges) {
+    core.info(
+      `Preserve local changes is enabled, will attempt to keep local files`
+    )
+  }
+
  // Check whether using git or REST API
  if (!git) {
    remove = true
@@ -114,12 +122,43 @@ export async function prepareExistingDirectory(
    }
  }

-  if (remove) {
+  // Check repository conditions
+  let isLocalGitRepo = git && fsHelper.directoryExistsSync(path.join(repositoryPath, '.git'));
+  let repoUrl = isLocalGitRepo ? await git?.tryGetFetchUrl() : '';
+  let isSameRepository = repositoryUrl === repoUrl;
+  let differentRepoUrl = !isSameRepository;
+
+  // Repository URL has changed
+  if (differentRepoUrl) {
+    if (preserveLocalChanges) {
+      core.warning(`Repository URL has changed from '${repoUrl}' to '${repositoryUrl}'. Local changes will be preserved as requested.`);
+    }
+    remove = true; // Mark for removal, but actual removal will respect preserveLocalChanges
+  }
+
+  if (remove && !preserveLocalChanges) {
    // Delete the contents of the directory. Don't delete the directory itself
    // since it might be the current working directory.
    core.info(`Deleting the contents of '${repositoryPath}'`)
    for (const file of await fs.promises.readdir(repositoryPath)) {
+      // Skip .git directory as we need it to determine if a file is tracked
+      if (file === '.git') {
+        continue
+      }
      await io.rmRF(path.join(repositoryPath, file))
    }
+  } else if (remove && preserveLocalChanges) {
+    core.info(
+      `Skipping deletion of directory contents due to preserve-local-changes setting`
+    )
+    // We still need to make sure we have a git repository to work with
+    if (!git) {
+      core.info(
+        `Initializing git repository to prepare for checkout with preserved changes`
+      )
+      await fs.promises.mkdir(path.join(repositoryPath, '.git'), {
+        recursive: true
+      })
+    }
  }
 }
--- a/src/git-source-provider.ts
+++ b/src/git-source-provider.ts
@@ -70,7 +70,8 @@ export async function getSource(settings: IGitSourceSettings): Promise<void> {
        settings.repositoryPath,
        repositoryUrl,
        settings.clean,
-        settings.ref
+        settings.ref,
+        settings.preserveLocalChanges
      )
    }

@@ -109,25 +110,8 @@ export async function getSource(settings: IGitSourceSettings): Promise<void> {
    if (
      !fsHelper.directoryExistsSync(path.join(settings.repositoryPath, '.git'))
    ) {
-      core.startGroup('Determining repository object format')
-      const objectFormatResult =
-        await githubApiHelper.tryGetRepositoryObjectFormat(
-          settings.authToken,
-          settings.repositoryOwner,
-          settings.repositoryName,
-          settings.githubServerUrl,
-          settings.commit
-        )
-      const objectFormat = objectFormatResult.succeeded
-        ? objectFormatResult.format
-        : ''
-      if (objectFormat === 'sha256') {
-        core.info('Detected SHA-256 repository object format')
-      }
-      core.endGroup()
-
      core.startGroup('Initializing the repository')
-      await git.init(objectFormat)
+      await git.init()
      await git.remoteAdd('origin', repositoryUrl)
      core.endGroup()
    }
@@ -176,6 +160,7 @@ export async function getSource(settings: IGitSourceSettings): Promise<void> {
    const fetchOptions: {
      filter?: string
      fetchDepth?: number
+      fetchTags?: boolean
      showProgress?: boolean
    } = {}

@@ -198,35 +183,12 @@ export async function getSource(settings: IGitSourceSettings): Promise<void> {
      if (!(await refHelper.testRef(git, settings.ref, settings.commit))) {
        refSpec = refHelper.getRefSpec(settings.ref, settings.commit)
        await git.fetch(refSpec, fetchOptions)
-
-        // Verify the ref now matches. For branches, the targeted fetch above brings
-        // in the specific commit. For tags (fetched by ref), this will fail if
-        // the tag was moved after the workflow was triggered.
-        if (!(await refHelper.testRef(git, settings.ref, settings.commit))) {
-          throw new Error(
-            `The ref '${settings.ref}' does not point to the expected commit '${settings.commit}'. ` +
-              `The ref may have been updated after the workflow was triggered.`
-          )
-        }
      }
    } else {
      fetchOptions.fetchDepth = settings.fetchDepth
-      const refSpec = refHelper.getRefSpec(
-        settings.ref,
-        settings.commit,
-        settings.fetchTags
-      )
+      fetchOptions.fetchTags = settings.fetchTags
+      const refSpec = refHelper.getRefSpec(settings.ref, settings.commit)
      await git.fetch(refSpec, fetchOptions)
-
-      // For tags, verify the ref still points to the expected commit.
-      // Tags are fetched by ref (not commit), so if a tag was moved after the
-      // workflow was triggered, we would silently check out the wrong commit.
-      if (!(await refHelper.testRef(git, settings.ref, settings.commit))) {
-        throw new Error(
-          `The ref '${settings.ref}' does not point to the expected commit '${settings.commit}'. ` +
-            `The ref may have been updated after the workflow was triggered.`
-        )
-      }
    }
    core.endGroup()

@@ -268,7 +230,115 @@ export async function getSource(settings: IGitSourceSettings): Promise<void> {

    // Checkout
    core.startGroup('Checking out the ref')
-    await git.checkout(checkoutInfo.ref, checkoutInfo.startPoint)
+    if (settings.preserveLocalChanges) {
+      core.info('Attempting to preserve local changes during checkout')
+
+      // List and store local files before checkout
+      const fs = require('fs')
+      const path = require('path')
+      const localFiles = new Map()
+
+      try {
+        // Get all files in the workspace that aren't in the .git directory
+        const workspacePath = process.cwd()
+        core.info(`Current workspace path: ${workspacePath}`)
+
+        // List all files in the current directory using fs
+        const listFilesRecursively = (dir: string): string[] => {
+          let results: string[] = []
+          const list = fs.readdirSync(dir)
+          list.forEach((file: string) => {
+            const fullPath = path.join(dir, file)
+            const relativePath = path.relative(workspacePath, fullPath)
+            // Skip .git directory
+            if (relativePath.startsWith('.git')) return
+
+            const stat = fs.statSync(fullPath)
+            if (stat && stat.isDirectory()) {
+              // Recursively explore subdirectories
+              results = results.concat(listFilesRecursively(fullPath))
+            } else {
+              // Store file content in memory
+              try {
+                const content = fs.readFileSync(fullPath)
+                localFiles.set(relativePath, content)
+                results.push(relativePath)
+              } catch (readErr) {
+                core.warning(`Failed to read file ${relativePath}: ${readErr}`)
+              }
+            }
+          })
+          return results
+        }
+
+        const localFilesList = listFilesRecursively(workspacePath)
+        core.info(`Found ${localFilesList.length} local files to preserve:`)
+        localFilesList.forEach(file => core.info(`  - ${file}`))
+      } catch (error) {
+        core.warning(`Failed to list local files: ${error}`)
+      }
+
+      // Perform normal checkout
+      await git.checkout(checkoutInfo.ref, checkoutInfo.startPoint)
+
+      // Restore local files that were not tracked by git
+      core.info('Restoring local files after checkout')
+      try {
+        let restoredCount = 0
+        const execOptions = {
+          cwd: process.cwd(),
+          silent: true,
+          ignoreReturnCode: true
+        }
+
+        for (const [filePath, content] of localFiles.entries()) {
+          // Check if file exists in git using a child process instead of git.execGit
+          const {exec} = require('@actions/exec')
+          let exitCode = 0
+          const output = {
+            stdout: '',
+            stderr: ''
+          }
+
+          // Capture output
+          const options = {
+            ...execOptions,
+            listeners: {
+              stdout: (data: Buffer) => {
+                output.stdout += data.toString()
+              },
+              stderr: (data: Buffer) => {
+                output.stderr += data.toString()
+              }
+            }
+          }
+
+          exitCode = await exec(
+            'git',
+            ['ls-files', '--error-unmatch', filePath],
+            options
+          )
+
+          if (exitCode !== 0) {
+            // File is not tracked by git, safe to restore
+            const fullPath = path.join(process.cwd(), filePath)
+            // Ensure directory exists
+            fs.mkdirSync(path.dirname(fullPath), {recursive: true})
+            fs.writeFileSync(fullPath, content)
+            core.info(`Restored local file: ${filePath}`)
+            restoredCount++
+          } else {
+            core.info(`Skipping ${filePath} as it's tracked by git`)
+          }
+        }
+        core.info(`Successfully restored ${restoredCount} local files`)
+      } catch (error) {
+        core.warning(`Failed to restore local files: ${error}`)
+      }
+    } else {
+      // Use the default behavior with --force
+      await git.checkout(checkoutInfo.ref, checkoutInfo.startPoint)
+    }
    core.endGroup()

    // Submodules
--- a/src/git-source-settings.ts
+++ b/src/git-source-settings.ts
@@ -25,10 +25,15 @@ export interface IGitSourceSettings {
  commit: string

  /**
-   * Indicates whether to clean the repository
+   * Whether to execute git clean and git reset before fetching
   */
  clean: boolean

+  /**
+   * Whether to preserve local changes during checkout
+   */
+  preserveLocalChanges: boolean
+
  /**
   * The filter determining which objects to include
   */
--- a/src/github-api-helper.ts
+++ b/src/github-api-helper.ts
@@ -11,11 +11,6 @@ import {getServerApiUrl} from './url-helper'

 const IS_WINDOWS = process.platform === 'win32'

-export interface RepositoryObjectFormatResult {
-  format: string
-  succeeded: boolean
-}
-
 export async function downloadRepository(
  authToken: string,
  owner: string,
@@ -127,53 +122,6 @@ export async function getDefaultBranch(
  })
 }

-export async function tryGetRepositoryObjectFormat(
-  authToken: string,
-  owner: string,
-  repo: string,
-  baseUrl?: string,
-  commit?: string
-): Promise<RepositoryObjectFormatResult> {
-  const commitFormat = getObjectFormat(commit)
-  if (commitFormat) {
-    return {format: commitFormat, succeeded: true}
-  }
-
-  try {
-    const octokit = github.getOctokit(authToken, {
-      baseUrl: getServerApiUrl(baseUrl)
-    })
-    const response = await octokit.request(
-      'GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/hash-algorithm',
-      {owner, repo}
-    )
-    const hashAlgorithm = response.data.hash_algorithm
-    if (hashAlgorithm === 'sha256' || hashAlgorithm === 'sha1') {
-      return {format: hashAlgorithm, succeeded: true}
-    }
-
-    core.debug(
-      'Unable to determine repository object format from hash-algorithm endpoint'
-    )
-    return {format: '', succeeded: false}
-  } catch (err) {
-    core.debug(
-      `Unable to determine repository object format from hash-algorithm endpoint: ${(err as any)?.message ?? err}`
-    )
-    return {format: '', succeeded: false}
-  }
-}
-
-function getObjectFormat(sha?: string): string {
-  if (/^[0-9a-fA-F]{64}$/.test(sha || '')) {
-    return 'sha256'
-  }
-  if (/^[0-9a-fA-F]{40}$/.test(sha || '')) {
-    return 'sha1'
-  }
-  return ''
-}
-
 async function downloadArchive(
  authToken: string,
  owner: string,
--- a/src/input-helper.ts
+++ b/src/input-helper.ts
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ export async function getInputs(): Promise<IGitSourceSettings> {
    }
  }
  // SHA?
-  else if (result.ref.match(/^(?:[0-9a-fA-F]{40}|[0-9a-fA-F]{64})$/)) {
+  else if (result.ref.match(/^[0-9a-fA-F]{40}$/)) {
    result.commit = result.ref
    result.ref = ''
  }
@@ -82,6 +82,12 @@ export async function getInputs(): Promise<IGitSourceSettings> {
  result.clean = (core.getInput('clean') || 'true').toUpperCase() === 'TRUE'
  core.debug(`clean = ${result.clean}`)

+  // Preserve local changes
+  result.preserveLocalChanges =
+    (core.getInput('preserve-local-changes') || 'false').toUpperCase() ===
+    'TRUE'
+  core.debug(`preserveLocalChanges = ${result.preserveLocalChanges}`)
+
  // Filter
  const filter = core.getInput('filter')
  if (filter) {
--- a/src/misc/generate-docs.ts
+++ b/src/misc/generate-docs.ts
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ function updateUsage(
 }

 updateUsage(
-  'actions/checkout@v6',
+  'actions/checkout@v5',
  path.join(__dirname, '..', '..', 'action.yml'),
  path.join(__dirname, '..', '..', 'README.md')
 )
--- a/src/ref-helper.ts
+++ b/src/ref-helper.ts
@@ -76,75 +76,55 @@ export function getRefSpecForAllHistory(ref: string, commit: string): string[] {
  return result
 }

-export function getRefSpec(
-  ref: string,
-  commit: string,
-  fetchTags?: boolean
-): string[] {
+export function getRefSpec(ref: string, commit: string): string[] {
  if (!ref && !commit) {
    throw new Error('Args ref and commit cannot both be empty')
  }

  const upperRef = (ref || '').toUpperCase()
-  const result: string[] = []
-
-  // When fetchTags is true, always include the tags refspec
-  if (fetchTags) {
-    result.push(tagsRefSpec)
-  }

  // SHA
  if (commit) {
    // refs/heads
    if (upperRef.startsWith('REFS/HEADS/')) {
      const branch = ref.substring('refs/heads/'.length)
-      result.push(`+${commit}:refs/remotes/origin/${branch}`)
+      return [`+${commit}:refs/remotes/origin/${branch}`]
    }
    // refs/pull/
    else if (upperRef.startsWith('REFS/PULL/')) {
      const branch = ref.substring('refs/pull/'.length)
-      result.push(`+${commit}:refs/remotes/pull/${branch}`)
+      return [`+${commit}:refs/remotes/pull/${branch}`]
    }
    // refs/tags/
    else if (upperRef.startsWith('REFS/TAGS/')) {
-      if (!fetchTags) {
-        result.push(`+${ref}:${ref}`)
-      }
+      return [`+${commit}:${ref}`]
    }
    // Otherwise no destination ref
    else {
-      result.push(commit)
+      return [commit]
    }
  }
  // Unqualified ref, check for a matching branch or tag
  else if (!upperRef.startsWith('REFS/')) {
-    result.push(`+refs/heads/${ref}*:refs/remotes/origin/${ref}*`)
-    if (!fetchTags) {
-      result.push(`+refs/tags/${ref}*:refs/tags/${ref}*`)
-    }
+    return [
+      `+refs/heads/${ref}*:refs/remotes/origin/${ref}*`,
+      `+refs/tags/${ref}*:refs/tags/${ref}*`
+    ]
  }
  // refs/heads/
  else if (upperRef.startsWith('REFS/HEADS/')) {
    const branch = ref.substring('refs/heads/'.length)
-    result.push(`+${ref}:refs/remotes/origin/${branch}`)
+    return [`+${ref}:refs/remotes/origin/${branch}`]
  }
  // refs/pull/
  else if (upperRef.startsWith('REFS/PULL/')) {
    const branch = ref.substring('refs/pull/'.length)
-    result.push(`+${ref}:refs/remotes/pull/${branch}`)
+    return [`+${ref}:refs/remotes/pull/${branch}`]
  }
  // refs/tags/
-  else if (upperRef.startsWith('REFS/TAGS/')) {
-    if (!fetchTags) {
-      result.push(`+${ref}:${ref}`)
-    }
-  }
-  // Other refs
  else {
-    result.push(`+${ref}:${ref}`)
+    return [`+${ref}:${ref}`]
  }
-
-  return result
 }

 /**
@@ -190,10 +170,8 @@ export async function testRef(
  // refs/tags/
  else if (upperRef.startsWith('REFS/TAGS/')) {
    const tagName = ref.substring('refs/tags/'.length)
-    // Use ^{commit} to dereference annotated tags to their underlying commit
    return (
-      (await git.tagExists(tagName)) &&
-      commit === (await git.revParse(`${ref}^{commit}`))
+      (await git.tagExists(tagName)) && commit === (await git.revParse(ref))
    )
  }
  // Unexpected
@@ -258,9 +236,7 @@ export async function checkCommitInfo(
    }

    // Extract details from message
-    const match = commitInfo.match(
-      /Merge ([0-9a-f]{40}|[0-9a-f]{64}) into ([0-9a-f]{40}|[0-9a-f]{64})/
-    )
+    const match = commitInfo.match(/Merge ([0-9a-f]{40}) into ([0-9a-f]{40})/)
    if (!match) {
      core.debug('Unexpected message format')
      return
Author	SHA1	Message	Date
Salman Chishti	bbc1be3677	Merge `45abae3e9f` into `71cf2267d8`	2025-11-03 13:32:32 -08:00
Salman Muin Kayser Chishti	45abae3e9f	feat: Honor preserve-local-changes flag when repository URL changes Makes preserve-local-changes option work consistently in all scenarios, including when repository URL changes. Updates warning message to correctly reflect this behavior.	2025-08-11 14:10:22 +01:00
Salman Muin Kayser Chishti	215f9562a1	update tests	2025-08-11 13:00:43 +01:00
Salman Muin Kayser Chishti	caa5717450	dist	2025-08-11 12:48:35 +01:00
Salman Muin Kayser Chishti	630cdb3874	linting	2025-08-11 12:47:29 +01:00
Salman Muin Kayser Chishti	6503dcd44c	update	2025-08-11 12:39:11 +01:00
Salman Muin Kayser Chishti	ebd82bae91	Update logic for preserving local changes in the checkout action	2025-08-11 12:33:14 +01:00
Salman Muin Kayser Chishti	f04b821901	kebab case	2025-08-11 12:25:16 +01:00
Salman Muin Kayser Chishti	45fe6460ed	try preserve local changes option	2025-08-11 12:21:31 +01:00