Using the Azure Devops Server client library, how do you create the master branch in a new repository? - azure-devops

Question

Using the client API I can create a new repository, but it hasn't been initialized and so doesn't contain a master branch.
public void CreateRepository(string name)
{
TeamProjectReference tpr = new TeamProjectReference();
tpr.Name = "AppDev";
tpr.Id = new Guid("xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx");
GitRepositoryCreateOptions grco = new GitRepositoryCreateOptions();
grco.ProjectReference = tpr;
grco.Name = name;
newRepo = gitClient.CreateRepositoryAsync(grco).Result;
}
I can't figure out how to create a master branch. The methods to create branches all require a parent branch to create from. How do I create master using the client libraries?

Answer 1

How do I create master using the client libraries?
Apart from creating the empty repo, you also need to initialize it with initial commit. Hint from this rest api Initial commit, and also from this official document. You can follow my working sample below:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
//Connect to Azure Devops Service and create an empty git repo.
ConnectToAzureDevopsService(OrgUrl, PAT);
TeamProjectReference teamProjectReference = new TeamProjectReference();
teamProjectReference.Name = "MyProjectName";
teamProjectReference.Id = new Guid("xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx");
GitRepositoryCreateOptions gitRepositoryCreateOptions = new GitRepositoryCreateOptions();
gitRepositoryCreateOptions.ProjectReference = teamProjectReference;
gitRepositoryCreateOptions.Name = "MyTestRepo";
GitRepository gitRepo = GitClient.CreateRepositoryAsync(gitRepositoryCreateOptions).Result;
//You need extra steps below to initialize your newly created repo.
//Craft the branch and commit that we'll push.
GitRefUpdate newBranch = new GitRefUpdate()
{
RepositoryId = gitRepo.Id,
Name = $"refs/heads/master",
OldObjectId = "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
};
string newFileName = $"README.md";
GitCommitRef newCommit = new GitCommitRef()
{
Comment = "Initial the repo with custom README.md",
Changes = new GitChange[]
{
new GitChange()
{
ChangeType = VersionControlChangeType.Add,
Item = new GitItem() { Path = $"/{newFileName}" },
NewContent = new ItemContent()
{
Content = "# Thank you for using VSTS!",
ContentType = ItemContentType.RawText,
},
}
},
};
//Start initializing the repo via creating the push.
GitPush InitialPush = GitClient.CreatePushAsync(new GitPush()
{
RefUpdates = new GitRefUpdate[] { newBranch },
Commits = new GitCommitRef[] { newCommit },
}, gitRepo.Id).Result;
//Let me know if it succeeds.
Console.WriteLine("Done");
}
The result:
Let me know if it helps.