---
title: Branches & Tags API
description: Branch/tag management, merge, revert, reset operations
icon: i-carbon-branch
---

# Branches & Tags API

Manage branches, tags, and advanced Git operations (merge, revert, reset).

---

## Branches

### Create Branch

**Pattern:** `POST /api/{repo_type}s/{namespace}/{name}/branch`

**Authentication:** Required (delete permission)

**Request Body:**
```json
{
  "branch": "feature-branch",
  "revision": "main"
}
```

**Fields:**
- `branch`: New branch name (required)
- `revision`: Source revision (branch/commit, default: "main")

**Response:**
```json
{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Branch 'feature-branch' created"
}
```

**Status Codes:**
- `200 OK` - Branch created
- `404 Not Found` - Repository or source revision not found
- `409 Conflict` - Branch already exists

---

### Delete Branch

**Pattern:** `DELETE /api/{repo_type}s/{namespace}/{name}/branch/{branch}`

**Authentication:** Required (delete permission)

**Protection:** Cannot delete "main" branch

**Response:**
```json
{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Branch 'feature-branch' deleted"
}
```

**Status Codes:**
- `200 OK` - Branch deleted
- `400 Bad Request` - Attempting to delete main branch
- `404 Not Found` - Repository or branch not found

---

### Merge Branches

**Pattern:** `POST /api/{repo_type}s/{namespace}/{name}/merge/{source_ref}/into/{destination_branch}`

**Authentication:** Required (write permission)

**Request Body:**
```json
{
  "message": "Merge feature into main",
  "metadata": {
    "author": "alice"
  },
  "strategy": "dest-wins",
  "force": false,
  "allow_empty": false,
  "squash_merge": false
}
```

**Fields (all optional):**
- `message`: Commit message
- `metadata`: Additional metadata
- `strategy`: Conflict resolution
  - `"dest-wins"`: Destination wins on conflict
  - `"source-wins"`: Source wins on conflict
  - `null`: Fail on conflict (default)
- `force`: Force merge even with conflicts
- `allow_empty`: Allow merge with no changes
- `squash_merge`: Squash all commits into one

**Response:**
```json
{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Successfully merged feature into main",
  "result": {
    "reference": "commit_hash",
    "summary": {
      "added": 5,
      "removed": 2,
      "changed": 3
    }
  }
}
```

**Status Codes:**
- `200 OK` - Merged successfully
- `409 Conflict` - Merge conflict (use strategy to resolve)
- `500 Internal Server Error` - Merge failed

**Auto-tracking:**
- LFS objects tracked automatically
- Commit recorded in database
- User attribution preserved

---

### Revert Commit

**Pattern:** `POST /api/{repo_type}s/{namespace}/{name}/branch/{branch}/revert`

**Authentication:** Required (write permission)

**Purpose:** Create new commit that undoes changes from a specific commit

**Request Body:**
```json
{
  "ref": "commit_id_to_revert",
  "parent_number": 1,
  "message": "Revert: broken feature",
  "metadata": {
    "reason": "broke production"
  },
  "force": false,
  "allow_empty": false
}
```

**Fields:**
- `ref`: Commit ID or ref to revert (required)
- `parent_number`: For merge commits (default: 1)
- `message`: Commit message (optional)
- `metadata`: Additional metadata (optional)
- `force`: Force revert even with conflicts
- `allow_empty`: Allow empty revert

**Response:**
```json
{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Successfully reverted commit abc123de on branch 'main'",
  "new_commit_id": "new_commit_hash"
}
```

**Important Notes:**
- Creates NEW commit (doesn't delete history)
- LFS files automatically handled (no recoverability check needed)
- If conflicts: returns 409 error

**Status Codes:**
- `200 OK` - Reverted successfully
- `404 Not Found` - Commit not found
- `409 Conflict` - Revert caused conflicts

---

### Reset Branch

**Pattern:** `POST /api/{repo_type}s/{namespace}/{name}/branch/{branch}/reset`

**Authentication:** Required (write permission)

**Purpose:** Reset branch to a specific commit (like `git reset --hard`)

**Request Body:**
```json
{
  "ref": "commit_id_to_reset_to",
  "message": "Reset to stable version",
  "force": false
}
```

**Fields:**
- `ref`: Commit ID or ref to reset to (required)
- `message`: Commit message (optional)
- `force`: Skip LFS recoverability check

**Safety Checks:**
1. Main branch requires `force: true`
2. LFS file availability checked (unless `force: true`)
3. Creates new commit (preserves history)

**Response:**
```json
{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Successfully reset branch 'main' to commit abc123de (new commit created)",
  "commit_id": "new_commit_hash"
}
```

**LFS Recoverability Check:**
- Validates all LFS files from target commit still exist
- Checks all commits between target and HEAD
- If files garbage-collected: returns 400 error

**Error if LFS unavailable:**
```json
{
  "error": "Cannot reset to commit abc123: 5 LFS file(s) across 3 commit(s) have been garbage collected",
  "missing_files": ["model.safetensors", "data.bin"],
  "affected_commits": ["commit1", "commit2", "commit3"],
  "recoverable": false
}
```

**Use `force: true` to bypass check (may break LFS refs)**

**Status Codes:**
- `200 OK` - Reset successful
- `400 Bad Request` - LFS files not recoverable or main branch without force
- `404 Not Found` - Commit not found

**Implementation Details:**
- Uses diff-based approach (not destructive)
- Restores files from target commit
- Syncs File table after reset
- Records reset commit in database

---

## Tags

### Create Tag

**Pattern:** `POST /api/{repo_type}s/{namespace}/{name}/tag`

**Authentication:** Required (delete permission)

**Request Body:**
```json
{
  "tag": "v1.0.0",
  "revision": "main",
  "message": "Release version 1.0"
}
```

**Fields:**
- `tag`: Tag name (required)
- `revision`: Source revision (default: "main")
- `message`: Tag message (optional)

**Response:**
```json
{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Tag 'v1.0.0' created"
}
```

**Status Codes:**
- `200 OK` - Tag created
- `404 Not Found` - Repository or revision not found
- `500 Internal Server Error` - Failed to create tag

---

### Delete Tag

**Pattern:** `DELETE /api/{repo_type}s/{namespace}/{name}/tag/{tag}`

**Authentication:** Required (delete permission)

**Response:**
```json
{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Tag 'v1.0.0' deleted"
}
```

**Status Codes:**
- `200 OK` - Tag deleted
- `404 Not Found` - Repository or tag not found
- `500 Internal Server Error` - Failed to delete tag

---

## Usage Examples

### Merge Feature Branch

```python
import requests

API_BASE = "http://localhost:28080/api"
TOKEN = "your_token"
HEADERS = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {TOKEN}"}

# Merge feature into main
response = requests.post(
    f"{API_BASE}/models/username/repo/merge/feature-branch/into/main",
    json={
        "message": "Merge feature: Add new model",
        "strategy": "dest-wins"  # Main wins on conflicts
    },
    headers=HEADERS
)

result = response.json()
print(f"Merged: {result['message']}")
print(f"Commit: {result['result']['reference']}")
```

---

### Revert Bad Commit

```python
# Find the bad commit
commits_resp = requests.get(
    f"{API_BASE}/models/username/repo/commits/main?limit=10",
    headers=HEADERS
)
commits = commits_resp.json()["commits"]
bad_commit = commits[0]["id"]  # Latest commit

# Revert it
revert_resp = requests.post(
    f"{API_BASE}/models/username/repo/branch/main/revert",
    json={
        "ref": bad_commit,
        "message": "Revert: broken model weights"
    },
    headers=HEADERS
)

result = revert_resp.json()
print(f"Reverted: {result['new_commit_id']}")
```

---

### Reset to Previous Version

```python
# Reset to 3 commits ago
commits_resp = requests.get(
    f"{API_BASE}/models/username/repo/commits/main?limit=5",
    headers=HEADERS
)
commits = commits_resp.json()["commits"]
target_commit = commits[3]["id"]  # 3 commits back

# Reset (with LFS check)
reset_resp = requests.post(
    f"{API_BASE}/models/username/repo/branch/main/reset",
    json={
        "ref": target_commit,
        "message": "Reset to stable version",
        "force": False  # Check LFS availability
    },
    headers=HEADERS
)

if reset_resp.status_code == 400:
    # LFS files not available
    error = reset_resp.json()
    print(f"Cannot reset: {error['error']}")
    print(f"Missing files: {error['missing_files']}")

    # Force reset anyway (may break)
    reset_resp = requests.post(
        f"{API_BASE}/models/username/repo/branch/main/reset",
        json={"ref": target_commit, "force": True},
        headers=HEADERS
    )

result = reset_resp.json()
print(f"Reset to: {result['commit_id']}")
```

---

### Create Release Tag

```python
# Tag current main branch
tag_resp = requests.post(
    f"{API_BASE}/models/username/repo/tag",
    json={
        "tag": "v1.0.0",
        "revision": "main",
        "message": "Release version 1.0 - Production ready"
    },
    headers=HEADERS
)

result = tag_resp.json()
print(result["message"])

# Download specific version
file_url = f"{API_BASE}/models/username/repo/resolve/v1.0.0/model.safetensors"
```

---

## Git Command Equivalents

### Branches

```bash
# Create branch
POST /branch {"branch": "feature", "revision": "main"}
# git checkout -b feature main

# Delete branch
DELETE /branch/feature
# git branch -d feature

# Merge
POST /merge/feature/into/main {"strategy": "dest-wins"}
# git checkout main && git merge feature -X theirs
```

### Tags

```bash
# Create tag
POST /tag {"tag": "v1.0", "revision": "main"}
# git tag v1.0 main

# Delete tag
DELETE /tag/v1.0
# git tag -d v1.0
```

### Advanced Operations

```bash
# Revert
POST /branch/main/revert {"ref": "abc123"}
# git revert abc123

# Reset
POST /branch/main/reset {"ref": "abc123"}
# git reset --hard abc123 (but creates new commit)
```

---

## Best Practices

**Branching Strategy:**
- Use `main` for production
- Create feature branches for development
- Merge with `dest-wins` to protect main
- Tag releases for versioning

**LFS Considerations:**
- Reset checks LFS availability (prevent broken refs)
- Use `force: true` only if you understand the risk
- Keep `lfs_keep_versions` high enough for your workflow
- Monitor storage after resets/reverts

**Safety:**
- Always use `force: false` first (see errors)
- Test merges on feature branches first
- Tag before risky operations (easy rollback)
- Document reset/revert reasons in commit message

---

## Next Steps

- [Commits API](./commits.md) - View commit history
- [File Upload API](./file-upload.md) - Commit files
- [Repositories API](./repositories.md) - Repo management