sourcebot-dev · brendan-kellam · Apr 17, 2026 · Apr 15, 2026 · Apr 15, 2026 · Apr 17, 2026
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Fixed
+- Fixed revision selection so the 64-revision cap prefers the newest matching branches and tags instead of pruning by ref-name order. [#1122](https://github.com/sourcebot-dev/sourcebot/pull/1122)
+
 ## [4.16.11] - 2026-04-17
 
 ### Changed

diff --git a/packages/backend/src/git.test.ts b/packages/backend/src/git.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+import { mkdtemp, rm, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { execFileSync } from "node:child_process";
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, test } from "vitest";
+import { getBranches, getTags } from "./git.js";
+
+const runGit = (
+    repoPath: string,
+    args: string[],
+    env: Record<string, string> = {},
+) => {
+    execFileSync("git", args, {
+        cwd: repoPath,
+        env: {
+            ...process.env,
+            ...env,
+        },
+        stdio: "pipe",
+    });
+};
+
+const createTempRepo = async () => {
+    const repoPath = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "sourcebot-git-test-"));
+
+    runGit(repoPath, ["init", "--initial-branch=main"]);
+    runGit(repoPath, ["config", "user.name", "Sourcebot Test"]);
+    runGit(repoPath, ["config", "user.email", "[email protected]"]);
+    runGit(repoPath, ["config", "tag.sort", "refname"]);
+    runGit(repoPath, ["config", "branch.sort", "refname"]);
+
+    return repoPath;
+};
+
+const commitFile = async ({
+    repoPath,
+    fileName,
+    content,
+    message,
+    timestamp,
+}: {
+    repoPath: string;
+    fileName: string;
+    content: string;
+    message: string;
+    timestamp: string;
+}) => {
+    await writeFile(join(repoPath, fileName), content);
+    runGit(repoPath, ["add", fileName]);
+    runGit(repoPath, ["commit", "-m", message], {
+        GIT_AUTHOR_DATE: timestamp,
+        GIT_COMMITTER_DATE: timestamp,
+    });
+};
+
+describe("git ref ordering", () => {
+    const repoPaths: string[] = [];
+
+    afterEach(async () => {
+        await Promise.all(
+            repoPaths
+                .splice(0)
+                .map((repoPath) =>
+                    rm(repoPath, { recursive: true, force: true }),
+                ),
+        );
+    });
+
+    test("getTags returns newest tags first by creator date", async () => {
+        const repoPath = await createTempRepo();
+        repoPaths.push(repoPath);
+
+        await commitFile({
+            repoPath,
+            fileName: "README.md",
+            content: "base\n",
+            message: "initial commit",
+            timestamp: "2024-01-01T00:00:00Z",
+        });
+
+        runGit(repoPath, ["tag", "-a", "a-oldest", "-m", "oldest tag"], {
+            GIT_COMMITTER_DATE: "2024-01-02T00:00:00Z",
+        });
+        runGit(repoPath, ["tag", "-a", "z-newest", "-m", "newest tag"], {
+            GIT_COMMITTER_DATE: "2024-01-03T00:00:00Z",
+        });
+
+        const tags = await getTags(repoPath);
+
+        expect(tags).toContain("z-newest");
+        expect(tags).toContain("a-oldest");
+        expect(tags.indexOf("z-newest")).toBeLessThan(tags.indexOf("a-oldest"));
+    });
+
+    test("getBranches returns newest branches first by last commit date", async () => {
+        const repoPath = await createTempRepo();
+        repoPaths.push(repoPath);
+
+        await commitFile({
+            repoPath,
+            fileName: "README.md",
+            content: "base\n",
+            message: "initial commit",
+            timestamp: "2024-01-01T00:00:00Z",
+        });
+
+        runGit(repoPath, ["checkout", "-b", "aaa-oldest"]);
+        await commitFile({
+            repoPath,
+            fileName: "oldest.txt",
+            content: "oldest\n",
+            message: "oldest branch commit",
+            timestamp: "2024-01-02T00:00:00Z",
+        });
+
+        runGit(repoPath, ["checkout", "main"]);
+        runGit(repoPath, ["checkout", "-b", "zzz-newest"]);
+        await commitFile({
+            repoPath,
+            fileName: "newest.txt",
+            content: "newest\n",
+            message: "newest branch commit",
+            timestamp: "2024-01-03T00:00:00Z",
+        });
+
+        runGit(repoPath, ["checkout", "main"]);
+
+        const branches = await getBranches(repoPath);
+
+        expect(branches).toContain("zzz-newest");
+        expect(branches).toContain("aaa-oldest");
+        expect(branches.indexOf("zzz-newest")).toBeLessThan(
+            branches.indexOf("aaa-oldest"),
+        );
+    });
+});
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/git.ts b/packages/backend/src/git.ts
@@ -285,17 +285,48 @@ export const getOriginUrl = async (path: string) => {
     }
 }
 
-export const getBranches = async (path: string) => {
+const parseRefNames = (refs: string) =>
+    refs
+        .split('\n')
+        .map((ref) => ref.trim())
+        .filter(Boolean);
+
+const getSortedRefs = async ({
+    path,
+    sort,
+    refNamespace,
+}: {
+    path: string,
+    sort: string,
+    refNamespace: 'refs/heads' | 'refs/tags',
+}) => {
     const git = createGitClientForPath(path);
-    const branches = await git.branch();
-    return branches.all;
-}
+
+    return parseRefNames(
+        await git.raw([
+            "for-each-ref",
+            `--sort=${sort}`,
+            "--format=%(refname:short)",
+            refNamespace,
+        ]),
+    );
+};
+
+export const getBranches = async (path: string) => {
+    return getSortedRefs({
+        path,
+        sort: "-committerdate",
+        refNamespace: "refs/heads",
+    });
+};
 
 export const getTags = async (path: string) => {
-    const git = createGitClientForPath(path);
-    const tags = await git.tags();
-    return tags.all;
-}
+    return getSortedRefs({
+        path,
+        sort: "-creatordate",
+        refNamespace: "refs/tags",
+    });
+};
 
 export const getCommitHashForRefName = async ({
     path,

diff --git a/packages/backend/src/repoIndexManager.test.ts b/packages/backend/src/repoIndexManager.test.ts
@@ -131,7 +131,13 @@ vi.mock('redlock', () => ({
 import { existsSync } from 'fs';
 import { readdir, rm } from 'fs/promises';
 import { ExecutionError } from 'redlock';
-import { cloneRepository, fetchRepository, isPathAValidGitRepoRoot } from './git.js';
+import {
+    cloneRepository,
+    fetchRepository,
+    getBranches,
+    getTags,
+    isPathAValidGitRepoRoot,
+} from './git.js';
 import { RepoIndexManager } from './repoIndexManager.js';
 import { indexGitRepository } from './zoekt.js';
 
@@ -410,6 +416,106 @@ describe('RepoIndexManager', () => {
             );
         });
 
+        test('keeps default branch and truncates to the first 63 matching tags', async () => {
+            const newestTagsFirst = Array.from(
+                { length: 70 },
+                (_, index) => `v${70 - index}.0.0`,
+            );
+            const repo = createMockRepoWithConnections({
+                metadata: {
+                    tags: ['**'],
+                },
+            });
+            (existsSync as Mock).mockReturnValue(true);
+            (getTags as Mock).mockResolvedValue(newestTagsFirst);
+
+            manager = new RepoIndexManager(mockPrisma, mockSettings, mockRedis, mockPromClient as any);
+
+            (mockPrisma.repoIndexingJob.findUniqueOrThrow as Mock).mockResolvedValue({
+                status: RepoIndexingJobStatus.PENDING,
+            });
+            (mockPrisma.repoIndexingJob.update as Mock).mockResolvedValue({
+                type: RepoIndexingJobType.INDEX,
+                repo,
+            });
+
+            const mockJob = {
+                data: {
+                    jobId: 'job-1',
+                    type: 'INDEX',
+                    repoId: repo.id,
+                    repoName: repo.name,
+                },
+                moveToDelayed: vi.fn(),
+            } as unknown as Job;
+
+            const { Worker } = await import('bullmq');
+            const processor = (Worker as unknown as Mock).mock.calls[0][1];
+            await processor(mockJob);
+
+            expect(indexGitRepository).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+                repo,
+                mockSettings,
+                [
+                    'refs/heads/main',
+                    ...newestTagsFirst
+                        .slice(0, 63)
+                        .map((tag) => `refs/tags/${tag}`),
+                ],
+                expect.any(Object)
+            );
+        });
+
+        test('de-duplicates the default branch before truncating matching branches', async () => {
+            const newestBranchesFirst = [
+                'feature/newest',
+                'main',
+                ...Array.from(
+                    { length: 68 },
+                    (_, index) => `feature/${68 - index}`,
+                ),
+            ];
+            const repo = createMockRepoWithConnections({
+                metadata: {
+                    branches: ['main', 'feature/**'],
+                },
+            });
+            (existsSync as Mock).mockReturnValue(true);
+            (getBranches as Mock).mockResolvedValue(newestBranchesFirst);
+
+            manager = new RepoIndexManager(mockPrisma, mockSettings, mockRedis, mockPromClient as any);
+
+            (mockPrisma.repoIndexingJob.findUniqueOrThrow as Mock).mockResolvedValue({
+                status: RepoIndexingJobStatus.PENDING,
+            });
+            (mockPrisma.repoIndexingJob.update as Mock).mockResolvedValue({
+                type: RepoIndexingJobType.INDEX,
+                repo,
+            });
+
+            const mockJob = {
+                data: {
+                    jobId: 'job-1',
+                    type: 'INDEX',
+                    repoId: repo.id,
+                    repoName: repo.name,
+                },
+                moveToDelayed: vi.fn(),
+            } as unknown as Job;
+
+            const { Worker } = await import('bullmq');
+            const processor = (Worker as unknown as Mock).mock.calls[0][1];
+            await processor(mockJob);
+
+            const revisions = (indexGitRepository as Mock).mock.calls.at(-1)?.[2] as string[];
+
+            expect(revisions).toHaveLength(64);
+            expect(revisions.filter((revision) => revision === 'refs/heads/main')).toHaveLength(1);
+            expect(revisions[0]).toBe('refs/heads/main');
+            expect(revisions).toContain('refs/heads/feature/newest');
+            expect(revisions).not.toContain('refs/heads/feature/6');
+        });
+
         test('updates repo.indexedAt and indexedCommitHash on completion', async () => {
             const repo = createMockRepoWithConnections();
             (existsSync as Mock).mockReturnValue(true);