Merge branch 'jc/advice-sans-trailing-whitespace'

The "hint:" messages given by the advice mechanism, when given a
message with a blank line, left a line with trailing whitespace,
which has been cleansed.

* jc/advice-sans-trailing-whitespace:
  advice: omit trailing whitespace
diff --git a/Documentation/RelNotes/2.45.0.txt b/Documentation/RelNotes/2.45.0.txt
index cabdaf4..5bca5a0 100644
--- a/Documentation/RelNotes/2.45.0.txt
+++ b/Documentation/RelNotes/2.45.0.txt
@@ -57,6 +57,22 @@
  * Remove an ancient and not well maintained Hg-to-git migration
    script from contrib/.
 
+ * Hints that suggest what to do after resolving conflicts can now be
+   squelched by disabling advice.mergeConflict.
+
+ * Allow git-cherry-pick(1) to automatically drop redundant commits via
+   a new `--empty` option, similar to the `--empty` options for
+   git-rebase(1) and git-am(1). Includes a soft deprecation of
+   `--keep-redundant-commits` as well as some related docs changes and
+   sequencer code cleanup.
+
+ * "git config" learned "--comment=<message>" option to leave a
+   comment immediately after the "variable = value" on the same line
+   in the configuration file.
+
+ * core.commentChar used to be limited to a single byte, but has been
+   updated to allow an arbitrary multi-byte sequence.
+
 
 Performance, Internal Implementation, Development Support etc.
 
@@ -111,6 +127,19 @@
  * A new fuzz target that exercises config parsing code has been
    added.
 
+ * Fix the way recently added tests interpolate variables defined
+   outside them, and document the best practice to help future
+   developers.
+
+ * Introduce an experimental protocol for contributors to propose the
+   topic description to be used in the "What's cooking" report, the
+   merge commit message for the topic, and in the release notes and
+   document it in the SubmittingPatches document.
+
+ * The t/README file now gives a hint on running individual tests in
+   the "t/" directory with "make t<num>-*.sh t<num>-*.sh".
+   (merge 8d383806fc pb/test-scripts-are-build-targets later to maint).
+
 
 Fixes since v2.44
 -----------------
@@ -244,6 +273,35 @@
    updated.
    (merge bff85a338c bl/doc-key-val-sep-fix later to maint).
 
+ * "git checkout --conflict=bad" reported a bad conflictStyle as if it
+   were given to a configuration variable; it has been corrected to
+   report that the command line option is bad.
+   (merge 5a99c1ac1a pw/checkout-conflict-errorfix later to maint).
+
+ * Code clean-up in the "git log" machinery that implements custom log
+   message formatting.
+   (merge 1c10b8e5b0 jk/pretty-subject-cleanup later to maint).
+
+ * "git config" corrupted literal HT characters written in the
+   configuration file as part of a value, which has been corrected.
+   (merge e6895c3f97 ds/config-internal-whitespace-fix later to maint).
+
+ * A unit test for reftable code tried to enumerate all files in a
+   directory after reftable operations and expected to see nothing but
+   the files it wanted to leave there, but was fooled by .nfs* cruft
+   files left, which has been corrected.
+   (merge 0068aa7946 ps/reftable-unit-test-nfs-workaround later to maint).
+
+ * The implementation and documentation of "object-format" option
+   exchange between the Git itself and its remote helpers did not
+   quite match, which has been corrected.
+
+ * The "--pretty=<shortHand>" option of the commands in the "git log"
+   family, defined as "[pretty] shortHand = <expansion>" should have
+   been looked up case insensitively, but was not, which has been
+   corrected.
+   (merge f999d5188b bl/pretty-shorthand-config-fix later to maint).
+
  * Other code cleanup, docfix, build fix, etc.
    (merge f0e578c69c rs/use-xstrncmpz later to maint).
    (merge 83e6eb7d7a ba/credential-test-clean-fix later to maint).
@@ -266,3 +324,5 @@
    (merge ad538c61da jc/index-pack-fsck-levels later to maint).
    (merge 67471bc704 ja/doc-formatting-fix later to maint).
    (merge 86f9ce7dd6 bl/doc-config-fixes later to maint).
+   (merge 0d527842b7 az/grep-group-error-message-update later to maint).
+   (merge 7c43bdf07b rs/strbuf-expand-bad-format later to maint).
diff --git a/Documentation/SubmittingPatches b/Documentation/SubmittingPatches
index e734a3f..c647c7e 100644
--- a/Documentation/SubmittingPatches
+++ b/Documentation/SubmittingPatches
@@ -459,6 +459,18 @@
 Git-notes and inserted automatically following the three-dash
 line via `git format-patch --notes`.
 
+[[the-topic-summary]]
+*This is EXPERIMENTAL*.
+
+When sending a topic, you can propose a one-paragraph summary that
+should appear in the "What's cooking" report when it is picked up to
+explain the topic.  If you choose to do so, please write a 2-5 line
+paragraph that will fit well in our release notes (see many bulleted
+entries in the Documentation/RelNotes/* files for examples), and make
+it the first paragraph of the cover letter.  For a single-patch
+series, use the space between the three-dash line and the diffstat, as
+described earlier.
+
 [[attachment]]
 Do not attach the patch as a MIME attachment, compressed or not.
 Do not let your e-mail client send quoted-printable.  Do not let
diff --git a/Documentation/config.txt b/Documentation/config.txt
index 782c2ba..70b448b 100644
--- a/Documentation/config.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config.txt
@@ -22,9 +22,10 @@
 Syntax
 ~~~~~~
 
-The syntax is fairly flexible and permissive; whitespaces are mostly
-ignored.  The '#' and ';' characters begin comments to the end of line,
-blank lines are ignored.
+The syntax is fairly flexible and permissive.  Whitespace characters,
+which in this context are the space character (SP) and the horizontal
+tabulation (HT), are mostly ignored.  The '#' and ';' characters begin
+comments to the end of line.  Blank lines are ignored.
 
 The file consists of sections and variables.  A section begins with
 the name of the section in square brackets and continues until the next
@@ -63,16 +64,17 @@
 The variable names are case-insensitive, allow only alphanumeric characters
 and `-`, and must start with an alphabetic character.
 
-A line that defines a value can be continued to the next line by
-ending it with a `\`; the backslash and the end-of-line are
-stripped.  Leading whitespaces after 'name =', the remainder of the
-line after the first comment character '#' or ';', and trailing
-whitespaces of the line are discarded unless they are enclosed in
-double quotes.  Internal whitespaces within the value are retained
-verbatim.
+Whitespace characters surrounding `name`, `=` and `value` are discarded.
+Internal whitespace characters within 'value' are retained verbatim.
+Comments starting with either `#` or `;` and extending to the end of line
+are discarded.  A line that defines a value can be continued to the next
+line by ending it with a backslash (`\`);  the backslash and the end-of-line
+characters are discarded.
 
-Inside double quotes, double quote `"` and backslash `\` characters
-must be escaped: use `\"` for `"` and `\\` for `\`.
+If `value` needs to contain leading or trailing whitespace characters,
+it must be enclosed in double quotation marks (`"`).  Inside double quotation
+marks, double quote (`"`) and backslash (`\`) characters must be escaped:
+use `\"` for `"` and `\\` for `\`.
 
 The following escape sequences (beside `\"` and `\\`) are recognized:
 `\n` for newline character (NL), `\t` for horizontal tabulation (HT, TAB)
diff --git a/Documentation/config/advice.txt b/Documentation/config/advice.txt
index f833411..0e35ae5 100644
--- a/Documentation/config/advice.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config/advice.txt
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@
 		Shown when the user's information is guessed from the
 		system username and domain name, to tell the user how to
 		set their identity configuration.
+	mergeConflict::
+		Shown when various commands stop because of conflicts.
 	nestedTag::
 		Shown when a user attempts to recursively tag a tag object.
 	pushAlreadyExists::
diff --git a/Documentation/config/core.txt b/Documentation/config/core.txt
index 2d4bbdb..bbe869c 100644
--- a/Documentation/config/core.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config/core.txt
@@ -520,13 +520,28 @@
 	`GIT_EDITOR` is not set.  See linkgit:git-var[1].
 
 core.commentChar::
+core.commentString::
 	Commands such as `commit` and `tag` that let you edit
-	messages consider a line that begins with this ASCII character
+	messages consider a line that begins with this character
 	commented, and removes them after the editor returns
 	(default '#').
 +
 If set to "auto", `git-commit` would select a character that is not
 the beginning character of any line in existing commit messages.
++
+Note that these two variables are aliases of each other, and in modern
+versions of Git you are free to use a string (e.g., `//` or `⁑⁕⁑`) with
+`commentChar`. Versions of Git prior to v2.45.0 will ignore
+`commentString` but will reject a value of `commentChar` that consists
+of more than a single ASCII byte. If you plan to use your config with
+older and newer versions of Git, you may want to specify both:
++
+    [core]
+    # single character for older versions
+    commentChar = "#"
+    # string for newer versions (which will override commentChar
+    # because it comes later in the file)
+    commentString = "//"
 
 core.filesRefLockTimeout::
 	The length of time, in milliseconds, to retry when trying to
diff --git a/Documentation/config/grep.txt b/Documentation/config/grep.txt
index e521f20..10041f2 100644
--- a/Documentation/config/grep.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config/grep.txt
@@ -24,5 +24,5 @@
 	If set to true, enable `--full-name` option by default.
 
 grep.fallbackToNoIndex::
-	If set to true, fall back to git grep --no-index if git grep
+	If set to true, fall back to `git grep --no-index` if `git grep`
 	is executed outside of a git repository.  Defaults to false.
diff --git a/Documentation/git-am.txt b/Documentation/git-am.txt
index 463a3c6..624a6e6 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-am.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-am.txt
@@ -66,13 +66,19 @@
 --quoted-cr=<action>::
 	This flag will be passed down to 'git mailinfo' (see linkgit:git-mailinfo[1]).
 
---empty=(stop|drop|keep)::
-	By default, or when the option is set to 'stop', the command
-	errors out on an input e-mail message lacking a patch
-	and stops in the middle of the current am session. When this
-	option is set to 'drop', skip such an e-mail message instead.
-	When this option is set to 'keep', create an empty commit,
-	recording the contents of the e-mail message as its log.
+--empty=(drop|keep|stop)::
+	How to handle an e-mail message lacking a patch:
++
+--
+`drop`;;
+	The e-mail message will be skipped.
+`keep`;;
+	An empty commit will be created, with the contents of the e-mail
+	message as its log.
+`stop`;;
+	The command will fail, stopping in the middle of the current `am`
+	session. This is the default behavior.
+--
 
 -m::
 --message-id::
diff --git a/Documentation/git-cherry-pick.txt b/Documentation/git-cherry-pick.txt
index fdcad3d..81ace90 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-cherry-pick.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-cherry-pick.txt
@@ -131,20 +131,36 @@
 	even without this option.  Note also, that use of this option only
 	keeps commits that were initially empty (i.e. the commit recorded the
 	same tree as its parent).  Commits which are made empty due to a
-	previous commit are dropped.  To force the inclusion of those commits
-	use `--keep-redundant-commits`.
+	previous commit will cause the cherry-pick to fail.  To force the
+	inclusion of those commits, use `--empty=keep`.
 
 --allow-empty-message::
 	By default, cherry-picking a commit with an empty message will fail.
 	This option overrides that behavior, allowing commits with empty
 	messages to be cherry picked.
 
+--empty=(drop|keep|stop)::
+	How to handle commits being cherry-picked that are redundant with
+	changes already in the current history.
++
+--
+`drop`;;
+	The commit will be dropped.
+`keep`;;
+	The commit will be kept. Implies `--allow-empty`.
+`stop`;;
+	The cherry-pick will stop when the commit is applied, allowing
+	you to examine the commit. This is the default behavior.
+--
++
+Note that `--empty=drop` and `--empty=stop` only specify how to handle a
+commit that was not initially empty, but rather became empty due to a previous
+commit. Commits that were initially empty will still cause the cherry-pick to
+fail unless one of `--empty=keep` or `--allow-empty` are specified.
++
+
 --keep-redundant-commits::
-	If a commit being cherry picked duplicates a commit already in the
-	current history, it will become empty.  By default these
-	redundant commits cause `cherry-pick` to stop so the user can
-	examine the commit. This option overrides that behavior and
-	creates an empty commit object.  Implies `--allow-empty`.
+	Deprecated synonym for `--empty=keep`.
 
 --strategy=<strategy>::
 	Use the given merge strategy.  Should only be used once.
diff --git a/Documentation/git-config.txt b/Documentation/git-config.txt
index a6e82b8..ac61113 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-config.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-config.txt
@@ -9,9 +9,9 @@
 SYNOPSIS
 --------
 [verse]
-'git config' [<file-option>] [--type=<type>] [--fixed-value] [--show-origin] [--show-scope] [-z|--null] <name> [<value> [<value-pattern>]]
-'git config' [<file-option>] [--type=<type>] --add <name> <value>
-'git config' [<file-option>] [--type=<type>] [--fixed-value] --replace-all <name> <value> [<value-pattern>]
+'git config' [<file-option>] [--type=<type>] [--comment=<message>] [--fixed-value] [--show-origin] [--show-scope] [-z|--null] <name> [<value> [<value-pattern>]]
+'git config' [<file-option>] [--type=<type>] [--comment=<message>] --add <name> <value>
+'git config' [<file-option>] [--type=<type>] [--comment=<message>] [--fixed-value] --replace-all <name> <value> [<value-pattern>]
 'git config' [<file-option>] [--type=<type>] [--show-origin] [--show-scope] [-z|--null] [--fixed-value] --get <name> [<value-pattern>]
 'git config' [<file-option>] [--type=<type>] [--show-origin] [--show-scope] [-z|--null] [--fixed-value] --get-all <name> [<value-pattern>]
 'git config' [<file-option>] [--type=<type>] [--show-origin] [--show-scope] [-z|--null] [--fixed-value] [--name-only] --get-regexp <name-regex> [<value-pattern>]
@@ -87,6 +87,18 @@
 	values.  This is the same as providing '^$' as the `value-pattern`
 	in `--replace-all`.
 
+--comment <message>::
+	Append a comment at the end of new or modified lines.
+
+	If _<message>_ begins with one or more whitespaces followed
+	by "#", it is used as-is.  If it begins with "#", a space is
+	prepended before it is used.  Otherwise, a string " # " (a
+	space followed by a hash followed by a space) is prepended
+	to it.  And the resulting string is placed immediately after
+	the value defined for the variable.  The _<message>_ must
+	not contain linefeed characters (no multi-line comments are
+	permitted).
+
 --get::
 	Get the value for a given key (optionally filtered by a regex
 	matching the value). Returns error code 1 if the key was not
diff --git a/Documentation/git-grep.txt b/Documentation/git-grep.txt
index 0d0103c..1e6d7b6 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-grep.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-grep.txt
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 	   [-f <file>] [-e] <pattern>
 	   [--and|--or|--not|(|)|-e <pattern>...]
 	   [--recurse-submodules] [--parent-basename <basename>]
-	   [ [--[no-]exclude-standard] [--cached | --no-index | --untracked] | <tree>...]
+	   [ [--[no-]exclude-standard] [--cached | --untracked | --no-index] | <tree>...]
 	   [--] [<pathspec>...]
 
 DESCRIPTION
@@ -45,13 +45,21 @@
 	Instead of searching tracked files in the working tree, search
 	blobs registered in the index file.
 
---no-index::
-	Search files in the current directory that is not managed by Git.
-
 --untracked::
 	In addition to searching in the tracked files in the working
 	tree, search also in untracked files.
 
+--no-index::
+	Search files in the current directory that is not managed by Git,
+	or by ignoring that the current directory is managed by Git.  This
+	is rather similar to running the regular `grep(1)` utility with its
+	`-r` option specified, but with some additional benefits, such as
+	using pathspec patterns to limit paths;  see the 'pathspec' entry
+	in linkgit:gitglossary[7] for more information.
++
+This option cannot be used together with `--cached` or `--untracked`.
+See also `grep.fallbackToNoIndex` in 'CONFIGURATION' below.
+
 --no-exclude-standard::
 	Also search in ignored files by not honoring the `.gitignore`
 	mechanism. Only useful with `--untracked`.
@@ -64,9 +72,9 @@
 --recurse-submodules::
 	Recursively search in each submodule that is active and
 	checked out in the repository.  When used in combination with the
-	<tree> option the prefix of all submodule output will be the name of
-	the parent project's <tree> object. This option has no effect
-	if `--no-index` is given.
+	_<tree>_ option the prefix of all submodule output will be the name of
+	the parent project's _<tree>_ object.  This option cannot be used together
+	with `--untracked`, and it has no effect if `--no-index` is specified.
 
 -a::
 --text::
@@ -178,7 +186,7 @@
 	Use \0 as the delimiter for pathnames in the output, and print
 	them verbatim. Without this option, pathnames with "unusual"
 	characters are quoted as explained for the configuration
-	variable core.quotePath (see linkgit:git-config[1]).
+	variable `core.quotePath` (see linkgit:git-config[1]).
 
 -o::
 --only-matching::
@@ -248,8 +256,8 @@
 	a non-zero status.
 
 --threads <num>::
-	Number of grep worker threads to use.
-	See `grep.threads` in 'CONFIGURATION' for more information.
+	Number of `grep` worker threads to use.  See 'NOTES ON THREADS'
+	and `grep.threads` in 'CONFIGURATION' for more information.
 
 -f <file>::
 	Read patterns from <file>, one per line.
@@ -332,13 +340,13 @@
 NOTES ON THREADS
 ----------------
 
-The `--threads` option (and the grep.threads configuration) will be ignored when
+The `--threads` option (and the `grep.threads` configuration) will be ignored when
 `--open-files-in-pager` is used, forcing a single-threaded execution.
 
 When grepping the object store (with `--cached` or giving tree objects), running
-with multiple threads might perform slower than single threaded if `--textconv`
-is given and there are too many text conversions. So if you experience low
-performance in this case, it might be desirable to use `--threads=1`.
+with multiple threads might perform slower than single-threaded if `--textconv`
+is given and there are too many text conversions.  Thus, if low performance is
+experienced in this case, it might be desirable to use `--threads=1`.
 
 CONFIGURATION
 -------------
diff --git a/Documentation/git-rebase.txt b/Documentation/git-rebase.txt
index 03d5e99..74df345 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-rebase.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-rebase.txt
@@ -289,17 +289,25 @@
 +
 See also INCOMPATIBLE OPTIONS below.
 
---empty=(drop|keep|ask)::
+--empty=(drop|keep|stop)::
 	How to handle commits that are not empty to start and are not
 	clean cherry-picks of any upstream commit, but which become
 	empty after rebasing (because they contain a subset of already
-	upstream changes).  With drop (the default), commits that
-	become empty are dropped.  With keep, such commits are kept.
-	With ask (implied by `--interactive`), the rebase will halt when
-	an empty commit is applied allowing you to choose whether to
-	drop it, edit files more, or just commit the empty changes.
-	Other options, like `--exec`, will use the default of drop unless
-	`-i`/`--interactive` is explicitly specified.
+	upstream changes):
++
+--
+`drop`;;
+	The commit will be dropped. This is the default behavior.
+`keep`;;
+	The commit will be kept. This option is implied when `--exec` is
+	specified unless `-i`/`--interactive` is also specified.
+`stop`;;
+`ask`;;
+	The rebase will halt when the commit is applied, allowing you to
+	choose whether to drop it, edit files more, or just commit the empty
+	changes. This option is implied when `-i`/`--interactive` is
+	specified. `ask` is a deprecated synonym of `stop`.
+--
 +
 Note that commits which start empty are kept (unless `--no-keep-empty`
 is specified), and commits which are clean cherry-picks (as determined
@@ -704,7 +712,7 @@
 Similar to the apply backend, by default the merge backend drops
 commits that become empty unless `-i`/`--interactive` is specified (in
 which case it stops and asks the user what to do).  The merge backend
-also has an `--empty=(drop|keep|ask)` option for changing the behavior
+also has an `--empty=(drop|keep|stop)` option for changing the behavior
 of handling commits that become empty.
 
 Directory rename detection
diff --git a/Documentation/gitremote-helpers.txt b/Documentation/gitremote-helpers.txt
index 07c8439..d0be008 100644
--- a/Documentation/gitremote-helpers.txt
+++ b/Documentation/gitremote-helpers.txt
@@ -479,14 +479,14 @@
 'option depth' <depth>::
 	Deepens the history of a shallow repository.
 
-'option deepen-since <timestamp>::
+'option deepen-since' <timestamp>::
 	Deepens the history of a shallow repository based on time.
 
-'option deepen-not <ref>::
+'option deepen-not' <ref>::
 	Deepens the history of a shallow repository excluding ref.
 	Multiple options add up.
 
-'option deepen-relative {'true'|'false'}::
+'option deepen-relative' {'true'|'false'}::
 	Deepens the history of a shallow repository relative to
 	current boundary. Only valid when used with "option depth".
 
@@ -542,13 +542,10 @@
 	transaction.  If successful, all refs will be updated, or none will.  If the
 	remote side does not support this capability, the push will fail.
 
-'option object-format' {'true'|algorithm}::
-	If 'true', indicate that the caller wants hash algorithm information
+'option object-format true'::
+	Indicate that the caller wants hash algorithm information
 	to be passed back from the remote.  This mode is used when fetching
 	refs.
-+
-If set to an algorithm, indicate that the caller wants to interact with
-the remote side using that algorithm.
 
 SEE ALSO
 --------
diff --git a/add-patch.c b/add-patch.c
index 68f525b..d599ca5 100644
--- a/add-patch.c
+++ b/add-patch.c
@@ -1105,26 +1105,26 @@
 	size_t i;
 
 	strbuf_reset(&s->buf);
-	strbuf_commented_addf(&s->buf, comment_line_char,
+	strbuf_commented_addf(&s->buf, comment_line_str,
 			      _("Manual hunk edit mode -- see bottom for "
 				"a quick guide.\n"));
 	render_hunk(s, hunk, 0, 0, &s->buf);
-	strbuf_commented_addf(&s->buf, comment_line_char,
+	strbuf_commented_addf(&s->buf, comment_line_str,
 			      _("---\n"
 				"To remove '%c' lines, make them ' ' lines "
 				"(context).\n"
 				"To remove '%c' lines, delete them.\n"
-				"Lines starting with %c will be removed.\n"),
+				"Lines starting with %s will be removed.\n"),
 			      s->mode->is_reverse ? '+' : '-',
 			      s->mode->is_reverse ? '-' : '+',
-			      comment_line_char);
-	strbuf_commented_addf(&s->buf, comment_line_char, "%s",
+			      comment_line_str);
+	strbuf_commented_addf(&s->buf, comment_line_str, "%s",
 			      _(s->mode->edit_hunk_hint));
 	/*
 	 * TRANSLATORS: 'it' refers to the patch mentioned in the previous
 	 * messages.
 	 */
-	strbuf_commented_addf(&s->buf, comment_line_char,
+	strbuf_commented_addf(&s->buf, comment_line_str,
 			      _("If it does not apply cleanly, you will be "
 				"given an opportunity to\n"
 				"edit again.  If all lines of the hunk are "
@@ -1139,7 +1139,7 @@
 	for (i = 0; i < s->buf.len; ) {
 		size_t next = find_next_line(&s->buf, i);
 
-		if (s->buf.buf[i] != comment_line_char)
+		if (!starts_with(s->buf.buf + i, comment_line_str))
 			strbuf_add(&s->plain, s->buf.buf + i, next - i);
 		i = next;
 	}
diff --git a/advice.c b/advice.c
index a18bfe7..7511119 100644
--- a/advice.c
+++ b/advice.c
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@
 	[ADVICE_GRAFT_FILE_DEPRECATED]			= { "graftFileDeprecated" },
 	[ADVICE_IGNORED_HOOK]				= { "ignoredHook" },
 	[ADVICE_IMPLICIT_IDENTITY]			= { "implicitIdentity" },
+	[ADVICE_MERGE_CONFLICT]				= { "mergeConflict" },
 	[ADVICE_NESTED_TAG]				= { "nestedTag" },
 	[ADVICE_OBJECT_NAME_WARNING]			= { "objectNameWarning" },
 	[ADVICE_PUSH_ALREADY_EXISTS]			= { "pushAlreadyExists" },
diff --git a/advice.h b/advice.h
index bf630ee..c8d29f9 100644
--- a/advice.h
+++ b/advice.h
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 	ADVICE_GRAFT_FILE_DEPRECATED,
 	ADVICE_IGNORED_HOOK,
 	ADVICE_IMPLICIT_IDENTITY,
+	ADVICE_MERGE_CONFLICT,
 	ADVICE_NESTED_TAG,
 	ADVICE_OBJECT_NAME_WARNING,
 	ADVICE_PUSH_ALREADY_EXISTS,
diff --git a/apply.c b/apply.c
index 432837a..e311013 100644
--- a/apply.c
+++ b/apply.c
@@ -1292,8 +1292,15 @@
 				return NULL; /* no postimage name */
 			second = skip_tree_prefix(p_value, name + len + 1,
 						  line_len - (len + 1));
+			/*
+			 * If we are at the SP at the end of a directory,
+			 * skip_tree_prefix() may return NULL as that makes
+			 * it appears as if we have an absolute path.
+			 * Keep going to find another SP.
+			 */
 			if (!second)
-				return NULL;
+				continue;
+
 			/*
 			 * Does len bytes starting at "name" and "second"
 			 * (that are separated by one HT or SP we just
diff --git a/builtin/am.c b/builtin/am.c
index e8fb27a..022cae2 100644
--- a/builtin/am.c
+++ b/builtin/am.c
@@ -1150,19 +1150,23 @@
 static void NORETURN die_user_resolve(const struct am_state *state)
 {
 	if (state->resolvemsg) {
-		printf_ln("%s", state->resolvemsg);
+		advise_if_enabled(ADVICE_MERGE_CONFLICT, "%s", state->resolvemsg);
 	} else {
 		const char *cmdline = state->interactive ? "git am -i" : "git am";
+		struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
 
-		printf_ln(_("When you have resolved this problem, run \"%s --continue\"."), cmdline);
-		printf_ln(_("If you prefer to skip this patch, run \"%s --skip\" instead."), cmdline);
+		strbuf_addf(&sb, _("When you have resolved this problem, run \"%s --continue\".\n"), cmdline);
+		strbuf_addf(&sb, _("If you prefer to skip this patch, run \"%s --skip\" instead.\n"), cmdline);
 
 		if (advice_enabled(ADVICE_AM_WORK_DIR) &&
 		    is_empty_or_missing_file(am_path(state, "patch")) &&
 		    !repo_index_has_changes(the_repository, NULL, NULL))
-			printf_ln(_("To record the empty patch as an empty commit, run \"%s --allow-empty\"."), cmdline);
+			strbuf_addf(&sb, _("To record the empty patch as an empty commit, run \"%s --allow-empty\".\n"), cmdline);
 
-		printf_ln(_("To restore the original branch and stop patching, run \"%s --abort\"."), cmdline);
+		strbuf_addf(&sb, _("To restore the original branch and stop patching, run \"%s --abort\"."), cmdline);
+
+		advise_if_enabled(ADVICE_MERGE_CONFLICT, "%s", sb.buf);
+		strbuf_release(&sb);
 	}
 
 	exit(128);
@@ -1286,7 +1290,7 @@
 
 	strbuf_addstr(&msg, "\n\n");
 	strbuf_addbuf(&msg, &mi.log_message);
-	strbuf_stripspace(&msg, '\0');
+	strbuf_stripspace(&msg, NULL);
 
 	assert(!state->author_name);
 	state->author_name = strbuf_detach(&author_name, NULL);
diff --git a/builtin/branch.c b/builtin/branch.c
index 8c2305a..dd3e3a7 100644
--- a/builtin/branch.c
+++ b/builtin/branch.c
@@ -677,18 +677,18 @@
 	exists = !read_branch_desc(&buf, branch_name);
 	if (!buf.len || buf.buf[buf.len-1] != '\n')
 		strbuf_addch(&buf, '\n');
-	strbuf_commented_addf(&buf, comment_line_char,
+	strbuf_commented_addf(&buf, comment_line_str,
 		    _("Please edit the description for the branch\n"
 		      "  %s\n"
-		      "Lines starting with '%c' will be stripped.\n"),
-		    branch_name, comment_line_char);
+		      "Lines starting with '%s' will be stripped.\n"),
+		    branch_name, comment_line_str);
 	write_file_buf(edit_description(), buf.buf, buf.len);
 	strbuf_reset(&buf);
 	if (launch_editor(edit_description(), &buf, NULL)) {
 		strbuf_release(&buf);
 		return -1;
 	}
-	strbuf_stripspace(&buf, comment_line_char);
+	strbuf_stripspace(&buf, comment_line_str);
 
 	strbuf_addf(&name, "branch.%s.description", branch_name);
 	if (buf.len || exists)
diff --git a/builtin/cat-file.c b/builtin/cat-file.c
index 3f5ce7d..0c948f4 100644
--- a/builtin/cat-file.c
+++ b/builtin/cat-file.c
@@ -314,8 +314,8 @@
 	return alen == slen && !memcmp(atom, s, alen);
 }
 
-static void expand_atom(struct strbuf *sb, const char *atom, int len,
-			struct expand_data *data)
+static int expand_atom(struct strbuf *sb, const char *atom, int len,
+		       struct expand_data *data)
 {
 	if (is_atom("objectname", atom, len)) {
 		if (!data->mark_query)
@@ -347,7 +347,8 @@
 			strbuf_addstr(sb,
 				      oid_to_hex(&data->delta_base_oid));
 	} else
-		die("unknown format element: %.*s", len, atom);
+		return 0;
+	return 1;
 }
 
 static void expand_format(struct strbuf *sb, const char *start,
@@ -358,12 +359,11 @@
 
 		if (skip_prefix(start, "%", &start) || *start != '(')
 			strbuf_addch(sb, '%');
-		else if (!(end = strchr(start + 1, ')')))
-			die("format element '%s' does not end in ')'", start);
-		else {
-			expand_atom(sb, start + 1, end - start - 1, data);
+		else if ((end = strchr(start + 1, ')')) &&
+			 expand_atom(sb, start + 1, end - start - 1, data))
 			start = end + 1;
-		}
+		else
+			strbuf_expand_bad_format(start, "cat-file");
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/builtin/checkout.c b/builtin/checkout.c
index 2e8b0d1..2b6166c 100644
--- a/builtin/checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/checkout.c
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@
 	int new_branch_log;
 	enum branch_track track;
 	struct diff_options diff_options;
-	char *conflict_style;
+	int conflict_style;
 
 	int branch_exists;
 	const char *prefix;
@@ -100,6 +100,8 @@
 	struct tree *source_tree;
 };
 
+#define CHECKOUT_OPTS_INIT { .conflict_style = -1, .merge = -1 }
+
 struct branch_info {
 	char *name; /* The short name used */
 	char *path; /* The full name of a real branch */
@@ -251,7 +253,8 @@
 }
 
 static int checkout_merged(int pos, const struct checkout *state,
-			   int *nr_checkouts, struct mem_pool *ce_mem_pool)
+			   int *nr_checkouts, struct mem_pool *ce_mem_pool,
+			   int conflict_style)
 {
 	struct cache_entry *ce = the_index.cache[pos];
 	const char *path = ce->name;
@@ -262,7 +265,7 @@
 	mmbuffer_t result_buf;
 	struct object_id threeway[3];
 	unsigned mode = 0;
-	struct ll_merge_options ll_opts;
+	struct ll_merge_options ll_opts = LL_MERGE_OPTIONS_INIT;
 	int renormalize = 0;
 
 	memset(threeway, 0, sizeof(threeway));
@@ -284,9 +287,9 @@
 	read_mmblob(&ours, &threeway[1]);
 	read_mmblob(&theirs, &threeway[2]);
 
-	memset(&ll_opts, 0, sizeof(ll_opts));
 	git_config_get_bool("merge.renormalize", &renormalize);
 	ll_opts.renormalize = renormalize;
+	ll_opts.conflict_style = conflict_style;
 	merge_status = ll_merge(&result_buf, path, &ancestor, "base",
 				&ours, "ours", &theirs, "theirs",
 				state->istate, &ll_opts);
@@ -417,7 +420,8 @@
 			else if (opts->merge)
 				errs |= checkout_merged(pos, &state,
 							&nr_unmerged,
-							&ce_mem_pool);
+							&ce_mem_pool,
+							opts->conflict_style);
 			pos = skip_same_name(ce, pos) - 1;
 		}
 	}
@@ -897,6 +901,7 @@
 			}
 			o.branch1 = new_branch_info->name;
 			o.branch2 = "local";
+			o.conflict_style = opts->conflict_style;
 			ret = merge_trees(&o,
 					  new_tree,
 					  work,
@@ -1634,6 +1639,24 @@
 	return switch_branches(opts, new_branch_info);
 }
 
+static int parse_opt_conflict(const struct option *o, const char *arg, int unset)
+{
+	struct checkout_opts *opts = o->value;
+
+	if (unset) {
+		opts->conflict_style = -1;
+		return 0;
+	}
+	opts->conflict_style = parse_conflict_style_name(arg);
+	if (opts->conflict_style < 0)
+		return error(_("unknown conflict style '%s'"), arg);
+	/* --conflict overrides a previous --no-merge */
+	if (!opts->merge)
+		opts->merge = -1;
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 static struct option *add_common_options(struct checkout_opts *opts,
 					 struct option *prevopts)
 {
@@ -1644,8 +1667,9 @@
 			    PARSE_OPT_OPTARG, option_parse_recurse_submodules_worktree_updater),
 		OPT_BOOL(0, "progress", &opts->show_progress, N_("force progress reporting")),
 		OPT_BOOL('m', "merge", &opts->merge, N_("perform a 3-way merge with the new branch")),
-		OPT_STRING(0, "conflict", &opts->conflict_style, N_("style"),
-			   N_("conflict style (merge, diff3, or zdiff3)")),
+		OPT_CALLBACK(0, "conflict", opts, N_("style"),
+			     N_("conflict style (merge, diff3, or zdiff3)"),
+			     parse_opt_conflict),
 		OPT_END()
 	};
 	struct option *newopts = parse_options_concat(prevopts, options);
@@ -1737,15 +1761,10 @@
 			opts->show_progress = isatty(2);
 	}
 
-	if (opts->conflict_style) {
-		struct key_value_info kvi = KVI_INIT;
-		struct config_context ctx = {
-			.kvi = &kvi,
-		};
-		opts->merge = 1; /* implied */
-		git_xmerge_config("merge.conflictstyle", opts->conflict_style,
-				  &ctx, NULL);
-	}
+	/* --conflicts implies --merge */
+	if (opts->merge == -1)
+		opts->merge = opts->conflict_style >= 0;
+
 	if (opts->force) {
 		opts->discard_changes = 1;
 		opts->ignore_unmerged_opt = "--force";
@@ -1917,7 +1936,7 @@
 
 int cmd_checkout(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 {
-	struct checkout_opts opts;
+	struct checkout_opts opts = CHECKOUT_OPTS_INIT;
 	struct option *options;
 	struct option checkout_options[] = {
 		OPT_STRING('b', NULL, &opts.new_branch, N_("branch"),
@@ -1931,7 +1950,6 @@
 		OPT_END()
 	};
 
-	memset(&opts, 0, sizeof(opts));
 	opts.dwim_new_local_branch = 1;
 	opts.switch_branch_doing_nothing_is_ok = 1;
 	opts.only_merge_on_switching_branches = 0;
@@ -1965,7 +1983,7 @@
 
 int cmd_switch(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 {
-	struct checkout_opts opts;
+	struct checkout_opts opts = CHECKOUT_OPTS_INIT;
 	struct option *options = NULL;
 	struct option switch_options[] = {
 		OPT_STRING('c', "create", &opts.new_branch, N_("branch"),
@@ -1979,7 +1997,6 @@
 		OPT_END()
 	};
 
-	memset(&opts, 0, sizeof(opts));
 	opts.dwim_new_local_branch = 1;
 	opts.accept_ref = 1;
 	opts.accept_pathspec = 0;
@@ -2002,7 +2019,7 @@
 
 int cmd_restore(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 {
-	struct checkout_opts opts;
+	struct checkout_opts opts = CHECKOUT_OPTS_INIT;
 	struct option *options;
 	struct option restore_options[] = {
 		OPT_STRING('s', "source", &opts.from_treeish, "<tree-ish>",
@@ -2017,7 +2034,6 @@
 		OPT_END()
 	};
 
-	memset(&opts, 0, sizeof(opts));
 	opts.accept_ref = 0;
 	opts.accept_pathspec = 1;
 	opts.empty_pathspec_ok = 0;
diff --git a/builtin/commit.c b/builtin/commit.c
index b27b56c..7ba7201 100644
--- a/builtin/commit.c
+++ b/builtin/commit.c
@@ -685,9 +685,10 @@
 	char *candidate;
 	const char *p;
 
-	comment_line_char = candidates[0];
-	if (!memchr(sb->buf, comment_line_char, sb->len))
+	if (!memchr(sb->buf, candidates[0], sb->len)) {
+		comment_line_str = xstrfmt("%c", candidates[0]);
 		return;
+	}
 
 	p = sb->buf;
 	candidate = strchr(candidates, *p);
@@ -706,7 +707,7 @@
 	if (!*p)
 		die(_("unable to select a comment character that is not used\n"
 		      "in the current commit message"));
-	comment_line_char = *p;
+	comment_line_str = xstrfmt("%c", *p);
 }
 
 static void prepare_amend_commit(struct commit *commit, struct strbuf *sb,
@@ -889,7 +890,7 @@
 	s->hints = 0;
 
 	if (clean_message_contents)
-		strbuf_stripspace(&sb, '\0');
+		strbuf_stripspace(&sb, NULL);
 
 	if (signoff)
 		append_signoff(&sb, ignored_log_message_bytes(sb.buf, sb.len), 0);
@@ -909,18 +910,18 @@
 		struct ident_split ci, ai;
 		const char *hint_cleanup_all = allow_empty_message ?
 			_("Please enter the commit message for your changes."
-			  " Lines starting\nwith '%c' will be ignored.\n") :
+			  " Lines starting\nwith '%s' will be ignored.\n") :
 			_("Please enter the commit message for your changes."
-			  " Lines starting\nwith '%c' will be ignored, and an empty"
+			  " Lines starting\nwith '%s' will be ignored, and an empty"
 			  " message aborts the commit.\n");
 		const char *hint_cleanup_space = allow_empty_message ?
 			_("Please enter the commit message for your changes."
 			  " Lines starting\n"
-			  "with '%c' will be kept; you may remove them"
+			  "with '%s' will be kept; you may remove them"
 			  " yourself if you want to.\n") :
 			_("Please enter the commit message for your changes."
 			  " Lines starting\n"
-			  "with '%c' will be kept; you may remove them"
+			  "with '%s' will be kept; you may remove them"
 			  " yourself if you want to.\n"
 			  "An empty message aborts the commit.\n");
 		if (whence != FROM_COMMIT) {
@@ -943,12 +944,12 @@
 
 		fprintf(s->fp, "\n");
 		if (cleanup_mode == COMMIT_MSG_CLEANUP_ALL)
-			status_printf(s, GIT_COLOR_NORMAL, hint_cleanup_all, comment_line_char);
+			status_printf(s, GIT_COLOR_NORMAL, hint_cleanup_all, comment_line_str);
 		else if (cleanup_mode == COMMIT_MSG_CLEANUP_SCISSORS) {
 			if (whence == FROM_COMMIT)
 				wt_status_add_cut_line(s);
 		} else /* COMMIT_MSG_CLEANUP_SPACE, that is. */
-			status_printf(s, GIT_COLOR_NORMAL, hint_cleanup_space, comment_line_char);
+			status_printf(s, GIT_COLOR_NORMAL, hint_cleanup_space, comment_line_str);
 
 		/*
 		 * These should never fail because they come from our own
diff --git a/builtin/config.c b/builtin/config.c
index b55bfae..0015620 100644
--- a/builtin/config.c
+++ b/builtin/config.c
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
 static int show_origin;
 static int show_scope;
 static int fixed_value;
+static const char *comment;
 
 #define ACTION_GET (1<<0)
 #define ACTION_GET_ALL (1<<1)
@@ -173,6 +174,7 @@
 	OPT_BOOL(0, "show-origin", &show_origin, N_("show origin of config (file, standard input, blob, command line)")),
 	OPT_BOOL(0, "show-scope", &show_scope, N_("show scope of config (worktree, local, global, system, command)")),
 	OPT_STRING(0, "default", &default_value, N_("value"), N_("with --get, use default value when missing entry")),
+	OPT_STRING(0, "comment", &comment, N_("value"), N_("human-readable comment string (# will be prepended as needed)")),
 	OPT_END(),
 };
 
@@ -797,6 +799,12 @@
 		usage_builtin_config();
 	}
 
+	if (comment &&
+	    !(actions & (ACTION_ADD|ACTION_SET|ACTION_SET_ALL|ACTION_REPLACE_ALL))) {
+		error(_("--comment is only applicable to add/set/replace operations"));
+		usage_builtin_config();
+	}
+
 	/* check usage of --fixed-value */
 	if (fixed_value) {
 		int allowed_usage = 0;
@@ -833,6 +841,8 @@
 		flags |= CONFIG_FLAGS_FIXED_VALUE;
 	}
 
+	comment = git_config_prepare_comment_string(comment);
+
 	if (actions & PAGING_ACTIONS)
 		setup_auto_pager("config", 1);
 
@@ -880,7 +890,7 @@
 		check_write();
 		check_argc(argc, 2, 2);
 		value = normalize_value(argv[0], argv[1], &default_kvi);
-		ret = git_config_set_in_file_gently(given_config_source.file, argv[0], value);
+		ret = git_config_set_in_file_gently(given_config_source.file, argv[0], comment, value);
 		if (ret == CONFIG_NOTHING_SET)
 			error(_("cannot overwrite multiple values with a single value\n"
 			"       Use a regexp, --add or --replace-all to change %s."), argv[0]);
@@ -891,7 +901,7 @@
 		value = normalize_value(argv[0], argv[1], &default_kvi);
 		ret = git_config_set_multivar_in_file_gently(given_config_source.file,
 							     argv[0], value, argv[2],
-							     flags);
+							     comment, flags);
 	}
 	else if (actions == ACTION_ADD) {
 		check_write();
@@ -900,7 +910,7 @@
 		ret = git_config_set_multivar_in_file_gently(given_config_source.file,
 							     argv[0], value,
 							     CONFIG_REGEX_NONE,
-							     flags);
+							     comment, flags);
 	}
 	else if (actions == ACTION_REPLACE_ALL) {
 		check_write();
@@ -908,7 +918,7 @@
 		value = normalize_value(argv[0], argv[1], &default_kvi);
 		ret = git_config_set_multivar_in_file_gently(given_config_source.file,
 							     argv[0], value, argv[2],
-							     flags | CONFIG_FLAGS_MULTI_REPLACE);
+							     comment, flags | CONFIG_FLAGS_MULTI_REPLACE);
 	}
 	else if (actions == ACTION_GET) {
 		check_argc(argc, 1, 2);
@@ -936,17 +946,17 @@
 		if (argc == 2)
 			return git_config_set_multivar_in_file_gently(given_config_source.file,
 								      argv[0], NULL, argv[1],
-								      flags);
+								      NULL, flags);
 		else
 			return git_config_set_in_file_gently(given_config_source.file,
-							     argv[0], NULL);
+							     argv[0], NULL, NULL);
 	}
 	else if (actions == ACTION_UNSET_ALL) {
 		check_write();
 		check_argc(argc, 1, 2);
 		return git_config_set_multivar_in_file_gently(given_config_source.file,
 							      argv[0], NULL, argv[1],
-							      flags | CONFIG_FLAGS_MULTI_REPLACE);
+							      NULL, flags | CONFIG_FLAGS_MULTI_REPLACE);
 	}
 	else if (actions == ACTION_RENAME_SECTION) {
 		check_write();
diff --git a/builtin/gc.c b/builtin/gc.c
index cb80ced..342907f 100644
--- a/builtin/gc.c
+++ b/builtin/gc.c
@@ -1553,7 +1553,7 @@
 			die(_("$HOME not set"));
 		rc = git_config_set_multivar_in_file_gently(
 			config_file, "maintenance.repo", maintpath,
-			CONFIG_REGEX_NONE, 0);
+			CONFIG_REGEX_NONE, NULL, 0);
 		free(global_config_file);
 
 		if (rc)
@@ -1620,7 +1620,7 @@
 		if (!config_file)
 			die(_("$HOME not set"));
 		rc = git_config_set_multivar_in_file_gently(
-			config_file, key, NULL, maintpath,
+			config_file, key, NULL, maintpath, NULL,
 			CONFIG_FLAGS_MULTI_REPLACE | CONFIG_FLAGS_FIXED_VALUE);
 		free(global_config_file);
 
diff --git a/builtin/log.c b/builtin/log.c
index e5da0d1..c0a8bb9 100644
--- a/builtin/log.c
+++ b/builtin/log.c
@@ -1297,7 +1297,7 @@
 		subject = subject_sb.buf;
 
 do_pp:
-	pp_title_line(pp, &subject, sb, encoding, need_8bit_cte);
+	pp_email_subject(pp, &subject, sb, encoding, need_8bit_cte);
 	pp_remainder(pp, &body, sb, 0);
 
 	strbuf_release(&description_sb);
@@ -1364,13 +1364,13 @@
 	pp.fmt = CMIT_FMT_EMAIL;
 	pp.date_mode.type = DATE_RFC2822;
 	pp.rev = rev;
-	pp.print_email_subject = 1;
 	pp.encode_email_headers = rev->encode_email_headers;
 	pp_user_info(&pp, NULL, &sb, committer, encoding);
 	prepare_cover_text(&pp, description_file, branch_name, &sb,
 			   encoding, need_8bit_cte);
 	fprintf(rev->diffopt.file, "%s\n", sb.buf);
 
+	free(pp.after_subject);
 	strbuf_release(&sb);
 
 	shortlog_init(&log);
diff --git a/builtin/ls-files.c b/builtin/ls-files.c
index 92f94e6..6eeb5cb 100644
--- a/builtin/ls-files.c
+++ b/builtin/ls-files.c
@@ -266,7 +266,6 @@
 	struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
 
 	while (strbuf_expand_step(&sb, &format)) {
-		const char *end;
 		size_t len;
 		struct stat st;
 
@@ -274,12 +273,6 @@
 			strbuf_addch(&sb, '%');
 		else if ((len = strbuf_expand_literal(&sb, format)))
 			format += len;
-		else if (*format != '(')
-			die(_("bad ls-files format: element '%s' "
-			      "does not start with '('"), format);
-		else if (!(end = strchr(format + 1, ')')))
-			die(_("bad ls-files format: element '%s' "
-			      "does not end in ')'"), format);
 		else if (skip_prefix(format, "(objectmode)", &format))
 			strbuf_addf(&sb, "%06o", ce->ce_mode);
 		else if (skip_prefix(format, "(objectname)", &format))
@@ -308,8 +301,7 @@
 		else if (skip_prefix(format, "(path)", &format))
 			write_name_to_buf(&sb, fullname);
 		else
-			die(_("bad ls-files format: %%%.*s"),
-			    (int)(end - format + 1), format);
+			strbuf_expand_bad_format(format, "ls-files");
 	}
 	strbuf_addch(&sb, line_terminator);
 	fwrite(sb.buf, sb.len, 1, stdout);
diff --git a/builtin/ls-tree.c b/builtin/ls-tree.c
index 61a2965..7bf84b2 100644
--- a/builtin/ls-tree.c
+++ b/builtin/ls-tree.c
@@ -100,19 +100,12 @@
 		return 0;
 
 	while (strbuf_expand_step(&sb, &format)) {
-		const char *end;
 		size_t len;
 
 		if (skip_prefix(format, "%", &format))
 			strbuf_addch(&sb, '%');
 		else if ((len = strbuf_expand_literal(&sb, format)))
 			format += len;
-		else if (*format != '(')
-			die(_("bad ls-tree format: element '%s' "
-			      "does not start with '('"), format);
-		else if (!(end = strchr(format + 1, ')')))
-			die(_("bad ls-tree format: element '%s' "
-			      "does not end in ')'"), format);
 		else if (skip_prefix(format, "(objectmode)", &format))
 			strbuf_addf(&sb, "%06o", mode);
 		else if (skip_prefix(format, "(objecttype)", &format))
@@ -135,8 +128,7 @@
 			strbuf_setlen(base, baselen);
 			strbuf_release(&sbuf);
 		} else
-			die(_("bad ls-tree format: %%%.*s"),
-			    (int)(end - format + 1), format);
+			strbuf_expand_bad_format(format, "ls-tree");
 	}
 	strbuf_addch(&sb, options->null_termination ? '\0' : '\n');
 	fwrite(sb.buf, sb.len, 1, stdout);
diff --git a/builtin/merge.c b/builtin/merge.c
index 1cbd6a8..6f4fec8 100644
--- a/builtin/merge.c
+++ b/builtin/merge.c
@@ -822,7 +822,7 @@
 N_("An empty message aborts the commit.\n");
 
 static const char no_scissors_editor_comment[] =
-N_("Lines starting with '%c' will be ignored, and an empty message aborts\n"
+N_("Lines starting with '%s' will be ignored, and an empty message aborts\n"
    "the commit.\n");
 
 static void write_merge_heads(struct commit_list *);
@@ -853,16 +853,16 @@
 		strbuf_addch(&msg, '\n');
 		if (cleanup_mode == COMMIT_MSG_CLEANUP_SCISSORS) {
 			wt_status_append_cut_line(&msg);
-			strbuf_commented_addf(&msg, comment_line_char, "\n");
+			strbuf_commented_addf(&msg, comment_line_str, "\n");
 		}
-		strbuf_commented_addf(&msg, comment_line_char,
+		strbuf_commented_addf(&msg, comment_line_str,
 				      _(merge_editor_comment));
 		if (cleanup_mode == COMMIT_MSG_CLEANUP_SCISSORS)
-			strbuf_commented_addf(&msg, comment_line_char,
+			strbuf_commented_addf(&msg, comment_line_str,
 					      _(scissors_editor_comment));
 		else
-			strbuf_commented_addf(&msg, comment_line_char,
-				_(no_scissors_editor_comment), comment_line_char);
+			strbuf_commented_addf(&msg, comment_line_str,
+				_(no_scissors_editor_comment), comment_line_str);
 	}
 	if (signoff)
 		append_signoff(&msg, ignored_log_message_bytes(msg.buf, msg.len), 0);
diff --git a/builtin/notes.c b/builtin/notes.c
index caf20fd..cb01130 100644
--- a/builtin/notes.c
+++ b/builtin/notes.c
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@
 
 	if (strbuf_read(&buf, show.out, 0) < 0)
 		die_errno(_("could not read 'show' output"));
-	strbuf_add_commented_lines(&cbuf, buf.buf, buf.len, comment_line_char);
+	strbuf_add_commented_lines(&cbuf, buf.buf, buf.len, comment_line_str);
 	write_or_die(fd, cbuf.buf, cbuf.len);
 
 	strbuf_release(&cbuf);
@@ -207,10 +207,10 @@
 			copy_obj_to_fd(fd, old_note);
 
 		strbuf_addch(&buf, '\n');
-		strbuf_add_commented_lines(&buf, "\n", strlen("\n"), comment_line_char);
+		strbuf_add_commented_lines(&buf, "\n", strlen("\n"), comment_line_str);
 		strbuf_add_commented_lines(&buf, _(note_template), strlen(_(note_template)),
-					   comment_line_char);
-		strbuf_add_commented_lines(&buf, "\n", strlen("\n"), comment_line_char);
+					   comment_line_str);
+		strbuf_add_commented_lines(&buf, "\n", strlen("\n"), comment_line_str);
 		write_or_die(fd, buf.buf, buf.len);
 
 		write_commented_object(fd, object);
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@
 			die(_("please supply the note contents using either -m or -F option"));
 		}
 		if (d->stripspace)
-			strbuf_stripspace(&d->buf, comment_line_char);
+			strbuf_stripspace(&d->buf, comment_line_str);
 	}
 }
 
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@
 		if ((d->stripspace == UNSPECIFIED &&
 		     d->messages[i]->stripspace == STRIPSPACE) ||
 		    d->stripspace == STRIPSPACE)
-			strbuf_stripspace(&d->buf, 0);
+			strbuf_stripspace(&d->buf, NULL);
 		strbuf_reset(&msg);
 	}
 	strbuf_release(&msg);
diff --git a/builtin/rebase.c b/builtin/rebase.c
index e444ab1..891f284 100644
--- a/builtin/rebase.c
+++ b/builtin/rebase.c
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@
 	EMPTY_UNSPECIFIED = -1,
 	EMPTY_DROP,
 	EMPTY_KEEP,
-	EMPTY_ASK
+	EMPTY_STOP
 };
 
 enum action {
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@
 	if (strbuf_read_file(&todo_list.buf, todo_file, 0) < 0)
 		return error_errno(_("could not read '%s'."), todo_file);
 
-	strbuf_stripspace(&todo_list.buf, comment_line_char);
+	strbuf_stripspace(&todo_list.buf, comment_line_str);
 	res = edit_todo_list(the_repository, &todo_list, &new_todo, NULL, NULL, flags);
 	if (!res && todo_list_write_to_file(the_repository, &new_todo, todo_file,
 					    NULL, NULL, -1, flags & ~(TODO_LIST_SHORTEN_IDS)))
@@ -610,7 +610,7 @@
 		status = error_errno(_("could not open '%s' for writing"),
 				     rebased_patches);
 		free(rebased_patches);
-		strvec_clear(&am.args);
+		child_process_clear(&am);
 		return status;
 	}
 
@@ -638,7 +638,7 @@
 		struct reset_head_opts ropts = { 0 };
 		unlink(rebased_patches);
 		free(rebased_patches);
-		strvec_clear(&am.args);
+		child_process_clear(&am);
 
 		ropts.oid = &opts->orig_head->object.oid;
 		ropts.branch = opts->head_name;
@@ -659,7 +659,7 @@
 		status = error_errno(_("could not open '%s' for reading"),
 				     rebased_patches);
 		free(rebased_patches);
-		strvec_clear(&am.args);
+		child_process_clear(&am);
 		return status;
 	}
 
@@ -945,10 +945,14 @@
 		return EMPTY_DROP;
 	else if (!strcasecmp(value, "keep"))
 		return EMPTY_KEEP;
-	else if (!strcasecmp(value, "ask"))
-		return EMPTY_ASK;
+	else if (!strcasecmp(value, "stop"))
+		return EMPTY_STOP;
+	else if (!strcasecmp(value, "ask")) {
+		warning(_("--empty=ask is deprecated; use '--empty=stop' instead."));
+		return EMPTY_STOP;
+	}
 
-	die(_("unrecognized empty type '%s'; valid values are \"drop\", \"keep\", and \"ask\"."), value);
+	die(_("unrecognized empty type '%s'; valid values are \"drop\", \"keep\", and \"stop\"."), value);
 }
 
 static int parse_opt_keep_empty(const struct option *opt, const char *arg,
@@ -1127,7 +1131,7 @@
 				 "instead of ignoring them"),
 			      1, PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN),
 		OPT_RERERE_AUTOUPDATE(&options.allow_rerere_autoupdate),
-		OPT_CALLBACK_F(0, "empty", &options, "(drop|keep|ask)",
+		OPT_CALLBACK_F(0, "empty", &options, "(drop|keep|stop)",
 			       N_("how to handle commits that become empty"),
 			       PARSE_OPT_NONEG, parse_opt_empty),
 		OPT_CALLBACK_F('k', "keep-empty", &options, NULL,
@@ -1544,7 +1548,7 @@
 
 	if (options.empty == EMPTY_UNSPECIFIED) {
 		if (options.flags & REBASE_INTERACTIVE_EXPLICIT)
-			options.empty = EMPTY_ASK;
+			options.empty = EMPTY_STOP;
 		else if (options.exec.nr > 0)
 			options.empty = EMPTY_KEEP;
 		else
diff --git a/builtin/rev-list.c b/builtin/rev-list.c
index ec455aa..7780372 100644
--- a/builtin/rev-list.c
+++ b/builtin/rev-list.c
@@ -219,6 +219,7 @@
 		ctx.fmt = revs->commit_format;
 		ctx.output_encoding = get_log_output_encoding();
 		ctx.color = revs->diffopt.use_color;
+		ctx.rev = revs;
 		pretty_print_commit(&ctx, commit, &buf);
 		if (buf.len) {
 			if (revs->commit_format != CMIT_FMT_ONELINE)
diff --git a/builtin/revert.c b/builtin/revert.c
index 89821ba..53935d2 100644
--- a/builtin/revert.c
+++ b/builtin/revert.c
@@ -43,6 +43,31 @@
 	return opts->action == REPLAY_REVERT ? revert_usage : cherry_pick_usage;
 }
 
+enum empty_action {
+	EMPTY_COMMIT_UNSPECIFIED = -1,
+	STOP_ON_EMPTY_COMMIT,      /* output errors and stop in the middle of a cherry-pick */
+	DROP_EMPTY_COMMIT,         /* skip with a notice message */
+	KEEP_EMPTY_COMMIT,         /* keep recording as empty commits */
+};
+
+static int parse_opt_empty(const struct option *opt, const char *arg, int unset)
+{
+	int *opt_value = opt->value;
+
+	BUG_ON_OPT_NEG(unset);
+
+	if (!strcmp(arg, "stop"))
+		*opt_value = STOP_ON_EMPTY_COMMIT;
+	else if (!strcmp(arg, "drop"))
+		*opt_value = DROP_EMPTY_COMMIT;
+	else if (!strcmp(arg, "keep"))
+		*opt_value = KEEP_EMPTY_COMMIT;
+	else
+		return error(_("invalid value for '%s': '%s'"), "--empty", arg);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 static int option_parse_m(const struct option *opt,
 			  const char *arg, int unset)
 {
@@ -85,6 +110,7 @@
 	const char * const * usage_str = revert_or_cherry_pick_usage(opts);
 	const char *me = action_name(opts);
 	const char *cleanup_arg = NULL;
+	enum empty_action empty_opt = EMPTY_COMMIT_UNSPECIFIED;
 	int cmd = 0;
 	struct option base_options[] = {
 		OPT_CMDMODE(0, "quit", &cmd, N_("end revert or cherry-pick sequence"), 'q'),
@@ -114,7 +140,10 @@
 			OPT_BOOL(0, "ff", &opts->allow_ff, N_("allow fast-forward")),
 			OPT_BOOL(0, "allow-empty", &opts->allow_empty, N_("preserve initially empty commits")),
 			OPT_BOOL(0, "allow-empty-message", &opts->allow_empty_message, N_("allow commits with empty messages")),
-			OPT_BOOL(0, "keep-redundant-commits", &opts->keep_redundant_commits, N_("keep redundant, empty commits")),
+			OPT_BOOL(0, "keep-redundant-commits", &opts->keep_redundant_commits, N_("deprecated: use --empty=keep instead")),
+			OPT_CALLBACK_F(0, "empty", &empty_opt, "(stop|drop|keep)",
+				       N_("how to handle commits that become empty"),
+				       PARSE_OPT_NONEG, parse_opt_empty),
 			OPT_END(),
 		};
 		options = parse_options_concat(options, cp_extra);
@@ -134,6 +163,11 @@
 	prepare_repo_settings(the_repository);
 	the_repository->settings.command_requires_full_index = 0;
 
+	if (opts->action == REPLAY_PICK) {
+		opts->drop_redundant_commits = (empty_opt == DROP_EMPTY_COMMIT);
+		opts->keep_redundant_commits = opts->keep_redundant_commits || (empty_opt == KEEP_EMPTY_COMMIT);
+	}
+
 	/* implies allow_empty */
 	if (opts->keep_redundant_commits)
 		opts->allow_empty = 1;
@@ -167,6 +201,8 @@
 				"--ff", opts->allow_ff,
 				"--rerere-autoupdate", opts->allow_rerere_auto == RERERE_AUTOUPDATE,
 				"--no-rerere-autoupdate", opts->allow_rerere_auto == RERERE_NOAUTOUPDATE,
+				"--keep-redundant-commits", opts->keep_redundant_commits,
+				"--empty", empty_opt != EMPTY_COMMIT_UNSPECIFIED,
 				NULL);
 	}
 
diff --git a/builtin/shortlog.c b/builtin/shortlog.c
index 1307ed2..3c7cd2d 100644
--- a/builtin/shortlog.c
+++ b/builtin/shortlog.c
@@ -245,7 +245,6 @@
 
 	ctx.fmt = CMIT_FMT_USERFORMAT;
 	ctx.abbrev = log->abbrev;
-	ctx.print_email_subject = 1;
 	ctx.date_mode = log->date_mode;
 	ctx.output_encoding = get_log_output_encoding();
 
diff --git a/builtin/stripspace.c b/builtin/stripspace.c
index 7b700a9..e5626e5 100644
--- a/builtin/stripspace.c
+++ b/builtin/stripspace.c
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 	size_t len;
 
 	msg = strbuf_detach(buf, &len);
-	strbuf_add_commented_lines(buf, msg, len, comment_line_char);
+	strbuf_add_commented_lines(buf, msg, len, comment_line_str);
 	free(msg);
 }
 
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
 
 	if (mode == STRIP_DEFAULT || mode == STRIP_COMMENTS)
 		strbuf_stripspace(&buf,
-			  mode == STRIP_COMMENTS ? comment_line_char : '\0');
+			  mode == STRIP_COMMENTS ? comment_line_str : NULL);
 	else
 		comment_lines(&buf);
 
diff --git a/builtin/submodule--helper.c b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
index fda50f2..e4e18ad 100644
--- a/builtin/submodule--helper.c
+++ b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
@@ -1283,7 +1283,7 @@
 	submodule_to_gitdir(&sb, path);
 	strbuf_addstr(&sb, "/config");
 
-	if (git_config_set_in_file_gently(sb.buf, remote_key, sub_origin_url))
+	if (git_config_set_in_file_gently(sb.buf, remote_key, NULL, sub_origin_url))
 		die(_("failed to update remote for submodule '%s'"),
 		      path);
 
diff --git a/builtin/tag.c b/builtin/tag.c
index e2ff749..9a33cb5 100644
--- a/builtin/tag.c
+++ b/builtin/tag.c
@@ -193,11 +193,11 @@
 
 static const char tag_template[] =
 	N_("\nWrite a message for tag:\n  %s\n"
-	"Lines starting with '%c' will be ignored.\n");
+	"Lines starting with '%s' will be ignored.\n");
 
 static const char tag_template_nocleanup[] =
 	N_("\nWrite a message for tag:\n  %s\n"
-	"Lines starting with '%c' will be kept; you may remove them"
+	"Lines starting with '%s' will be kept; you may remove them"
 	" yourself if you want to.\n");
 
 static int git_tag_config(const char *var, const char *value,
@@ -328,11 +328,11 @@
 			struct strbuf buf = STRBUF_INIT;
 			strbuf_addch(&buf, '\n');
 			if (opt->cleanup_mode == CLEANUP_ALL)
-				strbuf_commented_addf(&buf, comment_line_char,
-				      _(tag_template), tag, comment_line_char);
+				strbuf_commented_addf(&buf, comment_line_str,
+				      _(tag_template), tag, comment_line_str);
 			else
-				strbuf_commented_addf(&buf, comment_line_char,
-				      _(tag_template_nocleanup), tag, comment_line_char);
+				strbuf_commented_addf(&buf, comment_line_str,
+				      _(tag_template_nocleanup), tag, comment_line_str);
 			write_or_die(fd, buf.buf, buf.len);
 			strbuf_release(&buf);
 		}
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@
 
 	if (opt->cleanup_mode != CLEANUP_NONE)
 		strbuf_stripspace(buf,
-		  opt->cleanup_mode == CLEANUP_ALL ? comment_line_char : '\0');
+		  opt->cleanup_mode == CLEANUP_ALL ? comment_line_str : NULL);
 
 	if (!opt->message_given && !buf->len)
 		die(_("no tag message?"));
diff --git a/builtin/worktree.c b/builtin/worktree.c
index 9c76b62..7c6c725 100644
--- a/builtin/worktree.c
+++ b/builtin/worktree.c
@@ -365,12 +365,12 @@
 		if (!git_configset_get_bool(&cs, "core.bare", &bare) &&
 			bare &&
 			git_config_set_multivar_in_file_gently(
-				to_file, "core.bare", NULL, "true", 0))
+				to_file, "core.bare", NULL, "true", NULL, 0))
 			error(_("failed to unset '%s' in '%s'"),
 				"core.bare", to_file);
 		if (!git_configset_get(&cs, "core.worktree") &&
 			git_config_set_in_file_gently(to_file,
-							"core.worktree", NULL))
+							"core.worktree", NULL, NULL))
 			error(_("failed to unset '%s' in '%s'"),
 				"core.worktree", to_file);
 
@@ -657,7 +657,7 @@
 			strbuf_add_real_path(&path, get_worktree_git_dir(NULL));
 			strbuf_addstr(&path, "/HEAD");
 			strbuf_read_file(&contents, path.buf, 64);
-			strbuf_stripspace(&contents, 0);
+			strbuf_stripspace(&contents, NULL);
 			strbuf_strip_suffix(&contents, "\n");
 
 			warning(_("HEAD points to an invalid (or orphaned) reference.\n"
diff --git a/commit.c b/commit.c
index 1da10ec..1a479a9 100644
--- a/commit.c
+++ b/commit.c
@@ -1928,7 +1928,8 @@
 		else
 			next_line++;
 
-		if (buf[bol] == comment_line_char || buf[bol] == '\n') {
+		if (starts_with_mem(buf + bol, cutoff - bol, comment_line_str) ||
+		    buf[bol] == '\n') {
 			/* is this the first of the run of comments? */
 			if (!boc)
 				boc = bol;
diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 3cfeb3d..eebce8c 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -817,7 +817,8 @@
 
 static char *parse_value(struct config_source *cs)
 {
-	int quote = 0, comment = 0, space = 0;
+	int quote = 0, comment = 0;
+	size_t trim_len = 0;
 
 	strbuf_reset(&cs->value);
 	for (;;) {
@@ -827,13 +828,17 @@
 				cs->linenr--;
 				return NULL;
 			}
+			if (trim_len)
+				strbuf_setlen(&cs->value, trim_len);
 			return cs->value.buf;
 		}
 		if (comment)
 			continue;
 		if (isspace(c) && !quote) {
+			if (!trim_len)
+				trim_len = cs->value.len;
 			if (cs->value.len)
-				space++;
+				strbuf_addch(&cs->value, c);
 			continue;
 		}
 		if (!quote) {
@@ -842,8 +847,8 @@
 				continue;
 			}
 		}
-		for (; space; space--)
-			strbuf_addch(&cs->value, ' ');
+		if (trim_len)
+			trim_len = 0;
 		if (c == '\\') {
 			c = get_next_char(cs);
 			switch (c) {
@@ -869,7 +874,7 @@
 			continue;
 		}
 		if (c == '"') {
-			quote = 1-quote;
+			quote = 1 - quote;
 			continue;
 		}
 		strbuf_addch(&cs->value, c);
@@ -1560,16 +1565,19 @@
 	if (!strcmp(var, "core.editor"))
 		return git_config_string(&editor_program, var, value);
 
-	if (!strcmp(var, "core.commentchar")) {
+	if (!strcmp(var, "core.commentchar") ||
+	    !strcmp(var, "core.commentstring")) {
 		if (!value)
 			return config_error_nonbool(var);
 		else if (!strcasecmp(value, "auto"))
 			auto_comment_line_char = 1;
-		else if (value[0] && !value[1]) {
-			comment_line_char = value[0];
+		else if (value[0]) {
+			if (strchr(value, '\n'))
+				return error(_("%s cannot contain newline"), var);
+			comment_line_str = xstrdup(value);
 			auto_comment_line_char = 0;
 		} else
-			return error(_("core.commentChar should only be one ASCII character"));
+			return error(_("%s must have at least one character"), var);
 		return 0;
 	}
 
@@ -3001,6 +3009,7 @@
 }
 
 static ssize_t write_pair(int fd, const char *key, const char *value,
+			  const char *comment,
 			  const struct config_store_data *store)
 {
 	int i;
@@ -3041,7 +3050,11 @@
 			strbuf_addch(&sb, value[i]);
 			break;
 		}
-	strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s\n", quote);
+
+	if (comment)
+		strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s%s\n", quote, comment);
+	else
+		strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s\n", quote);
 
 	ret = write_in_full(fd, sb.buf, sb.len);
 	strbuf_release(&sb);
@@ -3130,9 +3143,9 @@
 }
 
 int git_config_set_in_file_gently(const char *config_filename,
-				  const char *key, const char *value)
+				  const char *key, const char *comment, const char *value)
 {
-	return git_config_set_multivar_in_file_gently(config_filename, key, value, NULL, 0);
+	return git_config_set_multivar_in_file_gently(config_filename, key, value, NULL, comment, 0);
 }
 
 void git_config_set_in_file(const char *config_filename,
@@ -3153,7 +3166,7 @@
 	if (r->repository_format_worktree_config) {
 		char *file = repo_git_path(r, "config.worktree");
 		int ret = git_config_set_multivar_in_file_gently(
-					file, key, value, NULL, 0);
+					file, key, value, NULL, NULL, 0);
 		free(file);
 		return ret;
 	}
@@ -3168,6 +3181,62 @@
 }
 
 /*
+ * The ownership rule is that the caller will own the string
+ * if it receives a piece of memory different from what it passed
+ * as the parameter.
+ */
+const char *git_config_prepare_comment_string(const char *comment)
+{
+	size_t leading_blanks;
+
+	if (!comment)
+		return NULL;
+
+	if (strchr(comment, '\n'))
+		die(_("no multi-line comment allowed: '%s'"), comment);
+
+	/*
+	 * If it begins with one or more leading whitespace characters
+	 * followed by '#", the comment string is used as-is.
+	 *
+	 * If it begins with '#', a SP is inserted between the comment
+	 * and the value the comment is about.
+	 *
+	 * Otherwise, the value is followed by a SP followed by '#'
+	 * followed by SP and then the comment string comes.
+	 */
+
+	leading_blanks = strspn(comment, " \t");
+	if (leading_blanks && comment[leading_blanks] == '#')
+		; /* use it as-is */
+	else if (comment[0] == '#')
+		comment = xstrfmt(" %s", comment);
+	else
+		comment = xstrfmt(" # %s", comment);
+
+	return comment;
+}
+
+static void validate_comment_string(const char *comment)
+{
+	size_t leading_blanks;
+
+	if (!comment)
+		return;
+	/*
+	 * The front-end must have massaged the comment string
+	 * properly before calling us.
+	 */
+	if (strchr(comment, '\n'))
+		BUG("multi-line comments are not permitted: '%s'", comment);
+
+	leading_blanks = strspn(comment, " \t");
+	if (!leading_blanks || comment[leading_blanks] != '#')
+		BUG("comment must begin with one or more SP followed by '#': '%s'",
+		    comment);
+}
+
+/*
  * If value==NULL, unset in (remove from) config,
  * if value_pattern!=NULL, disregard key/value pairs where value does not match.
  * if value_pattern==CONFIG_REGEX_NONE, do not match any existing values
@@ -3195,6 +3264,7 @@
 int git_config_set_multivar_in_file_gently(const char *config_filename,
 					   const char *key, const char *value,
 					   const char *value_pattern,
+					   const char *comment,
 					   unsigned flags)
 {
 	int fd = -1, in_fd = -1;
@@ -3205,6 +3275,8 @@
 	size_t contents_sz;
 	struct config_store_data store = CONFIG_STORE_INIT;
 
+	validate_comment_string(comment);
+
 	/* parse-key returns negative; flip the sign to feed exit(3) */
 	ret = 0 - git_config_parse_key(key, &store.key, &store.baselen);
 	if (ret)
@@ -3245,7 +3317,7 @@
 		free(store.key);
 		store.key = xstrdup(key);
 		if (write_section(fd, key, &store) < 0 ||
-		    write_pair(fd, key, value, &store) < 0)
+		    write_pair(fd, key, value, comment, &store) < 0)
 			goto write_err_out;
 	} else {
 		struct stat st;
@@ -3399,7 +3471,7 @@
 				if (write_section(fd, key, &store) < 0)
 					goto write_err_out;
 			}
-			if (write_pair(fd, key, value, &store) < 0)
+			if (write_pair(fd, key, value, comment, &store) < 0)
 				goto write_err_out;
 		}
 
@@ -3444,7 +3516,7 @@
 				     const char *value_pattern, unsigned flags)
 {
 	if (!git_config_set_multivar_in_file_gently(config_filename, key, value,
-						    value_pattern, flags))
+						    value_pattern, NULL, flags))
 		return;
 	if (value)
 		die(_("could not set '%s' to '%s'"), key, value);
@@ -3467,7 +3539,7 @@
 	int res = git_config_set_multivar_in_file_gently(file,
 							 key, value,
 							 value_pattern,
-							 flags);
+							 NULL, flags);
 	free(file);
 	return res;
 }
diff --git a/config.h b/config.h
index 5dba984..f4966e3 100644
--- a/config.h
+++ b/config.h
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@
 
 int git_config_expiry_date(timestamp_t *, const char *, const char *);
 int git_config_color(char *, const char *, const char *);
-int git_config_set_in_file_gently(const char *, const char *, const char *);
+int git_config_set_in_file_gently(const char *, const char *, const char *, const char *);
 
 /**
  * write config values to a specific config file, takes a key/value pair as
@@ -336,7 +336,9 @@
 int git_config_set_multivar_gently(const char *, const char *, const char *, unsigned);
 void git_config_set_multivar(const char *, const char *, const char *, unsigned);
 int repo_config_set_multivar_gently(struct repository *, const char *, const char *, const char *, unsigned);
-int git_config_set_multivar_in_file_gently(const char *, const char *, const char *, const char *, unsigned);
+int git_config_set_multivar_in_file_gently(const char *, const char *, const char *, const char *, const char *, unsigned);
+
+const char *git_config_prepare_comment_string(const char *);
 
 /**
  * takes four parameters:
diff --git a/environment.c b/environment.c
index 60706ea..a73ba9c 100644
--- a/environment.c
+++ b/environment.c
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@
  * The character that begins a commented line in user-editable file
  * that is subject to stripspace.
  */
-char comment_line_char = '#';
+const char *comment_line_str = "#";
 int auto_comment_line_char;
 
 /* Parallel index stat data preload? */
diff --git a/environment.h b/environment.h
index 5cec19c..05fd94d 100644
--- a/environment.h
+++ b/environment.h
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
  * The character that begins a commented line in user-editable file
  * that is subject to stripspace.
  */
-extern char comment_line_char;
+extern const char *comment_line_str;
 extern int auto_comment_line_char;
 
 /*
diff --git a/fmt-merge-msg.c b/fmt-merge-msg.c
index 66e4744..ae201e2 100644
--- a/fmt-merge-msg.c
+++ b/fmt-merge-msg.c
@@ -321,7 +321,7 @@
 	     skip_prefix(me, them->items->string, &me) &&
 	     starts_with(me, " <")))
 		return;
-	strbuf_addf(out, "\n%c %s ", comment_line_char, label);
+	strbuf_addf(out, "\n%s %s ", comment_line_str, label);
 	add_people_count(out, them);
 }
 
@@ -510,7 +510,7 @@
 	if (sig->len) {
 		strbuf_addch(tagbuf, '\n');
 		strbuf_add_commented_lines(tagbuf, sig->buf, sig->len,
-					   comment_line_char);
+					   comment_line_str);
 	}
 }
 
@@ -557,7 +557,7 @@
 				strbuf_add_commented_lines(&tagline,
 						origins.items[first_tag].string,
 						strlen(origins.items[first_tag].string),
-						comment_line_char);
+						comment_line_str);
 				strbuf_insert(&tagbuf, 0, tagline.buf,
 					      tagline.len);
 				strbuf_release(&tagline);
@@ -566,7 +566,7 @@
 			strbuf_add_commented_lines(&tagbuf,
 					origins.items[i].string,
 					strlen(origins.items[i].string),
-					comment_line_char);
+					comment_line_str);
 			fmt_tag_signature(&tagbuf, &sig, buf, len);
 		}
 		strbuf_release(&payload);
diff --git a/gpg-interface.c b/gpg-interface.c
index 95e764a..b599338 100644
--- a/gpg-interface.c
+++ b/gpg-interface.c
@@ -586,8 +586,8 @@
 		}
 	}
 
-	strbuf_stripspace(&ssh_keygen_out, '\0');
-	strbuf_stripspace(&ssh_keygen_err, '\0');
+	strbuf_stripspace(&ssh_keygen_out, NULL);
+	strbuf_stripspace(&ssh_keygen_err, NULL);
 	/* Add stderr outputs to show the user actual ssh-keygen errors */
 	strbuf_add(&ssh_keygen_out, ssh_principals_err.buf, ssh_principals_err.len);
 	strbuf_add(&ssh_keygen_out, ssh_keygen_err.buf, ssh_keygen_err.len);
diff --git a/grep.c b/grep.c
index 5f23d1a..ac34bfe 100644
--- a/grep.c
+++ b/grep.c
@@ -621,7 +621,7 @@
 		*list = p->next;
 		x = compile_pattern_or(list);
 		if (!*list || (*list)->token != GREP_CLOSE_PAREN)
-			die("unmatched parenthesis");
+			die("unmatched ( for expression group");
 		*list = (*list)->next;
 		return x;
 	default:
@@ -792,7 +792,7 @@
 	if (p)
 		opt->pattern_expression = compile_pattern_expr(&p);
 	if (p)
-		die("incomplete pattern expression: %s", p->pattern);
+		die("incomplete pattern expression group: %s", p->pattern);
 
 	if (opt->no_body_match && opt->pattern_expression)
 		opt->pattern_expression = grep_not_expr(opt->pattern_expression);
diff --git a/log-tree.c b/log-tree.c
index e5438b0..59eeaef 100644
--- a/log-tree.c
+++ b/log-tree.c
@@ -470,16 +470,19 @@
 }
 
 void log_write_email_headers(struct rev_info *opt, struct commit *commit,
-			     const char **extra_headers_p,
+			     char **extra_headers_p,
 			     int *need_8bit_cte_p,
 			     int maybe_multipart)
 {
-	const char *extra_headers = opt->extra_headers;
+	struct strbuf headers = STRBUF_INIT;
 	const char *name = oid_to_hex(opt->zero_commit ?
 				      null_oid() : &commit->object.oid);
 
 	*need_8bit_cte_p = 0; /* unknown */
 
+	if (opt->extra_headers && *opt->extra_headers)
+		strbuf_addstr(&headers, opt->extra_headers);
+
 	fprintf(opt->diffopt.file, "From %s Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001\n", name);
 	graph_show_oneline(opt->graph);
 	if (opt->message_id) {
@@ -496,16 +499,13 @@
 		graph_show_oneline(opt->graph);
 	}
 	if (opt->mime_boundary && maybe_multipart) {
-		static struct strbuf subject_buffer = STRBUF_INIT;
 		static struct strbuf buffer = STRBUF_INIT;
 		struct strbuf filename =  STRBUF_INIT;
 		*need_8bit_cte_p = -1; /* NEVER */
 
-		strbuf_reset(&subject_buffer);
 		strbuf_reset(&buffer);
 
-		strbuf_addf(&subject_buffer,
-			 "%s"
+		strbuf_addf(&headers,
 			 "MIME-Version: 1.0\n"
 			 "Content-Type: multipart/mixed;"
 			 " boundary=\"%s%s\"\n"
@@ -516,10 +516,8 @@
 			 "Content-Type: text/plain; "
 			 "charset=UTF-8; format=fixed\n"
 			 "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit\n\n",
-			 extra_headers ? extra_headers : "",
 			 mime_boundary_leader, opt->mime_boundary,
 			 mime_boundary_leader, opt->mime_boundary);
-		extra_headers = subject_buffer.buf;
 
 		if (opt->numbered_files)
 			strbuf_addf(&filename, "%d", opt->nr);
@@ -539,7 +537,7 @@
 		opt->diffopt.stat_sep = buffer.buf;
 		strbuf_release(&filename);
 	}
-	*extra_headers_p = extra_headers;
+	*extra_headers_p = headers.len ? strbuf_detach(&headers, NULL) : NULL;
 }
 
 static void show_sig_lines(struct rev_info *opt, int status, const char *bol)
@@ -678,7 +676,6 @@
 	struct log_info *log = opt->loginfo;
 	struct commit *commit = log->commit, *parent = log->parent;
 	int abbrev_commit = opt->abbrev_commit ? opt->abbrev : the_hash_algo->hexsz;
-	const char *extra_headers = opt->extra_headers;
 	struct pretty_print_context ctx = {0};
 
 	opt->loginfo = NULL;
@@ -739,10 +736,9 @@
 	 */
 
 	if (cmit_fmt_is_mail(opt->commit_format)) {
-		log_write_email_headers(opt, commit, &extra_headers,
+		log_write_email_headers(opt, commit, &ctx.after_subject,
 					&ctx.need_8bit_cte, 1);
 		ctx.rev = opt;
-		ctx.print_email_subject = 1;
 	} else if (opt->commit_format != CMIT_FMT_USERFORMAT) {
 		fputs(diff_get_color_opt(&opt->diffopt, DIFF_COMMIT), opt->diffopt.file);
 		if (opt->commit_format != CMIT_FMT_ONELINE)
@@ -808,7 +804,6 @@
 	ctx.date_mode = opt->date_mode;
 	ctx.date_mode_explicit = opt->date_mode_explicit;
 	ctx.abbrev = opt->diffopt.abbrev;
-	ctx.after_subject = extra_headers;
 	ctx.preserve_subject = opt->preserve_subject;
 	ctx.encode_email_headers = opt->encode_email_headers;
 	ctx.reflog_info = opt->reflog_info;
@@ -857,6 +852,7 @@
 
 	strbuf_release(&msgbuf);
 	free(ctx.notes_message);
+	free(ctx.after_subject);
 
 	if (cmit_fmt_is_mail(ctx.fmt) && opt->idiff_oid1) {
 		struct diff_queue_struct dq;
diff --git a/log-tree.h b/log-tree.h
index 41c776f..94978e2 100644
--- a/log-tree.h
+++ b/log-tree.h
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 			int use_color, const struct decoration_options *opts);
 void show_decorations(struct rev_info *opt, struct commit *commit);
 void log_write_email_headers(struct rev_info *opt, struct commit *commit,
-			     const char **extra_headers_p,
+			     char **extra_headers_p,
 			     int *need_8bit_cte_p,
 			     int maybe_multipart);
 void load_ref_decorations(struct decoration_filter *filter, int flags);
diff --git a/merge-ll.c b/merge-ll.c
index 61e0ae5..bf1077a 100644
--- a/merge-ll.c
+++ b/merge-ll.c
@@ -128,7 +128,9 @@
 	xmp.level = XDL_MERGE_ZEALOUS;
 	xmp.favor = opts->variant;
 	xmp.xpp.flags = opts->xdl_opts;
-	if (git_xmerge_style >= 0)
+	if (opts->conflict_style >= 0)
+		xmp.style = opts->conflict_style;
+	else if (git_xmerge_style >= 0)
 		xmp.style = git_xmerge_style;
 	if (marker_size > 0)
 		xmp.marker_size = marker_size;
@@ -401,7 +403,7 @@
 	     const struct ll_merge_options *opts)
 {
 	struct attr_check *check = load_merge_attributes();
-	static const struct ll_merge_options default_opts;
+	static const struct ll_merge_options default_opts = LL_MERGE_OPTIONS_INIT;
 	const char *ll_driver_name = NULL;
 	int marker_size = DEFAULT_CONFLICT_MARKER_SIZE;
 	const struct ll_merge_driver *driver;
diff --git a/merge-ll.h b/merge-ll.h
index e4a20e8..d038ee0 100644
--- a/merge-ll.h
+++ b/merge-ll.h
@@ -78,10 +78,15 @@
 	 */
 	unsigned extra_marker_size;
 
+	/* Override the global conflict style. */
+	int conflict_style;
+
 	/* Extra xpparam_t flags as defined in xdiff/xdiff.h. */
 	long xdl_opts;
 };
 
+#define LL_MERGE_OPTIONS_INIT { .conflict_style = -1 }
+
 enum ll_merge_result {
 	LL_MERGE_ERROR = -1,
 	LL_MERGE_OK = 0,
diff --git a/merge-ort.c b/merge-ort.c
index ac225cc..eaede6c 100644
--- a/merge-ort.c
+++ b/merge-ort.c
@@ -2025,7 +2025,7 @@
 		      mmbuffer_t *result_buf)
 {
 	mmfile_t orig, src1, src2;
-	struct ll_merge_options ll_opts = {0};
+	struct ll_merge_options ll_opts = LL_MERGE_OPTIONS_INIT;
 	char *base, *name1, *name2;
 	enum ll_merge_result merge_status;
 
@@ -2035,6 +2035,7 @@
 	ll_opts.renormalize = opt->renormalize;
 	ll_opts.extra_marker_size = extra_marker_size;
 	ll_opts.xdl_opts = opt->xdl_opts;
+	ll_opts.conflict_style = opt->conflict_style;
 
 	if (opt->priv->call_depth) {
 		ll_opts.virtual_ancestor = 1;
diff --git a/merge-recursive.c b/merge-recursive.c
index 69d67be..8ff29ed 100644
--- a/merge-recursive.c
+++ b/merge-recursive.c
@@ -1048,13 +1048,14 @@
 		      const int extra_marker_size)
 {
 	mmfile_t orig, src1, src2;
-	struct ll_merge_options ll_opts = {0};
+	struct ll_merge_options ll_opts = LL_MERGE_OPTIONS_INIT;
 	char *base, *name1, *name2;
 	enum ll_merge_result merge_status;
 
 	ll_opts.renormalize = opt->renormalize;
 	ll_opts.extra_marker_size = extra_marker_size;
 	ll_opts.xdl_opts = opt->xdl_opts;
+	ll_opts.conflict_style = opt->conflict_style;
 
 	if (opt->priv->call_depth) {
 		ll_opts.virtual_ancestor = 1;
@@ -3947,6 +3948,8 @@
 
 	opt->renormalize = 0;
 
+	opt->conflict_style = -1;
+
 	merge_recursive_config(opt);
 	merge_verbosity = getenv("GIT_MERGE_VERBOSITY");
 	if (merge_verbosity)
diff --git a/merge-recursive.h b/merge-recursive.h
index 3d3b3e3..e67d38c 100644
--- a/merge-recursive.h
+++ b/merge-recursive.h
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 
 	/* xdiff-related options (patience, ignore whitespace, ours/theirs) */
 	long xdl_opts;
+	int conflict_style;
 	enum {
 		MERGE_VARIANT_NORMAL = 0,
 		MERGE_VARIANT_OURS,
diff --git a/midx.c b/midx.c
index 85e1c2c..41521e0 100644
--- a/midx.c
+++ b/midx.c
@@ -2163,7 +2163,6 @@
 	unsigned char *include_pack;
 	struct child_process cmd = CHILD_PROCESS_INIT;
 	FILE *cmd_in;
-	struct strbuf base_name = STRBUF_INIT;
 	struct multi_pack_index *m = lookup_multi_pack_index(r, object_dir);
 
 	/*
@@ -2190,9 +2189,7 @@
 
 	strvec_push(&cmd.args, "pack-objects");
 
-	strbuf_addstr(&base_name, object_dir);
-	strbuf_addstr(&base_name, "/pack/pack");
-	strvec_push(&cmd.args, base_name.buf);
+	strvec_pushf(&cmd.args, "%s/pack/pack", object_dir);
 
 	if (delta_base_offset)
 		strvec_push(&cmd.args, "--delta-base-offset");
@@ -2204,8 +2201,6 @@
 	else
 		strvec_push(&cmd.args, "-q");
 
-	strbuf_release(&base_name);
-
 	cmd.git_cmd = 1;
 	cmd.in = cmd.out = -1;
 
diff --git a/pretty.c b/pretty.c
index bdbed42..2faf651 100644
--- a/pretty.c
+++ b/pretty.c
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@
 	for (i = 0; i < commit_formats_len; i++) {
 		size_t match_len;
 
-		if (!starts_with(commit_formats[i].name, sought))
+		if (!istarts_with(commit_formats[i].name, sought))
 			continue;
 
 		match_len = strlen(commit_formats[i].name);
@@ -2077,11 +2077,11 @@
 	}
 }
 
-void pp_title_line(struct pretty_print_context *pp,
-		   const char **msg_p,
-		   struct strbuf *sb,
-		   const char *encoding,
-		   int need_8bit_cte)
+void pp_email_subject(struct pretty_print_context *pp,
+		      const char **msg_p,
+		      struct strbuf *sb,
+		      const char *encoding,
+		      int need_8bit_cte)
 {
 	static const int max_length = 78; /* per rfc2047 */
 	struct strbuf title;
@@ -2091,19 +2091,14 @@
 				pp->preserve_subject ? "\n" : " ");
 
 	strbuf_grow(sb, title.len + 1024);
-	if (pp->print_email_subject) {
-		if (pp->rev)
-			fmt_output_email_subject(sb, pp->rev);
-		if (pp->encode_email_headers &&
-		    needs_rfc2047_encoding(title.buf, title.len))
-			add_rfc2047(sb, title.buf, title.len,
-						encoding, RFC2047_SUBJECT);
-		else
-			strbuf_add_wrapped_bytes(sb, title.buf, title.len,
+	fmt_output_email_subject(sb, pp->rev);
+	if (pp->encode_email_headers &&
+	    needs_rfc2047_encoding(title.buf, title.len))
+		add_rfc2047(sb, title.buf, title.len,
+			    encoding, RFC2047_SUBJECT);
+	else
+		strbuf_add_wrapped_bytes(sb, title.buf, title.len,
 					 -last_line_length(sb), 1, max_length);
-	} else {
-		strbuf_addbuf(sb, &title);
-	}
 	strbuf_addch(sb, '\n');
 
 	if (need_8bit_cte == 0) {
@@ -2126,9 +2121,8 @@
 	if (pp->after_subject) {
 		strbuf_addstr(sb, pp->after_subject);
 	}
-	if (cmit_fmt_is_mail(pp->fmt)) {
-		strbuf_addch(sb, '\n');
-	}
+
+	strbuf_addch(sb, '\n');
 
 	if (pp->in_body_headers.nr) {
 		int i;
@@ -2320,7 +2314,7 @@
 	}
 
 	pp_header(pp, encoding, commit, &msg, sb);
-	if (pp->fmt != CMIT_FMT_ONELINE && !pp->print_email_subject) {
+	if (pp->fmt != CMIT_FMT_ONELINE && !cmit_fmt_is_mail(pp->fmt)) {
 		strbuf_addch(sb, '\n');
 	}
 
@@ -2328,8 +2322,11 @@
 	msg = skip_blank_lines(msg);
 
 	/* These formats treat the title line specially. */
-	if (pp->fmt == CMIT_FMT_ONELINE || cmit_fmt_is_mail(pp->fmt))
-		pp_title_line(pp, &msg, sb, encoding, need_8bit_cte);
+	if (pp->fmt == CMIT_FMT_ONELINE) {
+		msg = format_subject(sb, msg, " ");
+		strbuf_addch(sb, '\n');
+	} else if (cmit_fmt_is_mail(pp->fmt))
+		pp_email_subject(pp, &msg, sb, encoding, need_8bit_cte);
 
 	beginning_of_body = sb->len;
 	if (pp->fmt != CMIT_FMT_ONELINE)
diff --git a/pretty.h b/pretty.h
index 421209e..9cc9e5d 100644
--- a/pretty.h
+++ b/pretty.h
@@ -35,11 +35,10 @@
 	 */
 	enum cmit_fmt fmt;
 	int abbrev;
-	const char *after_subject;
+	char *after_subject;
 	int preserve_subject;
 	struct date_mode date_mode;
 	unsigned date_mode_explicit:1;
-	int print_email_subject;
 	int expand_tabs_in_log;
 	int need_8bit_cte;
 	char *notes_message;
@@ -96,13 +95,13 @@
 			const char *encoding);
 
 /*
- * Format title line of commit message taken from "msg_p" and
+ * Format subject line of commit message taken from "msg_p" and
  * put it into "sb".
  * First line of "msg_p" is also affected.
  */
-void pp_title_line(struct pretty_print_context *pp, const char **msg_p,
-			struct strbuf *sb, const char *encoding,
-			int need_8bit_cte);
+void pp_email_subject(struct pretty_print_context *pp, const char **msg_p,
+		      struct strbuf *sb, const char *encoding,
+		      int need_8bit_cte);
 
 /*
  * Get current state of commit message from "msg_p" and continue formatting
diff --git a/rebase-interactive.c b/rebase-interactive.c
index d971840..c343e16 100644
--- a/rebase-interactive.c
+++ b/rebase-interactive.c
@@ -71,14 +71,14 @@
 
 	if (!edit_todo) {
 		strbuf_addch(buf, '\n');
-		strbuf_commented_addf(buf, comment_line_char,
+		strbuf_commented_addf(buf, comment_line_str,
 				      Q_("Rebase %s onto %s (%d command)",
 					 "Rebase %s onto %s (%d commands)",
 					 command_count),
 				      shortrevisions, shortonto, command_count);
 	}
 
-	strbuf_add_commented_lines(buf, msg, strlen(msg), comment_line_char);
+	strbuf_add_commented_lines(buf, msg, strlen(msg), comment_line_str);
 
 	if (get_missing_commit_check_level() == MISSING_COMMIT_CHECK_ERROR)
 		msg = _("\nDo not remove any line. Use 'drop' "
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@
 		msg = _("\nIf you remove a line here "
 			 "THAT COMMIT WILL BE LOST.\n");
 
-	strbuf_add_commented_lines(buf, msg, strlen(msg), comment_line_char);
+	strbuf_add_commented_lines(buf, msg, strlen(msg), comment_line_str);
 
 	if (edit_todo)
 		msg = _("\nYou are editing the todo file "
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@
 		msg = _("\nHowever, if you remove everything, "
 			"the rebase will be aborted.\n\n");
 
-	strbuf_add_commented_lines(buf, msg, strlen(msg), comment_line_char);
+	strbuf_add_commented_lines(buf, msg, strlen(msg), comment_line_str);
 }
 
 int edit_todo_list(struct repository *r, struct todo_list *todo_list,
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@
 	if (launch_sequence_editor(todo_file, &new_todo->buf, NULL))
 		return -2;
 
-	strbuf_stripspace(&new_todo->buf, comment_line_char);
+	strbuf_stripspace(&new_todo->buf, comment_line_str);
 	if (initial && new_todo->buf.len == 0)
 		return -3;
 
diff --git a/reftable/stack_test.c b/reftable/stack_test.c
index 7336757..0dc9a44 100644
--- a/reftable/stack_test.c
+++ b/reftable/stack_test.c
@@ -38,7 +38,17 @@
 		return 0;
 
 	while ((d = readdir(dir))) {
-		if (!strcmp(d->d_name, "..") || !strcmp(d->d_name, "."))
+		/*
+		 * Besides skipping over "." and "..", we also need to
+		 * skip over other files that have a leading ".". This
+		 * is due to behaviour of NFS, which will rename files
+		 * to ".nfs*" to emulate delete-on-last-close.
+		 *
+		 * In any case this should be fine as the reftable
+		 * library will never write files with leading dots
+		 * anyway.
+		 */
+		if (starts_with(d->d_name, "."))
 			continue;
 		len++;
 	}
diff --git a/remote-curl.c b/remote-curl.c
index 1161dc7..31b02b8 100644
--- a/remote-curl.c
+++ b/remote-curl.c
@@ -211,14 +211,9 @@
 		options.filter = xstrdup(value);
 		return 0;
 	} else if (!strcmp(name, "object-format")) {
-		int algo;
 		options.object_format = 1;
-		if (strcmp(value, "true")) {
-			algo = hash_algo_by_name(value);
-			if (algo == GIT_HASH_UNKNOWN)
-				die("unknown object format '%s'", value);
-			options.hash_algo = &hash_algos[algo];
-		}
+		if (strcmp(value, "true"))
+			die(_("unknown value for object-format: %s"), value);
 		return 0;
 	} else {
 		return 1 /* unsupported */;
diff --git a/sequencer.c b/sequencer.c
index 4e14fa6..2c19846 100644
--- a/sequencer.c
+++ b/sequencer.c
@@ -479,7 +479,7 @@
 		msg = getenv("GIT_CHERRY_PICK_HELP");
 
 	if (msg) {
-		advise("%s\n", msg);
+		advise_if_enabled(ADVICE_MERGE_CONFLICT, "%s", msg);
 		/*
 		 * A conflict has occurred but the porcelain
 		 * (typically rebase --interactive) wants to take care
@@ -492,22 +492,25 @@
 
 	if (show_hint) {
 		if (opts->no_commit)
-			advise(_("after resolving the conflicts, mark the corrected paths\n"
-				 "with 'git add <paths>' or 'git rm <paths>'"));
+			advise_if_enabled(ADVICE_MERGE_CONFLICT,
+					  _("after resolving the conflicts, mark the corrected paths\n"
+					    "with 'git add <paths>' or 'git rm <paths>'"));
 		else if (opts->action == REPLAY_PICK)
-			advise(_("After resolving the conflicts, mark them with\n"
-				 "\"git add/rm <pathspec>\", then run\n"
-				 "\"git cherry-pick --continue\".\n"
-				 "You can instead skip this commit with \"git cherry-pick --skip\".\n"
-				 "To abort and get back to the state before \"git cherry-pick\",\n"
-				 "run \"git cherry-pick --abort\"."));
+			advise_if_enabled(ADVICE_MERGE_CONFLICT,
+					  _("After resolving the conflicts, mark them with\n"
+					    "\"git add/rm <pathspec>\", then run\n"
+					    "\"git cherry-pick --continue\".\n"
+					    "You can instead skip this commit with \"git cherry-pick --skip\".\n"
+					    "To abort and get back to the state before \"git cherry-pick\",\n"
+					    "run \"git cherry-pick --abort\"."));
 		else if (opts->action == REPLAY_REVERT)
-			advise(_("After resolving the conflicts, mark them with\n"
-				 "\"git add/rm <pathspec>\", then run\n"
-				 "\"git revert --continue\".\n"
-				 "You can instead skip this commit with \"git revert --skip\".\n"
-				 "To abort and get back to the state before \"git revert\",\n"
-				 "run \"git revert --abort\"."));
+			advise_if_enabled(ADVICE_MERGE_CONFLICT,
+					  _("After resolving the conflicts, mark them with\n"
+					    "\"git add/rm <pathspec>\", then run\n"
+					    "\"git revert --continue\".\n"
+					    "You can instead skip this commit with \"git revert --skip\".\n"
+					    "To abort and get back to the state before \"git revert\",\n"
+					    "run \"git revert --abort\"."));
 		else
 			BUG("unexpected pick action in print_advice()");
 	}
@@ -675,15 +678,15 @@
 	if (cleanup_mode == COMMIT_MSG_CLEANUP_SCISSORS) {
 		strbuf_addch(msgbuf, '\n');
 		wt_status_append_cut_line(msgbuf);
-		strbuf_addch(msgbuf, comment_line_char);
+		strbuf_addstr(msgbuf, comment_line_str);
 	}
 
 	strbuf_addch(msgbuf, '\n');
-	strbuf_commented_addf(msgbuf, comment_line_char, "Conflicts:\n");
+	strbuf_commented_addf(msgbuf, comment_line_str, "Conflicts:\n");
 	for (i = 0; i < istate->cache_nr;) {
 		const struct cache_entry *ce = istate->cache[i++];
 		if (ce_stage(ce)) {
-			strbuf_commented_addf(msgbuf, comment_line_char,
+			strbuf_commented_addf(msgbuf, comment_line_str,
 					      "\t%s\n", ce->name);
 			while (i < istate->cache_nr &&
 			       !strcmp(ce->name, istate->cache[i]->name))
@@ -784,29 +787,42 @@
 static int is_index_unchanged(struct repository *r)
 {
 	struct object_id head_oid, *cache_tree_oid;
+	const struct object_id *head_tree_oid;
 	struct commit *head_commit;
 	struct index_state *istate = r->index;
+	const char *head_name;
 
-	if (!resolve_ref_unsafe("HEAD", RESOLVE_REF_READING, &head_oid, NULL))
-		return error(_("could not resolve HEAD commit"));
+	if (!resolve_ref_unsafe("HEAD", RESOLVE_REF_READING, &head_oid, NULL)) {
+		/* Check to see if this is an unborn branch */
+		head_name = resolve_ref_unsafe("HEAD",
+			RESOLVE_REF_READING | RESOLVE_REF_NO_RECURSE,
+			&head_oid, NULL);
+		if (!head_name ||
+			!starts_with(head_name, "refs/heads/") ||
+			!is_null_oid(&head_oid))
+			return error(_("could not resolve HEAD commit"));
+		head_tree_oid = the_hash_algo->empty_tree;
+	} else {
+		head_commit = lookup_commit(r, &head_oid);
 
-	head_commit = lookup_commit(r, &head_oid);
+		/*
+		 * If head_commit is NULL, check_commit, called from
+		 * lookup_commit, would have indicated that head_commit is not
+		 * a commit object already.  repo_parse_commit() will return failure
+		 * without further complaints in such a case.  Otherwise, if
+		 * the commit is invalid, repo_parse_commit() will complain.  So
+		 * there is nothing for us to say here.  Just return failure.
+		 */
+		if (repo_parse_commit(r, head_commit))
+			return -1;
 
-	/*
-	 * If head_commit is NULL, check_commit, called from
-	 * lookup_commit, would have indicated that head_commit is not
-	 * a commit object already.  repo_parse_commit() will return failure
-	 * without further complaints in such a case.  Otherwise, if
-	 * the commit is invalid, repo_parse_commit() will complain.  So
-	 * there is nothing for us to say here.  Just return failure.
-	 */
-	if (repo_parse_commit(r, head_commit))
-		return -1;
+		head_tree_oid = get_commit_tree_oid(head_commit);
+	}
 
 	if (!(cache_tree_oid = get_cache_tree_oid(istate)))
 		return -1;
 
-	return oideq(cache_tree_oid, get_commit_tree_oid(head_commit));
+	return oideq(cache_tree_oid, head_tree_oid);
 }
 
 static int write_author_script(const char *message)
@@ -1166,7 +1182,7 @@
 		strbuf_setlen(msgbuf, wt_status_locate_end(msgbuf->buf, msgbuf->len));
 	if (cleanup_mode != COMMIT_MSG_CLEANUP_NONE)
 		strbuf_stripspace(msgbuf,
-		  cleanup_mode == COMMIT_MSG_CLEANUP_ALL ? comment_line_char : '\0');
+		  cleanup_mode == COMMIT_MSG_CLEANUP_ALL ? comment_line_str : NULL);
 }
 
 /*
@@ -1198,7 +1214,7 @@
 		return 0;
 
 	strbuf_stripspace(&tmpl,
-	  cleanup_mode == COMMIT_MSG_CLEANUP_ALL ? comment_line_char : '\0');
+	  cleanup_mode == COMMIT_MSG_CLEANUP_ALL ? comment_line_str : NULL);
 	if (!skip_prefix(sb->buf, tmpl.buf, &start))
 		start = sb->buf;
 	strbuf_release(&tmpl);
@@ -1571,7 +1587,7 @@
 
 	if (cleanup != COMMIT_MSG_CLEANUP_NONE)
 		strbuf_stripspace(msg,
-		  cleanup == COMMIT_MSG_CLEANUP_ALL ? comment_line_char : '\0');
+		  cleanup == COMMIT_MSG_CLEANUP_ALL ? comment_line_str : NULL);
 	if ((flags & EDIT_MSG) && message_is_empty(msg, cleanup)) {
 		res = 1; /* run 'git commit' to display error message */
 		goto out;
@@ -1733,34 +1749,25 @@
 	int index_unchanged, originally_empty;
 
 	/*
-	 * Four cases:
+	 * For a commit that is initially empty, allow_empty determines if it
+	 * should be kept or not
 	 *
-	 * (1) we do not allow empty at all and error out.
-	 *
-	 * (2) we allow ones that were initially empty, and
-	 *     just drop the ones that become empty
-	 *
-	 * (3) we allow ones that were initially empty, but
-	 *     halt for the ones that become empty;
-	 *
-	 * (4) we allow both.
+	 * For a commit that becomes empty, keep_redundant_commits and
+	 * drop_redundant_commits determine whether the commit should be kept or
+	 * dropped. If neither is specified, halt.
 	 */
-	if (!opts->allow_empty)
-		return 0; /* let "git commit" barf as necessary */
-
 	index_unchanged = is_index_unchanged(r);
 	if (index_unchanged < 0)
 		return index_unchanged;
 	if (!index_unchanged)
 		return 0; /* we do not have to say --allow-empty */
 
-	if (opts->keep_redundant_commits)
-		return 1;
-
 	originally_empty = is_original_commit_empty(commit);
 	if (originally_empty < 0)
 		return originally_empty;
 	if (originally_empty)
+		return opts->allow_empty;
+	else if (opts->keep_redundant_commits)
 		return 1;
 	else if (opts->drop_redundant_commits)
 		return 2;
@@ -1793,6 +1800,8 @@
 {
 	if (command < TODO_COMMENT)
 		return todo_command_info[command].str;
+	if (command == TODO_COMMENT)
+		return comment_line_str;
 	die(_("unknown command: %d"), command);
 }
 
@@ -1800,7 +1809,7 @@
 {
 	if (command < TODO_COMMENT)
 		return todo_command_info[command].c;
-	return comment_line_char;
+	return 0;
 }
 
 static int is_noop(const enum todo_command command)
@@ -1854,7 +1863,7 @@
 static void add_commented_lines(struct strbuf *buf, const void *str, size_t len)
 {
 	const char *s = str;
-	while (len > 0 && s[0] == comment_line_char) {
+	while (starts_with_mem(s, len, comment_line_str)) {
 		size_t count;
 		const char *n = memchr(s, '\n', len);
 		if (!n)
@@ -1865,7 +1874,7 @@
 		s += count;
 		len -= count;
 	}
-	strbuf_add_commented_lines(buf, s, len, comment_line_char);
+	strbuf_add_commented_lines(buf, s, len, comment_line_str);
 }
 
 /* Does the current fixup chain contain a squash command? */
@@ -1960,11 +1969,11 @@
 	     (starts_with(body, "squash!") || starts_with(body, "fixup!"))))
 		commented_len = commit_subject_length(body);
 
-	strbuf_addf(buf, "\n%c ", comment_line_char);
+	strbuf_addf(buf, "\n%s ", comment_line_str);
 	strbuf_addf(buf, _(nth_commit_msg_fmt),
 		    ++opts->current_fixup_count + 1);
 	strbuf_addstr(buf, "\n\n");
-	strbuf_add_commented_lines(buf, body, commented_len, comment_line_char);
+	strbuf_add_commented_lines(buf, body, commented_len, comment_line_str);
 	/* buf->buf may be reallocated so store an offset into the buffer */
 	fixup_off = buf->len;
 	strbuf_addstr(buf, body + commented_len);
@@ -2017,10 +2026,10 @@
 			return error(_("could not read '%s'"),
 				rebase_path_squash_msg());
 
-		eol = buf.buf[0] != comment_line_char ?
+		eol = !starts_with(buf.buf, comment_line_str) ?
 			buf.buf : strchrnul(buf.buf, '\n');
 
-		strbuf_addf(&header, "%c ", comment_line_char);
+		strbuf_addf(&header, "%s ", comment_line_str);
 		strbuf_addf(&header, _(combined_commit_msg_fmt),
 			    opts->current_fixup_count + 2);
 		strbuf_splice(&buf, 0, eol - buf.buf, header.buf, header.len);
@@ -2046,16 +2055,16 @@
 			repo_unuse_commit_buffer(r, head_commit, head_message);
 			return error(_("cannot write '%s'"), rebase_path_fixup_msg());
 		}
-		strbuf_addf(&buf, "%c ", comment_line_char);
+		strbuf_addf(&buf, "%s ", comment_line_str);
 		strbuf_addf(&buf, _(combined_commit_msg_fmt), 2);
-		strbuf_addf(&buf, "\n%c ", comment_line_char);
+		strbuf_addf(&buf, "\n%s ", comment_line_str);
 		strbuf_addstr(&buf, is_fixup_flag(command, flag) ?
 			      _(skip_first_commit_msg_str) :
 			      _(first_commit_msg_str));
 		strbuf_addstr(&buf, "\n\n");
 		if (is_fixup_flag(command, flag))
 			strbuf_add_commented_lines(&buf, body, strlen(body),
-						   comment_line_char);
+						   comment_line_str);
 		else
 			strbuf_addstr(&buf, body);
 
@@ -2070,12 +2079,12 @@
 	if (command == TODO_SQUASH || is_fixup_flag(command, flag)) {
 		res = append_squash_message(&buf, body, command, opts, flag);
 	} else if (command == TODO_FIXUP) {
-		strbuf_addf(&buf, "\n%c ", comment_line_char);
+		strbuf_addf(&buf, "\n%s ", comment_line_str);
 		strbuf_addf(&buf, _(skip_nth_commit_msg_fmt),
 			    ++opts->current_fixup_count + 1);
 		strbuf_addstr(&buf, "\n\n");
 		strbuf_add_commented_lines(&buf, body, strlen(body),
-					   comment_line_char);
+					   comment_line_str);
 	} else
 		return error(_("unknown command: %d"), command);
 	repo_unuse_commit_buffer(r, commit, message);
@@ -2576,7 +2585,7 @@
 	/* left-trim */
 	bol += strspn(bol, " \t");
 
-	if (bol == eol || *bol == '\r' || *bol == comment_line_char) {
+	if (bol == eol || *bol == '\r' || starts_with_mem(bol, eol - bol, comment_line_str)) {
 		item->command = TODO_COMMENT;
 		item->commit = NULL;
 		item->arg_offset = bol - buf;
@@ -2940,6 +2949,9 @@
 	else if (!strcmp(key, "options.allow-empty-message"))
 		opts->allow_empty_message =
 			git_config_bool_or_int(key, value, ctx->kvi, &error_flag);
+	else if (!strcmp(key, "options.drop-redundant-commits"))
+		opts->drop_redundant_commits =
+			git_config_bool_or_int(key, value, ctx->kvi, &error_flag);
 	else if (!strcmp(key, "options.keep-redundant-commits"))
 		opts->keep_redundant_commits =
 			git_config_bool_or_int(key, value, ctx->kvi, &error_flag);
@@ -3474,54 +3486,57 @@
 
 	if (opts->no_commit)
 		res |= git_config_set_in_file_gently(opts_file,
-					"options.no-commit", "true");
+					"options.no-commit", NULL, "true");
 	if (opts->edit >= 0)
-		res |= git_config_set_in_file_gently(opts_file, "options.edit",
+		res |= git_config_set_in_file_gently(opts_file, "options.edit", NULL,
 						     opts->edit ? "true" : "false");
 	if (opts->allow_empty)
 		res |= git_config_set_in_file_gently(opts_file,
-					"options.allow-empty", "true");
+					"options.allow-empty", NULL, "true");
 	if (opts->allow_empty_message)
 		res |= git_config_set_in_file_gently(opts_file,
-				"options.allow-empty-message", "true");
+				"options.allow-empty-message", NULL, "true");
+	if (opts->drop_redundant_commits)
+		res |= git_config_set_in_file_gently(opts_file,
+				"options.drop-redundant-commits", NULL, "true");
 	if (opts->keep_redundant_commits)
 		res |= git_config_set_in_file_gently(opts_file,
-				"options.keep-redundant-commits", "true");
+				"options.keep-redundant-commits", NULL, "true");
 	if (opts->signoff)
 		res |= git_config_set_in_file_gently(opts_file,
-					"options.signoff", "true");
+					"options.signoff", NULL, "true");
 	if (opts->record_origin)
 		res |= git_config_set_in_file_gently(opts_file,
-					"options.record-origin", "true");
+					"options.record-origin", NULL, "true");
 	if (opts->allow_ff)
 		res |= git_config_set_in_file_gently(opts_file,
-					"options.allow-ff", "true");
+					"options.allow-ff", NULL, "true");
 	if (opts->mainline) {
 		struct strbuf buf = STRBUF_INIT;
 		strbuf_addf(&buf, "%d", opts->mainline);
 		res |= git_config_set_in_file_gently(opts_file,
-					"options.mainline", buf.buf);
+					"options.mainline", NULL, buf.buf);
 		strbuf_release(&buf);
 	}
 	if (opts->strategy)
 		res |= git_config_set_in_file_gently(opts_file,
-					"options.strategy", opts->strategy);
+					"options.strategy", NULL, opts->strategy);
 	if (opts->gpg_sign)
 		res |= git_config_set_in_file_gently(opts_file,
-					"options.gpg-sign", opts->gpg_sign);
+					"options.gpg-sign", NULL, opts->gpg_sign);
 	for (size_t i = 0; i < opts->xopts.nr; i++)
 		res |= git_config_set_multivar_in_file_gently(opts_file,
 				"options.strategy-option",
-				opts->xopts.v[i], "^$", 0);
+				opts->xopts.v[i], "^$", NULL, 0);
 	if (opts->allow_rerere_auto)
 		res |= git_config_set_in_file_gently(opts_file,
-				"options.allow-rerere-auto",
+				"options.allow-rerere-auto", NULL,
 				opts->allow_rerere_auto == RERERE_AUTOUPDATE ?
 				"true" : "false");
 
 	if (opts->explicit_cleanup)
 		res |= git_config_set_in_file_gently(opts_file,
-				"options.default-msg-cleanup",
+				"options.default-msg-cleanup", NULL,
 				describe_cleanup_mode(opts->default_msg_cleanup));
 	return res;
 }
@@ -5679,8 +5694,8 @@
 				    oid_to_hex(&commit->object.oid),
 				    oneline.buf);
 			if (is_empty)
-				strbuf_addf(&buf, " %c empty",
-					    comment_line_char);
+				strbuf_addf(&buf, " %s empty",
+					    comment_line_str);
 
 			FLEX_ALLOC_STR(entry, string, buf.buf);
 			oidcpy(&entry->entry.oid, &commit->object.oid);
@@ -5770,7 +5785,7 @@
 		entry = oidmap_get(&state.commit2label, &commit->object.oid);
 
 		if (entry)
-			strbuf_addf(out, "\n%c Branch %s\n", comment_line_char, entry->string);
+			strbuf_addf(out, "\n%s Branch %s\n", comment_line_str, entry->string);
 		else
 			strbuf_addch(out, '\n');
 
@@ -5907,7 +5922,7 @@
 			    oid_to_hex(&commit->object.oid));
 		pretty_print_commit(&pp, commit, out);
 		if (is_empty)
-			strbuf_addf(out, " %c empty", comment_line_char);
+			strbuf_addf(out, " %s empty", comment_line_str);
 		strbuf_addch(out, '\n');
 	}
 	if (skipped_commit)
diff --git a/strbuf.c b/strbuf.c
index 7827178..1492a08 100644
--- a/strbuf.c
+++ b/strbuf.c
@@ -24,6 +24,17 @@
 			return 0;
 }
 
+int starts_with_mem(const char *str, size_t len, const char *prefix)
+{
+	const char *end = str + len;
+	for (; ; str++, prefix++) {
+		if (!*prefix)
+			return 1;
+		else if (str == end || *str != *prefix)
+			return 0;
+	}
+}
+
 int skip_to_optional_arg_default(const char *str, const char *prefix,
 				 const char **arg, const char *def)
 {
@@ -340,18 +351,17 @@
 }
 
 static void add_lines(struct strbuf *out,
-			const char *prefix1,
-			const char *prefix2,
-			const char *buf, size_t size)
+			const char *prefix,
+			const char *buf, size_t size,
+			int space_after_prefix)
 {
 	while (size) {
-		const char *prefix;
 		const char *next = memchr(buf, '\n', size);
 		next = next ? (next + 1) : (buf + size);
 
-		prefix = ((prefix2 && (buf[0] == '\n' || buf[0] == '\t'))
-			  ? prefix2 : prefix1);
 		strbuf_addstr(out, prefix);
+		if (space_after_prefix && buf[0] != '\n' && buf[0] != '\t')
+			strbuf_addch(out, ' ');
 		strbuf_add(out, buf, next - buf);
 		size -= next - buf;
 		buf = next;
@@ -360,19 +370,12 @@
 }
 
 void strbuf_add_commented_lines(struct strbuf *out, const char *buf,
-				size_t size, char comment_line_char)
+				size_t size, const char *comment_prefix)
 {
-	static char prefix1[3];
-	static char prefix2[2];
-
-	if (prefix1[0] != comment_line_char) {
-		xsnprintf(prefix1, sizeof(prefix1), "%c ", comment_line_char);
-		xsnprintf(prefix2, sizeof(prefix2), "%c", comment_line_char);
-	}
-	add_lines(out, prefix1, prefix2, buf, size);
+	add_lines(out, comment_prefix, buf, size, 1);
 }
 
-void strbuf_commented_addf(struct strbuf *sb, char comment_line_char,
+void strbuf_commented_addf(struct strbuf *sb, const char *comment_prefix,
 			   const char *fmt, ...)
 {
 	va_list params;
@@ -383,7 +386,7 @@
 	strbuf_vaddf(&buf, fmt, params);
 	va_end(params);
 
-	strbuf_add_commented_lines(sb, buf.buf, buf.len, comment_line_char);
+	strbuf_add_commented_lines(sb, buf.buf, buf.len, comment_prefix);
 	if (incomplete_line)
 		sb->buf[--sb->len] = '\0';
 
@@ -442,6 +445,26 @@
 	return 0;
 }
 
+void strbuf_expand_bad_format(const char *format, const char *command)
+{
+	const char *end;
+
+	if (*format != '(')
+		/* TRANSLATORS: The first %s is a command like "ls-tree". */
+		die(_("bad %s format: element '%s' does not start with '('"),
+		    command, format);
+
+	end = strchr(format + 1, ')');
+	if (!end)
+		/* TRANSLATORS: The first %s is a command like "ls-tree". */
+		die(_("bad %s format: element '%s' does not end in ')'"),
+		    command, format);
+
+	/* TRANSLATORS: %s is a command like "ls-tree". */
+	die(_("bad %s format: %%%.*s"),
+	    command, (int)(end - format + 1), format);
+}
+
 void strbuf_addbuf_percentquote(struct strbuf *dst, const struct strbuf *src)
 {
 	size_t i, len = src->len;
@@ -750,7 +773,7 @@
 void strbuf_add_lines(struct strbuf *out, const char *prefix,
 		      const char *buf, size_t size)
 {
-	add_lines(out, prefix, NULL, buf, size);
+	add_lines(out, prefix, buf, size, 0);
 }
 
 void strbuf_addstr_xml_quoted(struct strbuf *buf, const char *s)
@@ -1005,10 +1028,10 @@
  *
  * If last line does not have a newline at the end, one is added.
  *
- * Pass a non-NUL comment_line_char to skip every line starting
+ * Pass a non-NULL comment_prefix to skip every line starting
  * with it.
  */
-void strbuf_stripspace(struct strbuf *sb, char comment_line_char)
+void strbuf_stripspace(struct strbuf *sb, const char *comment_prefix)
 {
 	size_t empties = 0;
 	size_t i, j, len, newlen;
@@ -1021,8 +1044,8 @@
 		eol = memchr(sb->buf + i, '\n', sb->len - i);
 		len = eol ? eol - (sb->buf + i) + 1 : sb->len - i;
 
-		if (comment_line_char && len &&
-		    sb->buf[i] == comment_line_char) {
+		if (comment_prefix && len &&
+		    starts_with(sb->buf + i, comment_prefix)) {
 			newlen = 0;
 			continue;
 		}
diff --git a/strbuf.h b/strbuf.h
index e959cac..97fa4a3 100644
--- a/strbuf.h
+++ b/strbuf.h
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@
  */
 void strbuf_add_commented_lines(struct strbuf *out,
 				const char *buf, size_t size,
-				char comment_line_char);
+				const char *comment_prefix);
 
 
 /**
@@ -338,6 +338,11 @@
 int strbuf_expand_step(struct strbuf *sb, const char **formatp);
 
 /**
+ * Used with `strbuf_expand_step` to report unknown placeholders.
+ */
+void strbuf_expand_bad_format(const char *format, const char *command);
+
+/**
  * Append the contents of one strbuf to another, quoting any
  * percent signs ("%") into double-percents ("%%") in the
  * destination. This is useful for literal data to be fed to either
@@ -379,7 +384,7 @@
  * blank to the buffer.
  */
 __attribute__((format (printf, 3, 4)))
-void strbuf_commented_addf(struct strbuf *sb, char comment_line_char, const char *fmt, ...);
+void strbuf_commented_addf(struct strbuf *sb, const char *comment_prefix, const char *fmt, ...);
 
 __attribute__((format (printf,2,0)))
 void strbuf_vaddf(struct strbuf *sb, const char *fmt, va_list ap);
@@ -513,11 +518,11 @@
 int strbuf_normalize_path(struct strbuf *sb);
 
 /**
- * Strip whitespace from a buffer. If comment_line_char is non-NUL,
+ * Strip whitespace from a buffer. If comment_prefix is non-NULL,
  * then lines beginning with that character are considered comments,
  * thus removed.
  */
-void strbuf_stripspace(struct strbuf *buf, char comment_line_char);
+void strbuf_stripspace(struct strbuf *buf, const char *comment_prefix);
 
 static inline int strbuf_strip_suffix(struct strbuf *sb, const char *suffix)
 {
@@ -673,6 +678,7 @@
 
 int starts_with(const char *str, const char *prefix);
 int istarts_with(const char *str, const char *prefix);
+int starts_with_mem(const char *str, size_t len, const char *prefix);
 
 /*
  * If the string "str" is the same as the string in "prefix", then the "arg"
diff --git a/submodule-config.c b/submodule-config.c
index 54130f6..11428b4 100644
--- a/submodule-config.c
+++ b/submodule-config.c
@@ -978,7 +978,7 @@
 {
 	int ret;
 
-	ret = git_config_set_in_file_gently(GITMODULES_FILE, key, value);
+	ret = git_config_set_in_file_gently(GITMODULES_FILE, key, NULL, value);
 	if (ret < 0)
 		/* Maybe the user already did that, don't error out here */
 		warning(_("Could not update .gitmodules entry %s"), key);
diff --git a/submodule.c b/submodule.c
index f0ddb31..ce2d032 100644
--- a/submodule.c
+++ b/submodule.c
@@ -2046,7 +2046,7 @@
 	submodule_name_to_gitdir(&config_path, the_repository, sub->name);
 	strbuf_addstr(&config_path, "/config");
 
-	if (git_config_set_in_file_gently(config_path.buf, "core.worktree", NULL))
+	if (git_config_set_in_file_gently(config_path.buf, "core.worktree", NULL, NULL))
 		warning(_("Could not unset core.worktree setting in submodule '%s'"),
 			  sub->path);
 
diff --git a/t/README b/t/README
index 621d3b8..d9e0e07 100644
--- a/t/README
+++ b/t/README
@@ -32,6 +32,13 @@
     ok 2 - plain with GIT_WORK_TREE
     ok 3 - plain bare
 
+t/Makefile defines a target for each test file, such that you can also use
+shell pattern matching to run a subset of the tests:
+
+    make *checkout*
+
+will run all tests with 'checkout' in their filename.
+
 Since the tests all output TAP (see https://testanything.org) they can
 be run with any TAP harness. Here's an example of parallel testing
 powered by a recent version of prove(1):
@@ -724,6 +731,26 @@
    Note that we still &&-chain the loop to propagate failures from
    earlier commands.
 
+ - Repeat tests with slightly different arguments in a loop.
+
+   In some cases it may make sense to re-run the same set of tests with
+   different options or commands to ensure that the command behaves
+   despite the different parameters. This can be achieved by looping
+   around a specific parameter:
+
+	for arg in '' "--foo"
+	do
+		test_expect_success "test command ${arg:-without arguments}" '
+			command $arg
+		'
+	done
+
+   Note that while the test title uses double quotes ("), the test body
+   should continue to use single quotes (') to avoid breakage in case the
+   values contain e.g. quoting characters. The loop variable will be
+   accessible regardless of the single quotes as the test body is passed
+   to `eval`.
+
 
 And here are the "don'ts:"
 
diff --git a/t/t0030-stripspace.sh b/t/t0030-stripspace.sh
index d1b3be8..f10f42f 100755
--- a/t/t0030-stripspace.sh
+++ b/t/t0030-stripspace.sh
@@ -401,6 +401,21 @@
 	test -z "$(echo "; comment" | git -c core.commentchar=";" stripspace -s)"
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'strip comments with changed comment string' '
+	test ! -z "$(echo "// comment" | git -c core.commentchar=// stripspace)" &&
+	test -z "$(echo "// comment" | git -c core.commentchar="//" stripspace -s)"
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'newline as commentchar is forbidden' '
+	test_must_fail git -c core.commentChar="$LF" stripspace -s 2>err &&
+	grep "core.commentchar cannot contain newline" err
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'empty commentchar is forbidden' '
+	test_must_fail git -c core.commentchar= stripspace -s 2>err &&
+	grep "core.commentchar must have at least one character" err
+'
+
 test_expect_success '-c with single line' '
 	printf "# foo\n" >expect &&
 	printf "foo" | git stripspace -c >actual &&
diff --git a/t/t1300-config.sh b/t/t1300-config.sh
index 31c3878..9b65d9e 100755
--- a/t/t1300-config.sh
+++ b/t/t1300-config.sh
@@ -11,6 +11,98 @@
 TEST_PASSES_SANITIZE_LEAK=true
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
+test_expect_success 'setup whitespace config' '
+	sed -e "s/^|//" \
+	    -e "s/[$]$//" \
+	    -e "s/X/	/g" >.git/config <<-\EOF
+	[section]
+	|	solid = rock
+	|	sparse = big XX blue
+	|	sparseAndTail = big XX blue $
+	|	sparseAndTailQuoted = "big XX blue "
+	|	sparseAndBiggerTail = big XX blue X X
+	|	sparseAndBiggerTailQuoted = "big XX blue X X"
+	|	sparseAndBiggerTailQuotedPlus = "big XX blue X X"X $
+	|	headAndTail = Xbig blue $
+	|	headAndTailQuoted = "Xbig blue "
+	|	headAndTailQuotedPlus = "Xbig blue " $
+	|	annotated = big blueX# to be discarded
+	|	annotatedQuoted = "big blue"X# to be discarded
+	EOF
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'no internal whitespace' '
+	echo "rock" >expect &&
+	git config --get section.solid >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'internal whitespace' '
+	echo "big QQ blue" | q_to_tab >expect &&
+	git config --get section.sparse >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'internal and trailing whitespace' '
+	echo "big QQ blue" | q_to_tab >expect &&
+	git config --get section.sparseAndTail >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'internal and trailing whitespace, all quoted' '
+	echo "big QQ blue " | q_to_tab >expect &&
+	git config --get section.sparseAndTailQuoted >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'internal and more trailing whitespace' '
+	echo "big QQ blue" | q_to_tab >expect &&
+	git config --get section.sparseAndBiggerTail >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'internal and more trailing whitespace, all quoted' '
+	echo "big QQ blue Q Q" | q_to_tab >expect &&
+	git config --get section.sparseAndBiggerTailQuoted >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'internal and more trailing whitespace, not all quoted' '
+	echo "big QQ blue Q Q" | q_to_tab >expect &&
+	git config --get section.sparseAndBiggerTailQuotedPlus >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'leading and trailing whitespace' '
+	echo "big blue" >expect &&
+	git config --get section.headAndTail >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'leading and trailing whitespace, all quoted' '
+	echo "Qbig blue " | q_to_tab >expect &&
+	git config --get section.headAndTailQuoted >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'leading and trailing whitespace, not all quoted' '
+	echo "Qbig blue " | q_to_tab >expect &&
+	git config --get section.headAndTailQuotedPlus >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'inline comment' '
+	echo "big blue" >expect &&
+	git config --get section.annotated >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'inline comment, quoted' '
+	echo "big blue" >expect &&
+	git config --get section.annotatedQuoted >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'clear default config' '
 	rm -f .git/config
 '
@@ -69,14 +161,32 @@
 
 cat > expect << EOF
 [section]
-	penguin = very blue
 	Movie = BadPhysics
 	UPPERCASE = true
-	penguin = kingpin
+	penguin = gentoo # Pygoscelis papua
+	disposition = peckish # find fish
+	foo = bar #abc
+	spsp = value # and comment
+	htsp = value	# and comment
 [Sections]
 	WhatEver = Second
 EOF
 
+test_expect_success 'append comments' '
+	git config --replace-all --comment="Pygoscelis papua" section.penguin gentoo &&
+	git config --comment="find fish" section.disposition peckish &&
+	git config --comment="#abc" section.foo bar &&
+
+	git config --comment="and comment" section.spsp value &&
+	git config --comment="	# and comment" section.htsp value &&
+
+	test_cmp expect .git/config
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'Prohibited LF in comment' '
+	test_must_fail git config --comment="a${LF}b" section.k v
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'non-match result' 'test_cmp expect .git/config'
 
 test_expect_success 'find mixed-case key by canonical name' '
@@ -1066,9 +1176,25 @@
 	test_cmp expect result
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'inner whitespace kept verbatim' '
-	git config section.val "foo 	  bar" &&
-	test_cmp_config "foo 	  bar" section.val
+test_expect_success 'inner whitespace kept verbatim, spaces only' '
+	echo "foo   bar" >expect &&
+	git config section.val "foo   bar" &&
+	git config --get section.val >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'inner whitespace kept verbatim, horizontal tabs only' '
+	echo "fooQQbar" | q_to_tab >expect &&
+	git config section.val "$(cat expect)" &&
+	git config --get section.val >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'inner whitespace kept verbatim, horizontal tabs and spaces' '
+	echo "foo Q  bar" | q_to_tab >expect &&
+	git config section.val "$(cat expect)" &&
+	git config --get section.val >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
 test_expect_success SYMLINKS 'symlinked configuration' '
diff --git a/t/t3424-rebase-empty.sh b/t/t3424-rebase-empty.sh
index 5e1045a..1ee6b00 100755
--- a/t/t3424-rebase-empty.sh
+++ b/t/t3424-rebase-empty.sh
@@ -72,6 +72,17 @@
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'rebase --merge --empty=stop' '
+	git checkout -B testing localmods &&
+	test_must_fail git rebase --merge --empty=stop upstream &&
+
+	git rebase --skip &&
+
+	test_write_lines D C B A >expect &&
+	git log --format=%s >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'rebase --merge --empty=ask' '
 	git checkout -B testing localmods &&
 	test_must_fail git rebase --merge --empty=ask upstream &&
@@ -101,9 +112,9 @@
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'rebase --interactive --empty=ask' '
+test_expect_success 'rebase --interactive --empty=stop' '
 	git checkout -B testing localmods &&
-	test_must_fail git rebase --interactive --empty=ask upstream &&
+	test_must_fail git rebase --interactive --empty=stop upstream &&
 
 	git rebase --skip &&
 
@@ -112,7 +123,7 @@
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'rebase --interactive uses default of --empty=ask' '
+test_expect_success 'rebase --interactive uses default of --empty=stop' '
 	git checkout -B testing localmods &&
 	test_must_fail git rebase --interactive upstream &&
 
@@ -167,4 +178,42 @@
 	test_path_is_missing .git/MERGE_MSG
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'rebase --exec --empty=drop' '
+	git checkout -B testing localmods &&
+	git rebase --exec "true" --empty=drop upstream &&
+
+	test_write_lines D C B A >expect &&
+	git log --format=%s >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'rebase --exec --empty=keep' '
+	git checkout -B testing localmods &&
+	git rebase --exec "true" --empty=keep upstream &&
+
+	test_write_lines D C2 C B A >expect &&
+	git log --format=%s >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'rebase --exec uses default of --empty=keep' '
+	git checkout -B testing localmods &&
+	git rebase --exec "true" upstream &&
+
+	test_write_lines D C2 C B A >expect &&
+	git log --format=%s >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'rebase --exec --empty=stop' '
+	git checkout -B testing localmods &&
+	test_must_fail git rebase --exec "true" --empty=stop upstream &&
+
+	git rebase --skip &&
+
+	test_write_lines D C B A >expect &&
+	git log --format=%s >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_done
diff --git a/t/t3438-rebase-broken-files.sh b/t/t3438-rebase-broken-files.sh
index c614c4f..821f08e 100755
--- a/t/t3438-rebase-broken-files.sh
+++ b/t/t3438-rebase-broken-files.sh
@@ -58,4 +58,13 @@
 	check_resolve_fails
 '
 
+test_expect_success POSIXPERM,SANITY 'unwritable rebased-patches does not leak' '
+	>.git/rebased-patches &&
+	chmod a-w .git/rebased-patches &&
+
+	git checkout -b side HEAD^ &&
+	test_commit unrelated &&
+	test_must_fail git rebase --apply --onto tmp HEAD^
+'
+
 test_done
diff --git a/t/t3501-revert-cherry-pick.sh b/t/t3501-revert-cherry-pick.sh
index aeab689..411027f 100755
--- a/t/t3501-revert-cherry-pick.sh
+++ b/t/t3501-revert-cherry-pick.sh
@@ -104,11 +104,19 @@
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'cherry-pick on unborn branch' '
-	git checkout --orphan unborn &&
+	git switch --orphan unborn &&
 	git rm --cached -r . &&
-	rm -rf * &&
 	git cherry-pick initial &&
-	git diff --quiet initial &&
+	git diff --exit-code initial &&
+	test_cmp_rev ! initial HEAD
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'cherry-pick on unborn branch with --allow-empty' '
+	git checkout --detach &&
+	git branch -D unborn &&
+	git switch --orphan unborn &&
+	git cherry-pick initial --allow-empty &&
+	git diff --exit-code initial &&
 	test_cmp_rev ! initial HEAD
 '
 
@@ -170,6 +178,7 @@
 	hint: You can instead skip this commit with "git revert --skip".
 	hint: To abort and get back to the state before "git revert",
 	hint: run "git revert --abort".
+	hint: Disable this message with "git config advice.mergeConflict false"
 	EOF
 	test_commit --append --no-tag "double-add dream" dream dream &&
 	test_must_fail git revert HEAD^ 2>actual &&
diff --git a/t/t3505-cherry-pick-empty.sh b/t/t3505-cherry-pick-empty.sh
index eba3c38..9748443 100755
--- a/t/t3505-cherry-pick-empty.sh
+++ b/t/t3505-cherry-pick-empty.sh
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@
 	git commit -m "add file2 on the side"
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'cherry-pick a no-op without --keep-redundant' '
+test_expect_success 'cherry-pick a no-op with neither --keep-redundant nor --empty' '
 	git reset --hard &&
 	git checkout fork^0 &&
 	test_must_fail git cherry-pick main
@@ -99,4 +99,53 @@
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success '--keep-redundant-commits is incompatible with operations' '
+	test_must_fail git cherry-pick HEAD 2>output &&
+	test_grep "The previous cherry-pick is now empty" output &&
+	test_must_fail git cherry-pick --keep-redundant-commits --continue 2>output &&
+	test_grep "fatal: cherry-pick: --keep-redundant-commits cannot be used with --continue" output &&
+	test_must_fail git cherry-pick --keep-redundant-commits --skip 2>output &&
+	test_grep "fatal: cherry-pick: --keep-redundant-commits cannot be used with --skip" output &&
+	test_must_fail git cherry-pick --keep-redundant-commits --abort 2>output &&
+	test_grep "fatal: cherry-pick: --keep-redundant-commits cannot be used with --abort" output &&
+	test_must_fail git cherry-pick --keep-redundant-commits --quit 2>output &&
+	test_grep "fatal: cherry-pick: --keep-redundant-commits cannot be used with --quit" output &&
+	git cherry-pick --abort
+'
+
+test_expect_success '--empty is incompatible with operations' '
+	test_must_fail git cherry-pick HEAD 2>output &&
+	test_grep "The previous cherry-pick is now empty" output &&
+	test_must_fail git cherry-pick --empty=stop --continue 2>output &&
+	test_grep "fatal: cherry-pick: --empty cannot be used with --continue" output &&
+	test_must_fail git cherry-pick --empty=stop --skip 2>output &&
+	test_grep "fatal: cherry-pick: --empty cannot be used with --skip" output &&
+	test_must_fail git cherry-pick --empty=stop --abort 2>output &&
+	test_grep "fatal: cherry-pick: --empty cannot be used with --abort" output &&
+	test_must_fail git cherry-pick --empty=stop --quit 2>output &&
+	test_grep "fatal: cherry-pick: --empty cannot be used with --quit" output &&
+	git cherry-pick --abort
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'cherry-pick a no-op with --empty=stop' '
+	git reset --hard &&
+	git checkout fork^0 &&
+	test_must_fail git cherry-pick --empty=stop main 2>output &&
+	test_grep "The previous cherry-pick is now empty" output
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'cherry-pick a no-op with --empty=drop' '
+	git reset --hard &&
+	git checkout fork^0 &&
+	git cherry-pick --empty=drop main &&
+	test_commit_message HEAD -m "add file2 on the side"
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'cherry-pick a no-op with --empty=keep' '
+	git reset --hard &&
+	git checkout fork^0 &&
+	git cherry-pick --empty=keep main &&
+	test_commit_message HEAD -m "add file2 on main"
+'
+
 test_done
diff --git a/t/t3507-cherry-pick-conflict.sh b/t/t3507-cherry-pick-conflict.sh
index c88d597..f3947b4 100755
--- a/t/t3507-cherry-pick-conflict.sh
+++ b/t/t3507-cherry-pick-conflict.sh
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@
 	hint: You can instead skip this commit with "git cherry-pick --skip".
 	hint: To abort and get back to the state before "git cherry-pick",
 	hint: run "git cherry-pick --abort".
+	hint: Disable this message with "git config advice.mergeConflict false"
 	EOF
 	test_must_fail git cherry-pick picked 2>actual &&
 
@@ -74,6 +75,7 @@
 	error: could not apply \$picked... picked
 	hint: after resolving the conflicts, mark the corrected paths
 	hint: with 'git add <paths>' or 'git rm <paths>'
+	hint: Disable this message with \"git config advice.mergeConflict false\"
 	EOF
 	test_must_fail git cherry-pick --no-commit picked 2>actual &&
 
diff --git a/t/t3510-cherry-pick-sequence.sh b/t/t3510-cherry-pick-sequence.sh
index 72020a5..7eb52b1 100755
--- a/t/t3510-cherry-pick-sequence.sh
+++ b/t/t3510-cherry-pick-sequence.sh
@@ -90,6 +90,38 @@
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'cherry-pick persists --empty=stop correctly' '
+	pristine_detach yetanotherpick &&
+	# Picking `anotherpick` forces a conflict so that we stop. That
+	# commit is then skipped, after which we pick `yetanotherpick`
+	# while already on `yetanotherpick` to cause an empty commit
+	test_must_fail git cherry-pick --empty=stop anotherpick yetanotherpick &&
+	test_must_fail git cherry-pick --skip 2>msg &&
+	test_grep "The previous cherry-pick is now empty" msg &&
+	rm msg &&
+	git cherry-pick --abort
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'cherry-pick persists --empty=drop correctly' '
+	pristine_detach yetanotherpick &&
+	# Picking `anotherpick` forces a conflict so that we stop. That
+	# commit is then skipped, after which we pick `yetanotherpick`
+	# while already on `yetanotherpick` to cause an empty commit
+	test_must_fail git cherry-pick --empty=drop anotherpick yetanotherpick &&
+	git cherry-pick --skip &&
+	test_cmp_rev yetanotherpick HEAD
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'cherry-pick persists --empty=keep correctly' '
+	pristine_detach yetanotherpick &&
+	# Picking `anotherpick` forces a conflict so that we stop. That
+	# commit is then skipped, after which we pick `yetanotherpick`
+	# while already on `yetanotherpick` to cause an empty commit
+	test_must_fail git cherry-pick --empty=keep anotherpick yetanotherpick &&
+	git cherry-pick --skip &&
+	test_cmp_rev yetanotherpick HEAD^
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'revert persists opts correctly' '
 	pristine_detach initial &&
 	# to make sure that the session to revert a sequence
diff --git a/t/t4126-apply-empty.sh b/t/t4126-apply-empty.sh
index ece9fae..56210b5 100755
--- a/t/t4126-apply-empty.sh
+++ b/t/t4126-apply-empty.sh
@@ -66,4 +66,28 @@
 	git diff --exit-code
 '
 
+test_expect_success !MINGW 'apply with no-contents and a funny pathname' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -fr \"funny \"; git reset --hard" &&
+
+	mkdir "funny " &&
+	>"funny /empty" &&
+	git add "funny /empty" &&
+	git diff HEAD -- "funny /" >sample.patch &&
+	git diff -R HEAD -- "funny /" >elpmas.patch &&
+
+	git reset --hard &&
+
+	git apply --stat --check --apply sample.patch &&
+	test_must_be_empty "funny /empty" &&
+
+	git apply --stat --check --apply elpmas.patch &&
+	test_path_is_missing "funny /empty" &&
+
+	git apply -R --stat --check --apply elpmas.patch &&
+	test_must_be_empty "funny /empty" &&
+
+	git apply -R --stat --check --apply sample.patch &&
+	test_path_is_missing "funny /empty"
+'
+
 test_done
diff --git a/t/t4150-am.sh b/t/t4150-am.sh
index 3b12576..5e2b6c8 100755
--- a/t/t4150-am.sh
+++ b/t/t4150-am.sh
@@ -1224,8 +1224,8 @@
 
 test_expect_success 'skip an empty patch in the middle of an am session' '
 	git checkout empty-commit^ &&
-	test_must_fail git am empty-commit.patch >err &&
-	grep "Patch is empty." err &&
+	test_must_fail git am empty-commit.patch >out 2>err &&
+	grep "Patch is empty." out &&
 	grep "To record the empty patch as an empty commit, run \"git am --allow-empty\"." err &&
 	git am --skip &&
 	test_path_is_missing .git/rebase-apply &&
@@ -1236,8 +1236,8 @@
 
 test_expect_success 'record an empty patch as an empty commit in the middle of an am session' '
 	git checkout empty-commit^ &&
-	test_must_fail git am empty-commit.patch >err &&
-	grep "Patch is empty." err &&
+	test_must_fail git am empty-commit.patch >out 2>err &&
+	grep "Patch is empty." out &&
 	grep "To record the empty patch as an empty commit, run \"git am --allow-empty\"." err &&
 	git am --allow-empty >output &&
 	grep "No changes - recorded it as an empty commit." output &&
diff --git a/t/t4205-log-pretty-formats.sh b/t/t4205-log-pretty-formats.sh
index 1409eeb..158b49d 100755
--- a/t/t4205-log-pretty-formats.sh
+++ b/t/t4205-log-pretty-formats.sh
@@ -30,40 +30,46 @@
 	>bar &&
 	git add foo &&
 	test_tick &&
-	git config i18n.commitEncoding $test_encoding &&
+	test_config i18n.commitEncoding $test_encoding &&
 	commit_msg $test_encoding | git commit -F - &&
 	git add bar &&
 	test_tick &&
-	git commit -m "add bar" &&
-	git config --unset i18n.commitEncoding
+	git commit -m "add bar"
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'alias builtin format' '
 	git log --pretty=oneline >expected &&
-	git config pretty.test-alias oneline &&
+	test_config pretty.test-alias oneline &&
 	git log --pretty=test-alias >actual &&
 	test_cmp expected actual
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'alias masking builtin format' '
 	git log --pretty=oneline >expected &&
-	git config pretty.oneline "%H" &&
+	test_config pretty.oneline "%H" &&
 	git log --pretty=oneline >actual &&
 	test_cmp expected actual
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'alias user-defined format' '
 	git log --pretty="format:%h" >expected &&
-	git config pretty.test-alias "format:%h" &&
+	test_config pretty.test-alias "format:%h" &&
 	git log --pretty=test-alias >actual &&
 	test_cmp expected actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'alias user-defined format is matched case-insensitively' '
+	git log --pretty="format:%h" >expected &&
+	test_config pretty.testone "format:%h" &&
+	test_config pretty.testtwo testOne &&
+	git log --pretty=testTwo >actual &&
+	test_cmp expected actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'alias user-defined tformat with %s (ISO8859-1 encoding)' '
-	git config i18n.logOutputEncoding $test_encoding &&
+	test_config i18n.logOutputEncoding $test_encoding &&
 	git log --oneline >expected-s &&
 	git log --pretty="tformat:%h %s" >actual-s &&
-	git config --unset i18n.logOutputEncoding &&
 	test_cmp expected-s actual-s
 '
 
@@ -75,34 +81,34 @@
 
 test_expect_success 'alias user-defined tformat' '
 	git log --pretty="tformat:%h" >expected &&
-	git config pretty.test-alias "tformat:%h" &&
+	test_config pretty.test-alias "tformat:%h" &&
 	git log --pretty=test-alias >actual &&
 	test_cmp expected actual
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'alias non-existent format' '
-	git config pretty.test-alias format-that-will-never-exist &&
+	test_config pretty.test-alias format-that-will-never-exist &&
 	test_must_fail git log --pretty=test-alias
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'alias of an alias' '
 	git log --pretty="tformat:%h" >expected &&
-	git config pretty.test-foo "tformat:%h" &&
-	git config pretty.test-bar test-foo &&
+	test_config pretty.test-foo "tformat:%h" &&
+	test_config pretty.test-bar test-foo &&
 	git log --pretty=test-bar >actual && test_cmp expected actual
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'alias masking an alias' '
 	git log --pretty=format:"Two %H" >expected &&
-	git config pretty.duplicate "format:One %H" &&
-	git config --add pretty.duplicate "format:Two %H" &&
+	test_config pretty.duplicate "format:One %H" &&
+	test_config pretty.duplicate "format:Two %H" --add &&
 	git log --pretty=duplicate >actual &&
 	test_cmp expected actual
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'alias loop' '
-	git config pretty.test-foo test-bar &&
-	git config pretty.test-bar test-foo &&
+	test_config pretty.test-foo test-bar &&
+	test_config pretty.test-bar test-foo &&
 	test_must_fail git log --pretty=test-foo
 '
 
diff --git a/t/t4254-am-corrupt.sh b/t/t4254-am-corrupt.sh
index 45f1d4f..661feb6 100755
--- a/t/t4254-am-corrupt.sh
+++ b/t/t4254-am-corrupt.sh
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
 # Also, it had the unwanted side-effect of deleting f.
 test_expect_success 'try to apply corrupted patch' '
 	test_when_finished "git am --abort" &&
-	test_must_fail git -c advice.amWorkDir=false am bad-patch.diff 2>actual &&
+	test_must_fail git -c advice.amWorkDir=false -c advice.mergeConflict=false am bad-patch.diff 2>actual &&
 	echo "error: git diff header lacks filename information (line 4)" >expected &&
 	test_path_is_file f &&
 	test_cmp expected actual
diff --git a/t/t5601-clone.sh b/t/t5601-clone.sh
index fb1b9c6..ca43185 100755
--- a/t/t5601-clone.sh
+++ b/t/t5601-clone.sh
@@ -776,6 +776,18 @@
 . "$TEST_DIRECTORY"/lib-httpd.sh
 start_httpd
 
+test_expect_success 'clone with includeIf' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf repo \"$HTTPD_DOCUMENT_ROOT_PATH/repo.git\"" &&
+	git clone --bare --no-local src "$HTTPD_DOCUMENT_ROOT_PATH/repo.git" &&
+
+	test_when_finished "rm \"$HOME\"/.gitconfig" &&
+	cat >"$HOME"/.gitconfig <<-EOF &&
+	[includeIf "onbranch:something"]
+		path = /does/not/exist.inc
+	EOF
+	git clone $HTTPD_URL/smart/repo.git repo
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'partial clone using HTTP' '
 	partial_clone "$HTTPD_DOCUMENT_ROOT_PATH/server" "$HTTPD_URL/smart/server"
 '
diff --git a/t/t5801/git-remote-testgit b/t/t5801/git-remote-testgit
index bcfb358..c5b10f5 100755
--- a/t/t5801/git-remote-testgit
+++ b/t/t5801/git-remote-testgit
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 export GIT_DIR
 
 force=
+object_format=
 
 mkdir -p "$dir"
 
@@ -61,7 +62,8 @@
 		echo
 		;;
 	list)
-		echo ":object-format $(git rev-parse --show-object-format=storage)"
+		test -n "$object_format" &&
+			echo ":object-format $(git rev-parse --show-object-format=storage)"
 		git for-each-ref --format='? %(refname)' 'refs/heads/' 'refs/tags/'
 		head=$(git symbolic-ref HEAD)
 		echo "@$head HEAD"
diff --git a/t/t7201-co.sh b/t/t7201-co.sh
index 10cc6c4..42352dc 100755
--- a/t/t7201-co.sh
+++ b/t/t7201-co.sh
@@ -631,6 +631,72 @@
 	test_cmp merged file
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'checkout --conflict=diff3 --no-conflict does not merge' '
+	setup_conflicting_index &&
+	echo "none of the above" >expect &&
+	cat expect >fild &&
+	cat expect >file &&
+	test_must_fail git checkout --conflict=diff3 --no-conflict -- fild file 2>err &&
+	test_cmp expect file &&
+	test_cmp expect fild &&
+	echo "error: path ${SQ}file${SQ} is unmerged" >expect &&
+	test_cmp expect err
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'checkout --conflict=diff3 --no-merge does not merge' '
+	setup_conflicting_index &&
+	echo "none of the above" >expect &&
+	cat expect >fild &&
+	cat expect >file &&
+	test_must_fail git checkout --conflict=diff3 --no-merge -- fild file 2>err &&
+	test_cmp expect file &&
+	test_cmp expect fild &&
+	echo "error: path ${SQ}file${SQ} is unmerged" >expect &&
+	test_cmp expect err
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'checkout --no-merge --conflict=diff3 does merge' '
+	setup_conflicting_index &&
+	echo "none of the above" >fild &&
+	echo "none of the above" >file &&
+	git checkout --no-merge --conflict=diff3 -- fild file &&
+	echo "ourside" >expect &&
+	test_cmp expect fild &&
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	<<<<<<< ours
+	ourside
+	||||||| base
+	original
+	=======
+	theirside
+	>>>>>>> theirs
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expect file
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'checkout --merge --conflict=diff3 --no-conflict does merge' '
+	setup_conflicting_index &&
+	echo "none of the above" >fild &&
+	echo "none of the above" >file &&
+	git checkout --merge --conflict=diff3 --no-conflict -- fild file &&
+	echo "ourside" >expect &&
+	test_cmp expect fild &&
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	<<<<<<< ours
+	ourside
+	=======
+	theirside
+	>>>>>>> theirs
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expect file
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'checkout with invalid conflict style' '
+	test_must_fail git checkout --conflict=bad 2>actual -- file &&
+	echo "error: unknown conflict style ${SQ}bad${SQ}" >expect &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'failing checkout -b should not break working tree' '
 	git clean -fd &&  # Remove untracked files in the way
 	git reset --hard main &&
diff --git a/t/t7507-commit-verbose.sh b/t/t7507-commit-verbose.sh
index c3281b1..4c7db19 100755
--- a/t/t7507-commit-verbose.sh
+++ b/t/t7507-commit-verbose.sh
@@ -101,6 +101,16 @@
 	test_grep "Aborting commit due to empty commit message." err
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'verbose diff is stripped with multi-byte comment char' '
+	(
+		GIT_EDITOR=cat &&
+		export GIT_EDITOR &&
+		test_must_fail git -c core.commentchar="foo>" commit -a -v >out 2>err
+	) &&
+	grep "^foo> " out &&
+	test_grep "Aborting commit due to empty commit message." err
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'status does not verbose without --verbose' '
 	git status >actual &&
 	! grep "^diff --git" actual
diff --git a/t/t7508-status.sh b/t/t7508-status.sh
index e9afa59..773383f 100755
--- a/t/t7508-status.sh
+++ b/t/t7508-status.sh
@@ -1415,7 +1415,9 @@
 
 test_expect_success "status (core.commentchar with two chars with submodule summary)" '
 	test_config core.commentchar ";;" &&
-	test_must_fail git -c status.displayCommentPrefix=true status
+	sed "s/^/;/" <expect >expect.double &&
+	git -c status.displayCommentPrefix=true status >output &&
+	test_cmp expect.double output
 '
 
 test_expect_success "--ignore-submodules=all suppresses submodule summary" '
diff --git a/t/t7800-difftool.sh b/t/t7800-difftool.sh
index 96ae5d5..cc917b2 100755
--- a/t/t7800-difftool.sh
+++ b/t/t7800-difftool.sh
@@ -93,42 +93,42 @@
 
 for opt in '' '--dir-diff'
 do
-	test_expect_success "difftool ${opt} ignores exit code" "
+	test_expect_success "difftool ${opt:-without options} ignores exit code" '
 		test_config difftool.error.cmd false &&
 		git difftool ${opt} -y -t error branch
-	"
+	'
 
-	test_expect_success "difftool ${opt} forwards exit code with --trust-exit-code" "
+	test_expect_success "difftool ${opt:-without options} forwards exit code with --trust-exit-code" '
 		test_config difftool.error.cmd false &&
 		test_must_fail git difftool ${opt} -y --trust-exit-code -t error branch
-	"
+	'
 
-	test_expect_success "difftool ${opt} forwards exit code with --trust-exit-code for built-ins" "
+	test_expect_success "difftool ${opt:-without options} forwards exit code with --trust-exit-code for built-ins" '
 		test_config difftool.vimdiff.path false &&
 		test_must_fail git difftool ${opt} -y --trust-exit-code -t vimdiff branch
-	"
+	'
 
-	test_expect_success "difftool ${opt} honors difftool.trustExitCode = true" "
+	test_expect_success "difftool ${opt:-without options} honors difftool.trustExitCode = true" '
 		test_config difftool.error.cmd false &&
 		test_config difftool.trustExitCode true &&
 		test_must_fail git difftool ${opt} -y -t error branch
-	"
+	'
 
-	test_expect_success "difftool ${opt} honors difftool.trustExitCode = false" "
+	test_expect_success "difftool ${opt:-without options} honors difftool.trustExitCode = false" '
 		test_config difftool.error.cmd false &&
 		test_config difftool.trustExitCode false &&
 		git difftool ${opt} -y -t error branch
-	"
+	'
 
-	test_expect_success "difftool ${opt} ignores exit code with --no-trust-exit-code" "
+	test_expect_success "difftool ${opt:-without options} ignores exit code with --no-trust-exit-code" '
 		test_config difftool.error.cmd false &&
 		test_config difftool.trustExitCode true &&
 		git difftool ${opt} -y --no-trust-exit-code -t error branch
-	"
+	'
 
-	test_expect_success "difftool ${opt} stops on error with --trust-exit-code" "
-		test_when_finished 'rm -f for-diff .git/fail-right-file' &&
-		test_when_finished 'git reset -- for-diff' &&
+	test_expect_success "difftool ${opt:-without options} stops on error with --trust-exit-code" '
+		test_when_finished "rm -f for-diff .git/fail-right-file" &&
+		test_when_finished "git reset -- for-diff" &&
 		write_script .git/fail-right-file <<-\EOF &&
 		echo failed
 		exit 1
@@ -138,19 +138,19 @@
 		test_must_fail git difftool ${opt} -y --trust-exit-code \
 			--extcmd .git/fail-right-file branch >actual &&
 		test_line_count = 1 actual
-	"
+	'
 
-	test_expect_success "difftool ${opt} honors exit status if command not found" "
+	test_expect_success "difftool ${opt:-without options} honors exit status if command not found" '
 		test_config difftool.nonexistent.cmd i-dont-exist &&
 		test_config difftool.trustExitCode false &&
-		if test "${opt}" = '--dir-diff'
+		if test "${opt}" = --dir-diff
 		then
 			expected_code=127
 		else
 			expected_code=128
 		fi &&
-		test_expect_code \${expected_code} git difftool ${opt} -y -t nonexistent branch
-	"
+		test_expect_code ${expected_code} git difftool ${opt} -y -t nonexistent branch
+	'
 done
 
 test_expect_success 'difftool honors --gui' '
diff --git a/trailer.c b/trailer.c
index 57b4aa7..dc15d85 100644
--- a/trailer.c
+++ b/trailer.c
@@ -871,7 +871,7 @@
 
 	/* The first paragraph is the title and cannot be trailers */
 	for (s = buf; s < buf + len; s = next_line(s)) {
-		if (s[0] == comment_line_char)
+		if (starts_with_mem(s, buf + len - s, comment_line_str))
 			continue;
 		if (is_blank_line(s))
 			break;
@@ -891,7 +891,7 @@
 		const char **p;
 		ssize_t separator_pos;
 
-		if (bol[0] == comment_line_char) {
+		if (starts_with_mem(bol, buf + len - bol, comment_line_str)) {
 			non_trailer_lines += possible_continuation_lines;
 			possible_continuation_lines = 0;
 			continue;
@@ -1002,7 +1002,7 @@
 	for (i = 0; i < info->trailer_nr; i++) {
 		int separator_pos;
 		char *trailer = info->trailers[i];
-		if (trailer[0] == comment_line_char)
+		if (starts_with(trailer, comment_line_str))
 			continue;
 		separator_pos = find_separator(trailer, separators);
 		if (separator_pos >= 1) {
diff --git a/transport-helper.c b/transport-helper.c
index b660b79..8d284b2 100644
--- a/transport-helper.c
+++ b/transport-helper.c
@@ -1210,16 +1210,13 @@
 	data->get_refs_list_called = 1;
 	helper = get_helper(transport);
 
-	if (data->object_format) {
-		write_str_in_full(helper->in, "option object-format\n");
-		if (recvline(data, &buf) || strcmp(buf.buf, "ok"))
-			exit(128);
-	}
+	if (data->object_format)
+		set_helper_option(transport, "object-format", "true");
 
 	if (data->push && for_push)
-		write_str_in_full(helper->in, "list for-push\n");
+		write_constant(helper->in, "list for-push\n");
 	else
-		write_str_in_full(helper->in, "list\n");
+		write_constant(helper->in, "list\n");
 
 	while (1) {
 		char *eov, *eon;
diff --git a/worktree.c b/worktree.c
index b02a05a..cf5eea8 100644
--- a/worktree.c
+++ b/worktree.c
@@ -807,9 +807,9 @@
 static int move_config_setting(const char *key, const char *value,
 			       const char *from_file, const char *to_file)
 {
-	if (git_config_set_in_file_gently(to_file, key, value))
+	if (git_config_set_in_file_gently(to_file, key, NULL, value))
 		return error(_("unable to set %s in '%s'"), key, to_file);
-	if (git_config_set_in_file_gently(from_file, key, NULL))
+	if (git_config_set_in_file_gently(from_file, key, NULL, NULL))
 		return error(_("unable to unset %s in '%s'"), key, from_file);
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/wt-status.c b/wt-status.c
index 2db4bb3..bdfc23e 100644
--- a/wt-status.c
+++ b/wt-status.c
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@
 	strbuf_vaddf(&sb, fmt, ap);
 	if (!sb.len) {
 		if (s->display_comment_prefix) {
-			strbuf_addch(&sb, comment_line_char);
+			strbuf_addstr(&sb, comment_line_str);
 			if (!trail)
 				strbuf_addch(&sb, ' ');
 		}
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@
 
 		strbuf_reset(&linebuf);
 		if (at_bol && s->display_comment_prefix) {
-			strbuf_addch(&linebuf, comment_line_char);
+			strbuf_addstr(&linebuf, comment_line_str);
 			if (*line != '\n' && *line != '\t')
 				strbuf_addch(&linebuf, ' ');
 		}
@@ -1028,7 +1028,7 @@
 	if (s->display_comment_prefix) {
 		size_t len;
 		summary_content = strbuf_detach(&summary, &len);
-		strbuf_add_commented_lines(&summary, summary_content, len, comment_line_char);
+		strbuf_add_commented_lines(&summary, summary_content, len, comment_line_str);
 		free(summary_content);
 	}
 
@@ -1090,7 +1090,7 @@
 	const char *p;
 	struct strbuf pattern = STRBUF_INIT;
 
-	strbuf_addf(&pattern, "\n%c %s", comment_line_char, cut_line);
+	strbuf_addf(&pattern, "\n%s %s", comment_line_str, cut_line);
 	if (starts_with(s, pattern.buf + 1))
 		len = 0;
 	else if ((p = strstr(s, pattern.buf))) {
@@ -1106,8 +1106,8 @@
 {
 	const char *explanation = _("Do not modify or remove the line above.\nEverything below it will be ignored.");
 
-	strbuf_commented_addf(buf, comment_line_char, "%s", cut_line);
-	strbuf_add_commented_lines(buf, explanation, strlen(explanation), comment_line_char);
+	strbuf_commented_addf(buf, comment_line_str, "%s", cut_line);
+	strbuf_add_commented_lines(buf, explanation, strlen(explanation), comment_line_str);
 }
 
 void wt_status_add_cut_line(struct wt_status *s)
@@ -1183,8 +1183,6 @@
 	struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
 	const char *cp, *ep, *branch_name;
 	struct branch *branch;
-	char comment_line_string[3];
-	int i;
 	uint64_t t_begin = 0;
 
 	assert(s->branch && !s->is_initial);
@@ -1209,20 +1207,15 @@
 		}
 	}
 
-	i = 0;
-	if (s->display_comment_prefix) {
-		comment_line_string[i++] = comment_line_char;
-		comment_line_string[i++] = ' ';
-	}
-	comment_line_string[i] = '\0';
-
 	for (cp = sb.buf; (ep = strchr(cp, '\n')) != NULL; cp = ep + 1)
 		color_fprintf_ln(s->fp, color(WT_STATUS_HEADER, s),
-				 "%s%.*s", comment_line_string,
+				 "%s%s%.*s",
+				 s->display_comment_prefix ? comment_line_str : "",
+				 s->display_comment_prefix ? " " : "",
 				 (int)(ep - cp), cp);
 	if (s->display_comment_prefix)
-		color_fprintf_ln(s->fp, color(WT_STATUS_HEADER, s), "%c",
-				 comment_line_char);
+		color_fprintf_ln(s->fp, color(WT_STATUS_HEADER, s), "%s",
+				 comment_line_str);
 	else
 		fputs("\n", s->fp);
 	strbuf_release(&sb);
@@ -1389,7 +1382,7 @@
 			  git_path("%s", fname));
 	}
 	while (!strbuf_getline_lf(&line, f)) {
-		if (line.len && line.buf[0] == comment_line_char)
+		if (starts_with(line.buf, comment_line_str))
 			continue;
 		strbuf_trim(&line);
 		if (!line.len)
diff --git a/xdiff-interface.c b/xdiff-interface.c
index 3162f51..16ed8ac 100644
--- a/xdiff-interface.c
+++ b/xdiff-interface.c
@@ -305,6 +305,22 @@
 	return xdl_recmatch(l1, s1, l2, s2, flags);
 }
 
+int parse_conflict_style_name(const char *value)
+{
+	if (!strcmp(value, "diff3"))
+		return XDL_MERGE_DIFF3;
+	else if (!strcmp(value, "zdiff3"))
+		return XDL_MERGE_ZEALOUS_DIFF3;
+	else if (!strcmp(value, "merge"))
+		return 0;
+	/*
+	 * Please update _git_checkout() in git-completion.bash when
+	 * you add new merge config
+	 */
+	else
+		return -1;
+}
+
 int git_xmerge_style = -1;
 
 int git_xmerge_config(const char *var, const char *value,
@@ -313,17 +329,8 @@
 	if (!strcmp(var, "merge.conflictstyle")) {
 		if (!value)
 			return config_error_nonbool(var);
-		if (!strcmp(value, "diff3"))
-			git_xmerge_style = XDL_MERGE_DIFF3;
-		else if (!strcmp(value, "zdiff3"))
-			git_xmerge_style = XDL_MERGE_ZEALOUS_DIFF3;
-		else if (!strcmp(value, "merge"))
-			git_xmerge_style = 0;
-		/*
-		 * Please update _git_checkout() in
-		 * git-completion.bash when you add new merge config
-		 */
-		else
+		git_xmerge_style = parse_conflict_style_name(value);
+		if (git_xmerge_style == -1)
 			return error(_("unknown style '%s' given for '%s'"),
 				     value, var);
 		return 0;
diff --git a/xdiff-interface.h b/xdiff-interface.h
index e6f80df..3853716 100644
--- a/xdiff-interface.h
+++ b/xdiff-interface.h
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@
 void xdiff_set_find_func(xdemitconf_t *xecfg, const char *line, int cflags);
 void xdiff_clear_find_func(xdemitconf_t *xecfg);
 struct config_context;
+int parse_conflict_style_name(const char *value);
 int git_xmerge_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 		      const struct config_context *ctx, void *cb);
 extern int git_xmerge_style;