Is it possible to skip the install and synchronization of certain hooks?

[ardelato]

TL;DR Is it possible to run a lefthook hook without the .git/hooks directory being modified?

---

We've recently switched from using git hooks combined with lint-staged to solely using lefthook in our monorepo. This change was implemented to streamline managing and executing multiple linters simultaneously during our CI process. Which by using lefthook has made it very easy and clean to do! 🙌

We then encountered a problem where our CI runners were inadvertently syncing the git hooks that affected the auto-commit linter fixes, leading to failures.

To address this, we configured lefthook to skip all hooks in the CI environment except for the specific ones needed, using a skip option in the run settings.

pre-commit:
    parallel: true
    skip:
        - rebase
        - merge
        - run: test ${CI:-false} = true

post-commit:
    skip:
        - rebase
        - run: test ${CI:-false} = true
    piped: true
    commands: *clear_git_cache

ci:
    parallel: true
    files: git diff origin/master --name-only

Despite solving the issue, we are curious if there is a simpler solution. Specifically, we want to know if there's a way selectively execute certain hooks in a CI environment without triggering the entire install script.

lefthook/internal/lefthook/install.go

Lines 111 to 191 in 1d100c6

	func (l *Lefthook) createHooksIfNeeded(cfg *config.Config, checkHashSum, force bool) error {
	if checkHashSum && l.hooksSynchronized() {
	return nil
	}
	log.Infof(log.Cyan("sync hooks"))
	var success bool
	defer func() {
	if !success {
	log.Info(log.Cyan(": ❌"))
	}
	}()
	checksum, err := l.configChecksum()
	if err != nil {
	return err
	}
	if err = l.ensureHooksDirExists(); err != nil {
	return err
	}
	rootsMap := make(map[string]struct{})
	for _, hook := range cfg.Hooks {
	for _, command := range hook.Commands {
	if len(command.Root) > 0 {
	root := strings.Trim(command.Root, "/")
	if _, ok := rootsMap[root]; !ok {
	rootsMap[root] = struct{}{}
	}
	}
	}
	}
	roots := make([]string, 0, len(rootsMap))
	for root := range rootsMap {
	roots = append(roots, root)
	}
	hookNames := make([]string, 0, len(cfg.Hooks)+1)
	for hook := range cfg.Hooks {
	hookNames = append(hookNames, hook)
	if err = l.cleanHook(hook, force); err != nil {
	return err
	}
	templateArgs := templates.Args{
	Rc: cfg.Rc,
	AssertLefthookInstalled: cfg.AssertLefthookInstalled,
	Roots: roots,
	}
	if err = l.addHook(hook, templateArgs); err != nil {
	return err
	}
	}
	templateArgs := templates.Args{
	Rc: cfg.Rc,
	AssertLefthookInstalled: cfg.AssertLefthookInstalled,
	Roots: roots,
	}
	if err = l.addHook(config.GhostHookName, templateArgs); err != nil {
	return nil
	}
	if err = l.addChecksumFile(checksum); err != nil {
	return err
	}
	success = true
	if len(hookNames) > 0 {
	log.Info(log.Cyan(": ✔️"), log.Gray("("+strings.Join(hookNames, ", ")+")"))
	} else {
	log.Info(log.Cyan(": ✔️ "))
	}
	return nil
	}
	func (l *Lefthook) hooksSynchronized() bool {

[mrexox]

I think I can add a flag --no-auto-install to the lefthook run command if it solves you case. Do you find it useful?

[ardelato]

Oh most definitely!

I think adding a flag seems like the most straightforward solution with the least amount of changes needed.

[azu]

@mrexox Yes. --no-auto-install is useful if exists.

I met similar problem.
In my workflow, I've commited git hooks into .githooks/ dir for controll commit hooks under the VCS. (I want to manage my git hooks in git, so I commit pre-commit files.)
However, lefthook run modify .githooks/pre-commit files unexpectally.

• Reproduce: https://github.com/azu/make-lefthook

📝 My project install lefthook binary into <project>/bin/ dir in setup steps.
lefthook's built-in pre-commit does not resolve the <project>/bin/ dir. Instead of it, My .githooks/pre-commit resolve the <project>/bin/ path.

[mrexox]

lefthook run pre-commit --no-auto-install should be available in 1.6.11 release

[azu]

Thanks!

I've updated example repo and it seem work fine!
https://github.com/azu/make-lefthook

[ardelato]

@mrexox The --no-auto-install flag worked perfectly! Thank you!

That said, I am okay with closing this discussion if you are as well.

[cgaube]

Could this be added to the main .lefthook config file ?

everytime i execute github commit it triggers a lefthook run and tries to re-install the hooks which to me is not really needed aswe know it is already setup as it is being triggered by the commit hook :)

Created feature-request
#840