Force git to run post-receive hook, even if everything is “up-to-date”

Question

How do I force git to run a post-receive hook on a server even if I don\'t have a new commit to push?

Background

I use git to aut

Answer 1

Post-receive is the wrong place for artificial command responses.

You want your server-side goodies in the pre-receive exit, dependent on the updated ref -- do e.g. git update-ref refs/commands/update-hooks @ on the server, then you can e.g. git push server +@:commands/update-hooks, and in the server's pre-receive you can

while read old new ref; do case $ref in
commands/update-hooks)
        maybe check the incoming commit for authorization
        update hooks here
        echo the results from the update
        denypush=1
        ;;
refs/heads/master)
        extreme vetting on master-branch updates here
        ;;
esac; done

((denypush)) && exit $denypush