fix: Allow direct commits for unprotected files with push restrictions (#37657) (#37756)

Backport #37657 by @bircni

Fixes an issue where users could not commit changes on a file which is
unprotected.

Fixes #37655

Co-authored-by: Nicolas <bircni@icloud.com>
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

services/context/repo.go

@@ -173,6 +173,16 @@ func PrepareCommitFormOptions(ctx *Context, doer *user_model.User, targetRepo *r
 		protectedBranch.Repo = targetRepo
 		canPushWithProtection = protectedBranch.CanUserPush(ctx, doer)
 		protectionRequireSigned = protectedBranch.RequireSignedCommits
+		// If branch-wide push is restricted, allow direct commit when the
+		// URL-derived tree path matches an unprotected file pattern. The
+		// pre-receive hook re-checks every path the commit actually touches
+		// (e.g. rename source and destination).
+		if !canPushWithProtection && ctx.Repo.TreePath != "" && protectedBranch.UnprotectedFilePatterns != "" {
+			globs := protectedBranch.GetUnprotectedFilePatterns()
+			if protectedBranch.IsUnprotectedFile(globs, ctx.Repo.TreePath) {
+				canPushWithProtection = true
+			}
+		}
 	}
 
 	targetGitRepo, closer, err := gitrepo.RepositoryFromContextOrOpen(ctx, targetRepo)

tests/integration/editor_test.go

@@ -98,6 +98,42 @@ func testEditorProtectedBranch(t *testing.T) {
 	resp := testEditorActionPostRequest(t, session, "/user2/repo1/_new/master/", map[string]string{"tree_path": "test-protected-branch.txt", "commit_choice": "direct"})
 	assert.Equal(t, http.StatusBadRequest, resp.Code)
 	assert.Equal(t, `Cannot commit to protected branch "master".`, test.ParseJSONError(resp.Body.Bytes()).ErrorMessage)
+
+	// Change "master" branch to mark files under "docs/" as unprotected
+	req = NewRequestWithValues(t, "POST", "/user2/repo1/settings/branches/edit", map[string]string{
+		"rule_name":                 "master",
+		"protected_file_patterns":   "",
+		"unprotected_file_patterns": "docs/*.md",
+		"enable_push":               "true",
+	})
+	session.MakeRequest(t, req, http.StatusSeeOther)
+	flashMsg = session.GetCookieFlashMessage()
+	assert.Equal(t, `Branch protection for rule "master" has been updated.`, flashMsg.SuccessMsg)
+
+	resp = testEditorActionPostRequest(t, session, "/user2/repo1/_new/master/docs/new.md", map[string]string{"tree_path": "docs/new.md", "commit_choice": "direct"})
+	assert.Equal(t, http.StatusOK, resp.Code)
+	assert.Contains(t, resp.Body.String(), `"redirect":"/user2/repo1/src/branch/master/docs/new.md"`)
+
+	// Form's destination (renamed.md) is decided by the pre-receive hook, not the controller.
+	resp = testEditorActionPostRequest(t, session, "/user2/repo1/_edit/master/docs/new.md", map[string]string{
+		"content":       "renamed via editor",
+		"commit_choice": "direct",
+		"tree_path":     "docs/renamed.md",
+	})
+	assert.Equal(t, http.StatusOK, resp.Code)
+	assert.Contains(t, resp.Body.String(), `"redirect":"/user2/repo1/src/branch/master/docs/renamed.md"`)
+
+	// Protected source path: controller rejects up-front regardless of unprotected destination.
+	resp = testEditorActionPostRequest(t, session, "/user2/repo1/_edit/master/README.md", map[string]string{
+		"commit_choice": "direct",
+		"tree_path":     "docs/from-readme.md",
+	})
+	assert.Equal(t, http.StatusBadRequest, resp.Code)
+	assert.Equal(t, `Cannot commit to protected branch "master".`, test.ParseJSONError(resp.Body.Bytes()).ErrorMessage)
+
+	resp = testEditorActionPostRequest(t, session, "/user2/repo1/_delete/master/README.md", map[string]string{"commit_choice": "direct"})
+	assert.Equal(t, http.StatusBadRequest, resp.Code)
+	assert.Equal(t, `Cannot commit to protected branch "master".`, test.ParseJSONError(resp.Body.Bytes()).ErrorMessage)
 }
 
 func testEditorActionPostRequest(t *testing.T, session *TestSession, requestPath string, params map[string]string) *httptest.ResponseRecorder {