Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+B worktree flows on a remote gateway route through the
backend's /api/git mirror (hermes_cli/web_git.py), but that mirror had
drifted behind the Electron-local git ops the same UI drives locally, so
the flows broke exactly and only on remote connections:
- Convert-a-branch: the picker offers remote-tracking refs, and the
Electron op turns "origin/feature" into a local tracking branch. The
mirror ran `git worktree add <dir> origin/feature` verbatim, which
either fails or detaches HEAD. It now resolves the ref's remote via
git (never assuming "origin"), fetches best-effort, and creates the
worktree with `--track -b <short-name>`.
- branch_list omitted remote-tracking refs entirely and never set the
`isRemote` flag the renderer's HermesGitBranch contract requires —
the convert picker on a remote gateway couldn't reach a teammate's
branch and mislabeled every row's action.
- Branching off an `origin/…` base silently wired the new branch to the
remote upstream; the mirror now passes `--no-track` like the Electron
op does.
Renderer side, replace the silent degradation with a capability gate:
when a remote backend predates the /api/git worktree routes, worktree
creation failed with an opaque "Expected JSON … got HTML" toast. The
route-missing shapes now surface a clear "update the Hermes backend"
message (isGitEndpointMissingError, mirroring the sidebar batch-endpoint
detector); real git errors still pass through untouched.
Sibling audit (documented, no code change needed): repo status / review /
file-diff / git-root / default-cwd already route through desktopGit()'s
REST bridge or /api/fs on remote; repo scan is deliberately a no-op there.
Stale comments claiming "empty/false on a remote backend" in projects.ts
and coding-status.ts updated to describe the backend-routed reality.
Fixes#81724
f8f43c9523