| not valid ref | 
 | ============= | 
 |  | 
 | With this error message Gerrit rejects to push a commit if the target | 
 | ref in the push specification has an incorrect format (for example: | 
 | '/refs/for/master', 'refs/for//master'). | 
 |  | 
 | To solve the problem you have to correct the target ref in the push | 
 | specification. Depending on whether you want to push your commit with | 
 | or without code review the ref format is different: | 
 |  | 
 |  | 
 | ref format for pushing a commit for code review: | 
 | ------------------------------------------------ | 
 |  | 
 | If it was the intention to push a commit for code review the target | 
 | ref in the push specification must be the project's magical ref | 
 | `refs/for/'branch'` (where 'branch' must be replaced with the name | 
 | of an existing branch to which you want to push your commit). Further | 
 | details about how to push a commit for code review are explained at | 
 | link:user-upload.html#push_create[Create Changes]). | 
 |  | 
 | Example for pushing a commit for code review to the 'master' branch: | 
 | ---- | 
 | $ git push ssh://JohnDoe@host:29418/myProject HEAD:refs/for/master | 
 | ---- | 
 |  | 
 |  | 
 | ref format for directly pushing a commit (without code review): | 
 | --------------------------------------------------------------- | 
 |  | 
 | If it was the intention to bypass code review and to push directly to | 
 | a branch the target ref in the push specification must be the name of | 
 | the branch to which you want to push. Further details about how to | 
 | bypass code review are explained at link:user-upload.html#bypass_review[Bypass Review]. | 
 |  | 
 | Example for pushing a commit directly to the 'master' branch (without | 
 | code review): | 
 | ---- | 
 | $ git push ssh://JohnDoe@host:29418/myProject HEAD:master | 
 | ---- | 
 |  | 
 |  | 
 | GERRIT | 
 | ------ | 
 | Part of link:error-messages.html[Gerrit Error Messages] |