diff --git a/example-setup/broker/Dockerfile b/example-setup/broker/Dockerfile
index 08eaba9..b79470c 100644
--- a/example-setup/broker/Dockerfile
+++ b/example-setup/broker/Dockerfile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-FROM gerritcodereview/gerrit:3.5.5-almalinux8
+FROM gerritcodereview/gerrit:3.6.3-almalinux8
 
 USER root
 
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 # hence rename it with a 'z-' prefix because the Gerrit plugin loader starts the
 # plugins in filename alphabetical order.
 COPY --chown=gerrit:gerrit events-kafka.jar /var/gerrit/plugins/z-events-kafka.jar
-COPY --chown=gerrit:gerrit libevents-broker.jar /var/gerrit/lib/libevents-broker.jar
+COPY --chown=gerrit:gerrit events-broker.jar /var/gerrit/lib/events-broker.jar
 
 COPY --chown=gerrit:gerrit entrypoint.sh /tmp/
 COPY --chown=gerrit:gerrit configs/replication.config.template /var/gerrit/etc/
diff --git a/example-setup/http/Dockerfile b/example-setup/http/Dockerfile
index e9f8239..77fed72 100644
--- a/example-setup/http/Dockerfile
+++ b/example-setup/http/Dockerfile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-FROM gerritcodereview/gerrit:3.5.5-almalinux8
+FROM gerritcodereview/gerrit:3.6.3-almalinux8
 
 USER root
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/FetchOne.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/FetchOne.java
index 370f2fb..d02cb02 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/FetchOne.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/FetchOne.java
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.fetch.RefUpdateState;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -336,23 +337,33 @@
     try {
       long startedAt = context.getStartTime();
       long delay = NANOSECONDS.toMillis(startedAt - createdAt);
-      metrics.record(config.getName(), delay, retryCount);
       git = gitManager.openRepository(projectName);
-      runImpl();
-      long elapsed = NANOSECONDS.toMillis(context.stop());
-      Optional<Long> elapsedEnd2End =
-          apiRequestMetrics
-              .flatMap(metrics -> metrics.stop(config.getName()))
-              .map(NANOSECONDS::toMillis);
-      repLog.info(
-          "[{}] {} replication from {} completed in {}ms, {}ms delay, {} retries{}",
-          taskIdHex,
-          replicationType,
-          uri,
-          elapsed,
-          delay,
-          retryCount,
-          elapsedEnd2End.map(el -> String.format(", E2E %dms", el)).orElse(""));
+      List<RefSpec> fetchRefSpecs = runImpl();
+
+      if (fetchRefSpecs.isEmpty()) {
+        repLog.info(
+            "[{}] {} replication from {} finished but no refs were replicated, {}ms delay, {} retries",
+            taskIdHex,
+            replicationType,
+            uri,
+            delay,
+            retryCount);
+      } else {
+        metrics.record(config.getName(), delay, retryCount);
+        long elapsed = NANOSECONDS.toMillis(context.stop());
+        Optional<Long> elapsedEnd2End =
+            apiRequestMetrics
+                .flatMap(metrics -> metrics.stop(config.getName()))
+                .map(NANOSECONDS::toMillis);
+        repLog.info(
+            "[{}] Replication from {} completed in {}ms, {}ms delay, {} retries{}",
+            taskIdHex,
+            uri,
+            elapsed,
+            delay,
+            retryCount,
+            elapsedEnd2End.map(el -> String.format(", E2E %dms", el)).orElse(""));
+      }
     } catch (RepositoryNotFoundException e) {
       stateLog.error(
           "["
@@ -428,7 +439,7 @@
     repLog.info("[{}] Cannot replicate from {}. It was canceled while running", taskIdHex, uri, e);
   }
 
-  private void runImpl() throws IOException {
+  private List<RefSpec> runImpl() throws IOException {
     Fetch fetch = fetchFactory.create(taskIdHex, uri, git);
     List<RefSpec> fetchRefSpecs = getFetchRefSpecs();
 
@@ -445,7 +456,7 @@
       delta.remove(inexistentRef);
       if (delta.isEmpty()) {
         repLog.warn("[{}] Empty replication task, skipping.", taskIdHex);
-        return;
+        return Collections.emptyList();
       }
 
       runImpl();
@@ -453,6 +464,7 @@
       notifyRefReplicatedIOException();
       throw e;
     }
+    return fetchRefSpecs;
   }
 
   public List<RefSpec> getFetchRefSpecs() {
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/OnStartStop.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/OnStartStop.java
index d8c4a8d..6457f8a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/OnStartStop.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/OnStartStop.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.events.LifecycleListener;
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.registration.DynamicItem;
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.systemstatus.ServerInformation;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.config.GerritIsReplica;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.events.EventDispatcher;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.git.WorkQueue;
 import com.google.inject.Inject;
@@ -36,6 +37,7 @@
   private final ReplicationState.Factory replicationStateFactory;
   private final SourcesCollection sourcesCollection;
   private final WorkQueue workQueue;
+  private boolean isReplica;
 
   @Inject
   protected OnStartStop(
@@ -45,7 +47,8 @@
       DynamicItem<EventDispatcher> eventDispatcher,
       ReplicationState.Factory replicationStateFactory,
       SourcesCollection sourcesCollection,
-      WorkQueue workQueue) {
+      WorkQueue workQueue,
+      @GerritIsReplica Boolean isReplica) {
     this.srvInfo = srvInfo;
     this.fetchAll = fetchAll;
     this.config = config;
@@ -54,11 +57,13 @@
     this.fetchAllFuture = Atomics.newReference();
     this.sourcesCollection = sourcesCollection;
     this.workQueue = workQueue;
+    this.isReplica = isReplica;
   }
 
   @Override
   public void start() {
-    if (srvInfo.getState() == ServerInformation.State.STARTUP
+    if (isReplica
+        && srvInfo.getState() == ServerInformation.State.STARTUP
         && config.isReplicateAllOnPluginStart()) {
       ReplicationState state =
           replicationStateFactory.create(
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/PullReplicationModule.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/PullReplicationModule.java
index 72a6b74..005d383 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/PullReplicationModule.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/PullReplicationModule.java
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 package com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull;
 
 import static com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.StartReplicationCapability.START_REPLICATION;
+import static com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.FetchApiCapability.CALL_FETCH_ACTION;
 
 import com.google.common.eventbus.EventBus;
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.annotations.Exports;
@@ -44,8 +45,8 @@
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.ReplicationConfig;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.ReplicationFileBasedConfig;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.StartReplicationCapability;
+import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.FetchApiCapability;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.FetchJob;
-import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.PullReplicationApiModule;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.auth.PullReplicationGroupModule;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.client.FetchApiClient;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.client.FetchRestApiClient;
@@ -82,13 +83,16 @@
         .annotatedWith(Names.named(ReplicationQueueMetrics.REPLICATION_QUEUE_METRICS))
         .toInstance(pluginMetricMaker);
 
+    bind(CapabilityDefinition.class)
+        .annotatedWith(Exports.named(CALL_FETCH_ACTION))
+        .to(FetchApiCapability.class);
+
     install(new PullReplicationGroupModule());
     bind(BearerTokenProvider.class).in(Scopes.SINGLETON);
     bind(RevisionReader.class).in(Scopes.SINGLETON);
     bind(ApplyObject.class);
     install(new FactoryModuleBuilder().build(FetchJob.Factory.class));
     install(new ApplyObjectCacheModule());
-    install(new PullReplicationApiModule());
 
     install(new FetchRefReplicatedEventModule());
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/ReplicationQueue.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/ReplicationQueue.java
index 6bafaa4..aafe12f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/ReplicationQueue.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/ReplicationQueue.java
@@ -181,12 +181,7 @@
             event.getRefName(),
             event.refUpdate.get().oldRev,
             event.refUpdate.get().newRev);
-        fire(
-            event.refUpdate.get().project,
-            ObjectId.fromString(event.refUpdate.get().newRev),
-            event.getRefName(),
-            event.eventCreatedOn,
-            ZEROS_OBJECTID.equals(event.refUpdate.get().newRev));
+        fire(ReferenceUpdatedEvent.from(event));
       }
     }
   }
@@ -215,42 +210,45 @@
     return !refsFilter.match(refName);
   }
 
-  private void fire(
-      String projectName,
-      ObjectId objectId,
-      String refName,
-      long eventCreatedOn,
-      boolean isDelete) {
+  private void fire(ReferenceUpdatedEvent event) {
     ReplicationState state = new ReplicationState(new GitUpdateProcessing(dispatcher.get()));
-    fire(Project.nameKey(projectName), objectId, refName, eventCreatedOn, isDelete, state);
+    fire(event, state);
     state.markAllFetchTasksScheduled();
   }
 
-  private void fire(
-      NameKey project,
-      ObjectId objectId,
-      String refName,
-      long eventCreatedOn,
-      boolean isDelete,
-      ReplicationState state) {
+  private void fire(ReferenceUpdatedEvent event, ReplicationState state) {
     if (!running) {
       stateLog.warn(
-          "Replication plugin did not finish startup before event, event replication is postponed",
+          String.format(
+              "Replication plugin did not finish startup before event, event replication is postponed"
+                  + " for event %s",
+              event),
           state);
-      beforeStartupEventsQueue.add(
-          ReferenceUpdatedEvent.create(project.get(), refName, objectId, eventCreatedOn, isDelete));
+      beforeStartupEventsQueue.add(event);
 
       queueMetrics.incrementQueuedBeforStartup();
       return;
     }
     ForkJoinPool fetchCallsPool = null;
     try {
-      fetchCallsPool = new ForkJoinPool(sources.get().getAll().size());
+      List<Source> allSources = sources.get().getAll();
+      int numSources = allSources.size();
+      if (numSources == 0) {
+        repLog.debug("No replication sources configured -> skipping fetch");
+        return;
+      }
+      fetchCallsPool = new ForkJoinPool(numSources);
 
       final Consumer<Source> callFunction =
-          callFunction(project, objectId, refName, eventCreatedOn, isDelete, state);
+          callFunction(
+              Project.nameKey(event.projectName()),
+              event.objectId(),
+              event.refName(),
+              event.eventCreatedOn(),
+              event.isDelete(),
+              state);
       fetchCallsPool
-          .submit(() -> sources.get().getAll().parallelStream().forEach(callFunction))
+          .submit(() -> allSources.parallelStream().forEach(callFunction))
           .get(fetchCallsTimeout, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
     } catch (InterruptedException | ExecutionException | TimeoutException e) {
       stateLog.error(
@@ -523,7 +521,20 @@
   private HttpResult initProject(
       Project.NameKey project, URIish uri, FetchApiClient fetchClient, HttpResult result)
       throws IOException, ClientProtocolException {
-    HttpResult initProjectResult = fetchClient.initProject(project, uri);
+    RevisionData refsMetaConfigRevisionData =
+        revReaderProvider
+            .get()
+            .read(project, null, RefNames.REFS_CONFIG, 0)
+            .orElseThrow(
+                () ->
+                    new IllegalStateException(
+                        String.format(
+                            "Project %s does not have %s", project, RefNames.REFS_CONFIG)));
+
+    List<RevisionData> refsMetaConfigDataList =
+        fetchWholeMetaHistory(project, RefNames.REFS_CONFIG, refsMetaConfigRevisionData);
+    HttpResult initProjectResult =
+        fetchClient.initProject(project, uri, System.currentTimeMillis(), refsMetaConfigDataList);
     if (initProjectResult.isSuccessful()) {
       result = fetchClient.callFetch(project, FetchOne.ALL_REFS, uri);
     } else {
@@ -539,12 +550,7 @@
       String eventKey = String.format("%s:%s", event.projectName(), event.refName());
       if (!eventsReplayed.contains(eventKey)) {
         repLog.info("Firing pending task {}", event);
-        fire(
-            event.projectName(),
-            event.objectId(),
-            event.refName(),
-            event.eventCreatedOn(),
-            event.isDelete());
+        fire(event);
         eventsReplayed.add(eventKey);
       }
     }
@@ -578,6 +584,15 @@
           projectName, refName, objectId, eventCreatedOn, isDelete);
     }
 
+    static ReferenceUpdatedEvent from(RefUpdatedEvent event) {
+      return ReferenceUpdatedEvent.create(
+          event.refUpdate.get().project,
+          event.getRefName(),
+          ObjectId.fromString(event.refUpdate.get().newRev),
+          event.eventCreatedOn,
+          ZEROS_OBJECTID.equals(event.refUpdate.get().newRev));
+    }
+
     public abstract String projectName();
 
     public abstract String refName();
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourceConfigParser.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourceConfigParser.java
index a8799c2..d7ae063 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourceConfigParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourceConfigParser.java
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@
 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableList;
 import com.google.common.collect.Lists;
 import com.google.common.flogger.FluentLogger;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.config.GerritIsReplica;
+import com.google.inject.Inject;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.ConfigParser;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.RemoteConfiguration;
 import java.net.URISyntaxException;
@@ -32,6 +34,13 @@
 
   private static final FluentLogger logger = FluentLogger.forEnclosingClass();
 
+  private boolean isReplica;
+
+  @Inject
+  SourceConfigParser(@GerritIsReplica Boolean isReplica) {
+    this.isReplica = isReplica;
+  }
+
   /* (non-Javadoc)
    * @see com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.ConfigParser#parseRemotes(org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Config)
    */
@@ -45,7 +54,7 @@
 
     ImmutableList.Builder<RemoteConfiguration> sourceConfigs = ImmutableList.builder();
     for (RemoteConfig c : allFetchRemotes(config)) {
-      if (c.getURIs().isEmpty()) {
+      if (isReplica && c.getURIs().isEmpty()) {
         continue;
       }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/ApplyObjectAction.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/ApplyObjectAction.java
index 72f0266..d535ac9 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/ApplyObjectAction.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/ApplyObjectAction.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.restapi.UnprocessableEntityException;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.project.ProjectResource;
 import com.google.inject.Inject;
+import com.google.inject.Singleton;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.data.RevisionInput;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.exception.MissingParentObjectException;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.exception.RefUpdateException;
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@
 import java.util.Objects;
 import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
 
+@Singleton
 public class ApplyObjectAction implements RestModifyView<ProjectResource, RevisionInput> {
 
   private final ApplyObjectCommand applyObjectCommand;
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/DeleteRefCommand.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/DeleteRefCommand.java
index f897012..e49c8b6 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/DeleteRefCommand.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/DeleteRefCommand.java
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.ReplicationState;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.Source;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.SourcesCollection;
-import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.fetch.ApplyObject;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.fetch.RefUpdateState;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.Optional;
@@ -49,7 +48,6 @@
   private static final FluentLogger logger = FluentLogger.forEnclosingClass();
 
   private final PullReplicationStateLogger fetchStateLog;
-  private final ApplyObject applyObject;
   private final DynamicItem<EventDispatcher> eventDispatcher;
   private final ProjectCache projectCache;
   private final SourcesCollection sourcesCollection;
@@ -61,13 +59,11 @@
       PullReplicationStateLogger fetchStateLog,
       ProjectCache projectCache,
       SourcesCollection sourcesCollection,
-      ApplyObject applyObject,
       PermissionBackend permissionBackend,
       DynamicItem<EventDispatcher> eventDispatcher,
       LocalGitRepositoryManagerProvider gitManagerProvider) {
     this.fetchStateLog = fetchStateLog;
     this.projectCache = projectCache;
-    this.applyObject = applyObject;
     this.eventDispatcher = eventDispatcher;
     this.sourcesCollection = sourcesCollection;
     this.permissionBackend = permissionBackend;
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/FetchAction.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/FetchAction.java
index 04797bd..9e69f8d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/FetchAction.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/FetchAction.java
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 import com.google.gerrit.server.ioutil.HexFormat;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.project.ProjectResource;
 import com.google.inject.Inject;
+import com.google.inject.Singleton;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.FetchAction.Input;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.FetchJob.Factory;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.exception.RemoteConfigurationMissingException;
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.errors.TransportException;
 
+@Singleton
 public class FetchAction implements RestModifyView<ProjectResource, Input> {
   private final FetchCommand command;
   private final WorkQueue workQueue;
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/FetchApiCapability.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/FetchApiCapability.java
index 73a4ac5..27afcfd 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/FetchApiCapability.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/FetchApiCapability.java
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.config.CapabilityDefinition;
 
 public class FetchApiCapability extends CapabilityDefinition {
-  static final String CALL_FETCH_ACTION = "callFetchAction";
+  public static final String CALL_FETCH_ACTION = "callFetchAction";
 
   @Override
   public String getDescription() {
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/FetchCommand.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/FetchCommand.java
index b8249ae..5323425 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/FetchCommand.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/FetchCommand.java
@@ -97,7 +97,12 @@
       if (fetchType == ReplicationType.ASYNC) {
         state.markAllFetchTasksScheduled();
         Future<?> future = source.get().schedule(name, refName, state, apiRequestMetrics);
-        future.get(source.get().getTimeout(), TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+        int timeout = source.get().getTimeout();
+        if (timeout == 0) {
+          future.get();
+        } else {
+          future.get(timeout, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+        }
       } else {
         Optional<FetchOne> maybeFetch =
             source
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/FetchPreconditions.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/FetchPreconditions.java
index 77d0e0b..7ca8805 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/FetchPreconditions.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/FetchPreconditions.java
@@ -26,8 +26,10 @@
 import com.google.gerrit.server.permissions.RefPermission;
 import com.google.inject.Inject;
 import com.google.inject.Provider;
+import com.google.inject.Singleton;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.exception.UnauthorizedAuthException;
 
+@Singleton
 public class FetchPreconditions {
   private final String pluginName;
   private final PermissionBackend permissionBackend;
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/HttpModule.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/HttpModule.java
index 0f3e1e8..95082b8 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/HttpModule.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/HttpModule.java
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.registration.DynamicSet;
 import com.google.gerrit.httpd.AllRequestFilter;
-import com.google.gerrit.server.config.GerritIsReplica;
 import com.google.inject.Inject;
 import com.google.inject.Scopes;
 import com.google.inject.name.Names;
@@ -24,12 +23,10 @@
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.BearerTokenProvider;
 
 public class HttpModule extends ServletModule {
-  private boolean isReplica;
   private final BearerTokenProvider bearerTokenProvider;
 
   @Inject
-  public HttpModule(@GerritIsReplica Boolean isReplica, BearerTokenProvider bearerTokenProvider) {
-    this.isReplica = isReplica;
+  public HttpModule(BearerTokenProvider bearerTokenProvider) {
     this.bearerTokenProvider = bearerTokenProvider;
   }
 
@@ -49,12 +46,8 @@
                   .in(Scopes.SINGLETON);
             });
 
-    if (isReplica) {
-      DynamicSet.bind(binder(), AllRequestFilter.class)
-          .to(PullReplicationFilter.class)
-          .in(Scopes.SINGLETON);
-    } else {
-      serveRegex("/init-project/.*$").with(ProjectInitializationAction.class);
-    }
+    DynamicSet.bind(binder(), AllRequestFilter.class)
+        .to(PullReplicationFilter.class)
+        .in(Scopes.SINGLETON);
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/ProjectDeletionAction.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/ProjectDeletionAction.java
index 2e1c5d4..adb333c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/ProjectDeletionAction.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/ProjectDeletionAction.java
@@ -27,11 +27,13 @@
 import com.google.gerrit.server.project.ProjectResource;
 import com.google.inject.Inject;
 import com.google.inject.Provider;
+import com.google.inject.Singleton;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.LocalFS;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.GerritConfigOps;
 import java.util.Optional;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.transport.URIish;
 
+@Singleton
 class ProjectDeletionAction
     implements RestModifyView<ProjectResource, ProjectDeletionAction.DeleteInput> {
   private static final PluginPermission DELETE_PROJECT =
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/ProjectInitializationAction.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/ProjectInitializationAction.java
index 8711379..e7289ac 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/ProjectInitializationAction.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/ProjectInitializationAction.java
@@ -14,25 +14,39 @@
 
 package com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api;
 
+import static com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.PullReplicationLogger.repLog;
 import static com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.HttpServletOps.checkAcceptHeader;
 import static com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.HttpServletOps.setResponse;
+import static javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse.SC_BAD_REQUEST;
+import static javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse.SC_CONFLICT;
+import static javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse.SC_FORBIDDEN;
 
+import com.google.common.base.Strings;
 import com.google.common.flogger.FluentLogger;
+import com.google.common.net.MediaType;
 import com.google.gerrit.entities.Project;
 import com.google.gerrit.entities.RefNames;
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.restapi.AuthException;
+import com.google.gerrit.extensions.restapi.BadRequestException;
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.restapi.Url;
 import com.google.gerrit.index.project.ProjectIndexer;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.CurrentUser;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.permissions.GlobalPermission;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.permissions.PermissionBackend;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.permissions.PermissionBackendException;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.project.ProjectCache;
 import com.google.inject.Inject;
 import com.google.inject.Provider;
 import com.google.inject.Singleton;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.LocalFS;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.GerritConfigOps;
+import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.data.RevisionsInput;
+import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.exception.MissingParentObjectException;
+import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.exception.RefUpdateException;
+import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.util.PayloadSerDes;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Objects;
 import java.util.Optional;
 import javax.servlet.ServletException;
 import javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet;
@@ -51,17 +65,23 @@
   private final Provider<CurrentUser> userProvider;
   private final PermissionBackend permissionBackend;
   private final ProjectIndexer projectIndexer;
+  private final ApplyObjectCommand applyObjectCommand;
+  private final ProjectCache projectCache;
 
   @Inject
   ProjectInitializationAction(
       GerritConfigOps gerritConfigOps,
       Provider<CurrentUser> userProvider,
       PermissionBackend permissionBackend,
-      ProjectIndexer projectIndexer) {
+      ProjectIndexer projectIndexer,
+      ApplyObjectCommand applyObjectCommand,
+      ProjectCache projectCache) {
     this.gerritConfigOps = gerritConfigOps;
     this.userProvider = userProvider;
     this.permissionBackend = permissionBackend;
     this.projectIndexer = projectIndexer;
+    this.applyObjectCommand = applyObjectCommand;
+    this.projectCache = projectCache;
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -73,47 +93,140 @@
       return;
     }
 
-    String path = httpServletRequest.getRequestURI();
-    String projectName = Url.decode(path.substring(path.lastIndexOf('/') + 1));
+    String gitRepositoryName = getGitRepositoryName(httpServletRequest);
     try {
-      if (initProject(projectName)) {
+      boolean initProjectStatus;
+      String contentType = httpServletRequest.getContentType();
+      if (checkContentType(contentType, MediaType.JSON_UTF_8)) {
+        // init project request includes project configuration in JSON format.
+        initProjectStatus = initProjectWithConfiguration(httpServletRequest, gitRepositoryName);
+      } else if (checkContentType(contentType, MediaType.PLAIN_TEXT_UTF_8)) {
+        // init project request does not include project configuration.
+        initProjectStatus = initProject(gitRepositoryName);
+      } else {
+        setResponse(
+            httpServletResponse,
+            SC_BAD_REQUEST,
+            String.format(
+                "Invalid Content Type. Only %s or %s is supported.",
+                MediaType.JSON_UTF_8.toString(), MediaType.PLAIN_TEXT_UTF_8.toString()));
+        return;
+      }
+
+      if (initProjectStatus) {
         setResponse(
             httpServletResponse,
             HttpServletResponse.SC_CREATED,
-            "Project " + projectName + " initialized");
+            "Project " + gitRepositoryName + " initialized");
         return;
       }
-    } catch (AuthException | PermissionBackendException e) {
+
       setResponse(
           httpServletResponse,
-          HttpServletResponse.SC_FORBIDDEN,
-          "User not authorized to create project " + projectName);
-      return;
+          HttpServletResponse.SC_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR,
+          "Cannot initialize project " + gitRepositoryName);
+    } catch (BadRequestException | IllegalArgumentException e) {
+      logExceptionAndUpdateResponse(httpServletResponse, e, SC_BAD_REQUEST, gitRepositoryName);
+    } catch (RefUpdateException | MissingParentObjectException e) {
+      logExceptionAndUpdateResponse(httpServletResponse, e, SC_CONFLICT, gitRepositoryName);
+    } catch (AuthException | PermissionBackendException e) {
+      logExceptionAndUpdateResponse(httpServletResponse, e, SC_FORBIDDEN, gitRepositoryName);
     }
-
-    setResponse(
-        httpServletResponse,
-        HttpServletResponse.SC_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR,
-        "Cannot initialize project " + projectName);
   }
 
-  public boolean initProject(String projectName) throws AuthException, PermissionBackendException {
+  public boolean initProject(String gitRepositoryName)
+      throws AuthException, PermissionBackendException {
+    if (initProject(gitRepositoryName, true)) {
+      repLog.info("Init project API from {}", gitRepositoryName);
+      return true;
+    }
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  private boolean initProjectWithConfiguration(
+      HttpServletRequest httpServletRequest, String gitRepositoryName)
+      throws AuthException, PermissionBackendException, IOException, BadRequestException,
+          MissingParentObjectException, RefUpdateException {
+
+    RevisionsInput input = PayloadSerDes.parseRevisionsInput(httpServletRequest);
+    validateInput(input);
+    if (!initProject(gitRepositoryName, false)) {
+      return false;
+    }
+
+    String projectName = gitRepositoryName.replace(".git", "");
+    applyObjectCommand.applyObjects(
+        Project.nameKey(projectName),
+        input.getRefName(),
+        input.getRevisionsData(),
+        input.getLabel(),
+        input.getEventCreatedOn());
+    projectCache.onCreateProject(Project.nameKey(projectName));
+    repLog.info(
+        "Init project API from {} for {}:{} - {}",
+        input.getLabel(),
+        projectName,
+        input.getRefName(),
+        Arrays.toString(input.getRevisionsData()));
+    return true;
+  }
+
+  private boolean initProject(String gitRepositoryName, boolean needsProjectReindexing)
+      throws AuthException, PermissionBackendException {
     // When triggered internally(for example by consuming stream events) user is not provided
     // and internal user is returned. Project creation should be always allowed for internal user.
     if (!userProvider.get().isInternalUser()) {
       permissionBackend.user(userProvider.get()).check(GlobalPermission.CREATE_PROJECT);
     }
-    Optional<URIish> maybeUri = gerritConfigOps.getGitRepositoryURI(projectName);
+    Optional<URIish> maybeUri = gerritConfigOps.getGitRepositoryURI(gitRepositoryName);
     if (!maybeUri.isPresent()) {
-      logger.atSevere().log("Cannot initialize project '%s'", projectName);
+      logger.atSevere().log("Cannot initialize project '%s'", gitRepositoryName);
       return false;
     }
     LocalFS localFS = new LocalFS(maybeUri.get());
-    Project.NameKey projectNameKey = Project.NameKey.parse(projectName);
+    Project.NameKey projectNameKey = Project.NameKey.parse(gitRepositoryName);
     if (localFS.createProject(projectNameKey, RefNames.HEAD)) {
-      projectIndexer.index(projectNameKey);
+      if (needsProjectReindexing) {
+        projectIndexer.index(projectNameKey);
+      }
       return true;
     }
     return false;
   }
+
+  private void validateInput(RevisionsInput input) {
+
+    if (Strings.isNullOrEmpty(input.getLabel())) {
+      throw new IllegalArgumentException("Source label cannot be null or empty");
+    }
+
+    if (!Objects.equals(input.getRefName(), RefNames.REFS_CONFIG)) {
+      throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+          String.format("Ref-update refname should be %s", RefNames.REFS_CONFIG));
+    }
+    input.validate();
+  }
+
+  private String getGitRepositoryName(HttpServletRequest httpServletRequest) {
+    String path = httpServletRequest.getRequestURI();
+    return Url.decode(path.substring(path.lastIndexOf('/') + 1));
+  }
+
+  private void logExceptionAndUpdateResponse(
+      HttpServletResponse httpServletResponse,
+      Exception e,
+      int statusCode,
+      String gitRepositoryName)
+      throws IOException {
+    repLog.error("Init Project API FAILED for {}", gitRepositoryName, e);
+    setResponse(httpServletResponse, statusCode, e.getMessage());
+  }
+
+  private boolean checkContentType(String contentType, MediaType mediaType) {
+    try {
+      return MediaType.parse(contentType).is(mediaType);
+    } catch (Exception e) {
+      return false;
+    }
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/PullReplicationApiModule.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/PullReplicationApiModule.java
deleted file mode 100644
index d1d28a6..0000000
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/PullReplicationApiModule.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,43 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright (C) 2020 The Android Open Source Project
-//
-// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-// You may obtain a copy of the License at
-//
-// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-//
-// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-// limitations under the License.
-
-package com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api;
-
-import static com.google.gerrit.server.project.ProjectResource.PROJECT_KIND;
-import static com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.FetchApiCapability.CALL_FETCH_ACTION;
-
-import com.google.gerrit.extensions.annotations.Exports;
-import com.google.gerrit.extensions.config.CapabilityDefinition;
-import com.google.gerrit.extensions.restapi.RestApiModule;
-import com.google.inject.Scopes;
-
-public class PullReplicationApiModule extends RestApiModule {
-  @Override
-  protected void configure() {
-    bind(FetchAction.class).in(Scopes.SINGLETON);
-    bind(ApplyObjectAction.class).in(Scopes.SINGLETON);
-    bind(ProjectDeletionAction.class).in(Scopes.SINGLETON);
-    bind(UpdateHeadAction.class).in(Scopes.SINGLETON);
-    post(PROJECT_KIND, "fetch").to(FetchAction.class);
-    post(PROJECT_KIND, "apply-object").to(ApplyObjectAction.class);
-    post(PROJECT_KIND, "apply-objects").to(ApplyObjectsAction.class);
-    delete(PROJECT_KIND, "delete-project").to(ProjectDeletionAction.class);
-    put(PROJECT_KIND, "HEAD").to(UpdateHeadAction.class);
-
-    bind(FetchPreconditions.class).in(Scopes.SINGLETON);
-    bind(CapabilityDefinition.class)
-        .annotatedWith(Exports.named(CALL_FETCH_ACTION))
-        .to(FetchApiCapability.class);
-  }
-}
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/PullReplicationFilter.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/PullReplicationFilter.java
index e54d408..d0e5c10 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/PullReplicationFilter.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/PullReplicationFilter.java
@@ -16,16 +16,14 @@
 
 import static com.google.gerrit.httpd.restapi.RestApiServlet.SC_UNPROCESSABLE_ENTITY;
 import static com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.HttpServletOps.checkAcceptHeader;
-import static com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.HttpServletOps.setResponse;
 import static javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse.SC_BAD_REQUEST;
 import static javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse.SC_CONFLICT;
-import static javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse.SC_CREATED;
 import static javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse.SC_FORBIDDEN;
 import static javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse.SC_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR;
-import static javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse.SC_OK;
 import static javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse.SC_UNAUTHORIZED;
 
 import com.google.common.flogger.FluentLogger;
+import com.google.gerrit.entities.Project;
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.annotations.PluginName;
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.api.projects.HeadInput;
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.restapi.AuthException;
@@ -35,29 +33,25 @@
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.restapi.ResourceNotFoundException;
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.restapi.Response;
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.restapi.RestApiException;
-import com.google.gerrit.extensions.restapi.TopLevelResource;
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.restapi.UnprocessableEntityException;
 import com.google.gerrit.httpd.AllRequestFilter;
 import com.google.gerrit.httpd.restapi.RestApiServlet;
-import com.google.gerrit.json.OutputFormat;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.AnonymousUser;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.CurrentUser;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.permissions.PermissionBackendException;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.project.ProjectCache;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.project.ProjectResource;
-import com.google.gerrit.server.restapi.project.ProjectsCollection;
-import com.google.gson.Gson;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.project.ProjectState;
 import com.google.gson.JsonParseException;
-import com.google.gson.stream.JsonReader;
 import com.google.gson.stream.MalformedJsonException;
 import com.google.inject.Inject;
-import com.google.inject.TypeLiteral;
+import com.google.inject.Provider;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.FetchAction.Input;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.data.RevisionInput;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.data.RevisionsInput;
-import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.exception.InitProjectException;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.exception.UnauthorizedAuthException;
-import java.io.BufferedReader;
-import java.io.EOFException;
+import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.util.PayloadSerDes;
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.io.PrintWriter;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.NoSuchElementException;
 import java.util.Optional;
@@ -83,9 +77,9 @@
   private ProjectInitializationAction projectInitializationAction;
   private UpdateHeadAction updateHEADAction;
   private ProjectDeletionAction projectDeletionAction;
-  private ProjectsCollection projectsCollection;
-  private Gson gson;
+  private ProjectCache projectCache;
   private String pluginName;
+  private final Provider<CurrentUser> currentUserProvider;
 
   @Inject
   public PullReplicationFilter(
@@ -95,17 +89,18 @@
       ProjectInitializationAction projectInitializationAction,
       UpdateHeadAction updateHEADAction,
       ProjectDeletionAction projectDeletionAction,
-      ProjectsCollection projectsCollection,
-      @PluginName String pluginName) {
+      ProjectCache projectCache,
+      @PluginName String pluginName,
+      Provider<CurrentUser> currentUserProvider) {
     this.fetchAction = fetchAction;
     this.applyObjectAction = applyObjectAction;
     this.applyObjectsAction = applyObjectsAction;
     this.projectInitializationAction = projectInitializationAction;
     this.updateHEADAction = updateHEADAction;
     this.projectDeletionAction = projectDeletionAction;
-    this.projectsCollection = projectsCollection;
+    this.projectCache = projectCache;
     this.pluginName = pluginName;
-    this.gson = OutputFormat.JSON.newGsonBuilder().create();
+    this.currentUserProvider = currentUserProvider;
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -120,20 +115,26 @@
     HttpServletRequest httpRequest = (HttpServletRequest) request;
     try {
       if (isFetchAction(httpRequest)) {
-        writeResponse(httpResponse, doFetch(httpRequest));
+        failIfcurrentUserIsAnonymous();
+        PayloadSerDes.writeResponse(httpResponse, doFetch(httpRequest));
       } else if (isApplyObjectAction(httpRequest)) {
-        writeResponse(httpResponse, doApplyObject(httpRequest));
+        failIfcurrentUserIsAnonymous();
+        PayloadSerDes.writeResponse(httpResponse, doApplyObject(httpRequest));
       } else if (isApplyObjectsAction(httpRequest)) {
-        writeResponse(httpResponse, doApplyObjects(httpRequest));
+        failIfcurrentUserIsAnonymous();
+        PayloadSerDes.writeResponse(httpResponse, doApplyObjects(httpRequest));
       } else if (isInitProjectAction(httpRequest)) {
+        failIfcurrentUserIsAnonymous();
         if (!checkAcceptHeader(httpRequest, httpResponse)) {
           return;
         }
         doInitProject(httpRequest, httpResponse);
       } else if (isUpdateHEADAction(httpRequest)) {
-        writeResponse(httpResponse, doUpdateHEAD(httpRequest));
+        failIfcurrentUserIsAnonymous();
+        PayloadSerDes.writeResponse(httpResponse, doUpdateHEAD(httpRequest));
       } else if (isDeleteProjectAction(httpRequest)) {
-        writeResponse(httpResponse, doDeleteProject(httpRequest));
+        failIfcurrentUserIsAnonymous();
+        PayloadSerDes.writeResponse(httpResponse, doDeleteProject(httpRequest));
       } else {
         chain.doFilter(request, response);
       }
@@ -156,7 +157,7 @@
     } catch (ResourceConflictException e) {
       RestApiServlet.replyError(
           httpRequest, httpResponse, SC_CONFLICT, e.getMessage(), e.caching(), e);
-    } catch (InitProjectException | ResourceNotFoundException e) {
+    } catch (ResourceNotFoundException e) {
       RestApiServlet.replyError(
           httpRequest, httpResponse, SC_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR, e.getMessage(), e.caching(), e);
     } catch (NoSuchElementException e) {
@@ -173,108 +174,67 @@
     }
   }
 
-  private void doInitProject(HttpServletRequest httpRequest, HttpServletResponse httpResponse)
-      throws RestApiException, IOException, PermissionBackendException {
-
-    IdString id = getInitProjectName(httpRequest).get();
-    String projectName = id.get();
-    if (projectInitializationAction.initProject(projectName)) {
-      setResponse(
-          httpResponse, HttpServletResponse.SC_CREATED, "Project " + projectName + " initialized");
-      return;
+  private void failIfcurrentUserIsAnonymous() throws UnauthorizedAuthException {
+    CurrentUser currentUser = currentUserProvider.get();
+    if (currentUser instanceof AnonymousUser) {
+      throw new UnauthorizedAuthException();
     }
-    throw new InitProjectException(projectName);
+  }
+
+  private void doInitProject(HttpServletRequest httpRequest, HttpServletResponse httpResponse)
+      throws IOException, ServletException {
+    projectInitializationAction.service(httpRequest, httpResponse);
   }
 
   @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
   private Response<String> doApplyObject(HttpServletRequest httpRequest)
       throws RestApiException, IOException, PermissionBackendException {
-    RevisionInput input = readJson(httpRequest, TypeLiteral.get(RevisionInput.class));
+    RevisionInput input = PayloadSerDes.parseRevisionInput(httpRequest);
     IdString id = getProjectName(httpRequest).get();
-    ProjectResource projectResource = projectsCollection.parse(TopLevelResource.INSTANCE, id);
 
-    return (Response<String>) applyObjectAction.apply(projectResource, input);
+    return (Response<String>) applyObjectAction.apply(parseProjectResource(id), input);
   }
 
   @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
   private Response<String> doApplyObjects(HttpServletRequest httpRequest)
       throws RestApiException, IOException, PermissionBackendException {
-    RevisionsInput input = readJson(httpRequest, TypeLiteral.get(RevisionsInput.class));
+    RevisionsInput input = PayloadSerDes.parseRevisionsInput(httpRequest);
     IdString id = getProjectName(httpRequest).get();
-    ProjectResource projectResource = projectsCollection.parse(TopLevelResource.INSTANCE, id);
 
-    return (Response<String>) applyObjectsAction.apply(projectResource, input);
+    return (Response<String>) applyObjectsAction.apply(parseProjectResource(id), input);
   }
 
   @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
   private Response<String> doUpdateHEAD(HttpServletRequest httpRequest) throws Exception {
-    HeadInput input = readJson(httpRequest, TypeLiteral.get(HeadInput.class));
+    HeadInput input = PayloadSerDes.parseHeadInput(httpRequest);
     IdString id = getProjectName(httpRequest).get();
-    ProjectResource projectResource = projectsCollection.parse(TopLevelResource.INSTANCE, id);
 
-    return (Response<String>) updateHEADAction.apply(projectResource, input);
+    return (Response<String>) updateHEADAction.apply(parseProjectResource(id), input);
   }
 
   @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
   private Response<String> doDeleteProject(HttpServletRequest httpRequest) throws Exception {
     IdString id = getProjectName(httpRequest).get();
-    ProjectResource projectResource = projectsCollection.parse(TopLevelResource.INSTANCE, id);
     return (Response<String>)
-        projectDeletionAction.apply(projectResource, new ProjectDeletionAction.DeleteInput());
+        projectDeletionAction.apply(
+            parseProjectResource(id), new ProjectDeletionAction.DeleteInput());
   }
 
   @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
   private Response<Map<String, Object>> doFetch(HttpServletRequest httpRequest)
       throws IOException, RestApiException, PermissionBackendException {
-    Input input = readJson(httpRequest, TypeLiteral.get(Input.class));
+    Input input = PayloadSerDes.parseInput(httpRequest);
     IdString id = getProjectName(httpRequest).get();
-    ProjectResource projectResource = projectsCollection.parse(TopLevelResource.INSTANCE, id);
 
-    return (Response<Map<String, Object>>) fetchAction.apply(projectResource, input);
+    return (Response<Map<String, Object>>) fetchAction.apply(parseProjectResource(id), input);
   }
 
-  private <T> void writeResponse(HttpServletResponse httpResponse, Response<T> response)
-      throws IOException {
-    String responseJson = gson.toJson(response);
-    if (response.statusCode() == SC_OK || response.statusCode() == SC_CREATED) {
-
-      httpResponse.setContentType("application/json");
-      httpResponse.setStatus(response.statusCode());
-      PrintWriter writer = httpResponse.getWriter();
-      writer.print(new String(RestApiServlet.JSON_MAGIC));
-      writer.print(responseJson);
-    } else {
-      httpResponse.sendError(response.statusCode(), responseJson);
+  private ProjectResource parseProjectResource(IdString id) throws ResourceNotFoundException {
+    Optional<ProjectState> project = projectCache.get(Project.nameKey(id.get()));
+    if (project.isEmpty()) {
+      throw new ResourceNotFoundException(id);
     }
-  }
-
-  private <T> T readJson(HttpServletRequest httpRequest, TypeLiteral<T> typeLiteral)
-      throws IOException, BadRequestException {
-
-    try (BufferedReader br = httpRequest.getReader();
-        JsonReader json = new JsonReader(br)) {
-      try {
-        json.setLenient(true);
-
-        try {
-          json.peek();
-        } catch (EOFException e) {
-          throw new BadRequestException("Expected JSON object", e);
-        }
-
-        return gson.fromJson(json, typeLiteral.getType());
-      } finally {
-        try {
-          // Reader.close won't consume the rest of the input. Explicitly consume the request
-          // body.
-          br.skip(Long.MAX_VALUE);
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-          // ignore, e.g. trying to consume the rest of the input may fail if the request was
-          // cancelled
-          logger.atFine().withCause(e).log("Exception during the parsing of the request json");
-        }
-      }
-    }
+    return new ProjectResource(project.get(), currentUserProvider.get());
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/exception/InitProjectException.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/exception/InitProjectException.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 85a7729..0000000
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/exception/InitProjectException.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,25 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright (C) 2021 The Android Open Source Project
-//
-// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-// You may obtain a copy of the License at
-//
-// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-//
-// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-// limitations under the License.
-
-package com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.exception;
-
-import com.google.gerrit.extensions.restapi.RestApiException;
-
-public class InitProjectException extends RestApiException {
-  private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
-
-  public InitProjectException(String projectName) {
-    super("Cannot create project " + projectName);
-  }
-}
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/util/PayloadSerDes.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/util/PayloadSerDes.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..414af37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/util/PayloadSerDes.java
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+// Copyright (C) 2023 The Android Open Source Project
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.util;
+
+import static javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse.SC_CREATED;
+import static javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse.SC_OK;
+
+import com.google.common.flogger.FluentLogger;
+import com.google.gerrit.extensions.api.projects.HeadInput;
+import com.google.gerrit.extensions.restapi.BadRequestException;
+import com.google.gerrit.extensions.restapi.Response;
+import com.google.gerrit.httpd.restapi.RestApiServlet;
+import com.google.gerrit.json.OutputFormat;
+import com.google.gson.Gson;
+import com.google.gson.stream.JsonReader;
+import com.google.inject.TypeLiteral;
+import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.FetchAction;
+import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.data.RevisionInput;
+import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.data.RevisionsInput;
+import java.io.BufferedReader;
+import java.io.EOFException;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.PrintWriter;
+import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
+import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
+
+public class PayloadSerDes {
+  private static final FluentLogger logger = FluentLogger.forEnclosingClass();
+  private static final Gson gson = OutputFormat.JSON.newGsonBuilder().create();
+
+  public static RevisionInput parseRevisionInput(HttpServletRequest httpRequest)
+      throws BadRequestException, IOException {
+    return parse(httpRequest, TypeLiteral.get(RevisionInput.class));
+  }
+
+  public static RevisionsInput parseRevisionsInput(HttpServletRequest httpRequest)
+      throws BadRequestException, IOException {
+    return parse(httpRequest, TypeLiteral.get(RevisionsInput.class));
+  }
+
+  public static HeadInput parseHeadInput(HttpServletRequest httpRequest)
+      throws BadRequestException, IOException {
+    return parse(httpRequest, TypeLiteral.get(HeadInput.class));
+  }
+
+  public static FetchAction.Input parseInput(HttpServletRequest httpRequest)
+      throws BadRequestException, IOException {
+    return parse(httpRequest, TypeLiteral.get(FetchAction.Input.class));
+  }
+
+  public static <T> void writeResponse(HttpServletResponse httpResponse, Response<T> response)
+      throws IOException {
+    String responseJson = gson.toJson(response);
+    if (response.statusCode() == SC_OK || response.statusCode() == SC_CREATED) {
+
+      httpResponse.setContentType("application/json");
+      httpResponse.setStatus(response.statusCode());
+      PrintWriter writer = httpResponse.getWriter();
+      writer.print(new String(RestApiServlet.JSON_MAGIC));
+      writer.print(responseJson);
+    } else {
+      httpResponse.sendError(response.statusCode(), responseJson);
+    }
+  }
+
+  private static <T> T parse(HttpServletRequest httpRequest, TypeLiteral<T> typeLiteral)
+      throws IOException, BadRequestException {
+
+    try (BufferedReader br = httpRequest.getReader();
+        JsonReader json = new JsonReader(br)) {
+      try {
+        json.setLenient(true);
+
+        try {
+          json.peek();
+        } catch (EOFException e) {
+          throw new BadRequestException("Expected JSON object", e);
+        }
+
+        return gson.fromJson(json, typeLiteral.getType());
+      } finally {
+        try {
+          // Reader.close won't consume the rest of the input. Explicitly consume the request
+          // body.
+          br.skip(Long.MAX_VALUE);
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+          // ignore, e.g. trying to consume the rest of the input may fail if the request was
+          // cancelled
+          logger.atFine().withCause(e).log("Exception during the parsing of the request json");
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/client/FetchApiClient.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/client/FetchApiClient.java
index 1991260..f7ed4cb 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/client/FetchApiClient.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/client/FetchApiClient.java
@@ -40,7 +40,22 @@
     return callFetch(project, refName, targetUri, MILLISECONDS.toNanos(System.currentTimeMillis()));
   }
 
-  HttpResult initProject(Project.NameKey project, URIish uri) throws IOException;
+  /**
+   * Replicates the creation of a project, including the configuration stored in refs/meta/config.
+   *
+   * @param project The unique name of the project.
+   * @param uri The destination URI where the project and its configuration should be replicated to.
+   * @param eventCreatedOn The timestamp indicating when the init project event occurred.
+   * @param refsMetaConfigRevisionData A history of revisions for the refs/meta/config ref.
+   * @return An HTTP result object providing information about the replication process.
+   * @throws IOException If an I/O error occurs during the replication.
+   */
+  HttpResult initProject(
+      Project.NameKey project,
+      URIish uri,
+      long eventCreatedOn,
+      List<RevisionData> refsMetaConfigRevisionData)
+      throws IOException;
 
   HttpResult deleteProject(Project.NameKey project, URIish apiUri) throws IOException;
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/client/FetchRestApiClient.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/client/FetchRestApiClient.java
index b606ba8..7607e4b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/client/FetchRestApiClient.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/client/FetchRestApiClient.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 import com.google.gerrit.common.Nullable;
 import com.google.gerrit.entities.Project;
 import com.google.gerrit.entities.Project.NameKey;
+import com.google.gerrit.entities.RefNames;
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.annotations.PluginName;
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.restapi.Url;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.config.GerritInstanceId;
@@ -130,14 +131,29 @@
   }
 
   /* (non-Javadoc)
-   * @see com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.client.FetchApiClient#initProject(com.google.gerrit.entities.Project.NameKey, org.eclipse.jgit.transport.URIish)
+   * @see com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.client.FetchApiClient#initProject(com.google.gerrit.entities.Project.NameKey, org.eclipse.jgit.transport.URIish, long, java.util.List<com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.data.RevisionData>)
    */
   @Override
-  public HttpResult initProject(Project.NameKey project, URIish uri) throws IOException {
+  public HttpResult initProject(
+      NameKey project,
+      URIish uri,
+      long eventCreatedOn,
+      List<RevisionData> refsMetaConfigRevisionData)
+      throws IOException {
     String url = formatInitProjectUrl(uri.toString(), project);
+
+    RevisionData[] inputData = new RevisionData[refsMetaConfigRevisionData.size()];
+    RevisionsInput input =
+        new RevisionsInput(
+            instanceId,
+            RefNames.REFS_CONFIG,
+            eventCreatedOn,
+            refsMetaConfigRevisionData.toArray(inputData));
+
     HttpPut put = new HttpPut(url);
+    put.setEntity(new StringEntity(GSON.toJson(input)));
     put.addHeader(new BasicHeader("Accept", MediaType.ANY_TEXT_TYPE.toString()));
-    put.addHeader(new BasicHeader("Content-Type", MediaType.PLAIN_TEXT_UTF_8.toString()));
+    put.addHeader(new BasicHeader("Content-Type", MediaType.JSON_UTF_8.toString()));
     return executeRequest(put, bearerTokenProvider.get(), uri);
   }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/fetch/ApplyObject.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/fetch/ApplyObject.java
index 36356e9..05033b4 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/fetch/ApplyObject.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/fetch/ApplyObject.java
@@ -61,10 +61,6 @@
                 throw new MissingParentObjectException(name, refSpec.getSource(), parent.getId());
               }
             }
-            refHead = newObjectID = oi.insert(commitObject.getType(), commitObject.getContent());
-
-            RevisionObjectData treeObject = revisionData.getTreeObject();
-            oi.insert(treeObject.getType(), treeObject.getContent());
           }
 
           for (RevisionObjectData rev : revisionData.getBlobs()) {
@@ -75,6 +71,13 @@
             refHead = newObjectID;
           }
 
+          if (commitObject != null) {
+            RevisionObjectData treeObject = revisionData.getTreeObject();
+            oi.insert(treeObject.getType(), treeObject.getContent());
+
+            refHead = oi.insert(commitObject.getType(), commitObject.getContent());
+          }
+
           oi.flush();
 
           if (commitObject == null) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/fetch/CGitFetch.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/fetch/CGitFetch.java
index 8fac9ed..43ec9bf 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/fetch/CGitFetch.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/fetch/CGitFetch.java
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
+import org.apache.commons.lang3.ArrayUtils;
+import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.errors.TransportException;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.RefUpdate;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Repository;
@@ -107,7 +109,9 @@
     if (credentialsProvider.supports(user, pass)
         && credentialsProvider.get(uri, user, pass)
         && uri.getScheme() != null
-        && !"ssh".equalsIgnoreCase(uri.getScheme())) {
+        && !"ssh".equalsIgnoreCase(uri.getScheme())
+        && StringUtils.isNotEmpty(user.getValue())
+        && ArrayUtils.isNotEmpty(pass.getValue())) {
       return uri.setUser(user.getValue()).setPass(String.valueOf(pass.getValue()));
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/fetch/CGitFetchValidator.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/fetch/CGitFetchValidator.java
index 9a10898..434c0f0 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/fetch/CGitFetchValidator.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/fetch/CGitFetchValidator.java
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
 
   @Override
   public Void visit(AssistedInjectBinding<? extends FetchFactory> binding) {
-    TypeLiteral<CGitFetch> nativeGitFetchType = new TypeLiteral<CGitFetch>() {};
+    TypeLiteral<CGitFetch> nativeGitFetchType = new TypeLiteral<>() {};
     for (AssistedMethod method : binding.getAssistedMethods()) {
       if (method.getImplementationType().equals(nativeGitFetchType)) {
         String[] command = new String[] {"git", "--version"};
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/fetch/PermanentTransportException.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/fetch/PermanentTransportException.java
index acb68cf..0fa89b5 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/fetch/PermanentTransportException.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/fetch/PermanentTransportException.java
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 package com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.fetch;
 
-import com.jcraft.jsch.JSchException;
+import org.apache.sshd.common.SshException;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.errors.TransportException;
 
 public class PermanentTransportException extends TransportException {
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@
 
   public static TransportException wrapIfPermanentTransportException(TransportException e) {
     Throwable cause = e.getCause();
-    if (cause instanceof JSchException && cause.getMessage().startsWith("UnknownHostKey:")) {
+    if (cause instanceof SshException
+        && cause.getMessage().startsWith("Failed (UnsupportedCredentialItem) to execute:")) {
       return new PermanentTransportException("Terminal fetch failure", e);
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main/resources/Documentation/about.md b/src/main/resources/Documentation/about.md
index 73c5c05..22b52e7 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/Documentation/about.md
+++ b/src/main/resources/Documentation/about.md
@@ -16,10 +16,6 @@
 group that is granted the 'Pull Replication' capability (provided
 by this plugin) or the 'Administrate Server' capability.
 
-When replicating hidden projects, the pull replication user needs to have
-the 'Administrate Server' capability or being added as the owner of each
-individual project that is supposed to be replicated.
-
 Change Indexing
 --------
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/FetchOneTest.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/FetchOneTest.java
index ee286bb..dd9f98e 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/FetchOneTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/FetchOneTest.java
@@ -18,9 +18,9 @@
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.any;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.*;
 
+import com.google.gerrit.acceptance.TestMetricMaker;
 import com.google.gerrit.entities.Project;
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.registration.DynamicItem;
-import com.google.gerrit.metrics.DisabledMetricMaker;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.git.GitRepositoryManager;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.git.PerThreadRequestScope;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.util.IdGenerator;
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@
   private final Project.NameKey PROJECT_NAME = Project.NameKey.parse(TEST_PROJECT_NAME);
   private final String TEST_REF = "refs/heads/refForReplicationTask";
   private final String URI_PATTERN = "http://test.com/" + TEST_PROJECT_NAME + ".git";
+  private final TestMetricMaker testMetricMaker = new TestMetricMaker();
 
   @Mock private GitRepositoryManager grm;
   @Mock private Repository repository;
@@ -72,8 +73,9 @@
 
   @Before
   public void setup() throws Exception {
+    testMetricMaker.reset();
     FetchReplicationMetrics fetchReplicationMetrics =
-        new FetchReplicationMetrics("pull-replication", new DisabledMetricMaker());
+        new FetchReplicationMetrics("pull-replication", testMetricMaker);
     urIish = new URIish(URI_PATTERN);
 
     grm = mock(GitRepositoryManager.class);
@@ -704,6 +706,51 @@
             TEST_PROJECT_NAME, TEST_REF, urIish, ReplicationState.RefFetchResult.FAILED, null);
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void shouldNotRecordReplicationLatencyMetricIfAllRefsAreExcluded() throws Exception {
+    setupMocks(true);
+    String filteredRef = "refs/heads/filteredRef";
+    Set<String> refSpecs = Set.of(TEST_REF, filteredRef);
+    createTestStates(TEST_REF, 1);
+    createTestStates(filteredRef, 1);
+    setupFetchFactoryMock(
+        List.of(new FetchFactoryEntry.Builder().refSpecNameWithDefaults(TEST_REF).build()),
+        Optional.of(List.of(TEST_REF)));
+    objectUnderTest.addRefs(refSpecs);
+    objectUnderTest.setReplicationFetchFilter(replicationFilter);
+    ReplicationFetchFilter mockFilter = mock(ReplicationFetchFilter.class);
+    when(replicationFilter.get()).thenReturn(mockFilter);
+    when(mockFilter.filter(TEST_PROJECT_NAME, refSpecs)).thenReturn(Collections.emptySet());
+
+    objectUnderTest.run();
+
+    verify(pullReplicationApiRequestMetrics, never()).stop(any());
+    assertThat(testMetricMaker.getTimer("replication_latency")).isEqualTo(0);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void shouldRecordReplicationLatencyMetricWhenAtLeastOneRefWasReplicated()
+      throws Exception {
+    setupMocks(true);
+    String filteredRef = "refs/heads/filteredRef";
+    Set<String> refSpecs = Set.of(TEST_REF, filteredRef);
+    createTestStates(TEST_REF, 1);
+    createTestStates(filteredRef, 1);
+    setupFetchFactoryMock(
+        List.of(new FetchFactoryEntry.Builder().refSpecNameWithDefaults(TEST_REF).build()),
+        Optional.of(List.of(TEST_REF)));
+    objectUnderTest.addRefs(refSpecs);
+    objectUnderTest.setReplicationFetchFilter(replicationFilter);
+    ReplicationFetchFilter mockFilter = mock(ReplicationFetchFilter.class);
+    when(replicationFilter.get()).thenReturn(mockFilter);
+    when(mockFilter.filter(TEST_PROJECT_NAME, refSpecs)).thenReturn(Set.of(TEST_REF));
+
+    objectUnderTest.run();
+
+    verify(pullReplicationApiRequestMetrics).stop(any());
+    assertThat(testMetricMaker.getTimer("replication_latency")).isGreaterThan(0);
+  }
+
   private void setupRequestScopeMock() {
     when(scoper.scope(any()))
         .thenAnswer(
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/PermanentFailureExceptionTest.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/PermanentFailureExceptionTest.java
index 09a465c..fcb0702 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/PermanentFailureExceptionTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/PermanentFailureExceptionTest.java
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.fetch.InexistentRefTransportException;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.fetch.PermanentTransportException;
-import com.jcraft.jsch.JSchException;
+import org.apache.sshd.common.SshException;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.errors.TransportException;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
@@ -29,7 +29,9 @@
     assertThat(
             PermanentTransportException.wrapIfPermanentTransportException(
                 new TransportException(
-                    "SSH error", new JSchException("UnknownHostKey: some.place"))))
+                    "SSH error",
+                    new SshException(
+                        "Failed (UnsupportedCredentialItem) to execute: some.commands"))))
         .isInstanceOf(PermanentTransportException.class);
   }
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/PullReplicationFanoutConfigIT.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/PullReplicationFanoutConfigIT.java
index 5cf01b1..0721dd2 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/PullReplicationFanoutConfigIT.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/PullReplicationFanoutConfigIT.java
@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@
 @UseLocalDisk
 @TestPlugin(
     name = "pull-replication",
-    sysModule = "com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.PullReplicationModule")
+    sysModule = "com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.PullReplicationModule",
+    httpModule = "com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.HttpModule")
 public class PullReplicationFanoutConfigIT extends LightweightPluginDaemonTest {
   private static final Optional<String> ALL_PROJECTS = Optional.empty();
   private static final FluentLogger logger = FluentLogger.forEnclosingClass();
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/PullReplicationIT.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/PullReplicationIT.java
index 18f7a0c..5717a8b 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/PullReplicationIT.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/PullReplicationIT.java
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-// Copyright (C) 2022 The Android Open Source Project
+// Copyright (C) 2020 The Android Open Source Project
 //
 // Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 // you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -14,9 +14,45 @@
 
 package com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull;
 
+import static com.google.common.truth.Truth.assertThat;
+import static com.google.gerrit.acceptance.GitUtil.fetch;
+import static com.google.gerrit.acceptance.GitUtil.pushOne;
+import static com.google.gerrit.acceptance.testsuite.project.TestProjectUpdate.allow;
+import static com.google.gerrit.server.group.SystemGroupBackend.REGISTERED_USERS;
+
+import com.google.gerrit.acceptance.PushOneCommit.Result;
 import com.google.gerrit.acceptance.SkipProjectClone;
 import com.google.gerrit.acceptance.TestPlugin;
 import com.google.gerrit.acceptance.UseLocalDisk;
+import com.google.gerrit.acceptance.config.GerritConfig;
+import com.google.gerrit.entities.Permission;
+import com.google.gerrit.entities.Project;
+import com.google.gerrit.entities.Project.NameKey;
+import com.google.gerrit.entities.RefNames;
+import com.google.gerrit.extensions.api.changes.NotifyHandling;
+import com.google.gerrit.extensions.api.projects.BranchInput;
+import com.google.gerrit.extensions.events.HeadUpdatedListener;
+import com.google.gerrit.extensions.events.ProjectDeletedListener;
+import com.google.gerrit.extensions.restapi.RestApiException;
+import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.AutoReloadConfigDecorator;
+import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.client.FetchApiClient;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Optional;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.internal.storage.dfs.InMemoryRepository;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.junit.TestRepository;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.ObjectId;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Ref;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Repository;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.revwalk.RevCommit;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.transport.PushResult;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.transport.RemoteRefUpdate;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.transport.RemoteRefUpdate.Status;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.transport.URIish;
+import org.junit.Ignore;
+import org.junit.Test;
 
 @SkipProjectClone
 @UseLocalDisk
@@ -25,4 +61,350 @@
     sysModule =
         "com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.PullReplicationITAbstract$PullReplicationTestModule",
     httpModule = "com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull.api.HttpModule")
-public class PullReplicationIT extends PullReplicationITAbstract {}
+public class PullReplicationIT extends PullReplicationSetupBase {
+
+  @Override
+  protected void setReplicationSource(
+      String remoteName, List<String> replicaSuffixes, Optional<String> project)
+      throws IOException {
+    List<String> fetchUrls =
+        buildReplicaURLs(replicaSuffixes, s -> gitPath.resolve("${name}" + s + ".git").toString());
+    config.setStringList("remote", remoteName, "url", fetchUrls);
+    config.setString("remote", remoteName, "apiUrl", adminRestSession.url());
+    config.setString("remote", remoteName, "fetch", "+refs/*:refs/*");
+    config.setInt("remote", remoteName, "timeout", 600);
+    config.setInt("remote", remoteName, "replicationDelay", TEST_REPLICATION_DELAY);
+    project.ifPresent(prj -> config.setString("remote", remoteName, "projects", prj));
+    config.setBoolean("gerrit", null, "autoReload", true);
+    config.save();
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public void setUpTestPlugin() throws Exception {
+    setUpTestPlugin(false);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  @GerritConfig(name = "gerrit.instanceId", value = TEST_REPLICATION_REMOTE)
+  public void shouldReplicateNewChangeRef() throws Exception {
+    testRepo = cloneProject(createTestProject(project + TEST_REPLICATION_SUFFIX));
+
+    Result pushResult = createChange();
+    RevCommit sourceCommit = pushResult.getCommit();
+    String sourceRef = pushResult.getPatchSet().refName();
+
+    ReplicationQueue pullReplicationQueue = getInstance(ReplicationQueue.class);
+    FakeGitReferenceUpdatedEvent event =
+        new FakeGitReferenceUpdatedEvent(
+            project,
+            sourceRef,
+            ObjectId.zeroId().getName(),
+            sourceCommit.getId().getName(),
+            TEST_REPLICATION_REMOTE);
+    pullReplicationQueue.onEvent(event);
+
+    try (Repository repo = repoManager.openRepository(project)) {
+      waitUntil(() -> checkedGetRef(repo, sourceRef) != null);
+
+      Ref targetBranchRef = getRef(repo, sourceRef);
+      assertThat(targetBranchRef).isNotNull();
+      assertThat(targetBranchRef.getObjectId()).isEqualTo(sourceCommit.getId());
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  @GerritConfig(name = "gerrit.instanceId", value = TEST_REPLICATION_REMOTE)
+  public void shouldReplicateNewBranch() throws Exception {
+    String testProjectName = project + TEST_REPLICATION_SUFFIX;
+    createTestProject(testProjectName);
+
+    String newBranch = "refs/heads/mybranch";
+    String master = "refs/heads/master";
+    BranchInput input = new BranchInput();
+    input.revision = master;
+    gApi.projects().name(testProjectName).branch(newBranch).create(input);
+    String branchRevision = gApi.projects().name(testProjectName).branch(newBranch).get().revision;
+
+    ReplicationQueue pullReplicationQueue =
+        plugin.getSysInjector().getInstance(ReplicationQueue.class);
+    FakeGitReferenceUpdatedEvent event =
+        new FakeGitReferenceUpdatedEvent(
+            project,
+            newBranch,
+            ObjectId.zeroId().getName(),
+            branchRevision,
+            TEST_REPLICATION_REMOTE);
+    pullReplicationQueue.onEvent(event);
+
+    try (Repository repo = repoManager.openRepository(project);
+        Repository sourceRepo = repoManager.openRepository(project)) {
+      waitUntil(() -> checkedGetRef(repo, newBranch) != null);
+
+      Ref targetBranchRef = getRef(repo, newBranch);
+      assertThat(targetBranchRef).isNotNull();
+      assertThat(targetBranchRef.getObjectId().getName()).isEqualTo(branchRevision);
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  @UseLocalDisk
+  @GerritConfig(name = "gerrit.instanceId", value = TEST_REPLICATION_REMOTE)
+  public void shouldReplicateForceUpdatedBranch() throws Exception {
+    boolean forcedPush = true;
+    String testProjectName = project + TEST_REPLICATION_SUFFIX;
+    NameKey testProjectNameKey = createTestProject(testProjectName);
+
+    String newBranch = "refs/heads/mybranch";
+    String master = "refs/heads/master";
+    BranchInput input = new BranchInput();
+    input.revision = master;
+    gApi.projects().name(testProjectName).branch(newBranch).create(input);
+
+    projectOperations
+        .project(testProjectNameKey)
+        .forUpdate()
+        .add(allow(Permission.PUSH).ref(newBranch).group(REGISTERED_USERS).force(true))
+        .update();
+
+    String branchRevision = gApi.projects().name(testProjectName).branch(newBranch).get().revision;
+
+    ReplicationQueue pullReplicationQueue =
+        plugin.getSysInjector().getInstance(ReplicationQueue.class);
+    FakeGitReferenceUpdatedEvent event =
+        new FakeGitReferenceUpdatedEvent(
+            project,
+            newBranch,
+            ObjectId.zeroId().getName(),
+            branchRevision,
+            TEST_REPLICATION_REMOTE);
+    pullReplicationQueue.onEvent(event);
+
+    try (Repository repo = repoManager.openRepository(project)) {
+      waitUntil(() -> checkedGetRef(repo, newBranch) != null);
+
+      Ref targetBranchRef = getRef(repo, newBranch);
+      assertThat(targetBranchRef).isNotNull();
+      assertThat(targetBranchRef.getObjectId().getName()).isEqualTo(branchRevision);
+    }
+
+    TestRepository<InMemoryRepository> testProject = cloneProject(testProjectNameKey);
+    fetch(testProject, RefNames.REFS_HEADS + "*:" + RefNames.REFS_HEADS + "*");
+    RevCommit amendedCommit = testProject.amendRef(newBranch).message("Amended commit").create();
+    PushResult pushResult =
+        pushOne(testProject, newBranch, newBranch, false, forcedPush, Collections.emptyList());
+    Collection<RemoteRefUpdate> pushedRefs = pushResult.getRemoteUpdates();
+    assertThat(pushedRefs).hasSize(1);
+    assertThat(pushedRefs.iterator().next().getStatus()).isEqualTo(Status.OK);
+
+    FakeGitReferenceUpdatedEvent forcedPushEvent =
+        new FakeGitReferenceUpdatedEvent(
+            project,
+            newBranch,
+            branchRevision,
+            amendedCommit.getId().getName(),
+            TEST_REPLICATION_REMOTE);
+    pullReplicationQueue.onEvent(forcedPushEvent);
+
+    try (Repository repo = repoManager.openRepository(project);
+        Repository sourceRepo = repoManager.openRepository(project)) {
+      waitUntil(
+          () ->
+              checkedGetRef(repo, newBranch) != null
+                  && checkedGetRef(repo, newBranch)
+                      .getObjectId()
+                      .getName()
+                      .equals(amendedCommit.getId().getName()));
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  @GerritConfig(name = "gerrit.instanceId", value = TEST_REPLICATION_REMOTE)
+  public void shouldReplicateNewChangeRefCGitClient() throws Exception {
+    AutoReloadConfigDecorator autoReloadConfigDecorator =
+        getInstance(AutoReloadConfigDecorator.class);
+
+    config.setBoolean("replication", null, "useCGitClient", true);
+    config.save();
+
+    autoReloadConfigDecorator.reload();
+
+    testRepo = cloneProject(createTestProject(project + TEST_REPLICATION_SUFFIX));
+
+    Result pushResult = createChange();
+    RevCommit sourceCommit = pushResult.getCommit();
+    String sourceRef = pushResult.getPatchSet().refName();
+
+    ReplicationQueue pullReplicationQueue = getInstance(ReplicationQueue.class);
+    FakeGitReferenceUpdatedEvent event =
+        new FakeGitReferenceUpdatedEvent(
+            project,
+            sourceRef,
+            ObjectId.zeroId().getName(),
+            sourceCommit.getId().getName(),
+            TEST_REPLICATION_REMOTE);
+    pullReplicationQueue.onEvent(event);
+
+    try (Repository repo = repoManager.openRepository(project)) {
+      waitUntil(() -> checkedGetRef(repo, sourceRef) != null);
+
+      Ref targetBranchRef = getRef(repo, sourceRef);
+      assertThat(targetBranchRef).isNotNull();
+      assertThat(targetBranchRef.getObjectId()).isEqualTo(sourceCommit.getId());
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  @GerritConfig(name = "gerrit.instanceId", value = TEST_REPLICATION_REMOTE)
+  public void shouldReplicateNewBranchCGitClient() throws Exception {
+    AutoReloadConfigDecorator autoReloadConfigDecorator =
+        getInstance(AutoReloadConfigDecorator.class);
+
+    config.setBoolean("replication", null, "useCGitClient", true);
+    config.save();
+
+    autoReloadConfigDecorator.reload();
+
+    String testProjectName = project + TEST_REPLICATION_SUFFIX;
+    createTestProject(testProjectName);
+
+    String newBranch = "refs/heads/mybranch";
+    String master = "refs/heads/master";
+    BranchInput input = new BranchInput();
+    input.revision = master;
+    gApi.projects().name(testProjectName).branch(newBranch).create(input);
+    String branchRevision = gApi.projects().name(testProjectName).branch(newBranch).get().revision;
+
+    ReplicationQueue pullReplicationQueue =
+        plugin.getSysInjector().getInstance(ReplicationQueue.class);
+    FakeGitReferenceUpdatedEvent event =
+        new FakeGitReferenceUpdatedEvent(
+            project,
+            newBranch,
+            ObjectId.zeroId().getName(),
+            branchRevision,
+            TEST_REPLICATION_REMOTE);
+    pullReplicationQueue.onEvent(event);
+
+    try (Repository repo = repoManager.openRepository(project);
+        Repository sourceRepo = repoManager.openRepository(project)) {
+      waitUntil(() -> checkedGetRef(repo, newBranch) != null);
+
+      Ref targetBranchRef = getRef(repo, newBranch);
+      assertThat(targetBranchRef).isNotNull();
+      assertThat(targetBranchRef.getObjectId().getName()).isEqualTo(branchRevision);
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  @GerritConfig(name = "gerrit.instanceId", value = TEST_REPLICATION_REMOTE)
+  public void shouldCreateNewProject() throws Exception {
+    NameKey projectToCreate = Project.nameKey(project.get() + "_created");
+
+    setReplicationSource(TEST_REPLICATION_REMOTE, "", Optional.of(projectToCreate.get()));
+    config.save();
+    AutoReloadConfigDecorator autoReloadConfigDecorator =
+        getInstance(AutoReloadConfigDecorator.class);
+    autoReloadConfigDecorator.reload();
+    Source source =
+        getInstance(SourcesCollection.class).getByRemoteName(TEST_REPLICATION_REMOTE).get();
+
+    FetchApiClient client = getInstance(FetchApiClient.Factory.class).create(source);
+    client.initProject(
+        projectToCreate,
+        new URIish(source.getApis().get(0)),
+        System.currentTimeMillis(),
+        Collections.emptyList());
+
+    waitUntil(() -> repoManager.list().contains(projectToCreate));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  @GerritConfig(name = "gerrit.instanceId", value = TEST_REPLICATION_REMOTE)
+  public void shouldReplicateProjectDeletion() throws Exception {
+    String projectToDelete = project.get();
+    setReplicationSource(TEST_REPLICATION_REMOTE, "", Optional.of(projectToDelete));
+    config.save();
+    AutoReloadConfigDecorator autoReloadConfigDecorator =
+        getInstance(AutoReloadConfigDecorator.class);
+    autoReloadConfigDecorator.reload();
+
+    ProjectDeletedListener.Event event =
+        new ProjectDeletedListener.Event() {
+          @Override
+          public String getProjectName() {
+            return projectToDelete;
+          }
+
+          @Override
+          public NotifyHandling getNotify() {
+            return NotifyHandling.NONE;
+          }
+        };
+    for (ProjectDeletedListener l : deletedListeners) {
+      l.onProjectDeleted(event);
+    }
+
+    waitUntil(() -> !repoManager.list().contains(project));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  @GerritConfig(name = "gerrit.instanceId", value = TEST_REPLICATION_REMOTE)
+  public void shouldReplicateHeadUpdate() throws Exception {
+    String testProjectName = project.get();
+    setReplicationSource(TEST_REPLICATION_REMOTE, "", Optional.of(testProjectName));
+    config.save();
+    AutoReloadConfigDecorator autoReloadConfigDecorator =
+        getInstance(AutoReloadConfigDecorator.class);
+    autoReloadConfigDecorator.reload();
+
+    String newBranch = "refs/heads/mybranch";
+    String master = "refs/heads/master";
+    BranchInput input = new BranchInput();
+    input.revision = master;
+    gApi.projects().name(testProjectName).branch(newBranch).create(input);
+
+    ReplicationQueue pullReplicationQueue =
+        plugin.getSysInjector().getInstance(ReplicationQueue.class);
+
+    HeadUpdatedListener.Event event = new FakeHeadUpdateEvent(master, newBranch, testProjectName);
+    pullReplicationQueue.onHeadUpdated(event);
+
+    waitUntil(
+        () -> {
+          try {
+            return gApi.projects().name(testProjectName).head().equals(newBranch);
+          } catch (RestApiException e) {
+            return false;
+          }
+        });
+  }
+
+  @Ignore
+  @GerritConfig(name = "gerrit.instanceId", value = TEST_REPLICATION_REMOTE)
+  @GerritConfig(name = "container.replica", value = "true")
+  public void shouldReplicateNewChangeRefToReplica() throws Exception {
+    testRepo = cloneProject(createTestProject(project + TEST_REPLICATION_SUFFIX));
+
+    Result pushResult = createChange();
+    RevCommit sourceCommit = pushResult.getCommit();
+    String sourceRef = pushResult.getPatchSet().refName();
+
+    ReplicationQueue pullReplicationQueue = getInstance(ReplicationQueue.class);
+    FakeGitReferenceUpdatedEvent event =
+        new FakeGitReferenceUpdatedEvent(
+            project,
+            sourceRef,
+            ObjectId.zeroId().getName(),
+            sourceCommit.getId().getName(),
+            TEST_REPLICATION_REMOTE);
+    pullReplicationQueue.onEvent(event);
+
+    try (Repository repo = repoManager.openRepository(project)) {
+      waitUntil(() -> checkedGetRef(repo, sourceRef) != null);
+
+      Ref targetBranchRef = getRef(repo, sourceRef);
+      assertThat(targetBranchRef).isNotNull();
+      assertThat(targetBranchRef.getObjectId()).isEqualTo(sourceCommit.getId());
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/ReplicationQueueTest.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/ReplicationQueueTest.java
index 1cffec7..a07aa55 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/ReplicationQueueTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/ReplicationQueueTest.java
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableList;
 import com.google.common.collect.Lists;
 import com.google.gerrit.entities.Project;
+import com.google.gerrit.entities.RefNames;
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.api.changes.NotifyHandling;
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.common.AccountInfo;
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.events.ProjectDeletedListener;
@@ -147,7 +148,8 @@
         .when(fetchRestApiClient.callSendObjects(any(), anyString(), anyLong(), any(), any()))
         .thenReturn(httpResult);
     when(fetchRestApiClient.callFetch(any(), anyString(), any())).thenReturn(fetchHttpResult);
-    when(fetchRestApiClient.initProject(any(), any())).thenReturn(successfulHttpResult);
+    when(fetchRestApiClient.initProject(any(), any(), anyLong(), any()))
+        .thenReturn(successfulHttpResult);
     when(successfulHttpResult.isSuccessful()).thenReturn(true);
     when(httpResult.isSuccessful()).thenReturn(true);
     when(fetchHttpResult.isSuccessful()).thenReturn(true);
@@ -206,7 +208,7 @@
     objectUnderTest.start();
     objectUnderTest.onEvent(event);
 
-    verify(fetchRestApiClient).initProject(any(), any());
+    verify(fetchRestApiClient).initProject(any(), any(), anyLong(), any());
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -219,7 +221,22 @@
     objectUnderTest.start();
     objectUnderTest.onEvent(event);
 
-    verify(fetchRestApiClient, never()).initProject(any(), any());
+    verify(fetchRestApiClient, never()).initProject(any(), any(), anyLong(), any());
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void shouldNotCallInitProjectWhenProjectWithoutConfiguration() throws Exception {
+    Event event = new TestEvent("refs/changes/01/1/meta");
+    when(httpResult.isSuccessful()).thenReturn(false);
+    when(httpResult.isProjectMissing(any())).thenReturn(true);
+    when(source.isCreateMissingRepositories()).thenReturn(true);
+    when(revReader.read(any(), any(), eq(RefNames.REFS_CONFIG), anyInt()))
+        .thenReturn(Optional.empty());
+
+    objectUnderTest.start();
+    objectUnderTest.onEvent(event);
+
+    verify(fetchRestApiClient, never()).initProject(any(), any(), anyLong(), any());
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -369,7 +386,7 @@
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void shouldCallDeleteWhenReplicateProjectDeletionsTrue() throws Exception {
+  public void shouldCallDeleteWhenReplicateProjectDeletionsTrue() {
     when(source.wouldDeleteProject(any())).thenReturn(true);
 
     String projectName = "testProject";
@@ -385,7 +402,7 @@
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void shouldNotCallDeleteWhenProjectNotToDelete() throws Exception {
+  public void shouldNotCallDeleteWhenProjectNotToDelete() {
     when(source.wouldDeleteProject(any())).thenReturn(false);
 
     FakeProjectDeletedEvent event = new FakeProjectDeletedEvent("testProject");
@@ -397,7 +414,7 @@
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void shouldScheduleUpdateHeadWhenWouldFetchProject() throws Exception {
+  public void shouldScheduleUpdateHeadWhenWouldFetchProject() {
     when(source.wouldFetchProject(any())).thenReturn(true);
 
     String projectName = "aProject";
@@ -413,7 +430,7 @@
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void shouldNotScheduleUpdateHeadWhenNotWouldFetchProject() throws Exception {
+  public void shouldNotScheduleUpdateHeadWhenNotWouldFetchProject() {
     when(source.wouldFetchProject(any())).thenReturn(false);
 
     String projectName = "aProject";
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/ActionITBase.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/ActionITBase.java
index a46846e..4a3fa55 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/ActionITBase.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/ActionITBase.java
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@
   }
 
   public ResponseHandler<Object> assertHttpResponseCode(int responseCode) {
-    return new ResponseHandler<Object>() {
+    return new ResponseHandler<>() {
 
       @Override
       public Object handleResponse(HttpResponse response)
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/DeleteRefCommandTest.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/DeleteRefCommandTest.java
index f1f9e44..fc1b02c 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/DeleteRefCommandTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/DeleteRefCommandTest.java
@@ -102,7 +102,6 @@
             fetchStateLog,
             projectCache,
             sourceCollection,
-            applyObject,
             permissionBackend,
             eventDispatcherDataItem,
             new LocalGitRepositoryManagerProvider(gitManager));
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/ProjectDeletionActionIT.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/ProjectDeletionActionIT.java
index 10415e4..cf7515e 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/ProjectDeletionActionIT.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/ProjectDeletionActionIT.java
@@ -94,10 +94,11 @@
   @Test
   @GerritConfig(name = "gerrit.instanceId", value = "testInstanceId")
   @GerritConfig(name = "container.replica", value = "true")
-  public void shouldReturnForbiddenForUserWithoutPermissionsOnReplica() throws Exception {
+  public void shouldReturnUnauthorizedForUserWithoutPermissionsOnReplica() throws Exception {
     httpClientFactory
         .create(source)
-        .execute(createDeleteRequest(), assertHttpResponseCode(HttpServletResponse.SC_FORBIDDEN));
+        .execute(
+            createDeleteRequest(), assertHttpResponseCode(HttpServletResponse.SC_UNAUTHORIZED));
   }
 
   @Test
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/ProjectInitializationActionIT.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/ProjectInitializationActionIT.java
index c543969..0f13881 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/ProjectInitializationActionIT.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/ProjectInitializationActionIT.java
@@ -184,12 +184,13 @@
   @Test
   @GerritConfig(name = "gerrit.instanceId", value = "testInstanceId")
   @GerritConfig(name = "container.replica", value = "true")
-  public void shouldReturnForbiddenForUserWithoutPermissionsWhenNodeIsAReplica() throws Exception {
+  public void shouldReturnUnauthorizedForUserWithoutPermissionsWhenNodeIsAReplica()
+      throws Exception {
     httpClientFactory
         .create(source)
         .execute(
             createPutRequestWithHeaders(),
-            assertHttpResponseCode(HttpServletResponse.SC_FORBIDDEN));
+            assertHttpResponseCode(HttpServletResponse.SC_UNAUTHORIZED));
   }
 
   @Test
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/PullReplicationFilterTest.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/PullReplicationFilterTest.java
index 9e5ca8d..9492d49 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/PullReplicationFilterTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/api/PullReplicationFilterTest.java
@@ -4,18 +4,25 @@
 import static com.google.gerrit.httpd.restapi.RestApiServlet.SC_UNPROCESSABLE_ENTITY;
 import static javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse.SC_CONFLICT;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.any;
-import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.eq;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.lenient;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
 import static org.mockito.internal.verification.VerificationModeFactory.atLeastOnce;
 import static org.mockito.internal.verification.VerificationModeFactory.times;
 
 import com.google.common.net.MediaType;
+import com.google.gerrit.entities.Project;
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.restapi.*;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.AnonymousUser;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.CurrentUser;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.IdentifiedUser;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.project.ProjectCache;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.project.ProjectResource;
-import com.google.gerrit.server.restapi.project.ProjectsCollection;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.project.ProjectState;
+import com.google.inject.util.Providers;
 import java.io.*;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
+import java.util.Optional;
 import javax.servlet.FilterChain;
 import javax.servlet.ServletOutputStream;
 import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
@@ -37,10 +44,12 @@
   @Mock private ProjectInitializationAction projectInitializationAction;
   @Mock private UpdateHeadAction updateHEADAction;
   @Mock private ProjectDeletionAction projectDeletionAction;
-  @Mock private ProjectsCollection projectsCollection;
-  @Mock private ProjectResource projectResource;
+  @Mock private ProjectCache projectCache;
+  @Mock private ProjectState projectState;
   @Mock private ServletOutputStream outputStream;
   @Mock private PrintWriter printWriter;
+  @Mock private IdentifiedUser identifiedUserMock;
+  @Mock private AnonymousUser anonymousUserMock;
   private final String PLUGIN_NAME = "pull-replication";
   private final String PROJECT_NAME = "some-project";
   private final String PROJECT_NAME_GIT = "some-project.git";
@@ -60,6 +69,10 @@
   private final Response OK_RESPONSE = Response.ok();
 
   private PullReplicationFilter createPullReplicationFilter() {
+    return createPullReplicationFilter(identifiedUserMock);
+  }
+
+  private PullReplicationFilter createPullReplicationFilter(CurrentUser currentUser) {
     return new PullReplicationFilter(
         fetchAction,
         applyObjectAction,
@@ -67,8 +80,9 @@
         projectInitializationAction,
         updateHEADAction,
         projectDeletionAction,
-        projectsCollection,
-        PLUGIN_NAME);
+        projectCache,
+        PLUGIN_NAME,
+        Providers.of(currentUser));
   }
 
   private void defineBehaviours(byte[] payload, String uri) throws Exception {
@@ -76,15 +90,14 @@
     InputStream is = new ByteArrayInputStream(payload);
     BufferedReader bufferedReader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(is));
     when(request.getReader()).thenReturn(bufferedReader);
-    when(projectsCollection.parse(TopLevelResource.INSTANCE, IdString.fromDecoded(PROJECT_NAME)))
-        .thenReturn(projectResource);
+    when(projectCache.get(Project.nameKey(PROJECT_NAME))).thenReturn(Optional.of(projectState));
     when(response.getWriter()).thenReturn(printWriter);
   }
 
   private void verifyBehaviours() throws Exception {
     verify(request, atLeastOnce()).getRequestURI();
     verify(request).getReader();
-    verify(projectsCollection).parse(TopLevelResource.INSTANCE, IdString.fromDecoded(PROJECT_NAME));
+    verify(projectCache).get(Project.nameKey(PROJECT_NAME));
     verify(response).getWriter();
     verify(response).setContentType("application/json");
     verify(response).setStatus(HttpServletResponse.SC_OK);
@@ -107,7 +120,7 @@
     pullReplicationFilter.doFilter(request, response, filterChain);
 
     verifyBehaviours();
-    verify(fetchAction).apply(eq(projectResource), any());
+    verify(fetchAction).apply(any(ProjectResource.class), any());
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -130,7 +143,7 @@
     pullReplicationFilter.doFilter(request, response, filterChain);
 
     verifyBehaviours();
-    verify(applyObjectAction).apply(eq(projectResource), any());
+    verify(applyObjectAction).apply(any(ProjectResource.class), any());
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -152,7 +165,7 @@
     pullReplicationFilter.doFilter(request, response, filterChain);
 
     verifyBehaviours();
-    verify(applyObjectsAction).apply(eq(projectResource), any());
+    verify(applyObjectsAction).apply(any(ProjectResource.class), any());
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -160,15 +173,11 @@
 
     when(request.getRequestURI()).thenReturn(INIT_PROJECT_URI);
     when(request.getHeader(ACCEPT)).thenReturn(MediaType.PLAIN_TEXT_UTF_8.toString());
-    when(projectInitializationAction.initProject(PROJECT_NAME_GIT)).thenReturn(true);
-    when(response.getWriter()).thenReturn(printWriter);
 
     final PullReplicationFilter pullReplicationFilter = createPullReplicationFilter();
     pullReplicationFilter.doFilter(request, response, filterChain);
 
-    verify(request, times(5)).getRequestURI();
-    verify(projectInitializationAction).initProject(eq(PROJECT_NAME_GIT));
-    verify(response).getWriter();
+    verify(projectInitializationAction).service(request, response);
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -183,15 +192,14 @@
     pullReplicationFilter.doFilter(request, response, filterChain);
 
     verifyBehaviours();
-    verify(updateHEADAction).apply(eq(projectResource), any());
+    verify(updateHEADAction).apply(any(ProjectResource.class), any());
   }
 
   @Test
   public void shouldFilterProjectDeletionAction() throws Exception {
     when(request.getRequestURI()).thenReturn(DELETE_PROJECT_URI);
     when(request.getMethod()).thenReturn("DELETE");
-    when(projectsCollection.parse(TopLevelResource.INSTANCE, IdString.fromDecoded(PROJECT_NAME)))
-        .thenReturn(projectResource);
+    when(projectCache.get(Project.nameKey(PROJECT_NAME))).thenReturn(Optional.of(projectState));
     when(projectDeletionAction.apply(any(), any())).thenReturn(OK_RESPONSE);
     when(response.getWriter()).thenReturn(printWriter);
 
@@ -199,8 +207,8 @@
     pullReplicationFilter.doFilter(request, response, filterChain);
 
     verify(request, times(7)).getRequestURI();
-    verify(projectsCollection).parse(TopLevelResource.INSTANCE, IdString.fromDecoded(PROJECT_NAME));
-    verify(projectDeletionAction).apply(eq(projectResource), any());
+    verify(projectCache).get(Project.nameKey(PROJECT_NAME));
+    verify(projectDeletionAction).apply(any(ProjectResource.class), any());
     verify(response).getWriter();
     verify(response).setContentType("application/json");
     verify(response).setStatus(OK_RESPONSE.statusCode());
@@ -215,6 +223,17 @@
   }
 
   @Test
+  public void shouldGoNextInChainWhenAnonymousRequestUriDoesNotMatch() throws Exception {
+    when(request.getRequestURI()).thenReturn("any-url");
+    lenient().when(response.getOutputStream()).thenReturn(outputStream);
+
+    final PullReplicationFilter pullReplicationFilter =
+        createPullReplicationFilter(anonymousUserMock);
+    pullReplicationFilter.doFilter(request, response, filterChain);
+    verify(filterChain).doFilter(request, response);
+  }
+
+  @Test
   public void shouldBe404WhenJsonIsMalformed() throws Exception {
     byte[] payloadMalformedJson = "some-json-malformed".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
     InputStream is = new ByteArrayInputStream(payloadMalformedJson);
@@ -230,24 +249,10 @@
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void shouldBe500WhenProjectCannotBeInitiated() throws Exception {
-    when(request.getRequestURI()).thenReturn(INIT_PROJECT_URI);
-    when(request.getHeader(ACCEPT)).thenReturn(MediaType.PLAIN_TEXT_UTF_8.toString());
-    when(projectInitializationAction.initProject(PROJECT_NAME_GIT)).thenReturn(false);
-    when(response.getOutputStream()).thenReturn(outputStream);
-
-    final PullReplicationFilter pullReplicationFilter = createPullReplicationFilter();
-    pullReplicationFilter.doFilter(request, response, filterChain);
-
-    verify(response).setStatus(HttpServletResponse.SC_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR);
-  }
-
-  @Test
   public void shouldBe500WhenResourceNotFound() throws Exception {
     when(request.getRequestURI()).thenReturn(DELETE_PROJECT_URI);
     when(request.getMethod()).thenReturn("DELETE");
-    when(projectsCollection.parse(TopLevelResource.INSTANCE, IdString.fromDecoded(PROJECT_NAME)))
-        .thenReturn(projectResource);
+    when(projectCache.get(Project.nameKey(PROJECT_NAME))).thenReturn(Optional.of(projectState));
     when(projectDeletionAction.apply(any(), any()))
         .thenThrow(new ResourceNotFoundException("resource not found"));
     when(response.getOutputStream()).thenReturn(outputStream);
@@ -280,6 +285,19 @@
   }
 
   @Test
+  public void shouldBe401WhenUserIsAnonymous() throws Exception {
+    byte[] payloadFetchAction = "{}".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+
+    defineBehaviours(payloadFetchAction, FETCH_URI);
+    when(response.getOutputStream()).thenReturn(outputStream);
+
+    PullReplicationFilter pullReplicationFilter = createPullReplicationFilter(anonymousUserMock);
+    pullReplicationFilter.doFilter(request, response, filterChain);
+
+    verify(response).setStatus(HttpServletResponse.SC_UNAUTHORIZED);
+  }
+
+  @Test
   public void shouldBe422WhenEntityCannotBeProcessed() throws Exception {
     byte[] payloadFetchAction =
         ("{"
@@ -304,8 +322,7 @@
   public void shouldBe409WhenThereIsResourceConflict() throws Exception {
     when(request.getRequestURI()).thenReturn(DELETE_PROJECT_URI);
     when(request.getMethod()).thenReturn("DELETE");
-    when(projectsCollection.parse(TopLevelResource.INSTANCE, IdString.fromDecoded(PROJECT_NAME)))
-        .thenReturn(projectResource);
+    when(projectCache.get(Project.nameKey(PROJECT_NAME))).thenReturn(Optional.of(projectState));
 
     when(projectDeletionAction.apply(any(), any()))
         .thenThrow(new ResourceConflictException("Resource conflict"));
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/client/FetchRestApiClientBase.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/client/FetchRestApiClientBase.java
index 25aa2a7..65ccdfb 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/client/FetchRestApiClientBase.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/client/FetchRestApiClientBase.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
 import com.google.common.collect.Lists;
 import com.google.common.io.CharStreams;
+import com.google.common.net.MediaType;
 import com.google.gerrit.entities.Project;
 import com.google.gerrit.entities.RefNames;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.CredentialsFactory;
@@ -37,6 +38,7 @@
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import org.apache.http.Header;
+import org.apache.http.HttpHeaders;
 import org.apache.http.client.methods.HttpDelete;
 import org.apache.http.client.methods.HttpPost;
 import org.apache.http.client.methods.HttpPut;
@@ -94,6 +96,17 @@
           + "\",\"type\":2,\"content\":\"MTAwNjQ0IGJsb2IgYmIzODNmNTI0OWM2OGE0Y2M4YzgyYmRkMTIyOGI0YTg4ODNmZjZlOCAgICBmNzVhNjkwMDRhOTNiNGNjYzhjZTIxNWMxMjgwODYzNmMyYjc1Njc1\"},\"blobs\":[{\"sha1\":\""
           + blobObjectId
           + "\",\"type\":3,\"content\":\"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\\u003d\"}]}}";
+
+  String expectedInitProjectWithConfigPayload =
+      "{\"label\":\"Replication\",\"ref_name\":\"refs/meta/config\",\"event_created_on\":"
+          + eventCreatedOn
+          + ",\"revisions_data\":[{\"commit_object\":{\"sha1\":\""
+          + commitObjectId
+          + "\",\"type\":1,\"content\":\"dHJlZSA3NzgxNGQyMTZhNmNhYjJkZGI5ZjI4NzdmYmJkMGZlYmRjMGZhNjA4CnBhcmVudCA5ODNmZjFhM2NmNzQ3MjVhNTNhNWRlYzhkMGMwNjEyMjEyOGY1YThkCmF1dGhvciBHZXJyaXQgVXNlciAxMDAwMDAwIDwxMDAwMDAwQDY5ZWMzOGYwLTM1MGUtNGQ5Yy05NmQ0LWJjOTU2ZjJmYWFhYz4gMTYxMDU3ODY0OCArMDEwMApjb21taXR0ZXIgR2Vycml0IENvZGUgUmV2aWV3IDxyb290QG1hY3plY2gtWFBTLTE1PiAxNjEwNTc4NjQ4ICswMTAwCgpVcGRhdGUgcGF0Y2ggc2V0IDEKClBhdGNoIFNldCAxOgoKKDEgY29tbWVudCkKClBhdGNoLXNldDogMQo\\u003d\"},\"tree_object\":{\"sha1\":\""
+          + treeObjectId
+          + "\",\"type\":2,\"content\":\"MTAwNjQ0IGJsb2IgYmIzODNmNTI0OWM2OGE0Y2M4YzgyYmRkMTIyOGI0YTg4ODNmZjZlOCAgICBmNzVhNjkwMDRhOTNiNGNjYzhjZTIxNWMxMjgwODYzNmMyYjc1Njc1\"},\"blobs\":[{\"sha1\":\""
+          + blobObjectId
+          + "\",\"type\":3,\"content\":\"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\\u003d\"}]}]}";
   String commitObject =
       "tree "
           + treeObjectId
@@ -374,18 +387,26 @@
 
   @Test
   public void shouldCallInitProjectEndpoint() throws Exception {
-
-    objectUnderTest.initProject(Project.nameKey("test_repo"), new URIish(api));
+    objectUnderTest.initProject(
+        Project.nameKey("test_repo"),
+        new URIish(api),
+        eventCreatedOn,
+        Collections.singletonList(createSampleRevisionData()));
 
     verify(httpClient, times(1)).execute(httpPutCaptor.capture(), any());
-
     HttpPut httpPut = httpPutCaptor.getValue();
+    String payload =
+        CharStreams.toString(
+            new InputStreamReader(httpPut.getEntity().getContent(), Charsets.UTF_8));
     assertThat(httpPut.getURI().getHost()).isEqualTo("gerrit-host");
+    assertThat(httpPut.getHeaders(HttpHeaders.CONTENT_TYPE)[0].getValue())
+        .isEqualTo(MediaType.JSON_UTF_8.toString());
     assertThat(httpPut.getURI().getPath())
         .isEqualTo(
             String.format(
                 "%s/plugins/pull-replication/init-project/test_repo.git",
                 urlAuthenticationPrefix()));
+    assertThat(payload).isEqualTo(expectedInitProjectWithConfigPayload);
     assertAuthentication(httpPut);
   }