### Problem The search for branches/tags is implemented in the Rails application. That means that we have [to request all branches from the Gitaly](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitaly/blob/7750e95b0c1642eba9e325cf2dffbdd25b37c928/internal/gitaly/service/ref/refs.go#L104) and then [select matching branches](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/blob/4df61fa75c5f32c793905a04c7cf7794a573003a/app/finders/branches_finder.rb#L13) from the result. It affect the performance of [the Branches API](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/api/branches.html#list-repository-branches). ### Current status _Updated on **2025-10-27**_ We are preparing the code to migrate from `FindAllTagsRequest` and `FindLocalBranchesRequest` to a single [`ListRefsRequest`](https://gitlab-org.gitlab.io/gitaly/#gitaly.ListRefsRequest) that should handle both cases. Already implemented: 1. New finder `Gitlab::Git::Finders::RefsFinder` - https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/125718/diffs (currently unused) 2. Sorting and pagination support on Gitaly side for (https://gitlab-org.gitlab.io/gitaly/#gitaly.ListRefsRequest 1. Add support for pagination and sorting to `Gitlab::Git::Finders::RefsFinder` (https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/419417 and https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/419415) Next steps: 2. Spike: try to replace existing `BranchesFinder` with `Gitlab::Git::Finders::RefsFinder` to identify missing functionality (if any) - https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/578546 3. If successful, proceed with replacing `BranchesFinder` and `TagsFinder` logic with a call to new `Gitlab::Git::Finders::RefsFinder` finder. 4. Move `BranchesFinder` and `TagsFinder` in `lib/gitlab/git/finders` (https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/419413 and https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/419412)