Mergeinfo loss after svn copy --no-recursive followed by svn move in Subversion 1.9+

Short answer

Yes. svn copy --no-recursive copies the properties of the node you are creating, including svn:mergeinfo if it is explicitly set on that source directory. --no-recursive controls depth of descendants, not property copying.

svn move is a copy followed by a delete. It preserves the properties of the node it moves, including any svn:mergeinfo that the intermediate copy already has. It does not recover mergeinfo that was never present on the intermediate node.

Confirmed facts for Subversion 1.9+

• A versioned property such as svn:mergeinfo is copied with the node being created by svn copy. The property is not generated or synthesized.
• --no-recursive / --depth empty means the target directory entry is created and its own properties are copied, but no children are copied. Mergeinfo on children is not copied because the children are not copied.
• svn move preserves the property set of the source node at move time. If mergeinfo is missing on the intermediate node after the copy, the move will not add it back.
• Mergeinfo is primarily tracked on directory nodes. Copying individual files will not carry directory mergeinfo.

Likely explanation for apparent loss

The loss you are seeing is usually not caused by --no-recursive on the directory node itself. Common causes:

• The source directory has no explicit svn:mergeinfo on it, only inherited mergeinfo from an ancestor. An explicit copy does not copy inherited mergeinfo.
• You intended to preserve mergeinfo for the whole subtree, but --no-recursive creates an empty directory. Children and their explicit mergeinfo are not copied.
• The copy was performed as a file copy rather than a directory copy.

These are likely explanations, not verified for your repo. Behavior can differ slightly between URL-to-URL and working-copy-to-URL operations.

Verification steps for this case

1. Check the source before the copy:

   svn propget svn:mergeinfo ^/path/to/source

2. Immediately after svn copy --no-recursive:

   svn propget svn:mergeinfo ^/path/to/intermediate-copy

3. After svn move:

   svn propget svn:mergeinfo ^/path/to/final-destination

If step 2 shows the same explicit mergeinfo as step 1, the copy preserved it and the move will keep it.

Safe scoped recommendation

If you need the full subtree merge tracking, do not use --no-recursive for the copy. Use a recursive copy or move directly:

svn copy ^/branches/old/subtree ^/branches/new/subtree -m "reorg"
# or
svn move ^/branches/old/subtree ^/branches/new/subtree -m "reorg"

Avoid manual svn propset svn:mergeinfo to “fix” it; manual edits create mergeinfo noise and future merge conflicts.

One diagnostic that changes the recommendation: is the svn:mergeinfo you expect explicitly set on the source directory node, or is it only inherited from a parent? If it is inherited only, a copy will not carry it and you will need a recursive copy or an explicit mergeinfo strategy.