From cdecb096a119cfcbb0490766039953e8fa6de943 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Abdessamad Derraz <3028866+Abdess@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 2026 09:24:24 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] fix: refuse --refresh-data where nothing refreshes

---
 scripts/generate_pack.py | 12 ++++++++++++
 tests/test_e2e.py        |  5 +++++
 2 files changed, 17 insertions(+)

diff --git a/scripts/generate_pack.py b/scripts/generate_pack.py
index 817c0fd7..979dea12 100644
--- a/scripts/generate_pack.py
+++ b/scripts/generate_pack.py
@@ -2457,6 +2457,18 @@ def _refuse_unapplied_flags(args, parser) -> None:
             parser.error("--region is incompatible with --manifest-targets")
     if args.one_per_slot and args.manifest_targets:
         parser.error("--one-per-slot is incompatible with --manifest-targets")
+    # Only the platform pack path refreshes the data directories; elsewhere
+    # the cache on disk was packed as it stood.
+    if args.refresh_data:
+        if args.offline:
+            parser.error("--refresh-data is incompatible with --offline")
+        for flag, on in (
+            ("--emulator", args.emulator),
+            ("--system", args.system and not (args.platform or args.all)),
+            ("--from-md5", args.from_md5 or args.from_md5_file),
+        ):
+            if on:
+                parser.error(f"--refresh-data is incompatible with {flag}")
 
     _refuse_for_all_variants(args, parser)
     mode = next(
diff --git a/tests/test_e2e.py b/tests/test_e2e.py
index e9590b00..0f15d59f 100644
--- a/tests/test_e2e.py
+++ b/tests/test_e2e.py
@@ -6004,6 +6004,11 @@ struct BurnDriver BurnDrvneogeo = {
              "refuse"),
             (["--list-systems"], ["--region", "us"], "refuse"),
             (["--list-emulators"], ["--target", "switch"], "refuse"),
+            # Only the platform path refreshes data directories.
+            (["--emulator", "dolphin"], ["--refresh-data"], "refuse"),
+            (["--system", "sony-playstation"], ["--refresh-data"], "refuse"),
+            (["--from-md5", "d8f1"], ["--refresh-data"], "refuse"),
+            (["--platform", "retroarch", "--offline"], ["--refresh-data"], "refuse"),
         ]
         for mode, flag, expected in matrix:
             with self.subTest(mode=mode, flag=flag):