Fixes after review

app/controllers/projects/branches_controller.rb

 class Projects::BranchesController < Projects::ApplicationController
   include ActionView::Helpers::SanitizeHelper
   include SortingHelper
-  include ProjectsHelper
 
   # Authorize
   before_action :require_non_empty_project, except: :create
@@ -34,7 +33,7 @@ class Projects::BranchesController < Projects::ApplicationController
     branch_name = sanitize(strip_tags(params[:branch_name]))
     branch_name = Addressable::URI.unescape(branch_name)
 
-    is_redirect_to_autodeploy_needed = project.empty_repo? && project.deployment_services.present?
+    redirect_to_autodeploy = project.empty_repo? && project.deployment_services.present?
 
     result = CreateBranchService.new(project, current_user).
         execute(branch_name, ref)
@@ -47,11 +46,10 @@ class Projects::BranchesController < Projects::ApplicationController
     if result[:status] == :success
       @branch = result[:branch]
 
-      if is_redirect_to_autodeploy_needed
+      if redirect_to_autodeploy
         redirect_to(
           url_to_autodeploy_setup(project, branch_name),
-          notice: "Branch \"#{sanitize(branch_name)}\" was created. To set up auto deploy, \
-            choose a GitLab CI Yaml template and commit your changes. #{view_context.link_to_autodeploy_doc}".html_safe)
+          notice: view_context.autodeploy_flash_notice(branch_name))
       else
         redirect_to namespace_project_tree_path(@project.namespace, @project,
                                                 @branch.name)
@@ -91,4 +89,16 @@ class Projects::BranchesController < Projects::ApplicationController
       @project.default_branch || 'master'
     end
   end
+
+  def url_to_autodeploy_setup(project, branch_name)
+    namespace_project_new_blob_path(
+      project.namespace,
+      project,
+      branch_name,
+      file_name: '.gitlab-ci.yml',
+      commit_message: 'Set up auto deploy',
+      target_branch: branch_name,
+      context: 'autodeploy'
+    )
+  end
 end

app/helpers/projects_helper.rb

@@ -154,6 +154,11 @@ module ProjectsHelper
     link_to 'About auto deploy', help_page_path('ci/autodeploy/index'), target: '_blank'
   end
 
+  def autodeploy_flash_notice(branch_name)
+    "Branch <strong>#{truncate(sanitize(branch_name))}</strong> was created. To set up auto deploy, \
+      choose a GitLab CI Yaml template and commit your changes. #{link_to_autodeploy_doc}".html_safe
+  end
+
   private
 
   def repo_children_classes(field)
@@ -272,18 +277,6 @@ module ProjectsHelper
     )
   end
 
-  def url_to_autodeploy_setup(project, branch_name)
-    namespace_project_new_blob_path(
-      project.namespace,
-      project,
-      branch_name,
-      file_name: '.gitlab-ci.yml',
-      commit_message: 'Set up auto deploy',
-      target_branch: branch_name,
-      context: 'autodeploy'
-    )
-  end
-
   def add_koding_stack_path(project)
     namespace_project_new_blob_path(
       project.namespace,

changelogs/unreleased/create_branch_repo_less.yml

 ---
-title: Create new branch from issue for repo-less project using new branch button
+title: Creating a new branch from an issue will automatically initialize a repository if one doesn't already exist.
 merge_request:
 author:

spec/controllers/projects/branches_controller_spec.rb

@@ -116,14 +116,7 @@ describe Projects::BranchesController do
         it 'redirects to autodeploy setup page' do
           result = { status: :success, branch: double(name: branch) }
 
-          project.create_kubernetes_service(
-            active: true,
-            properties: {
-              namespace: project.path,
-              api_url: 'https://kubernetes.example.com',
-              token: 'a' * 40,
-            }
-          )
+          project.services << build(:kubernetes_service)
 
           expect_any_instance_of(CreateBranchService).to receive(:execute).and_return(result)
           expect(SystemNoteService).to receive(:new_issue_branch).and_return(true)
@@ -135,6 +128,7 @@ describe Projects::BranchesController do
             issue_iid: issue.iid
 
           expect(response.location).to include(namespace_project_new_blob_path(project.namespace, project, branch))
+          expect(response).to have_http_status(302)
         end
       end
 

spec/factories/services.rb

@@ -2,4 +2,14 @@ FactoryGirl.define do
   factory :service do
     project factory: :empty_project
   end
+
+  factory :kubernetes_service do
+    project factory: :empty_project
+    active true
+    properties({
+      namespace: 'somepath',
+      api_url: 'https://kubernetes.example.com',
+      token: 'a' * 40,
+    })
+  end
 end