diff --git a/go/store/blobstore/git_blobstore_test.go b/go/store/blobstore/git_blobstore_test.go
index 1d1b920f88a..ff7fd177e08 100644
--- a/go/store/blobstore/git_blobstore_test.go
+++ b/go/store/blobstore/git_blobstore_test.go
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ func TestGitBlobstore_RefMissingIsNotFound(t *testing.T) {
 	repo, err := gitrepo.InitBare(ctx, t.TempDir()+"/repo.git")
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
-	bs, err := NewGitBlobstore(repo.GitDir, "refs/dolt/data")
+	bs, err := NewGitBlobstore(repo.GitDir, DoltDataRef)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	ok, err := bs.Exists(ctx, "manifest")
@@ -64,13 +64,13 @@ func TestGitBlobstore_ExistsAndGet_AllRange(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	want := []byte("hello manifest\n")
-	commit, err := repo.SetRefToTree(ctx, "refs/dolt/data", map[string][]byte{
+	commit, err := repo.SetRefToTree(ctx, DoltDataRef, map[string][]byte{
 		"manifest": want,
 		"dir/file": []byte("abc"),
 	}, "seed")
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
-	bs, err := NewGitBlobstore(repo.GitDir, "refs/dolt/data")
+	bs, err := NewGitBlobstore(repo.GitDir, DoltDataRef)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	ok, err := bs.Exists(ctx, "manifest")
@@ -108,12 +108,12 @@ func TestGitBlobstore_Get_NotFoundMissingKey(t *testing.T) {
 	repo, err := gitrepo.InitBare(ctx, t.TempDir()+"/repo.git")
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
-	_, err = repo.SetRefToTree(ctx, "refs/dolt/data", map[string][]byte{
+	_, err = repo.SetRefToTree(ctx, DoltDataRef, map[string][]byte{
 		"present": []byte("x"),
 	}, "seed")
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
-	bs, err := NewGitBlobstore(repo.GitDir, "refs/dolt/data")
+	bs, err := NewGitBlobstore(repo.GitDir, DoltDataRef)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	_, _, err = GetBytes(ctx, bs, "missing", AllRange)
@@ -133,12 +133,12 @@ func TestGitBlobstore_BlobRangeSemantics(t *testing.T) {
 	maxValue := int64(16 * 1024)
 	testData := rangeData(0, maxValue)
 
-	commit, err := repo.SetRefToTree(ctx, "refs/dolt/data", map[string][]byte{
+	commit, err := repo.SetRefToTree(ctx, DoltDataRef, map[string][]byte{
 		"range": testData,
 	}, "range fixture")
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
-	bs, err := NewGitBlobstore(repo.GitDir, "refs/dolt/data")
+	bs, err := NewGitBlobstore(repo.GitDir, DoltDataRef)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	// full range
@@ -181,10 +181,10 @@ func TestGitBlobstore_InvalidKeysError(t *testing.T) {
 	repo, err := gitrepo.InitBare(ctx, t.TempDir()+"/repo.git")
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
-	_, err = repo.SetRefToTree(ctx, "refs/dolt/data", map[string][]byte{"ok": []byte("x")}, "seed")
+	_, err = repo.SetRefToTree(ctx, DoltDataRef, map[string][]byte{"ok": []byte("x")}, "seed")
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
-	bs, err := NewGitBlobstore(repo.GitDir, "refs/dolt/data")
+	bs, err := NewGitBlobstore(repo.GitDir, DoltDataRef)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	invalid := []string{
diff --git a/go/store/blobstore/git_refs.go b/go/store/blobstore/git_refs.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a2d2e33e1c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/go/store/blobstore/git_refs.go
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+// Copyright 2026 Dolthub, Inc.
+//
+// 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 blobstore
+
+import "fmt"
+
+// DoltDataRef is the local writable ref backing a git-object-db dolt blobstore.
+// It is the state that local operations mutate and (eventually) attempt to push.
+const DoltDataRef = "refs/dolt/data"
+
+// DoltRemoteTrackingDataRef returns the remote-tracking ref for a named remote.
+// This ref represents the remote's DoltDataRef as of the last fetch.
+func DoltRemoteTrackingDataRef(remote string) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("refs/dolt/remotes/%s/data", remote)
+}
diff --git a/go/store/nbs/git_blobstore_read_smoke_test.go b/go/store/nbs/git_blobstore_read_smoke_test.go
index 590f39588df..acae17284ab 100644
--- a/go/store/nbs/git_blobstore_read_smoke_test.go
+++ b/go/store/nbs/git_blobstore_read_smoke_test.go
@@ -58,14 +58,14 @@ func TestGitBlobstoreReadSmoke_ManifestAndTableAccessPatterns(t *testing.T) {
 		table[i] = byte(i % 251)
 	}
 
-	commit, err := repo.SetRefToTree(ctx, "refs/dolt/data", map[string][]byte{
+	commit, err := repo.SetRefToTree(ctx, blobstore.DoltDataRef, map[string][]byte{
 		"manifest": buf.Bytes(),
 		"table":    table,
 	}, "seed refs/dolt/data for smoke test")
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	require.NotEmpty(t, commit)
 
-	bs, err := blobstore.NewGitBlobstore(repo.GitDir, "refs/dolt/data")
+	bs, err := blobstore.NewGitBlobstore(repo.GitDir, blobstore.DoltDataRef)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	// 1) Manifest read path via blobstoreManifest.ParseIfExists.
diff --git a/go/store/testutils/gitrepo/gitrepo_test.go b/go/store/testutils/gitrepo/gitrepo_test.go
index b7438712c31..d4bb738ed99 100644
--- a/go/store/testutils/gitrepo/gitrepo_test.go
+++ b/go/store/testutils/gitrepo/gitrepo_test.go
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/dolthub/dolt/go/store/blobstore"
 )
 
 func TestInitBareAndSetRefToTree(t *testing.T) {
@@ -36,7 +38,7 @@ func TestInitBareAndSetRefToTree(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("InitBare failed: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	commit, err := repo.SetRefToTree(ctx, "refs/dolt/data", map[string][]byte{
+	commit, err := repo.SetRefToTree(ctx, blobstore.DoltDataRef, map[string][]byte{
 		"manifest":   []byte("hello\n"),
 		"dir/file":   []byte("abc"),
 		"dir/file2":  []byte("def"),