GitoxideLabs/gitoxide · error

cannot create a commit with unresolved index conflicts

Error message

cannot create a commit with unresolved index conflicts

What it means

The Git index still contains entries from an unresolved merge conflict (entries at stages other than Unconflicted). tix refuses to build a tree or create a commit from such an index, because committing conflicted index state would produce a broken commit. The conflict must be resolved and staged first.

Solutions

1. Resolve the conflicts in the worktree and stage the resolved files (`git add <paths>` or `tix` staging equivalent), then retry.
2. Abort the in-progress merge/rebase (`git merge --abort` / `git rebase --abort`) and redo the operation on a clean state.
3. Check `git status` for unmerged paths before running the command.

Example fix

// guard before calling
let index = repo.index_or_empty()?;
if index.entries().iter().any(|e| e.stage() != gix::index::entry::Stage::Unconflicted) {
    anyhow::bail!("resolve conflicts before editing");
}
create::prepare(&repo, Some(head_id), ...)?;

let index = repo.index_or_empty()?;
let conflicted = index.entries().iter()
    .any(|e| e.stage() != gix::index::entry::Stage::Unconflicted);
if conflicted {
    anyhow::bail!("resolve and stage all conflicts before committing");
}

match result {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("unresolved index conflicts") => {
        eprintln!("run: git status  # resolve Unmerged paths, then retry");
    }
    other => other?,
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling `prepare`/`prepare_empty`/`prepare_from` (via `prepare_inner`) when `repo.index_or_empty()` contains any entry whose `stage() != Stage::Unconflicted`, i.e. mid-merge/rebase/cherry-pick with conflicts unresolved.

Common situations: Attempting `tix edit`/create during an interrupted merge or rebase; a previous `git merge` left conflicts and the user forgot to `git add` resolved files; automation resuming operations after a conflict abort.

Related errors

• cannot spill an unmerged path
• could not apply conflict stages to the prepared index
• cannot time-travel with unresolved index conflicts
• the conflict index still has unresolved entries
• invalid mode change: can't flip executable bit of

AI-assisted analysis of GitoxideLabs/gitoxide@e73179060b (2026-09-08). Data as JSON: /api/errors/93acc9af04fcea15. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at gix-tix/src/edit/create.rs:108

        .context("could not resolve commit signing configuration")?;

    repo = repo.with_object_memory();
    let baseline = match parent {
        Some(id) => repo
            .find_commit(id)
            .context("could not find the parent commit")?
            .tree()
            .context("could not load the parent tree")?,
        None => repo.empty_tree(),
    };
    let baseline_id = baseline.id;
    let index = repo.index_or_empty().context("could not load the index")?;
    if index
        .entries()
        .iter()
        .any(|entry| entry.stage() != gix::index::entry::Stage::Unconflicted)
    {
        anyhow::bail!("cannot create a commit with unresolved index conflicts");
    }
    let index_tree = index_tree(&repo, &index)?;
    let based_on_parent = head_id == parent;
    let tree = if empty || !based_on_parent {
        baseline.id
    } else {
        match source {
            Source::Default if index_tree != baseline.id => index_tree,
            Source::Default | Source::Worktree => worktree_tree_tracked(&repo, &baseline, &index)?,
            Source::Index => index_tree,
            Source::WorktreeUntracked => worktree_tree(&repo, &baseline)?,
        }
    };

    let new_tree = repo.find_tree(tree).context("could not load the candidate tree")?;
    let mut changes = load_tree_changes_without_lines(
        &repo,
        parent.map(|_| &baseline),

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