GitoxideLabs/gitoxide · error · anyhow::Error

Only human format is supported right now

Error message

Only human format is supported right now

What it means

The `dirwalk` command enumerates untracked files but only implements human-readable output. Any other `output_format` (i.e. JSON) throws this error because structured serialization of dirwalk results is not yet implemented.

Solutions

1. Use the default human format (omit the format flag or pass `human`)
2. Post-process the human output if automation requires structured data (fragile)
3. Implement or request JSON support for the dirwalk subcommand

Example fix

// before
dirwalk::walk(repo, dirwalk::Options { output_format: OutputFormat::Json, .. })?;
// after
dirwalk::walk(repo, dirwalk::Options { output_format: OutputFormat::Human, .. })?;

if output_format != OutputFormat::Human {
    eprintln!("dirwalk only supports human output");
    output_format = OutputFormat::Human;
}

match dirwalk::walk(repo, options) {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("human format") => {
        dirwalk::walk(repo, options_with_human_format)?
    }
    other => other?,
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling `walk` in gitoxide-core/src/repository/dirwalk.rs with `Options.output_format != OutputFormat::Human`, e.g. `gix status dirwalk --format json`.

Common situations: Automation scripts requesting JSON output of untracked files; developers copying the `--format json` flag pattern from other supported subcommands.

Related errors

• JSON output isn't implemented yet
• JSON output isn't implemented yet
• JSON output isn't yet supported for fetching.
• JSON output isn't yet supported for listing ref-mappings.
• Only human output is currently supported

AI-assisted analysis of GitoxideLabs/gitoxide@e73179060b (2026-09-08). Data as JSON: /api/errors/98a5dd029017d039. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at gitoxide-core/src/repository/dirwalk.rs:36

pub struct Options {
    pub output_format: OutputFormat,
    pub statistics: bool,
    pub untracked: Untracked,
}

pub fn walk(
    repo: gix::Repository,
    patterns: Vec<BString>,
    mut out: impl std::io::Write,
    mut err: impl std::io::Write,
    Options {
        output_format,
        statistics,
        untracked,
    }: Options,
) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
    if output_format != OutputFormat::Human {
        bail!("Only human format is supported right now");
    }
    let index = repo.index_or_empty()?;
    let options = repo.dirwalk_options()?.emit_untracked(match untracked {
        Untracked::Collapsed => EmissionMode::CollapseDirectory,
        Untracked::Matching => EmissionMode::Matching,
    });

    let start = std::time::Instant::now();
    let mut delegate = Count::default();
    let outcome = repo.dirwalk(
        &index,
        patterns,
        &gix::interrupt::IS_INTERRUPTED,
        options,
        &mut delegate,
    )?;

    if statistics {

View on GitHub (pinned to e73179060b)