GitoxideLabs/gitoxide · error

review commits cannot be copied

Error message

review commits cannot be copied

What it means

The copy operation refuses to copy commits that carry a review reference (a commit marked as a review point via `super::review::reference`). Review commits have special meaning in tix's review tracking; copying one would create a duplicate or break the review bookkeeping, so the plan builder bails out before any rewrite.

Solutions

1. Copy a different commit that does not carry a review reference.
2. Remove or complete the review reference on the source commit first, then retry the copy.
3. If the intent is to reuse review work, use the review-specific workflow instead of a raw copy.

Example fix

// before
tix copy <review-commit-id> <target>

// after
if super::review::reference(&source_commit)?.is_some() {
    eprintln!("source carries a review reference; pick another commit");
    return Ok(());
}
tix copy(source, target)

let commit = repo.find_commit(source)?.decode()?.into_owned()?;
if super::review::reference(&commit)?.is_some() {
    eprintln!("source is a review commit and cannot be copied");
    return Ok(());
}

fn is_review_commit(repo: &gix::Repository, id: ObjectId) -> anyhow::Result<bool> {
    let c = repo.find_commit(id)?.decode()?.into_owned()?;
    Ok(super::review::reference(&c)?.is_some())
}

match copy_insert_plan(&repo, &graph, source, target) {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("review commits") => eprintln!("pick a non-review commit as source"),
    other => other?,
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling `copy_insert_plan(repo, graph, source, target)` where the decoded source commit has an associated review reference (i.e. `super::review::reference(&source_commit)?` returns `Some`).

Common situations: Copying a commit that is the tip of a review branch or holds review metadata; batch scripts that copy many commits and hit the one carrying the review marker.

Understand the failure class

Background: UnsupportedOperationException and "is not supported" errors: when a library deliberately refuses a call — this error's family across 30 libraries.

Related errors

• copying a commit requires it to have exactly one parent
• copying a commit cannot rewrite root or merge commits
• moving a stack cannot rewrite root or merge commits
• has a pending rebase
• a checked-out review root cannot suspend while returning…

AI-assisted analysis of GitoxideLabs/gitoxide@e73179060b (2026-09-08). Data as JSON: /api/errors/798b510d08228d6d. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at gix-tix/src/edit/rebase.rs:562

    graph: &HistoryGraph,
    source: ObjectId,
    target: ObjectId,
) -> Result<Plan> {
    let source_parents = graph
        .parents_of(source)
        .context("the copy source is not in the loaded history")?;
    let [_source_parent] = source_parents.as_slice() else {
        anyhow::bail!("copying a commit requires it to have exactly one parent");
    };
    let source_commit = repo
        .find_commit(source)
        .context("could not find the copy source")?
        .decode()
        .context("could not decode the copy source")?
        .into_owned()
        .context("could not own the copy source")?;
    if super::review::reference(&source_commit)?.is_some() {
        anyhow::bail!("review commits cannot be copied");
    }
    if source == target {
        anyhow::bail!("the copy source and target must differ");
    }

    let mut scope = graph
        .descendants_in_parent_order(target)
        .context("the copy target is not in the loaded history")?;
    scope.retain(|id| *id != target);
    let mut steps = vec![PlanStep {
        parent: PlanParent::Existing(target),
        commit: PlanCommit::Copy(source),
        squash: Vec::new(),
    }];
    let mut step_by_id = HashMap::with_capacity(scope.len());
    for id in &scope {
        let parents = graph.parents_of(*id).context("an affected copy commit is incomplete")?;
        let [parent] = parents.as_slice() else {

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