What causes "the rebase todo uses an unsupported state version" in GitoxideLabs/gitoxide?

Use the same tix version that wrote the todo to finish or abort the rebase.

the rebase todo uses an unsupported state version

Error message

the rebase todo uses an unsupported state version

What it means

`parse_state` scans a rebase todo file for the tix state anchor ``. If the text contains a state marker of some version but not the exact `STATE_START` prefix this build understands, the todo was produced by a different (newer or older) tix version and parsing is refused rather than misinterpreted.

Solutions

Use the same tix version that wrote the todo to finish or abort the rebase.
Abort the in-progress rebase and restart it with the current tix version.
Regenerate the state anchor by re-running the rebase preparation with the installed tix.
Check the anchor's version in the todo file and compare it with your tix build's supported version.

Example fix

// before: todo contains "<!-- tix-rebase-state-v9 ..." but binary expects v2
let state = parse(repo, todo_text)?; // bails: unsupported state version

// after: finish/abort with the matching tix version first
// $ tix-<matching-version> rebase --abort
let state = parse(repo, fresh_todo_text)?;

Defensive patterns

Strategy: fallback

Validate before calling

let supported = "<!-- tix-rebase-state-v2 "; // match STATE_START of your build
if todo_text.contains("<!-- tix-rebase-state-") && !todo_text.contains(supported) {
    anyhow::bail!("todo written by a different tix version");
}

Try / catch

match parse(repo, todo_text) {
    Ok(s) => s,
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("unsupported state version") => {
        // fall back to the matching tix binary or abort/restart the rebase
    }
    Err(e) => return Err(e),
}

Prevention

Use one tix version across the team and CI
Finish or abort in-progress rebases before upgrading tix
Check the state anchor version string before changing binaries

When it happens

Trigger: Running `parse` on a todo file written by a tix version with a different state-anchor format version — the literal `<!-- tix-rebase-state-` appears but doesn't match the expected `STATE_START` constant (e.g. version bumped from v1 to v2).

Common situations: Upgrading or downgrading the tix binary while an in-progress rebase todo from another version is on disk; mixing tix versions between teammates or CI and a local checkout; a hand-edited todo that corrupted the version suffix.

Understand the failure class

Background: Schema validation failed / invalid input schema: payload rejected because its shape doesn't match the expected schema — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of GitoxideLabs/gitoxide@e73179060b (2026-09-08). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1a500153582bce29. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at gix-tix/src/edit/todo.rs:658

    }
}

fn short(repo: &gix::Repository, id: ObjectId, show_change_id: bool) -> Result<String> {
    if show_change_id {
        crate::change_id::display_short(repo, id).context("could not format a rebase todo ID")
    } else {
        Ok(id
            .attach(repo)
            .shorten()
            .context("could not shorten a rebase todo ID")?
            .to_string())
    }
}

fn parse_state(repo: &gix::Repository, input: &str) -> Result<Option<State>> {
    let Some(start) = input.find(STATE_START) else {
        if input.contains("<!-- tix-rebase-state-") {
            anyhow::bail!("the rebase todo uses an unsupported state version");
        }
        return Ok(None);
    };
    let body = &input[start + STATE_START.len()..];
    let end = body
        .find(STATE_CLOSE)
        .context("the rebase state anchor is not closed")?;
    if body[end + STATE_CLOSE.len()..].contains(STATE_START) {
        anyhow::bail!("the rebase todo contains more than one state anchor");
    }
    let mut base = None;
    let mut onto = None;
    let mut tips = Vec::new();
    let mut scope = Vec::new();
    let mut marker_required = None;
    let mut checkout_allowed = None;
    let mut head_ref = None;
    let mut edit_refs = false;

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