time-travel would conflict; retry with…

Error message

time-travel would conflict; retry with --materialize-conflicts to check it out

What it means

A time-travel destination would conflict with the current checkout, and --materialize-conflicts was not supplied, so tix aborts without touching the working tree rather than leaving silent conflict markers. The message tells the user to retry with the flag if they want the conflict checked out for inspection.

Solutions

Retry with --materialize-conflicts to write the conflict and continue from there
Clean or commit/stash working-tree changes so the destination applies cleanly
Choose a different destination that does not conflict

Example fix

// before
tix travel HEAD~5
// after
tix travel HEAD~5 --materialize-conflicts

Defensive patterns

Strategy: retry

Validate before calling

// Only retry with materialization when a conflict is reported
if stderr.contains("time-travel would conflict") {
    retry_with_flag("--materialize-conflicts");
}

Try / catch

match travel(dest) {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("time-travel would conflict") => travel_with_materialization(dest)?,
    other => other?,
}

Prevention

Pass --materialize-conflicts proactively in dirty trees
Commit or stash local changes before travelling
Verify the destination tree applies cleanly

When it happens

Trigger: `tix travel <dest>` where Perform returns Perform::Conflict and args.materialize_conflicts is false in run().

Common situations: Travelling back to a commit that conflicts with dirty working-tree state; forgetting the flag when the destination tree diverges; automation hitting conflicts unexpectedly.

Understand the failure class

Background: "git command failed": what it means when a tool shells out to git and git exits non-zero — this error's family across 21 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of GitoxideLabs/gitoxide@e73179060b (2026-09-08). Data as JSON: /api/errors/25aa14fa57a39335. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at gix-tix/src/command/travel.rs:127

                super::notice_with_change_id(
                    &repository,
                    &notice.unwrap_or_else(|| format!("already at {}", selected.to_hex_with_len(7))),
                    selected,
                )?
            );
            super::print_ref_rewrites(&repository, &ref_rewrites)?;
            super::record_undo(&repository, "time travel", Ok(ref_changes));
        }
        crate::edit::time_travel::Perform::Conflict(conflict) if args.materialize_conflicts => {
            let (notice, _, ref_rewrites, ref_changes) = conflict.accept()?;
            let repository = crate::open_repository(&repository_path, bare, false)
                .context("could not reopen repository after materializing time-travel")?;
            super::print_ref_rewrites(&repository, &ref_rewrites)?;
            super::record_undo(&repository, "materialize time-travel conflict", Ok(ref_changes));
            anyhow::bail!("{notice}");
        }
        crate::edit::time_travel::Perform::Conflict(_) => {
            anyhow::bail!("time-travel would conflict; retry with --materialize-conflicts to check it out")
        }
    }
    Ok(())
}

fn relative_destination(
    repository: &gix::Repository,
    graph: &crate::history::HistoryGraph,
    hidden_tips: &[gix::ObjectId],
    head: gix::ObjectId,
    to: To,
) -> Result<gix::ObjectId> {
    let order = graph
        .stored_commit_ids()
        .filter(|id| !hidden_tips.iter().any(|hidden| graph.is_ancestor(*id, *hidden)))
        .collect::<Vec<_>>();
    let stored = order.iter().copied().collect::<HashSet<_>>();
    if !stored.contains(&head) {

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