Hmbown/CodeWhale · error

new worktree requires a Git repository

Error message

new worktree requires a Git repository

What it means

Raised in launch_worktree_spec when `git rev-parse --show-toplevel` run in the workspace exits unsuccessfully, meaning the workspace is not inside a Git repository. Creating a worktree requires a repository root to anchor the new worktree's location, so provisioning is refused for plain directories.

Source

Thrown at crates/tui/src/tui/ui/session_state.rs:566

    }
    if slug.is_empty() {
        format!("session-{}", chrono::Utc::now().format("%Y%m%d-%H%M%S"))
    } else {
        slug
    }
}

pub(crate) fn launch_worktree_spec(
    workspace: &std::path::Path,
    requested: &str,
) -> Result<codewhale_lane::WorktreeProvision> {
    let output = std::process::Command::new("git")
        .current_dir(workspace)
        .args(["rev-parse", "--show-toplevel"])
        .output()
        .context("inspect Git repository for new worktree")?;
    if !output.status.success() {
        anyhow::bail!("new worktree requires a Git repository");
    }
    let repo_root = PathBuf::from(String::from_utf8(output.stdout)?.trim());
    let repo_name = repo_root
        .file_name()
        .and_then(|name| name.to_str())
        .filter(|name| !name.is_empty())
        .unwrap_or("workspace");
    let slug = launch_worktree_slug(requested);
    let parent = repo_root.parent().unwrap_or(repo_root.as_path());
    let path = parent
        .join(".codewhale-worktrees")
        .join(format!("{repo_name}-{slug}"));
    if path.exists() {
        anyhow::bail!("worktree path already exists: {}", path.display());
    }
    Ok(codewhale_lane::WorktreeProvision {
        repo_root,
        branch: format!("codex/{slug}"),

View on GitHub (pinned to 0c42157ee5)

Solutions

1. Run the worktree launch from inside a Git repository
2. Initialize Git in the workspace with git init if it should be a repo
3. Verify the working directory is the intended project checkout

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at crates/tui/src/tui/ui/session_state.rs:566 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of Hmbown/CodeWhale@0c42157ee5 (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/20dac4fdde1dee74. Report an issue: GitHub.