Jguer/yay · error

error resetting

Error message

error resetting %s: %s

What it means

gitMerge resets the pkgbuild clone's worktree with 'git reset --hard HEAD' before fast-forward merging upstream; if that reset command fails it returns 'error resetting <dir>: <stderr>'. It means the local repo state is broken such that git could not reset (or the git binary/paths are wrong).

Solutions

1. Delete the affected pkgbuilds clone and let yay re-clone it: rm -rf ~/.cache/yay/pkgbuilds (or the specific repo dir) then re-run the update.
2. Read the embedded stderr: fix 'dubious ownership' with git config --global --add safe.directory <dir>, or repair the index with rm <dir>/.git/index && git -C <dir> reset --hard HEAD.
3. Check free disk space and filesystem health if the reset failed with I/O errors.
4. Ensure git is installed and on PATH for the user running yay.

Example fix

// before
$ yay
error resetting /home/u/.cache/yay/pkgbuilds/archlinux: fatal: unsafe repository
// after
$ git config --global --add safe.directory /home/u/.cache/yay/pkgbuilds/archlinux
# or re-clone: rm -rf ~/.cache/yay/pkgbuilds && yay

// detect a broken clone before merging
if _, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(dir, ".git")); err != nil {
    os.RemoveAll(dir) // force fresh clone
}
out, err := exec.Command("git", "-C", dir, "status", "--porcelain").CombinedOutput()
if err != nil {
    os.RemoveAll(dir) // repo unusable; re-clone instead of resetting
}

if err := workdir.MergePkgbuilds(ctx, cmdBuilder, repos); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "error resetting") {
        os.RemoveAll(pkgbuildsDir)
        return mergePkgbuilds(ctx, cmdBuilder, repos) // fresh clone
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: mergePkgbuilds -> gitMerge when cmdBuilder.Capture on 'git -C <dir> reset --hard HEAD' returns a non-zero exit; stderr from git is embedded in the message.

Common situations: Corrupted .git in ~/.cache/yay/pkgbuilds/<repo> after a killed update; interrupted merge leaving unresolvable index state; disk-full during a previous update; git ownership/safe.directory issues on shared caches.

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

• failed to parse
• %s%w
• package not found in repos
• invalid option
• problem importing keys

AI-assisted analysis of Jguer/yay@328f4b4939 (2026-09-07). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1d3dd09f40e7721a. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at pkg/sync/workdir/merge.go:17

package workdir

import (
	"context"
	"errors"

	"github.com/leonelquinteros/gotext"

	"github.com/Jguer/yay/v13/pkg/settings/exe"
)

func gitMerge(ctx context.Context, cmdBuilder exe.ICmdBuilder, dir string) error {
	_, stderr, err := cmdBuilder.Capture(
		cmdBuilder.BuildGitCmd(ctx,
			dir, "reset", "--hard", "HEAD"))
	if err != nil {
		return errors.New(gotext.Get("error resetting %s: %s", dir, stderr))
	}

	_, stderr, err = cmdBuilder.Capture(
		cmdBuilder.BuildGitCmd(ctx,
			dir, "merge", "--no-edit", "--ff"))
	if err != nil {
		return errors.New(gotext.Get("error merging %s: %s", dir, stderr))
	}

	return nil
}

func mergePkgbuilds(ctx context.Context, cmdBuilder exe.ICmdBuilder, pkgbuildDirs map[string]string) error {
	for _, dir := range pkgbuildDirs {
		err := gitMerge(ctx, cmdBuilder, dir)
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}

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