abhigyanpatwari/GitNexus · error · Error

Wiki was generated in

Error message

Wiki was generated in ${prevDisplay}; use --force to regenerate in ${nextDisplay}.

What it means

WikiGenerator persists metadata (wikiDir/meta.json with fromCommit and lang) next to the generated wiki. On the up-to-date fast path (existing meta.fromCommit equals the current commit), it compares the requested output language (options.lang, '' meaning English default) against the language the wiki was generated in. When they differ it throws instead of silently returning 'up-to-date', because the existing pages are in the wrong language and only a full regeneration can switch it.

Solutions

  1. Rerun with --force to regenerate all pages in the new language: `gitnexus wiki --force --lang <lang>`
  2. Or drop/change the --lang flag so it matches the language the existing wiki was generated in (message names both, e.g. 'japanese' vs 'english (default)')
  3. Or delete the wiki output directory (containing meta.json) to discard the old-language wiki and rerun without --force

Example fix

# before
gitnexus wiki --lang japanese   # wiki was generated in english

# after
gitnexus wiki --lang japanese --force
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

// Before calling generate(), compare persisted language with the requested one:
import fs from 'fs/promises';
const meta = await fs.readFile(`${wikiDir}/meta.json`, 'utf8')
  .then(JSON.parse).catch(() => null);
const currentLang = normalizeLang(options.lang ?? ''); // '' = english default
if (meta?.fromCommit === currentCommit && (meta.lang ?? '') !== currentLang) {
  options = { ...options, force: true }; // pre-empt the guard
}

Try / catch

try {
  const result = await generator.generate();
} catch (err) {
  if (err instanceof Error && err.message.startsWith('Wiki was generated in ')) {
    // Re-run with force: full regeneration in the new language
    return generatorWithForce.generate();
  }
  throw err;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Running `gitnexus wiki` (WikiGenerator.generate()) without --force when a wiki already exists for the current HEAD commit and meta.lang differs from the effective --lang value, e.g. wiki generated with `--lang japanese` then rerun with `--lang german` or with no --lang after a non-English run.

Common situations: Switching wiki language on a repo whose wiki is already up to date; a teammate generated the wiki with a different --lang default; CI re-running the wiki command with a lang option that differs from the cached artifact; reverting from a translated wiki back to English.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of abhigyanpatwari/GitNexus@52924ef12c (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/da9c0dfaad4408d3. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at gitnexus/src/core/wiki/generator.ts:276

  /**
   * Main entry point. Runs the full pipeline or incremental update.
   */
  async run(): Promise<WikiRunResult> {
    await fs.mkdir(this.wikiDir, { recursive: true });

    const existingMeta = await this.loadWikiMeta();
    const currentCommit = this.getCurrentCommit();
    const forceMode = this.options.force;

    // Up-to-date check (skip if --force)
    if (!forceMode && existingMeta && existingMeta.fromCommit === currentCommit) {
      const currentLang = this.effectiveLang();
      const metaLang = existingMeta.lang ?? '';
      if (currentLang !== metaLang) {
        const prevDisplay = metaLang || 'english (default)';
        const nextDisplay = currentLang || 'english (default)';
        throw new Error(
          `Wiki was generated in ${prevDisplay}; use --force to regenerate in ${nextDisplay}.`,
        );
      }
      // Still regenerate the HTML viewer in case it's missing
      await this.ensureHTMLViewer();
      return { pagesGenerated: 0, mode: 'up-to-date', failedModules: [] };
    }

    // Force mode: delete snapshot to force full re-grouping
    if (forceMode) {
      try {
        await fs.unlink(path.join(this.wikiDir, 'first_module_tree.json'));
      } catch {}
      // Delete existing module pages so they get regenerated
      const existingFiles = await fs.readdir(this.wikiDir).catch(() => [] as string[]);
      for (const f of existingFiles) {
        if (f.endsWith('.md')) {
          try {

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