denoland/deno · error · anyhow::Error

Failed to run `git {}`: {err}. Is git installed and on PATH?

Error message

Failed to run `git {}`: {err}. Is git installed and on PATH?

What it means

Runs `git <args>` via `std::process::Command` in the given cwd. If the process cannot be spawned at all — git not installed, not on PATH, or an exec-bit problem — the io error is wrapped together with the exact git command and a PATH hint.

Source

Thrown at cli/util/git.rs:19

// Copyright 2018-2026 the Deno authors. MIT license.

use std::path::Path;
use std::process::Stdio;

use deno_core::anyhow::anyhow;
use deno_core::error::AnyError;
use tokio::process::Command;

/// Run `git` with `args` in `cwd`, returning stdout on success.
pub fn run_git(cwd: &Path, args: &[&str]) -> Result<String, AnyError> {
  let output = match std::process::Command::new("git")
    .current_dir(cwd)
    .args(args)
    .output()
  {
    Ok(output) => output,
    Err(err) => {
      return Err(anyhow!(
        "Failed to run `git {}`: {err}. Is git installed and on PATH?",
        args.join(" ")
      ));
    }
  };
  if !output.status.success() {
    return Err(anyhow!(
      "`git {}` failed: {}",
      args.join(" "),
      String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr).trim()
    ));
  }
  Ok(String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stdout).into_owned())
}

pub async fn check_if_git_repo_dirty(cwd: &Path) -> Option<String> {
  let bin_name = if cfg!(windows) { "git.exe" } else { "git" };

View on GitHub (pinned to 89f33cbef2)

Solutions

1. Install git and verify it resolves in the same shell deno runs under: `git --version` (apt-get install git / apk add git / xcode-select --install)
2. Fix PATH for the deno process — service units, cron entries, and containers often need it set explicitly
3. If git is intentionally absent in the environment, avoid the code path that requires it

Example fix

# before: distroless-style container without git
deno release   # -> Failed to run `git ...`
# after (Dockerfile)
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y git
ENV PATH="/usr/bin:${PATH}"

# bash: assert git is reachable before running git-dependent deno commands
command -v git >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "git required but not on PATH" >&2; exit 1; }
deno release

When it happens

Trigger: Any deno feature that shells out to git (for example repository-cleanliness checks) on a machine where the `git` binary is missing or PATH omits its directory.

Common situations: Minimal container images (distroless, slim) without git; CI images where git exists only in the build stage; systemd units, cron, or sanitized environments with a stripped PATH.

Related errors

• Unable to construct URL from the path of cwd: {}
• `git {}` failed: {}
• The bench name can't be empty
• Unexpected third argument to Deno.bench()
• Expected 'fn' field in the first argument to be a bench func

AI-assisted analysis of denoland/deno@89f33cbef2 (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a0db4c376dcd7ea2. Report an issue: GitHub.