eyaltoledano/claude-task-master · error

Git is not installed or not accessible: ${errorMessage}

Error message

Git is not installed or not accessible: ${errorMessage}

What it means

Plain Error thrown by GitAdapter.validateGitInstallation when the underlying `git version()` call (via simple-git) rejects — meaning the git binary is missing, not on PATH, or otherwise unexecutable. The original message from simple-git/Node (ENOENT, EACCES, spawn failure) is embedded after the prefix.

Source

Thrown at packages/tm-core/src/modules/git/adapters/git-adapter.ts:96

	/**
	 * Validates that git is installed and accessible.
	 * Checks git binary availability and version.
	 *
	 * @returns {Promise<void>}
	 * @throws {Error} If git is not installed or not accessible
	 *
	 * @example
	 * await git.validateGitInstallation();
	 * console.log('Git is installed');
	 */
	async validateGitInstallation(): Promise<void> {
		try {
			await this.git.version();
		} catch (error) {
			const errorMessage =
				error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error);
			throw new Error(
				`Git is not installed or not accessible: ${errorMessage}`
			);
		}
	}

	/**
	 * Gets the git version information.
	 *
	 * @returns {Promise<{major: number, minor: number, patch: number, agent: string}>}
	 *
	 * @example
	 * const version = await git.getGitVersion();
	 * console.log(`Git version: ${version.major}.${version.minor}.${version.patch}`);
	 */
	async getGitVersion(): Promise<{
		major: number;
		minor: number;
		patch: number;

View on GitHub (pinned to c0c98d367c)

Solutions

1. Install git (`apt-get install git`, `apk add git`, `brew install git`, or winget/choco on Windows)
2. Verify with `git --version` in the same shell/environment the app runs in
3. Fix PATH so the git binary directory is included (especially for GUI-launched processes or containers)
4. Check the embedded cause message: ENOENT means not found, EACCES means permission denied on the binary
5. Point simple-git at an explicit git binary path if git lives in a non-standard location

Example fix

// Dockerfile before
FROM node:20-alpine
// after
FROM node:20-alpine
RUN apk add --no-cache git

import { execFile } from 'child_process';
import { promisify } from 'util';
const run = promisify(execFile);
try {
  await run('git', ['--version']);
} catch {
  throw new Error('git binary not found on PATH; install git first');
}

function isSpawnError(e: unknown): e is NodeJS.ErrnoException {
  return e instanceof Error && ('code' in e || 'errno' in e);
}

try {
  await git.validateGitInstallation();
} catch (e) {
  console.error(e.message); // includes the underlying spawn/ENOENT detail
  process.exitCode = 1; // or disable git-dependent features
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling validateGitInstallation() on a machine without git installed; git present but not on PATH (minimal Docker images, CI containers); a corrupted or permission-denied git binary; broken PATH inside spawned processes or GUI-launched apps.

Common situations: Dockerfile based on alpine/slim without `apk add git` / `apt-get install git`; CI runners with restricted PATH; macOS apps launched from Finder missing the shell PATH; corporate machines where git install is blocked.

Related errors

• Project path must be an absolute path
• NOT_GIT_REPO
• Not in a git repository, cannot auto-switch tags
• Could not determine current git branch
• Failed to fetch tasks from any tag. First error: ${failedTag

AI-assisted analysis of eyaltoledano/claude-task-master@c0c98d367c (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e1acea184a37e701. Report an issue: GitHub.