gastownhall/beads · error

reading git log: %w

Error message

reading git log: %w

What it means

FindOrphanedIssues runs `git log --oneline --all` in the discovered git directory to find commit messages that reference issue IDs. When that git command fails, the exec error is wrapped as "reading git log". It means git could not produce the log output — typically the path is not a git repository or the object database is damaged.

Source

Thrown at cmd/bd/doctor/git.go:903

	openIssues := make(map[string]*OrphanIssue)
	for _, issue := range issues {
		openIssues[issue.ID] = &OrphanIssue{
			IssueID: issue.ID,
			Title:   issue.Title,
			Status:  string(issue.Status),
		}
	}

	if len(openIssues) == 0 {
		return []OrphanIssue{}, nil
	}

	// Get git log
	cmd = exec.CommandContext(ctx, "git", "log", "--oneline", "--all")
	cmd.Dir = gitPath
	output, err := cmd.Output()
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("reading git log: %w", err)
	}

	// Parse commits for issue references
	// Match pattern like (bd-xxx) or (bd-xxx.1) including hierarchical IDs
	pattern := fmt.Sprintf(`\(%s-[a-z0-9.]+\)`, regexp.QuoteMeta(issuePrefix))
	re := regexp.MustCompile(pattern)

	var orphanedIssues []OrphanIssue
	lines := strings.Split(string(output), "\n")

	for _, line := range lines {
		if line == "" {
			continue
		}

		// Extract commit hash and message
		parts := strings.SplitN(line, " ", 2)
		if len(parts) < 1 {

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)

Solutions

1. Run `git log --oneline --all` manually in the repo to see git's raw error.
2. Confirm the directory is a git repository: `git -C <dir> rev-parse --git-dir`.
3. If ownership/safe.directory is the issue, run `git config --global --add safe.directory <path>`.
4. Repair a corrupt object store with `git fsck` / re-clone the repository.
5. If context-deadline related, increase the timeout and re-run.

Example fix

// before
$ bd doctor --check orphans
reading git log: exit status 128 (fatal: not a git repository)

// after (run inside the actual repo root)
$ cd /path/to/repo && bd doctor --check orphans
no orphaned issues found

if err := exec.Command("git", "-C", gitPath, "rev-parse", "--git-dir").Run(); err != nil {
	return fmt.Errorf("%s is not a git repository; skipping git-log orphan scan", gitPath)
}

orphaned, err := FindOrphanedIssues(ctx, provider, gitPath)
if err != nil {
	if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "reading git log") {
		log.Printf("git log failed (%v); inspect with `git -C %s log --oneline --all`", err, gitPath)
	}
	return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: exec.CommandContext fails executing/running `git log --oneline --all` with cmd.Dir = gitPath: the directory is not a git repo, git exits non-zero due to a corrupt object store, the ctx is cancelled mid-run, or the git binary is unavailable so exec fails to start.

Common situations: Running orphan detection on a directory that has .beads but no git history (e.g. shallow/deleted .git); interrupted `git clone` leaving corrupt objects; CI environments where git safe.directory rejects the repo owner; large repos where the command is cancelled by context deadline.

Related errors

• failed to install hooks: %w
• git config --unset core.hooksPath failed: %w (output: %s)
• not a git repository
• failed to untrack redirect file: %w
• failed to untrack last-touched file: %w

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4f42984053f4cd32. Report an issue: GitHub.