gastownhall/beads · error

%w: %s

Error message

%w: %s

What it means

worktreeRemovalGit.output runs a pinned git command and captures stdout. On failure it checks for exec.ExitError and, if git wrote anything to stderr, appends it: `"%w: <stderr>"`. The wrapped error is the exec.ExitError (non-zero git exit status); the message gives git's own diagnostic. All worktree-removal plumbing (list, inspect, ref validation, object-size checks) funnels through here.

Source

Thrown at cmd/bd/worktree_cmd.go:732

	command := exec.CommandContext(ctx, git.executable, gitArgs...)
	command.Dir = dir
	command.Env = append([]string(nil), git.env...)
	return command
}

func (git *worktreeRemovalGit) output(ctx context.Context, dir string, args ...string) ([]byte, error) {
	command := git.command(ctx, dir, args...)
	output, err := command.Output()
	if err == nil {
		return output, nil
	}

	var exitError *exec.ExitError
	if errors.As(err, &exitError) {
		stderr := strings.TrimSpace(string(exitError.Stderr))
		if stderr != "" {
			return output, fmt.Errorf("%w: %s", err, stderr)
		}
	}
	return output, err
}

func (git *worktreeRemovalGit) combinedOutput(ctx context.Context, dir string, args ...string) ([]byte, error) {
	return git.command(ctx, dir, args...).CombinedOutput()
}

type registeredWorktree struct {
	path        string
	headOID     string
	branch      string
	detached    bool
	bare        bool
	locked      bool
	lockReason  string
	prunable    bool

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)

Solutions

1. Read the stderr text after the colon — it is git's own diagnosis
2. Fix the git-level issue it names (remove stale index.lock, repair repo, correct ref name)
3. Reproduce manually: run the same git command in the stated directory
4. Run `git fsck` if repo corruption is indicated

Example fix

// before
bd worktree remove wt-x   # exit status 128: fatal: not a git repository
// after
cd /repos/main && bd worktree remove wt-x

git -C "$DIR" status --porcelain >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "git failing in $DIR"; exit 1; }

var exitError *exec.ExitError
if errors.As(err, &exitError) {
    stderr := strings.TrimSpace(string(exitError.Stderr))
    // act on git's stderr diagnostic
}

out, err := gitCmd.Output()
var ee *exec.ExitError
if errors.As(err, &ee) {
    return fmt.Errorf("git failed (exit %d): %s", ee.ExitCode(), strings.TrimSpace(string(ee.Stderr)))
}

When it happens

Trigger: Any `git` invocation in the removal pipeline exits non-zero with stderr output — e.g. `git worktree list` in a corrupt repo, invalid ref names, missing objects, locked index, or running outside a work tree.

Common situations: Corrupted .git directory; referencing a branch/ref that doesn't exist; concurrent git operations holding index.lock; running the removal from a non-repo directory.

Related errors

• failed to inspect created worktree cleanliness: %w %s
• failed to install hooks: %w
• git config --unset core.hooksPath failed: %w (output: %s)
• reading git log: %w
• git ls-remote %s failed: %s: %w

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/23f67f564dcf9842. Report an issue: GitHub.