gitbutlerapp/gitbutler · error

Aborting due to empty

Error message

Aborting due to empty {entity}

What it means

`prepare_provided_message` validates a user-supplied message for rewording (branch name or commit message). If the provided string is empty or only whitespace after trimming, it bails with "Aborting due to empty {entity}" where entity names what was being renamed/rewritten.

Solutions

1. Provide a non-empty message: `--message "new name"`
2. Check the shell variable is set before invoking
3. Omit --message entirely to be prompted via the editor instead

Example fix

// before
MSG=""; but reword --message "$MSG"  # Aborting due to empty message
// after
if [ -n "$(echo "$MSG" | tr -d '[:space:]')" ]; then but reword --message "$MSG"; else echo "message required"; fi

const trimmed = (message ?? '').trim();
if (!trimmed) throw new Error('Message must be non-empty');

const isNonEmptyMessage = (m) => typeof m === 'string' && m.trim().length > 0;

When it happens

Trigger: Calling `but branch <name> --message ""` / `but reword --message " "` (create_branch_for_anonymous_segment, edit_branch_name) with an empty or whitespace-only --message value.

Common situations: Shell variable holding the message is unset/empty (`--message "$MSG"` with empty MSG); accidental quoting producing an empty argument; scripted renames with blank input.

Understand the failure class

Background: "must not be empty", "cannot be empty" — required-field validation errors across open-source libraries — this error's family across 41 libraries.

Related errors

• Aborting due to empty branch name
• Cannot create alias ' ': it conflicts with a built-in…
• CLI destination must be absolute
• CLI source ' ' must be an executable file
• CLI source path must be absolute

AI-assisted analysis of gitbutlerapp/gitbutler@58e5313667 (2026-09-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/54836b6d40e89b35. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at crates/but/src/command/legacy/reword.rs:220

            .to_string();
            if let Some(out) = out.for_human() {
                writeln!(out, "Renamed branch '{branch_name}' to '{new_branch_name}'")?;
            }
            return Ok(());
        }
    }

    Err(bad_input("Branch not found in workspace")
        .arg_value(branch_name)
        .hint("You can only reword applied branches")
        .into())
}

fn prepare_provided_message(msg: Option<&str>, entity: &str) -> Option<Result<String>> {
    msg.map(|msg| {
        let trimmed = msg.trim();
        if trimmed.is_empty() {
            bail!("Aborting due to empty {entity}");
        }
        Ok(trimmed.to_string())
    })
}

pub(crate) fn get_commit_message_from_editor(
    repo: &gix::Repository,
    context_lines: u32,
    commit_details: but_core::diff::CommitDetails,
    editor_initial_message: String,
    current_message_for_comparison: &str,
    show_diff_in_editor: ShowDiffInEditor,
) -> Result<Option<String>> {
    let changed_files = get_changed_files_from_commit_details(&commit_details);

    let should_show_diff = show_diff_in_editor.should_show_diff(|| {
        estimate_diff_blob_size(&commit_details.diff_with_first_parent, repo)
    })?;

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