gitbutlerapp/gitbutler · error

Ambiguous branch '{branch_id}', matches multiple items

Error message

Ambiguous branch '{branch_id}', matches multiple items

What it means

Short CLI IDs are prefixes into the workspace IdMap. When one prefix matches more than one entity, `but land` refuses to guess and bails with 'Ambiguous branch' (land/mod.rs:47-49); you must disambiguate before the command can proceed.

Source

Thrown at crates/but/src/command/legacy/land/mod.rs:48

        let mut guard = ctx.exclusive_worktree_access();

        {
            let (_repo, ws, _db) = ctx.workspace_and_db_with_perm(guard.read_permission())?;
            if !ws.kind.has_managed_ref() {
                bail!(
                    "`but land` requires an active GitButler workspace (`gitbutler/workspace`). \
                     Switch into the workspace and try again."
                );
            }
        }

        let id_map = IdMap::new_from_context(ctx, guard.read_permission())?;
        let resolved_ids = id_map.parse_using_context(branch_id, ctx)?;
        if resolved_ids.is_empty() {
            bail!("Could not find branch: {branch_id}");
        }
        if resolved_ids.len() > 1 {
            bail!("Ambiguous branch '{branch_id}', matches multiple items");
        }

        let branch_name = match &resolved_ids[0] {
            CliId::Branch(branch) => branch.name.clone(),
            other => bail!("Expected a branch ID, got {}", other.kind_for_humans()),
        };

        let base_branch =
            but_api::legacy::virtual_branches::get_base_branch_data(ctx, guard.write_permission())?
                .ok_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("No base branch configured"))?;
        (branch_name, base_branch)
    };

    // Display strings for the prompt and the final report. The API recomputes the target/remote
    // configuration internally; the CLI only needs these names to describe what's about to happen.
    let target_branch_name = base_branch.short_name.clone();
    let push_remote_name = if base_branch.push_remote_name.is_empty() {
        base_branch.remote_name.clone()

View on GitHub (pinned to caf1f223d3)

Solutions

1. Add more characters to the ID until it is unique (verify in `but status`).
2. Use the full branch name instead of the short ID.
3. In scripts, resolve the full ID once and store that, rather than reusing brittle prefixes.

Example fix

# before
but land 1          # '1' matches several entities -> Ambiguous branch

# after
but land 1a3 --yes  # longer, unique prefix
but land my-branch --yes

# Cheap uniqueness check before running: count matches of the prefix in status output
count=$(but status | grep -cF '<id>')
[ "$count" -eq 1 ] || { echo 'ambiguous id'; exit 2; }

When it happens

Trigger: `but land <prefix>` where the prefix is also a prefix of two or more IDs — e.g. single-character prefixes like `1` or `b` in a workspace with many branches, commits, and uncommitted files.

Common situations: Copy-truncated IDs; workspaces that grew so previously-unique short prefixes now collide; scripts reusing a hardcoded prefix that was unique when written.

Related errors

• Could not find branch: {branch_id}
• Expected a branch ID, got {}
• Commit ID '{commit_id_str}' is ambiguous. Please provide mor
• No branch found for ID: {branch_id}
• Refusing to directly update {target_display} without confirm

AI-assisted analysis of gitbutlerapp/gitbutler@caf1f223d3 (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/52177ca3914d8a76. Report an issue: GitHub.