google-gemini/gemini-cli · error · Error

Failed to clone Git repository from ${installMetadata.source

Error message

Failed to clone Git repository from ${installMetadata.source} ${getErrorMessage(error)}

What it means

Catch-all wrapper around the entire cloneFromGit try block. Any failure in clone, getRemotes, fetch, or checkout is re-thrown with the source and the underlying message (via getErrorMessage) and the original error attached as cause.

Source

Thrown at packages/cli/src/config/extensions/github.ts:73

    }
    await git.clone(sourceUrl, './', ['--depth', '1']);

    const remotes = await git.getRemotes(true);
    if (remotes.length === 0) {
      throw new Error(
        `Unable to find any remotes for repo ${installMetadata.source}`,
      );
    }

    const refToFetch = installMetadata.ref || 'HEAD';

    await git.fetch(remotes[0].name, refToFetch);

    // After fetching, checkout FETCH_HEAD to get the content of the fetched ref.
    // This results in a detached HEAD state, which is fine for this purpose.
    await git.checkout('FETCH_HEAD');
  } catch (error) {
    throw new Error(
      `Failed to clone Git repository from ${installMetadata.source} ${getErrorMessage(error)}`,
      {
        cause: error,
      },
    );
  }
}

export interface GithubRepoInfo {
  owner: string;
  repo: string;
}

export function tryParseGithubUrl(source: string): GithubRepoInfo | null {
  // Handle SCP-style SSH URLs.
  if (source.startsWith('git@')) {
    if (source.startsWith('git@github.com:')) {
      // It's a GitHub SSH URL, so normalize it for the URL parser.

View on GitHub (pinned to 5024443c72)

Solutions

Inspect error.cause for the real git failure and address it (fix URL, refresh token, correct ref).
Confirm network/proxy access to the git host and that the destination is writable.
Retry after fixing credentials; for transient failures, retry with backoff.

Example fix

// before
try { await cloneFromGit(meta, dest); }
catch (e) { /* only sees wrapped message */ }
// after
try { await cloneFromGit(meta, dest); }
catch (e) {
  if (e.cause) console.error('underlying git error:', e.cause);
  throw e;
}

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Try / catch

try { await cloneFromGit(meta, dest); } catch (e) { const cause = (e as Error & {cause?: Error}).cause; logGitFailure(meta.source, cause ?? e); throw e; }

Prevention

Check error.cause for the underlying git message before reporting.
Verify token, URL, and ref before invoking clone in automation.

When it happens

Trigger: git.clone rejects (auth failure, unreachable host, invalid URL, permission denied on destination), git.fetch rejects (ref does not exist), or git.checkout('FETCH_HEAD') rejects (fetch produced nothing).

Common situations: Wrong/expired GitHub token; typo'd source URL; branch/tag in installMetadata.ref that does not exist; destination directory not writable; corporate proxy blocking git; rate-limited by the hoster.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of google-gemini/gemini-cli@5024443c72 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f0f9cadb95c0f258. Report an issue: GitHub.