jdx/mise · error

global configuration has uncommitted changes

Error message

global configuration has uncommitted changes

What it means

Before updating or adopting an existing global-configuration checkout, mise requires a clean working tree. `git status --porcelain --untracked-files=no` is run in the destination; any output means tracked files have uncommitted modifications, and mise aborts rather than merging or overwriting user changes.

Solutions

  1. Review and commit the pending changes: `git -C <destination> add -A && git -C <destination> commit -m 'local changes'`.
  2. If the edits are unwanted, discard them: `git -C <destination> restore .` (and `git restore --staged .` for staged entries).
  3. Stash them if you want to keep them temporarily: `git -C <destination> stash`.
  4. Re-run the install once `git status --porcelain --untracked-files=no` prints nothing.

Example fix

// before
$ git -C ~/.config/mise status --porcelain --untracked-files=no
 M settings.toml

// after
$ git -C ~/.config/mise add settings.toml && git -C ~/.config/mise commit -m 'update settings'
$ git -C ~/.config/mise status --porcelain --untracked-files=no
# (empty)
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

const out = execSync(`git -C ${dest} status --porcelain --untracked-files=no`).toString();
if (out.trim()) throw new Error('commit or discard changes in ' + dest + ' before installing');

Try / catch

try {
  await installSource(bundle, origin, { update: true });
} catch (e) {
  if (/uncommitted changes/.test(String(e.cause ?? e))) {
    execSync(`git -C ${dest} stash`); // or commit
    return installSource(bundle, origin, { update: true });
  }
  throw e;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: install/install_source/preview_source (install_at) against a destination with a `.git` directory where any tracked file is modified or staged (untracked files are ignored by the check).

Common situations: Hand-edited config files that were never committed; a partially finished `git add`/merge left staged changes; an editor or tool rewrote files (line endings, formatting) since the last commit.

Understand the failure class

Background: "git command failed": what it means when a tool shells out to git and git exits non-zero — this error's family across 21 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jdx/mise@533346cc37 (2026-09-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/787ad62f1a097252. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/system/remote_repository.rs:257

        }
    }
    git(&checkout, &["remote", "set-url", "origin", origin])?;
    let branch = git(&checkout, &["symbolic-ref", "--short", "HEAD"])?;
    git(
        &checkout,
        &["-c", "core.hooksPath=/dev/null", "checkout", &branch],
    )?;
    if destination.join(".git").exists() {
        if git(destination, &["remote", "get-url", "origin"])? != origin {
            bail!("global configuration origin does not match");
        }
        if !git(
            destination,
            &["status", "--porcelain", "--untracked-files=no"],
        )?
        .is_empty()
        {
            bail!("global configuration has uncommitted changes");
        }
        if update {
            if git(destination, &["symbolic-ref", "--short", "HEAD"])? != branch {
                bail!("global configuration branch differs from the transferred branch");
            }
            if dry_run {
                // the bundle holds the history from the checkout's commit on,
                // so the fast-forward is checked there without fetching into
                // the destination
                let head = git(destination, &["rev-parse", "HEAD"])?;
                if head == revision {
                    miseprintln!(
                        "Would keep {shown} at {revision}, already the transferred revision"
                    );
                } else if git(&checkout, &["merge-base", "--is-ancestor", &head, revision]).is_ok()
                {
                    miseprintln!("Would fast-forward {shown} from {head} to {revision}");
                } else {

View on GitHub (pinned to 533346cc37)