jdx/mise · error

the setup branch `{}` is not at {} any more (renamed, or del

Error message

the setup branch `{}` is not at {} any more (renamed, or deleted?); nothing was changed. `mise bootstrap dotfiles origin set {} --branch <name>` follows a renamed branch

What it means

During sync, mise fetches the configured upstream branch. If the fetch reports the branch no longer exists remotely and a previous upstream commit is recorded, treating it as an empty upstream would queue deletion of every file it contained — so mise aborts without changing anything. This protects against branch renames/deletions wiping your dotfiles.

Source

Thrown at src/system/history/sync/run.rs:256

        None => origin()?,
    };
    let repo = store
        .repo()
        .ok_or_else(|| eyre::eyre!("synchronizing requires git"))?;
    let mode = SyncMode::current()?;
    let state_dir = store.state_dir();
    let mut status = read_status(state_dir)?;
    let remote = Remote::new(repo, &origin.url);
    let mut outcome = SyncOutcome::default();

    let result = (|| -> Result<()> {
        if !request.offline {
            // a branch that vanished from a repository this machine had
            // synced with is not an empty upstream: reading it as one would
            // queue the deletion of every file it held
            let found = remote.fetch(&origin.branch)?;
            if !found && status.upstream_commit.is_some() {
                bail!(
                    "the setup branch `{}` is not at {} any more (renamed, or deleted?); nothing was changed. `mise bootstrap dotfiles origin set {} --branch <name>` follows a renamed branch",
                    origin.branch,
                    origin.url,
                    origin.url
                );
            }
            if !found && repo.ref_oid(UPSTREAM_REF)?.is_some() {
                repo.delete_ref(UPSTREAM_REF)?;
            }
            status.last_fetch = Some(hstore::now_rfc3339());
        }
        let mut upstream_commit = repo.ref_oid(UPSTREAM_REF)?;
        outcome.fetched_upstream = upstream_commit.clone();
        let repo_state = format::detect(repo, upstream_commit.as_deref())?;
        repo_state.check()?;
        if repo_state == RepoState::Unmarked && !status.adopted {
            bail!(
                "{} is an existing repository without the mise marker; `mise bootstrap dotfiles origin set {}` previews how it would be adopted",

View on GitHub (pinned to afd2eddd3a)

Solutions

1. If renamed, follow it: `mise bootstrap dotfiles origin set <url> --branch <new-name>` then sync again
2. If deleted unintentionally, restore the branch on the remote, then re-run sync
3. If the repository itself moved, set the new URL: `mise bootstrap dotfiles origin set <new-url>`

Example fix

// before
$ mise bootstrap dotfiles sync
error: the setup branch `main` is not at git@github.com:me/dotfiles.git any more

// after
$ mise bootstrap dotfiles origin set git@github.com:me/dotfiles.git --branch master
$ mise bootstrap dotfiles sync

git ls-remote <url> <branch>   # confirm the branch still exists before syncing

When it happens

Trigger: `mise bootstrap dotfiles sync` (non-offline) where `remote.fetch(&origin.branch)` returns `found == false` while `status.upstream_commit` is `Some`; i.e. the branch that was previously synced has disappeared from the remote.

Common situations: The remote repository renamed its branch (e.g. `main` -> `master` or a personal rename); the branch was deleted after a repo reorganization; the remote repo was replaced/recreated without that branch.

Understand the failure class

Background: 'Could not be found', 'does not exist', 'not found in database': the resource-not-found family when an ID, slug, key, or URI lookup comes back empty — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• incoming setup has not been completely applied; run `mise bo
• no setup repository is connected; `mise bootstrap dotfiles o
• {} is an existing repository without the mise marker; `mise
• comparing checkpoints requires git
• listing snapshot files requires git

AI-assisted analysis of jdx/mise@afd2eddd3a (2026-09-09). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f5b0905aad6a43f1. Report an issue: GitHub.