Creating custom patches is not possible with a diff context

Error message

Creating custom patches is not possible with a diff context size of 0. Increase the context using '%s'.

What it means

CommitFilesController.toggleForPatch (pkg/gui/controllers/commits_files_controller.go) refuses to add/remove files to a custom patch when user config git.diffContextSize is 0. Building a patch needs at least one context line to know where hunk boundaries are, so with zero context lazygit returns the translated NotEnoughContextForCustomPatch action error and suggests the IncreaseContextInDiffView key.

Source

Thrown at pkg/gui/controllers/commits_files_controller.go:449

func (self *CommitFilesController) openDiffTool(node *filetree.CommitFileNode) error {
	from, to := self.context().GetFromAndToForDiff()
	from, reverse := self.c.Modes().Diffing.GetFromAndReverseArgsForDiff(from)
	_, err := self.c.RunSubprocess(self.c.Git().Diff.OpenDiffToolCmdObj(
		git_commands.DiffToolCmdOptions{
			Filepath:    node.GetPath(),
			FromCommit:  from,
			ToCommit:    to,
			Reverse:     reverse,
			IsDirectory: !node.IsFile(),
			Staged:      false,
		}))
	return err
}

func (self *CommitFilesController) toggleForPatch(selectedNodes []*filetree.CommitFileNode) error {
	if self.c.UserConfig().Git.DiffContextSize == 0 {
		return fmt.Errorf(self.c.Tr.Actions.NotEnoughContextForCustomPatch,
			self.c.UserConfig().Keybinding.Universal.IncreaseContextInDiffView)
	}

	refName := self.context().GetRef().RefName()

	toggle := func() error {
		return self.c.WithWaitingStatus(self.c.Tr.UpdatingPatch, func(gocui.Task) error {
			selectedNodes = normalisedSelectedCommitFileNodes(selectedNodes)

			// Find if any file in the selection is unselected or partially added
			adding := lo.SomeBy(selectedNodes, func(node *filetree.CommitFileNode) bool {
				return node.SomeFile(func(file *models.CommitFile) bool {
					fileStatus := self.c.Git().Patch.PatchBuilder.GetFileStatus(file.Path, refName)
					return fileStatus == patch.PART || fileStatus == patch.UNSELECTED
				})
			})

			patchOperationFunction := self.c.Git().Patch.PatchBuilder.RemoveFile

View on GitHub (pinned to c477a2959b)

Solutions

Press the increase-diff-context key (default '}') at least once before toggling patch entries.
Or set git.diffContextSize to 1 or higher in the user config and restart.
If a helper script drives lazygit, ensure its config sets a non-zero context.

Example fix

# before (user config.yml)
git:
  diffContextSize: 0

# after
git:
  diffContextSize: 3

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if cfg.Git.DiffContextSize == 0 {
	return errors.New("raise git.diffContextSize before building custom patches")
}

Prevention

Keep git.diffContextSize >= 1 whenever you use custom patches.
Learn the '}' key: it raises context in-place when the error appears.
Scripts driving lazygit should always pin a non-zero context.

When it happens

Trigger: Setting `git.diffContextSize: 0` in the config (or lowering context to 0 with the decrease-context key), then pressing the toggle-patch key (default 'space' in the commit-files view while building a custom patch).

Common situations: Users who set diffContextSize 0 for compact diffs and later try to build a custom patch or move lines between commits; scripts/tests that run with a minimal config.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jesseduffield/lazygit@c477a2959b (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/906a2fd1994e4318. Report an issue: GitHub.