jesseduffield/lazygit · warning

Failed to retrieve version information

Error message

Failed to retrieve version information

What it means

Returned by UpdateHelper.CheckForUpdateInForeground when the version check callback completes without error but reports newVersion == "": the updater contacted something (or failed silently) yet obtained no version string, so there is nothing to offer. Distinguished from the background check, which stays quiet on failure — this is the user-initiated 'check for updates' action, so a visible error is required.

Source

Thrown at pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/update_helper.go:49

		if newVersion == "" {
			return nil
		}
		if self.c.UserConfig().Update.Method == "background" {
			self.startUpdating(newVersion)
			return nil
		}
		return self.showUpdatePrompt(newVersion)
	}, false)
}

func (self *UpdateHelper) CheckForUpdateInForeground() error {
	return self.c.WithWaitingStatus(self.c.Tr.CheckingForUpdates, func(gocui.Task) error {
		self.updater.CheckForNewUpdate(func(newVersion string, err error) error {
			if err != nil {
				return err
			}
			if newVersion == "" {
				return errors.New(self.c.Tr.FailedToRetrieveLatestVersionErr)
			}
			return self.showUpdatePrompt(newVersion)
		}, true)

		return nil
	})
}

func (self *UpdateHelper) startUpdating(newVersion string) {
	_ = self.c.WithWaitingStatus(self.c.Tr.UpdateInProgressWaitingStatus, func(gocui.Task) error {
		self.c.State().SetUpdating(true)
		err := self.updater.Update(newVersion)
		return self.onUpdateFinish(err)
	})
}

func (self *UpdateHelper) onUpdateFinish(err error) error {
	self.c.State().SetUpdating(false)

View on GitHub (pinned to c477a2959b)

Solutions

1. Check the actual latest release at the project's releases page and compare with the in-app version (status bar / about).
2. If installed via package manager, update through it instead (brew upgrade lazygit, apt, etc.).
3. Verify network egress to the update endpoint (curl the feed URL).
4. If self-built, rebuild from the latest tag rather than relying on in-app updates.

// before prompting, probe the feed yourself:
// resp, err := http.Get(releasesURL); if err != nil || body unparseable { skip check }

if err := updateHelper.CheckForUpdateInForeground(); err != nil {
    if err.Error() == c.Tr.FailedToRetrieveLatestVersionErr {
        // fall back to comparing against the releases page / package manager
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Invoking the manual 'check for updates' command; the HTTP request to the release feed is short-circuited (updater disabled or built without updates in some distro builds), the response body is unparseable, or a proxy/ captive portal returns an empty-but-200 result that swallows the real error.

Common situations: Distro-packaged lazygit builds where the update endpoint is intentionally disabled; offline or proxied environments; GitHub release feed format changes breaking the parser; DNS rebinding returning empty payloads.

Related errors

• Password, passphrase and/or username wrong
• Update failed: {{.errMessage}}
• You already have the latest version
• New version ({{.newVersion}}) has non-backwards compatible c
• Could not find any binary at {{.url}}

AI-assisted analysis of jesseduffield/lazygit@c477a2959b (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/806dbb3eaf1f4985. Report an issue: GitHub.