No patch created yet. To start building a patch, use 'space'

Error message

No patch created yet. To start building a patch, use 'space' on a commit file or enter to add specific lines

What it means

Thrown by CustomPatchOptionsMenuAction.Call when the user opens the custom patch options menu but PatchBuilder.Active() is false, i.e. no patch has been started. The menu's operations (apply patch, reset patch, copy to clipboard, etc.) all require an in-progress patch, so lazygit tells you how to start one.

Source

Thrown at pkg/gui/controllers/custom_patch_options_menu_action.go:22

	"errors"
	"fmt"

	"github.com/jesseduffield/generics/set"
	"github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/commands/models"
	"github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gocui"
	"github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers"
	"github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/types"
	"github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/utils"
	"github.com/samber/lo"
)

type CustomPatchOptionsMenuAction struct {
	c *ControllerCommon
}

func (self *CustomPatchOptionsMenuAction) Call() error {
	if !self.c.Git().Patch.PatchBuilder.Active() {
		return errors.New(self.c.Tr.NoPatchError)
	}

	if self.c.Git().Patch.PatchBuilder.IsEmpty() {
		return errors.New(self.c.Tr.EmptyPatchError)
	}

	menuItems := []*types.MenuItem{
		{
			Label:   self.c.Tr.ResetPatch,
			Tooltip: self.c.Tr.ResetPatchTooltip,
			OnPress: self.c.Helpers().PatchBuilding.Reset,
			Keys:    menuKey('c'),
		},
		{
			Label:   self.c.Tr.ApplyPatch,
			Tooltip: self.c.Tr.ApplyPatchTooltip,
			OnPress: func() error { return self.handleApplyPatch(false) },
			Keys:    menuKey('a'),

View on GitHub (pinned to c477a2959b)

Solutions

Select a commit file and press 'space' to add the whole file to the patch, or enter line-selection mode to add specific lines
Then reopen the custom patch options menu

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Only open the patch options menu when a patch exists:
if !patchBuilder.Active() {
    return errors.New("start a patch first: space on a commit file, or enter for specific lines")
}

Prevention

Disable the patch-options keybinding when no patch is active
Offer a 'start patch' hint from the empty-state instead of an error
Teach users the space-on-commit-file entry point for patch building

When it happens

Trigger: Pressing the custom patch options key (typically '<c-p>' ctrl+p) while in the commits/commit-files view without having added any files or lines to the patch builder with 'space' or line selection.

Common situations: Users who expect the menu to bootstrap patch building, or who reset a patch earlier and press the menu key again out of habit.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jesseduffield/lazygit@c477a2959b (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/833c30e33b4e4de7. Report an issue: GitHub.