jesseduffield/lazygit · warning

You need to install git-flow and enable it in this repo to u

Error message

You need to install git-flow and enable it in this repo to use git-flow features

What it means

Returned by GitFlowController.handleCreateGitFlowMenu when the user opens the git-flow menu but GitFlowEnabled() reports no git-flow configuration in the repository. lazygit does not shell out to the git-flow CLI here; it checks for git-flow sections in .git/config, so the error fires both when the git-flow extension is not installed system-wide and when it is installed but never initialized in this repo.

Source

Thrown at pkg/gui/controllers/git_flow_controller.go:50

	}
}

func (self *GitFlowController) GetKeybindings(opts types.KeybindingsOpts) []*types.Binding {
	bindings := []*types.Binding{
		{
			Keys:        opts.GetKeys(opts.Config.Branches.ViewGitFlowOptions),
			Handler:     self.withItem(self.handleCreateGitFlowMenu),
			Description: self.c.Tr.GitFlowOptions,
			OpensMenu:   true,
		},
	}

	return bindings
}

func (self *GitFlowController) handleCreateGitFlowMenu(branch *models.Branch) error {
	if !self.c.Git().Flow.GitFlowEnabled() {
		return errors.New("You need to install git-flow and enable it in this repo to use git-flow features")
	}

	startHandler := func(branchType string) func() error {
		return func() error {
			title := utils.ResolvePlaceholderString(self.c.Tr.NewGitFlowBranchPrompt, map[string]string{"branchType": branchType})

			self.c.Prompt(types.PromptOpts{
				Title: title,
				HandleConfirm: func(name string) error {
					self.c.LogAction(self.c.Tr.Actions.GitFlowStart)
					return self.c.RunSubprocessAndRefresh(
						self.c.Git().Flow.StartCmdObj(branchType, name),
					)
				},
			})

			return nil
		}

View on GitHub (pinned to c477a2959b)

Solutions

1. Install git-flow AVH: brew install git-flow-avh / apt install git-flow.
2. Run 'git flow init' in the repo (accept defaults or set branch names) to write the [gitflow] sections into .git/config.
3. Reopen the git-flow menu in lazygit; GitFlowEnabled() should now pass.
4. If you don't intend to use git-flow, simply don't invoke the option; the check is harmless.

// guard before opening the menu:
if !git.Flow.GitFlowEnabled() {
    // run `git flow init` (non-interactive defaults) or hide the option from the UI
}

When it happens

Trigger: Pressing the git-flow options key (default 'i') in the Branches panel on a repo where 'git flow init' has never been run, or where git-flow (AVH edition) is not installed at all. Any later git-flow subcommand from the menu would fail for the same reason, so the menu is blocked up front.

Common situations: Cloning a project that uses git-flow but not running initialization before opening lazygit; fresh machine without the git-flow-avh package; repos deliberately not using git-flow where the keybinding was pressed accidentally.

Related errors

• Git version must be at least %s. Please upgrade your git ver
• Lazygit does not support bare repos.
• unexpected git output
• This does not seem to be a git flow branch
• Must specify a remote if specifying a branch

AI-assisted analysis of jesseduffield/lazygit@c477a2959b (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/603abbe287429b74. Report an issue: GitHub.