What causes "Aborted: no commits detected between %s and %s" in mislav/hub?

Commit changes on the head branch so at least one commit exists between base and head, then rerun with --no-edit.

Aborted: no commits detected between

Error message

Aborted: no commits detected between %s and %s

What it means

With `--no-edit`, gh skips the interactive editor and derives the PR title/body from the commit log between baseTracking and head. If `git.RefList` finds zero commits in that range, there is no source text for the PR, so it aborts with this error instead of opening an empty PR.

Solutions

Commit changes on the head branch so at least one commit exists between base and head, then rerun with --no-edit.
Run `gh pr create` without --no-edit and write the title/body in the editor.
Verify the range with `git log <base>..<head>` and check the base branch spelling (`--base <branch>`).

Example fix

// before
gh pr create --base main --no-edit   # no commits ahead of main
// after
git commit -m "Add feature"
gh pr create --base main --no-edit

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

commits, err := git.RefList(base, head)
if err != nil || len(commits) == 0 {
    return fmt.Errorf("no commits between %s and %s; commit changes or drop --no-edit", base, head)
}

Prevention

Check `git log <base>..<head>` is non-empty before `pr create --no-edit`.
Commit work before opening the PR.
Verify the base branch name exists.

When it happens

Trigger: `gh pr create --no-edit` where `git.RefList(baseTracking, head)` returns no commits — the head branch has no commits ahead of the base branch (or the ref names resolve to nothing).

Common situations: Creating a PR from a branch that is already merged or identical to base; typo'd base branch name; user assumed --no-edit would reuse a previous PR description; forgetting to commit before creating the PR.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of mislav/hub@5c547ed804 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1799d7c86c603444. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at commands/pull_request.go:269

	flagPullRequestMessage := args.Flag.AllValues("--message")
	flagPullRequestEdit := args.Flag.Bool("--edit")
	flagPullRequestIssue := args.Flag.Value("--issue")
	if !args.Flag.HasReceived("--issue") && args.ParamsSize() > 0 {
		flagPullRequestIssue = parsePullRequestIssueNumber(args.GetParam(0))
	}

	if len(flagPullRequestMessage) > 0 {
		messageBuilder.Message = strings.Join(flagPullRequestMessage, "\n\n")
		messageBuilder.Edit = flagPullRequestEdit
	} else if args.Flag.HasReceived("--file") {
		messageBuilder.Message, err = msgFromFile(args.Flag.Value("--file"))
		utils.Check(err)
		messageBuilder.Edit = flagPullRequestEdit
	} else if args.Flag.Bool("--no-edit") {
		commits, _ := git.RefList(baseTracking, head)
		if len(commits) == 0 {
			utils.Check(fmt.Errorf("Aborted: no commits detected between %s and %s", baseTracking, head))
		}
		message, err := git.Show(commits[len(commits)-1])
		utils.Check(err)
		messageBuilder.Message = message
	} else if flagPullRequestIssue == "" {
		messageBuilder.Edit = true

		headForMessage := headTracking
		if flagPullRequestPush {
			headForMessage = head
		}

		message := ""

		commits, _ := git.RefList(baseTracking, headForMessage)
		if len(commits) == 1 {
			message, err = git.Show(commits[0])
			utils.Check(err)

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