mislav/hub · error

no open pull requests found for branch '%s'

Error message

no open pull requests found for branch '%s'

What it means

`findCurrentPullRequest` queries GitHub for open pull requests whose head matches the current branch (owner:branch). If the API succeeds but returns zero (or more than one, given the limit) matches, it concludes no open PR exists for the branch and returns this error. It is a lookup-miss, not an API failure.

Source

Thrown at commands/pr.go:403

		utils.Check(err)
		if headBranch, headProject, err := findPushTarget(currentBranch); err == nil {
			headWithOwner = fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", headProject.Owner, headBranch.ShortName())
		} else if headProject, err := deducePushTarget(currentBranch, gh.Host.User); err == nil {
			headWithOwner = fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", headProject.Owner, currentBranch.ShortName())
		} else {
			headWithOwner = fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", baseProject.Owner, currentBranch.ShortName())
		}
	}

	filterParams["head"] = headWithOwner

	pulls, err := gh.FetchPullRequests(baseProject, filterParams, 1, nil)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	} else if len(pulls) == 1 {
		return &pulls[0], nil
	} else {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("no open pull requests found for branch '%s'", headWithOwner)
	}
}

func branchTrackingInformation(branch *github.Branch) (string, *github.Branch, error) {
	branchRemote, err := git.Config(fmt.Sprintf("branch.%s.remote", branch.ShortName()))
	if branchRemote == "." {
		err = fmt.Errorf("branch is tracking another local branch")
	}
	if err != nil {
		return "", nil, err
	}
	branchMerge, err := git.Config(fmt.Sprintf("branch.%s.merge", branch.ShortName()))
	if err != nil {
		return "", nil, err
	}
	trackingBranch := &github.Branch{
		Repo: branch.Repo,
		Name: branchMerge,

View on GitHub (pinned to 5c547ed804)

Solutions

1. Open the PR first (`git pull-request` / `gh pull-request create`) for the current branch.
2. Verify the branch's tracking/remote configuration so the head filter resolves to the right owner:branch.
3. Check the PR still exists and is open — closed/merged PRs are filtered out.
4. View by explicit number instead: `gh pull-request show <number>`.

Example fix

// before
git pull-request show   // current branch has no open PR
// after
git pull-request            # create the PR first
# or view explicitly:
git pull-request show 123

branch := currentBranch()
remote, _ := git.Config(fmt.Sprintf("branch.%s.remote", branch))
if remote == "" {
    fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "branch has no upstream; open a PR first")
    os.Exit(1)
}

pr, err := findCurrentPullRequest(localRepo, gh, baseProject, headFlag)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "no open pull requests found") {
    // fallback: prompt for an explicit PR number
    fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "open the PR first or pass a number: gh pull-request show <number>")
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `gh pull-request show` with no argument (showPr -> findCurrentPullRequest) on a branch that has no open PR with head `owner:branch`, or where `FetchPullRequests` with the head filter returns an empty result set.

Common situations: Current branch is local-only (PR never opened or already merged/closed); branch pushed from a different fork so the owner:head filter doesn't match; PR exists but with a different head branch name than the local tracking branch.

Related errors

• Aborted: head branch is the same as base ("%s") (use `-h <br
• %s (use `-h <branch>` to specify an explicit pull request he
• the current branch '%s' doesn't seem pushed to a remote
• the branch to compare '%s' is the default branch
• the branch to compare '%s' is the same as --base

AI-assisted analysis of mislav/hub@5c547ed804 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8d9e6af0f0821fe6. Report an issue: GitHub.