mislav/hub · error

%s (use `-h <branch>` to specify an explicit pull request he

Error message

%s
(use `-h <branch>` to specify an explicit pull request head)

What it means

Same abort path as the 'head branch is the same as base' error: pullRequest wraps the original error with fmt.Errorf("%s\n(use `-h <branch>` ...)") and passes it to utils.Check. This index records the wrapping error whose format string is the hint suffix, printed with the base-branch message above it.

Source

Thrown at commands/pull_request.go:179

	if flagPullRequestHead := args.Flag.Value("--head"); flagPullRequestHead != "" {
		headProject, head = parsePullRequestProject(headProject, flagPullRequestHead)
	}

	baseRemote, _ := localRepo.RemoteForProject(baseProject)
	if base == "" && baseRemote != nil {
		base = localRepo.DefaultBranch(baseRemote).ShortName()
	}

	if head == "" && trackedBranch != nil {
		if !trackedBranch.IsRemote() {
			// the current branch tracking another branch
			// pretend there's no upstream at all
			trackedBranch = nil
		} else {
			if baseProject.SameAs(headProject) && base == trackedBranch.ShortName() {
				e := fmt.Errorf(`Aborted: head branch is the same as base ("%s")`, base)
				e = fmt.Errorf("%s\n(use `-h <branch>` to specify an explicit pull request head)", e)
				utils.Check(e)
			}
		}
	}

	force := args.Flag.Bool("--force")
	flagPullRequestPush := args.Flag.Bool("--push")

	if head == "" {
		if trackedBranch == nil {
			utils.Check(currentBranchErr)
			if !force && !flagPullRequestPush {
				branchRemote, branchMerge, err := branchTrackingInformation(currentBranch)
				if err != nil || (baseRemote != nil && branchRemote == baseRemote.Name && branchMerge.ShortName() == base) {
					if localRepo.RemoteForBranch(currentBranch, host.User) == nil {
						err = fmt.Errorf("Aborted: the current branch seems not yet pushed to a remote")
						err = fmt.Errorf("%s\n(use `-p` to push the branch or `-f` to skip this check)", err)
						utils.Check(err)

View on GitHub (pinned to 5c547ed804)

Solutions

1. Run the PR from a differently-named pushed branch
2. Use -h <branch> (or <owner>:<branch> for forks) to give an explicit head
3. Automations should assert the current branch differs from the base before invoking hub

Example fix

# before
hub pull-request -m "msg"           # run on main
# after
hub pull-request -m "msg" -h my-feature

branch=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
[ "$branch" != "$(git symbolic-ref --short refs/remotes/origin/HEAD 2>/dev/null | sed 's|origin/||')" ] || exit 1

When it happens

Trigger: Identical to error 34: baseProject.SameAs(headProject) && base == trackedBranch.ShortName() when creating a PR — same-repo PR where the head branch name equals the base branch name and -h was not given.

Common situations: Opening a PR from the default branch; scripted PR creation running on 'main' in CI.

Related errors

• Aborted: head branch is the same as base ("%s") (use `-h <br
• could not determine project for head branch
• Aborted: the current branch seems not yet pushed to a remote
• %s (use `-p` to push the branch or `-f` to skip this check)
• Aborted: %d commits are not yet pushed to %s (use `-f` to fo

AI-assisted analysis of mislav/hub@5c547ed804 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/cc89a36f3a521a25. Report an issue: GitHub.