mislav/hub · error

the branch to compare '%s' is the default branch

Error message

the branch to compare '%s' is the default branch

What it means

In commands/compare.go compare, when the remote branch belongs to the same project as the main project and no --base flag was given, comparing the master (default) branch against itself is meaningless, so the command aborts with "the branch to compare '%s' is the default branch".

Source

Thrown at commands/compare.go:101

			utils.Check(command.UsageError(err.Error()))
		}

		var remoteBranch *github.Branch
		var remoteProject *github.Project

		remoteBranch, remoteProject, err = findPushTarget(currentBranch)
		if err != nil {
			if remoteProject, err = deducePushTarget(currentBranch, host.User); err == nil {
				remoteBranch = currentBranch
			} else {
				utils.Check(fmt.Errorf("the current branch '%s' doesn't seem pushed to a remote", currentBranch.ShortName()))
			}
		}

		r = remoteBranch.ShortName()
		if remoteProject.SameAs(mainProject) {
			if flagCompareBase == "" && remoteBranch.IsMaster() {
				utils.Check(fmt.Errorf("the branch to compare '%s' is the default branch", remoteBranch.ShortName()))
			}
		} else {
			r = fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", remoteProject.Owner, r)
		}

		if flagCompareBase == r {
			utils.Check(fmt.Errorf("the branch to compare '%s' is the same as --base", r))
		} else if flagCompareBase != "" {
			r = fmt.Sprintf("%s...%s", flagCompareBase, r)
		}
	} else {
		if flagCompareBase != "" {
			utils.Check(command.UsageError(""))
		} else {
			r = parseCompareRange(args.RemoveParam(args.ParamsSize() - 1))
			if !args.IsParamsEmpty() {
				owner := args.RemoveParam(args.ParamsSize() - 1)
				mainProject = github.NewProject(owner, mainProject.Name, mainProject.Host)

View on GitHub (pinned to 5c547ed804)

Solutions

1. Switch to the feature branch you want to compare: `git checkout <feature>` then `hub compare`.
2. Compare against the default branch explicitly: `hub compare <feature>` from another branch.
3. Use `--base` to give a different base: `hub compare --base master <feature>`.

Example fix

// before
git checkout master
hub compare   // the branch to compare 'master' is the default branch
// after
git checkout feature-x
hub compare

# refuse to run compare while on the default branch
branch=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
[ "$branch" = "master" ] && { echo "switch to a feature branch first"; exit 1; }

if remoteProject.SameAs(mainProject) && flagCompareBase == "" && remoteBranch.IsMaster() {
    return fmt.Errorf("compare a non-default branch instead")
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `hub compare` (or `hub compare master`) while the resolved push target of the current branch is the master/default branch of the same repository, with flagCompareBase empty and remoteBranch.IsMaster() true.

Common situations: Checking out master and running `hub compare` expecting a diff; forgetting to switch to a feature branch; a push target that still points at master after branching locally.

Related errors

• the branch to compare '%s' is the same as --base
• the current branch '%s' doesn't seem pushed to a remote
• Aborted: no revision could be determined from '%s'
• Error: %s/%s doesn't have a wiki
• 'create' must be run from inside a git repository

AI-assisted analysis of mislav/hub@5c547ed804 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3438eb91409db888. Report an issue: GitHub.