failed to create repo via gh (is it installed/authenticated?

Error message

failed to create repo via gh (is it installed/authenticated?)

What it means

Raised by ensure_github_repo_exists in src/push.rs when the `gh repo create <owner>/<repo> --private` subprocess exits non-zero (the `gh repo view` pre-check already showed the repo does not exist or is not visible). It indicates the GitHub CLI failed to create the mirror repository, most often because gh is not installed, not authenticated, or lacks permission.

Source

Thrown at src/push.rs:303

        .stdout(Stdio::null())
        .stderr(Stdio::null())
        .status();

    if matches!(view, Ok(s) if s.success()) {
        return Ok(());
    }

    println!("==> Creating GitHub repo {} (private)...", full_name);
    let status = Command::new("gh")
        .args(["repo", "create", &full_name, "--private", "--confirm"])
        .stdin(Stdio::inherit())
        .stdout(Stdio::inherit())
        .stderr(Stdio::inherit())
        .status();

    match status {
        Ok(s) if s.success() => Ok(()),
        Ok(_) => bail!("failed to create repo via gh (is it installed/authenticated?)"),
        Err(err) => Err(err).context("failed to run gh"),
    }
}

pub(crate) fn normalize_git_url(url: &str) -> String {
    let url = url.trim();
    let url = if url.starts_with("git@github.com:") {
        url.replace("git@github.com:", "github.com/")
    } else if url.starts_with("https://github.com/") {
        url.replace("https://github.com/", "github.com/")
    } else {
        url.to_string()
    };
    url.trim_end_matches(".git").to_lowercase()
}

fn git_root() -> Result<PathBuf> {
    let output = Command::new("git")

View on GitHub (pinned to a747e741ae)

Solutions

Install the GitHub CLI and authenticate with `gh auth login`, then verify with `gh auth status`
Run `gh repo create owner/repo --private` manually to see the exact underlying error
Confirm you have permission to create repos under the target owner/org, or create the repo manually in GitHub and re-run the push

Example fix

// before: unauthenticated gh fails
$ f push
failed to create repo via gh (is it installed/authenticated?)
// after
$ gh auth login
$ f push

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

let ok = std::process::Command::new("gh")
    .args(["auth", "status"])
    .status()
    .map(|s| s.success())
    .unwrap_or(false);
if !ok { eprintln!("install gh and run `gh auth login` first"); }

Try / catch

match result {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("failed to create repo via gh") => {
        eprintln!("run `gh auth status` and `gh repo create` manually for details");
    }
    Err(e) => return Err(e),
    Ok(v) => Ok(v),
}

Prevention

Install gh and run `gh auth login` before first push
Verify `gh repo view owner/repo` works beforehand
Ensure your account has repo-creation rights in the target org

When it happens

Trigger: The `gh repo view owner/repo` check fails (repo absent or gh unauthenticated), then `gh repo create owner/repo --private --confirm` runs and returns a non-zero exit status.

Common situations: gh CLI not installed or not on PATH for the spawned process; `gh auth login` never run or token expired; the authenticated account lacks rights to create repos in the target owner (org); gh version where `--confirm` was removed/deprecated causing argument errors.

Understand the failure class

Authentication and authorization failures — expired tokens, bad credentials, and missing scopes.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of nikivdev/code@a747e741ae (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6478a3648ef63961. Report an issue: GitHub.