nikivdev/code · error

git clone failed

Error message

git clone failed

What it means

clone_git_like runs `git clone` with inherited stdio and bails if the process exits non-zero. The generic message means git itself reported the failure; the actual cause (auth, network, bad URL) was already printed to the terminal via inherited stderr.

Source

Thrown at src/repos.rs:93

        }
    }

    let clone_url = resolve_git_like_clone_url(&opts.url)?;
    let mut cmd = Command::new("git");
    cmd.arg("clone").arg(&clone_url);
    if let Some(dir) = opts.directory {
        cmd.arg(dir);
    }

    let status = cmd
        .stdin(Stdio::inherit())
        .stdout(Stdio::inherit())
        .stderr(Stdio::inherit())
        .status()
        .context("failed to run git clone")?;

    if !status.success() {
        bail!("git clone failed");
    }

    Ok(())
}

fn open_in_zed(path: &std::path::Path) -> Result<()> {
    let try_open = |app: &str| -> Result<()> {
        let status = std::process::Command::new("open")
            .args(["-a", app])
            .arg(path)
            .status()
            .with_context(|| format!("failed to open {app}"))?;
        if !status.success() {
            bail!("{app} exited with status {status}");
        }
        Ok(())
    };

View on GitHub (pinned to a747e741ae)

Solutions

1. Read the git output above the error for the exact cause
2. Verify the clone URL (try cloning with plain `git clone <url>` to reproduce)
3. For SSH: confirm access with `ssh -T git@host`; for HTTPS: refresh credentials/token
4. Ensure the destination directory doesn't already exist or is empty

Example fix

// before (typo)
f clone git@github.com:org/repo.git  // repo doesn't exist
// after
f clone git@github.com:org/repo.git  // correct, existing repo

const { execSync } = require("child_process");
function canReachRemote(url) {
  try { execSync(`git ls-remote ${url} HEAD`, { stdio: "ignore" }); return true; }
  catch { return false; }
}
if (!canReachRemote(url)) throw new Error(`cannot access ${url}; fix URL/auth before cloning`);

async function cloneWithRetry(url, dest, attempts = 2) {
  for (let i = 0; i < attempts; i++) {
    try { return run(["f", "clone", url, dest]); }
    catch (e) {
      if (i === attempts - 1) throw e;
      await sleep(1000 * (i + 1)); // transient network failures only
    }
  }
}

When it happens

Trigger: `git clone` exits non-zero during a `f` clone (any git-level failure).

Common situations: Repository URL wrong or repo doesn't exist; SSH key not authorized for the remote; HTTPS token expired; network/DNS failure; target directory already exists and is non-empty; insufficient permissions on a private repo.

Related errors

• git {} failed
• {} failed with status {}
• git {} failed: {}
• SSH mode is forced but no key is available. Run `f ssh setup
• git {} failed

AI-assisted analysis of nikivdev/code@a747e741ae (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/46376d512b5729f1. Report an issue: GitHub.