nikivdev/code · error

git {} failed: {}

Error message

git {} failed: {}

What it means

git_capture_in runs a git command and captures stdout; on failure it bails with 'git <args> failed: <stderr>', appending git's trimmed stderr so the root cause is visible. Used by helpers that read git state from the colocated repo.

Source

Thrown at src/jj.rs:3404

        .current_dir(repo_root)
        .args(args)
        .output()
        .with_context(|| format!("failed to run jj {}", args.join(" ")))?;
    if !output.status.success() {
        bail!("jj {} failed", args.join(" "));
    }
    Ok(String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stdout).to_string())
}

fn git_capture_in(repo_root: &Path, args: &[&str]) -> Result<String> {
    let output = Command::new("git")
        .current_dir(repo_root)
        .args(args)
        .output()
        .with_context(|| format!("failed to run git {}", args.join(" ")))?;
    if !output.status.success() {
        let stderr = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr);
        bail!("git {} failed: {}", args.join(" "), stderr.trim());
    }
    Ok(String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stdout).to_string())
}

fn jj_read_in(repo_root: &Path, args: &[&str]) -> Result<String> {
    let output = Command::new("jj")
        .current_dir(repo_root)
        .args(["--at-op=@", "--ignore-working-copy"])
        .args(args)
        .output()
        .with_context(|| format!("failed to run jj {}", args.join(" ")))?;
    if !output.status.success() {
        let stderr = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr);
        bail!("jj {} failed: {}", args.join(" "), stderr.trim());
    }
    Ok(String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stdout).to_string())
}

View on GitHub (pinned to a747e741ae)

Solutions

1. Read the appended stderr to identify the failing git operation and fix that cause.
2. Confirm you are inside the repo: `git rev-parse --git-dir` succeeds from the working directory.
3. If the repo is mid-operation or corrupt, run `f git-repair` or `git status` to diagnose.

Example fix

// before
flow fetch  # git for-each-ref fails on bad refspec
// after
git rev-parse --git-dir   # verify repo
f git-repair              # if mid-operation
flow fetch

// shell
git rev-parse --git-dir >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "not inside a git repo" >&2; exit 1; }

match flow_command() {
  Err(e) if e.starts_with("git ") && e.contains("failed: ") => {
    let stderr = e.split("failed: ").nth(1).unwrap_or("");
    eprintln("git failed: {stderr}");
    Err(e)
  }
  other => other,
}

When it happens

Trigger: Any git invocation via git_capture_in (e.g. rev-parse, status plumbing, for-each-ref) exits non-zero — run outside a git repo, unknown ref/object, or corrupted index.

Common situations: Running the tool outside a git/jj colocated repo; referencing a branch deleted on the remote; git hooks or fsck issues corrupting operations.

Related errors

• git {} failed
• {} failed with status {}
• Lin.app is not running
• pbcopy exited with status {}
• AI task '{}' failed with status {}

AI-assisted analysis of nikivdev/code@a747e741ae (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/130b9bbd50131fba. Report an issue: GitHub.