nikivdev/code · error

git {} failed: {}

Error message

git {} failed: {}

What it means

Raised by a git helper in src/sync.rs when a git command fails and stderr/stdout produced a non-empty diagnostic. The message is `git <args> failed: <detail>` where detail is the trimmed combined stdout and stderr, giving the developer the actual git error text. This is the detail-bearing variant of the git failure error (918).

Source

Thrown at src/sync.rs:5135

    let output = Command::new("git")
        .current_dir(repo_root)
        .args(args)
        .output()
        .context("failed to run git")?;

    if output.status.success() {
        return Ok(());
    }

    let stdout = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stdout);
    let stderr = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr);
    let detail = format!("{}\n{}", stdout.trim(), stderr.trim())
        .trim()
        .to_string();
    if detail.is_empty() {
        bail!("git {} failed", args.join(" "));
    }
    bail!("git {} failed: {}", args.join(" "), detail);
}

fn restore_stash_result(
    repo_root: &Path,
    auto_stash_state: &AutoStashState,
    allow_autofix: bool,
) -> Result<()> {
    restore_stash_result_with_packet_dir(repo_root, auto_stash_state, allow_autofix, None)
}

fn restore_stash_result_with_packet_dir(
    repo_root: &Path,
    auto_stash_state: &AutoStashState,
    allow_autofix: bool,
    packet_dir_override: Option<&Path>,
) -> Result<()> {
    if !auto_stash_state.stashed {
        return Ok(());

View on GitHub (pinned to a747e741ae)

Solutions

1. Read the embedded `detail` text to identify the exact git error
2. Run the failing `git <args>` command manually for full context
3. Fix the underlying git issue (resolve conflicts, fetch missing refs, fix credentials) and retry the sync
4. Check repo state with `git status` before re-running the sync

Example fix

// before: failing state, e.g. missing remote ref
$ git fetch origin nonexistent-branch
// error: git fetch origin nonexistent-branch failed: fatal: ...
// after: use an existing ref
$ git fetch origin main

// preflight: clean, connected repo reduces git failures
let st = std::process::Command::new("git").args(["status", "--porcelain"]).output()?;
if !String::from_utf8_lossy(&st.stdout).is_empty() {
    eprintln!("Working tree dirty; commit or stash before sync");
}
let remote = std::process::Command::new("git").args(["remote"]).output()?;
if String::from_utf8_lossy(&remote.stdout).is_empty() {
    eprintln!("No git remote configured; fetch/pull-based sync will fail");
}

match sync_result {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("failed: ") && e.to_string().starts_with("git ") => {
        // detail after 'failed: ' is git's own stderr/stdout
        eprintln!("{e}");
    }
    other => other?,
}

When it happens

Trigger: A git invocation in the sync flow exits non-zero with at least one non-empty stdout/stderr line; that line becomes `detail` in the error message.

Common situations: Merge conflicts, missing refs/branches, detached or dirty state blocking operations, authentication failures on fetch/push, or bad arguments constructed by sync code.

Understand the failure class

Background: "git command failed": what it means when a tool shells out to git and git exits non-zero — this error's family across 21 libraries.

Related errors

• {} {} failed: {}
• git {} failed
• Unmerged files detected. Resolve them before syncing.
• Sync agent cleared raw conflicts for {} but validation and m
• Merge conflicts with {}. Run `:sync repair --packet {}` or r

AI-assisted analysis of nikivdev/code@a747e741ae (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6adf169f0980be7a. Report an issue: GitHub.