nikivdev/code · error

Not a git repository

Error message

Not a git repository

What it means

The git_dir locator runs `git rev-parse --git-dir`; if git exits non-zero the caller is not inside a git repository, so it bails with 'Not a git repository'. This validates the environment before any repo-relative path resolution.

Source

Thrown at src/jj.rs:3578

        .output();
    match output {
        Ok(out) => String::from_utf8_lossy(&out.stdout)
            .lines()
            .filter(|l| !l.trim().is_empty())
            .map(|l| l.trim().to_string())
            .collect(),
        Err(_) => Vec::new(),
    }
}

fn git_dir(repo_root: &Path) -> Result<PathBuf> {
    let output = Command::new("git")
        .current_dir(repo_root)
        .args(["rev-parse", "--git-dir"])
        .output()
        .context("failed to locate git directory")?;
    if !output.status.success() {
        bail!("Not a git repository");
    }
    let raw = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stdout).trim().to_string();
    let dir = PathBuf::from(raw);
    if dir.is_absolute() {
        Ok(dir)
    } else {
        Ok(repo_root.join(dir))
    }
}

fn workspace_default_path(repo_root: &Path, name: &str) -> Result<PathBuf> {
    let home = std::env::var("HOME").context("HOME not set")?;
    let repo_name = repo_root
        .file_name()
        .and_then(|n| n.to_str())
        .unwrap_or("repo");
    Ok(PathBuf::from(home)
        .join(".jj")

View on GitHub (pinned to a747e741ae)

Solutions

1. cd into your project checkout (the one containing .git / the jj colocated repo) and re-run the command.
2. Verify `git rev-parse --git-dir` succeeds manually in that directory.
3. If .git is genuinely missing, re-clone or restore the repo before using flow.

Example fix

// before
cd ~ && flow sync   # Not a git repository
// after
cd ~/code/my-project   # inside the repo
flow sync

// shell
git rev-parse --git-dir >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "run from inside the repository" >&2; exit 1; }

When it happens

Trigger: Any command that resolves the git dir (run from an unexpected cwd) executes `git rev-parse --git-dir` outside a work tree or in a repo where git fails (corrupt config, missing .git).

Common situations: Running flow from a subdirectory outside the repo, from $HOME, or in a checkout where .git was deleted; PATH lacking a working git binary causing spawn/context errors upstream; GIT_DIR env pointing at a nonexistent location.

Related errors

• failed to resolve git repo root
• git repo root was empty
• Not a git repository
• not inside a git repository
• git config --global {} failed

AI-assisted analysis of nikivdev/code@a747e741ae (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4e08d0bf47834fc5. Report an issue: GitHub.