paperclipai/paperclip · error

git index lock exists at ${indexLockPath}

Error message

git index lock exists at ${indexLockPath}

What it means

assertGitIndexIsUnlocked found an existing .git/index.lock in the worktree, meaning another git process holds the index. Safe-repair operations refuse to run concurrently with an active git operation to avoid corrupting the index.

Source

Thrown at server/src/services/workspace-runtime.ts:1272

  }

  const activeService = await findActiveRuntimeServiceBlockingDirtyQuarantine({
    db: input.db,
    workspace,
  });
  if (!activeService) return;

  input.evidence.safeRepair.eligible = false;
  input.evidence.safeRepair.reason =
    `dirty quarantine repair requires runtime service "${activeService.serviceName}" (${activeService.id}) to be stopped; current status is ${activeService.status}`;
  throw branchIncoherenceValidationFailure(input.evidence);
}

async function assertGitIndexIsUnlocked(worktreePath: string) {
  const indexLockPath = await runGit(["rev-parse", "--git-path", "index.lock"], worktreePath)
    .catch(() => null);
  if (indexLockPath && existsSync(indexLockPath)) {
    throw new Error(`git index lock exists at ${indexLockPath}`);
  }
}

function fingerprintWorkspaceBranchIncoherence(input: {
  sourceIssueId: string | null;
  executionWorkspaceId: string | null;
  worktreePath: string;
  expectedBranch: string;
  actualBranch: string | null;
  cleanliness: GitWorktreeCleanliness;
  expectedHeadSha: string | null;
  actualHeadSha: string | null;
}) {
  const digest = createHash("sha256")
    .update(stableStringify({
      version: 1,
      reason: GIT_WORKTREE_BRANCH_INCOHERENCE_REASON,
      sourceIssueId: input.sourceIssueId,

View on GitHub (pinned to a7e689b3c3)

Solutions

1. A git index lock exists, likely from a crashed git process. Verify no git process is running, then remove the .git/index.lock file and retry.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at server/src/services/workspace-runtime.ts:1232 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of paperclipai/paperclip@a7e689b3c3 (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/97ec69144f563008. Report an issue: GitHub.