pcottle/learnGitBranching · error · GitError

git-error-args-many (upper: {}, what: git {method})

Error message

git-error-args-many (upper: {}, what: git {method})

What it means

The upper-bound half of validateArgBounds(): when args.length > upper it throws GitError('git-error-args-many') formatted with the upper bound and the command description. This caps how many positional arguments a git/hg command accepts.

Source

Thrown at src/js/models/commandModel.js:252

  validateArgBounds(args, lower, upper, option) {
    var what = (option === undefined) ?
      'git ' + this.get('method') :
      this.get('method') + ' ' + option + ' ';
    what = 'with ' + what;

    if (args.length < lower) {
      throw new GitError({
        msg: intl.str(
          'git-error-args-few',
          {
            lower: String(lower),
            what: what
          }
        )
      });
    }
    if (args.length > upper) {
      throw new GitError({
        msg: intl.str(
          'git-error-args-many',
          {
            upper: String(upper),
            what: what
          }
        )
      });
    }
  }

  validateAtInit() {
    if (this.get('rawStr') === null) {
      throw new Error('Give me a string!');
    }
    if (!this.get('createTime')) {
      this.set('createTime', new Date().toString());
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to 5b09d0ff96)

Solutions

1. Remove the extra arguments so only the documented count remains
2. Quote multi-word arguments so they parse as a single general arg
3. If writing a shim, ensure option values aren't also pushed into general args before bounds validation

Example fix

// before
git push origin main extra
// after
git push origin main

if (args.length > upper) { reject(`too many arguments; max ${upper}`); }

function withinBounds(args, lower, upper) {
  return args.length >= lower && args.length <= upper;
}

try { command.validateArgBounds(args, lower, upper); } catch (e) { if (e instanceof GitError && /many/.test(e.msg)) { trimArgsHint(); } else throw e; }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling validateArgBounds() with more arguments than allowed — e.g. a two-arg command given three: `git rebase arg1 arg2 arg3`, or delegating shims that concatenate option values into general args.

Common situations: Paste errors with extra tokens; option values (like -r values) being double-counted as general args in hg shims; commands where quotes were lost so one arg splits into several.

Related errors

• git-error-no-general-args
• git-error-args-few (lower: {}, what: git {method})
• Bad numeric argument: ' + generalArgs[1]
• --delete doesn't make sense without any refs

AI-assisted analysis of pcottle/learnGitBranching@5b09d0ff96 (2026-08-27). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4f238318909a381c. Report an issue: GitHub.