phacility/phabricator · warning · PhutilArgumentUsageException

No commits have been discovered in the "%s" repository!

Error message

No commits have been discovered in the "%s" repository!

What it means

After loading the repository, reparse runs a DiffusionCommitQuery (optionally filtered by `--min-date` epoch range and `--importing`) and requires a non-empty commit set. A repository with zero discovered commits — or where every commit is excluded by the filters — raises this PhutilArgumentUsageException.

Source

Thrown at src/applications/repository/management/PhabricatorRepositoryManagementReparseWorkflow.php:175

          pht('Unknown repository "%s"!', $all_from_repo));
      }

      $query = id(new DiffusionCommitQuery())
        ->setViewer(PhabricatorUser::getOmnipotentUser())
        ->withRepository($repository);

      if ($min_timestamp) {
        $query->withEpochRange($min_timestamp, null);
      }

      if ($importing) {
        $query->withImporting(true);
      }

      $commits = $query->execute();

      if (!$commits) {
        throw new PhutilArgumentUsageException(
          pht(
            'No commits have been discovered in the "%s" repository!',
            $repository->getDisplayName()));
      }
    } else {
      $commits = $this->loadNamedCommits($reparse_what);
    }

    if (!$background) {
      PhabricatorWorker::setRunAllTasksInProcess(true);
    }

    $progress = new PhutilConsoleProgressBar();
    $progress->setTotal(count($commits));

    $tasks = array();
    foreach ($commits as $commit) {
      $repository = $commit->getRepository();

View on GitHub (pinned to 5720a38cfe)

Solutions

1. Confirm the repository actually has commits in Diffusion (or repository_commit rows); if empty, run `./bin/repository discover R` and `./bin/repository pull R` first.
2. Loosen or remove `--min-date` so the epoch range includes existing commits.
3. Drop `--importing` when the repository is fully imported, since nothing will match that filter.

Example fix

# before
./bin/repository reparse --all R --importing   # R fully imported already
# Usage exception: No commits have been discovered in the "R" repository!

# after: either discover new commits first, or target specific steps without --importing
./bin/repository discover R && ./bin/repository reparse --all R --importing
./bin/repository reparse --all R --message

# Check the repository has commits (and importing ones if using --importing) first
count=$(mysql -N -B phabricator_repository -e \
  "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM repository_commit WHERE repositoryID = <id>")
[ "$count" -gt 0 ] || { echo "no commits discovered yet; run discover" >&2; exit 1; }
./bin/repository discover R
./bin/repository reparse --all R --importing

When it happens

Trigger: `--all R` on a brand-new repository whose discovery has not run or found anything yet; `--min-date` set after the newest commit so the epoch filter excludes everything; `--importing` on a fully imported repository where nothing matches.

Common situations: Reparse immediately after creating a repository before the daemons discover commits; overly recent `--min-date` values; `--importing` used as a no-op check on finished imports.

Related errors

• Unknown commit "%s"!
• Specify a commit or repository to reparse.
• Specify a commit or repository to reparse, not both: All fro
• Choosing steps with "--importing" conflicts with flags which
• Specify which steps to reparse with "--message", "--change",

AI-assisted analysis of phacility/phabricator@5720a38cfe (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8cc786470c5e369c. Report an issue: GitHub.