plandex-ai/plandex · error

error checking for uncommitted changes: %v, output: %s

Error message

error checking for uncommitted changes: %v, output: %s

What it means

CheckUncommittedChanges runs `git status --porcelain` (from the process working directory) and errors if that command fails. The error embeds git's exit error and combined output. Note it runs without `-C`, so it depends on the current working directory being a repository.

Source

Thrown at app/cli/lib/git.go:100

		args = append(args, paths...)
	}

	res, err := exec.Command("git", args...).CombinedOutput()
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("error committing files to git repository for dir: %s, err: %v, output: %s", repoDir, err, string(res))
	}

	return nil
}

func CheckUncommittedChanges() (bool, error) {
	gitMutex.Lock()
	defer gitMutex.Unlock()

	// Check if there are any changes
	res, err := exec.Command("git", "status", "--porcelain").CombinedOutput()
	if err != nil {
		return false, fmt.Errorf("error checking for uncommitted changes: %v, output: %s", err, string(res))
	}

	// If there's output, there are uncommitted changes
	return strings.TrimSpace(string(res)) != "", nil
}

func GitStashCreate(message string) error {
	gitMutex.Lock()
	defer gitMutex.Unlock()

	res, err := exec.Command("git", "stash", "push", "--include-untracked", "-m", message).CombinedOutput()
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("error creating git stash: %v, output: %s", err, string(res))
	}

	return nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to e2d772072e)

Solutions

1. Read the output in the message — 'not a git repository' means chdir into the repo (or os.Chdir) before calling.
2. Verify git is installed: `git --version`; install git in the container/host.
3. Run the process from the repository root or a subdirectory of it.
4. Check GIT_DIR/GIT_WORK_TREE env overrides aren't pointing to wrong locations.
5. If .git is corrupted, re-clone or restore the repository.

Example fix

// before: called from arbitrary cwd
hasChanges, err := lib.CheckUncommittedChanges()
// after: ensure repo root first
os.Chdir(projectRoot)
hasChanges, err := lib.CheckUncommittedChanges()

// Go: ensure cwd is inside a repo before calling
out, err := exec.Command("git", "rev-parse", "--is-inside-work-tree").Output()
if err != nil || strings.TrimSpace(string(out)) != "true" {
    os.Chdir(projectRoot)
}

func isStatusCheckError(err error) bool {
    return err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "error checking for uncommitted changes")
}

hasChanges, err := lib.CheckUncommittedChanges()
if err != nil {
    if isStatusCheckError(err) && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "not a git repository") {
        os.Chdir(repoRoot)
        hasChanges, err = lib.CheckUncommittedChanges()
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling CheckUncommittedChanges() while the process working directory is not inside a git repository, git is not installed/on PATH, the .git directory is corrupted, or GIT_DIR/GIT_WORK_TREE env vars point somewhere invalid.

Common situations: Running the CLI from outside the project directory; running in a container image that lacks git; a detached or broken .git after a failed clone; git version too old to support a referenced option.

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 to commit changes: %s
• error adding files to git repository for dir: %s, err: %v, o
• error committing files to git repository for dir: %s, err: %
• error creating git stash: %v, output: %s
• error resetting staged changes | err: %v, output: %s

AI-assisted analysis of plandex-ai/plandex@e2d772072e (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3d5be919090b52b8. Report an issue: GitHub.