plandex-ai/plandex · warning

no commits found before time: %s

Error message

no commits found before time: %s

What it means

GetLatestCommitShaBeforeTime looks up the most recent commit whose timestamp is before a given time and parses the sha from git log output split on '@@|@@'. When the command output is empty — meaning git found no matching commits — the function returns this error with the formatted cutoff time. It signals 'nothing in history before this timestamp' rather than an exec failure.

Source

Thrown at app/server/db/git.go:258

	cmd := exec.Command("git", "-C", dir, "log", "-n", "1",
		"--before="+gitFormattedTime,
		"--pretty=%h@@|@@%B@>>>@")
	log.Printf("ADMIN - Executing command: %s", cmd.String())
	res, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
	if err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("error getting latest commit before time for dir: %s, err: %v, output: %s", dir, err, string(res))
	}

	// log.Printf("ADMIN - git log res: %s", string(res))

	output := strings.TrimSpace(string(res))

	// history := processGitHistoryOutput(strings.TrimSpace(string(res)))

	// log.Printf("ADMIN - History: %v", history)

	if output == "" {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("no commits found before time: %s", before.Format("2006-01-02T15:04:05Z"))
	}

	sha = strings.Split(output, "@@|@@")[0]
	return sha, nil
}

func (repo *GitRepo) GitListBranches() ([]string, error) {
	orgId := repo.orgId
	planId := repo.planId

	dir := getPlanDir(orgId, planId)

	var out bytes.Buffer
	cmd := exec.Command("git", "branch", "--format=%(refname:short)")
	cmd.Dir = dir
	cmd.Stdout = &out
	err := cmd.Run()
	if err != nil {

View on GitHub (pinned to e2d772072e)

Solutions

1. Verify the `before` timestamp is in the expected timezone/format (compare against `git log --date=iso` output for the repo).
2. Call only with times after the repo's earliest commit; clamp to the first commit's date if the caller needs 'the oldest available'.
3. Handle the empty-history case explicitly in the caller (treat as 'no prior version') instead of treating it as an exception where appropriate.
4. If the repo should have history, check you are pointing at the right repo dir and that HEAD exists (`git log -1`).

Example fix

// before
sha, err := GetLatestCommitShaBeforeTime(repoDir, before)
// after (guard in caller)
firstCommitTime := getFirstCommitTime(repoDir)
if before.Before(firstCommitTime) {
    return ErrNoCommitBeforeTime // handle as expected-empty, not failure
}
sha, err := GetLatestCommitShaBeforeTime(repoDir, before)

func hasHistoryBefore(repoDir string, before time.Time) bool {
    out, err := exec.Command("git", "-C", repoDir, "rev-list", "-n", "1", "--before="+before.Format(time.RFC3339), "HEAD").Output()
    return err == nil && len(out) > 0
}

sha, err := GetLatestCommitShaBeforeTime(repoDir, before)
if err != nil && strings.HasPrefix(err.Error(), "no commits found before time") {
    // expected for very old cutoffs or empty repos: fall back to oldest commit or empty diff
    sha, err = getOldestCommitSha(repoDir)
    if err != nil {
        return "", nil // no history at all
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling GetLatestCommitShaBeforeTime with a `before` time earlier than the repository's first commit, or on a repo with no commits at all; also when the git log invocation silently produces no output (empty/corrupt repo).

Common situations: Caller passes a wrong timezone-formatted time (e.g. an unconverted local vs UTC time making `before` land before repo creation); brand-new plan repo with no history; caller miscomputes the cutoff for pagination/rewind.

Related errors

• error getting git root: %s
• error getting git status: %s
• error getting files in git repo: %s
• error getting untracked files in git repo: %s
• failed to commit changes: %s

AI-assisted analysis of plandex-ai/plandex@e2d772072e (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a0fddad2779b1e40. Report an issue: GitHub.