rectorphp/rector · error · VersionException

You must ensure to run compile from composer git repository

Error message

You must ensure to run compile from composer git repository clone and that git binary is available.

What it means

VersionResolver::resolverReleaseDateTime() runs `git log -n1 --pretty=%ci HEAD` during the compile step to bake the RELEASE_DATE constant into the built phar. A non-zero exit code from git throws VersionException. Like the other VersionResolver errors, this only affects building Rector itself from source, not running an installed Rector.

Source

Thrown at src/Application/VersionResolver.php:56

        }
        if ($tagExecOutput !== []) {
            $tag = $tagExecOutput[0];
            if ($tag !== '') {
                return $tag;
            }
        }
        exec('git log --pretty="%H" -n1 HEAD', $commitHashExecOutput, $commitHashResultCode);
        if ($commitHashResultCode !== 0) {
            throw new VersionException('Ensure to run compile from composer git repository clone and that git binary is available.');
        }
        $version = trim($commitHashExecOutput[0]);
        return trim($version, '"');
    }
    public static function resolverReleaseDateTime(): DateTime
    {
        exec('git log -n1 --pretty=%ci HEAD', $output, $resultCode);
        if ($resultCode !== self::SUCCESS_CODE) {
            throw new VersionException('You must ensure to run compile from composer git repository clone and that git binary is available.');
        }
        return new DateTime(trim($output[0]));
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 408fcb0ff1)

Solutions

Run the compile from inside a complete git clone with git available: git clone ... && build there
Install git in the build container and confirm git log -n1 --pretty=%ci HEAD works
Keep the .git directory in the build context (do not add it to .dockerignore for the compile stage)
For safe.directory errors, run git config --global --add safe.directory <path>

Example fix

# before: Docker build stage copies source without .git
COPY rector-src/ /app/  # .git excluded
RUN php compile.php  # VersionException

# after: clone inside the build stage
RUN git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/rectorphp/rector.git /app/rector
RUN php /app/rector/compile.php

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

exec('git log -n1 --pretty=%ci HEAD', $date, $code);
if ($code !== 0) {
    exit('Cannot resolve release date: build outside a git clone or git unavailable');
}

Try / catch

catch \Rector\Exception\VersionException during compile; treat as environment failure (no .git / no git) and abort the packaging job with a clear cause instead of shipping a broken build.

Prevention

Keep .git in the compile stage (do not strip it in Docker COPY)
Pin a working git binary in the build image
Test the full compile path in CI regularly so environment drift is caught early

When it happens

Trigger: Calling resolverReleaseDateTime() (directly or via the compile script) where git cannot run: no .git directory (zip/tarball export), git missing from PATH, git blocked by sandbox policy, or corrupted repository metadata.

Common situations: Packaging Rector into a custom phar in a Docker stage that strips .git; minimal alpine build images without git; automated release tooling running outside the clone.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of rectorphp/rector@408fcb0ff1 (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/43c70e2f8b0ad601. Report an issue: GitHub.