`git` is not available help: to still use `git` for fetching

Error message

`git` is not available
help: to still use `git` for fetching, please install it
help: to use Cargo's native git support, re-try with `net.git-fetch-with-cli = false`
https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/reference/config.html#netgit-fetch-with-cli

What it means

In `fetch_with_cli` (called by `fetch`), Cargo is configured to shell out to the `git` CLI for fetching (`net.git-fetch-with-cli = true`), but `git_version()` returned None because no usable `git` executable was found on PATH. Cargo aborts the fetch with guidance to install git or fall back to its native (gitoxide/libgit2) fetch support.

Source

Thrown at src/sources/git/utils.rs:1255

/// hatch for users that would prefer to use `git`-the-CLI for fetching
/// repositories instead of `libgit2`-the-library. This should make more
/// flavors of authentication possible while also still giving us all the
/// speed and portability of using `libgit2`.
///
/// [1]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/nightly/cargo/reference/config.html#netgit-fetch-with-cli
#[tracing::instrument(skip(repo, gctx))]
fn fetch_with_cli(
    repo: &git2::Repository,
    url: &str,
    refspecs: &[String],
    tags: bool,
    shallow: gix::remote::fetch::Shallow,
    gctx: &GlobalContext,
) -> CargoResult<()> {
    debug!(target: "git-fetch", backend = "git-cli");

    let Some(git_version) = git_version() else {
        anyhow::bail!(
            "`git` is not available
help: to still use `git` for fetching, please install it
help: to use Cargo's native git support, re-try with `net.git-fetch-with-cli = false`
https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/reference/config.html#netgit-fetch-with-cli"
        );
    };

    let mut cmd = ProcessBuilder::new("git");
    // Avoid potential for unused work that may also hang (#15775)
    cmd.arg("-c").arg("core.fsmonitor=false");
    // Avoid warnings with `--no-show-forced-updates`
    cmd.arg("-c").arg("advice.fetchShowForcedUpdates=false");
    // Have 429's retried in git, where supported
    let max_retries = gctx
        .net_config()?
        .retry
        .unwrap_or(network::retry::MAX_RETRY_DEFAULT);
    cmd.arg("-c").arg(format!("http.maxRetries={max_retries}"));

View on GitHub (pinned to 42eee92bc9)

Solutions

Install git (apt-get install git / choco install git / brew install git) or add its bin directory to PATH.
Set `net.git-fetch-with-cli = false` in .cargo/config.toml (or unset CARGO_NET_GIT_FETCH_WITH_CLI) to use Cargo's native git support.
Verify with `git --version` in the same shell/CI job that cargo runs in.
If git is intentionally unavailable, vendor dependencies (`cargo vendor`) to avoid network git fetches.

Example fix

// before (.cargo/config.toml)
[net]
git-fetch-with-cli = true
// after: either install git, or switch back to native fetch
[net]
git-fetch-with-cli = false

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

let have_git = std::process::Command::new("git").arg("--version").output().is_ok();
assert!(have_git, "git must be on PATH when net.git-fetch-with-cli = true");

Prevention

Install git as a base-layer step in all CI/Docker images that run cargo.
Only enable net.git-fetch-with-cli when private-registry auth actually requires it.
Prefer `cargo vendor` or a sparse registry for hermetic builds with no git dependency.
Run `git --version` as an early CI sanity check.

When it happens

Trigger: Running cargo fetch/build/update with `net.git-fetch-with-cli = true` in .cargo/config.toml (or CARGO_NET_GIT_FETCH_WITH_CLI=true) while the `git` binary is absent from PATH or not executable.

Common situations: CI containers/minimal Docker images without git installed; Windows machines without Git for Windows in PATH; restricted sandboxes where git was removed; typo'd PATH in CI environment.

Understand the failure class

Background: "not installed", "pip install", "required for": how missing-dependency errors surface across open-source libraries — this error's family across 34 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of rust-lang/cargo@42eee92bc9 (2026-09-08). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fda344b9d4ca944c. Report an issue: GitHub.