sds/overcommit · error · ArgumentError

#{link_name} is not a symlink

Error message

#{link_name} is not a symlink

What it means

Error "#{link_name} is not a symlink" thrown in sds/overcommit.

Source

Thrown at lib/overcommit/utils/file_utils.rb:40

      # `File.symlink`.
      def symlink?(file_name)
        return File.symlink?(file_name) unless Overcommit::OS.windows?

        result = win32_dir_cmd(file_name)
        win32_symlink?(result.stdout)
      end

      # When the host OS is Windows, uses the `dir` command to check whether
      # `link_name` is an NTFS symbolic link. If so, it parses the target from
      # the command output. Otherwise raises an `ArgumentError`. Delegates to
      # `File.readlink` if the host OS is not Windows.
      def readlink(link_name)
        return File.readlink(link_name) unless Overcommit::OS.windows?

        result = win32_dir_cmd(link_name)

        unless win32_symlink?(result.stdout)
          raise ArgumentError, "#{link_name} is not a symlink"
        end

        # Extract symlink target from output, which looks like:
        #   11/13/2012 12:53 AM <SYMLINK> mysymlink [C:\Windows\Temp\somefile.txt]
        result.stdout[/\[(.+)\]/, 1]
      end

      private

      def win32_dir_cmd(file_name)
        Overcommit::Subprocess.spawn(
          %W[dir #{win32_fix_pathsep(file_name)}]
        )
      end

      def win32_mklink_cmd(old_name, new_name)
        Overcommit::Subprocess.spawn(
          %W[mklink #{win32_fix_pathsep(new_name)} #{win32_fix_pathsep(old_name)}]

View on GitHub (pinned to fee0cd74b2)

Solutions

1. Ensure the path expected to be an Overcommit hook link is actually a symlink before operating on it.
2. If a regular file exists where the hook symlink should be, move or remove it and rerun `overcommit --install`.
3. Use `overcommit --uninstall` to remove hooks cleanly instead of replacing symlinks with real files.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at lib/overcommit/utils/file_utils.rb:40 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of sds/overcommit@fee0cd74b2 (2026-08-23). Data as JSON: /api/errors/594dc22b6b76d84e. Report an issue: GitHub.