sds/overcommit · error · Overcommit::Exceptions::InvalidGitRepo

Unable to determine location of GIT_DIR. Not a recognizable

Error message

Unable to determine location of GIT_DIR. Not a recognizable Git repository!

What it means

Error "Unable to determine location of GIT_DIR. Not a recognizable Git repository!" thrown in sds/overcommit.

Source

Thrown at lib/overcommit/utils.rb:51

      attr_accessor :log

      def script_path(script)
        File.join(Overcommit::HOME, 'libexec', script)
      end

      # Returns an absolute path to the root of the repository.
      #
      # We do this ourselves rather than call `git rev-parse --show-toplevel` to
      # solve an issue where the .git directory might not actually be valid in
      # tests.
      #
      # @return [String]
      def repo_root
        @repo_root ||=
          begin
            result = execute(%w[git rev-parse --show-toplevel])
            unless result.success?
              raise Overcommit::Exceptions::InvalidGitRepo,
                    'Unable to determine location of GIT_DIR. ' \
                    'Not a recognizable Git repository!'
            end
            result.stdout.chomp("\n")
          end
      end

      # Returns an absolute path to the .git directory for a repo.
      #
      # @return [String]
      def git_dir
        @git_dir ||=
          begin
            cmd = %w[git rev-parse]
            cmd << (GIT_VERSION < '2.5' ? '--git-dir' : '--git-common-dir')
            result = execute(cmd)
            unless result.success?
              raise Overcommit::Exceptions::InvalidGitRepo,

View on GitHub (pinned to fee0cd74b2)

Solutions

1. Run the command from inside a valid Git repository (or a subdirectory of one).
2. Verify `git rev-parse --show-toplevel` succeeds in the directory; fix or re-clone the repository if it is corrupt.
3. For non-standard layouts, set GIT_DIR and GIT_WORK_TREE environment variables appropriately.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at lib/overcommit/utils.rb:51 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/a8170bf0cf3219d7. Report an issue: GitHub.