usestrix/strix · error · ValueError

Diff-scope is active, but no Git repositories were found. Us

Error message

Diff-scope is active, but no Git repositories were found. Use --scope-mode full to disable diff-scope for this run.

What it means

Thrown when diff-scope is explicitly requested (mode 'diff') but none of the provided local sources produced a RepoDiffScope — every source was skipped because it was not a Git repository, or repo-level diff computation failed. In 'auto' mode the same situation returns inactive instead of raising; only explicit 'diff' mode errors. The message points at --scope-mode full as the escape hatch.

Source

Thrown at strix/interface/utils.py:1075

            continue
        try:
            repo_scopes.append(_resolve_repo_diff_scope(source, diff_base, env_map))
        except ValueError as e:
            if scope_mode == "auto":
                skipped_diff_scope.append(f"{source_path} (diff-scope skipped: {e})")
                continue
            raise

    if not repo_scopes:
        if scope_mode == "auto":
            metadata: dict[str, Any] = {"active": False, "mode": scope_mode}
            if skipped_non_git:
                metadata["skipped_non_git_sources"] = skipped_non_git
            if skipped_diff_scope:
                metadata["skipped_diff_scope_sources"] = skipped_diff_scope
            return DiffScopeResult(active=False, mode=scope_mode, metadata=metadata)

        raise ValueError(
            "Diff-scope is active, but no Git repositories were found. "
            "Use --scope-mode full to disable diff-scope for this run."
        )

    instruction_block = build_diff_scope_instruction(repo_scopes)
    metadata = {
        "active": True,
        "mode": scope_mode,
        "repos": [scope.to_metadata() for scope in repo_scopes],
        "total_repositories": len(repo_scopes),
        "total_analyzable_files": sum(len(scope.analyzable_files) for scope in repo_scopes),
        "total_deleted_files": sum(len(scope.deleted_files) for scope in repo_scopes),
    }
    if skipped_non_git:
        metadata["skipped_non_git_sources"] = skipped_non_git
    if skipped_diff_scope:
        metadata["skipped_diff_scope_sources"] = skipped_diff_scope

View on GitHub (pinned to 8551339130)

Solutions

Run with --scope-mode full if you do not actually need diff-limited scanning.
Verify each target directory is a Git repo: ls <path>/.git (or git -C <path> status).
Check that diff_base names a ref that exists in every target repo (git -C <path> rev-parse --verify <diff_base>).
Use --scope-mode auto so non-Git sources cause graceful deactivation with metadata instead of an error.

Example fix

# CLI - before
strix -n -t ./my-folder --scope-mode diff --diff-base main

# CLI - after (folder is not a git repo)
strix -n -t ./my-folder --scope-mode full

Defensive patterns

Strategy: fallback

Validate before calling

import subprocess

def all_targets_are_git(paths: list[str], diff_base: str) -> bool:
    for p in paths:
        try:
            subprocess.run(["git", "-C", p, "rev-parse", "--verify", diff_base],
                           check=True, capture_output=True)
        except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
            return False
    return True

if scope_mode == "diff" and not all_targets_are_git(paths, diff_base or "main"):
    scope_mode = "full"

Type guard

from pathlib import Path

def is_git_working_copy(path: str) -> bool:
    return (Path(path) / ".git").exists()

Try / catch

try:
    result = resolve_diff_scope_context(sources, "diff", base, non_interactive)
except ValueError as e:
    if "no Git repositories were found" in str(e):
        result = resolve_diff_scope_context(sources, "full", None, non_interactive)
    else:
        raise

Prevention

Prefer --scope-mode auto unless diff-scope is mandatory for the workflow
Confirm each target has a .git dir and the diff_base ref exists before the run
Check result.metadata['skipped_non_git_sources'] / ['skipped_diff_scope_sources'] in auto mode to see why repos were skipped

When it happens

Trigger: scope_mode='diff' with local_sources whose paths are all non-Git directories (skipped_non_git populated), or whose git diff computation against diff_base raised/produced nothing (skipped_diff_scope populated) so repo_scopes stays empty.

Common situations: Pointing the scan at a folder that was copied out of Git (no .git directory); using a diff_base that does not exist in any of the repos (e.g. default branch name mismatch like main vs master); nested worktrees or submodules the check cannot handle.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of usestrix/strix@8551339130 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c65653e10aa0e646. Report an issue: GitHub.