zed-industries/zed · error

git ls-files failed in {} with status {}: {}

Error message

git ls-files failed in {} with status {}: {}

What it means

Bailed when `git ls-files` executed inside a worktree exits with a non-zero status; the exit status and trimmed stderr are included in the message. The BM25 context builder runs this to enumerate tracked files, so any git-level failure — not a repository, dubious ownership, corrupted index — surfaces here before any context can be built.

Source

Thrown at crates/edit_prediction_context/src/bm25_context.rs:379

}

async fn git_ls_files(worktree_abs_path: &Path) -> Result<Vec<PathBuf>> {
    let output = new_command("git")
        .arg("ls-files")
        .arg("-z")
        .current_dir(worktree_abs_path)
        .output()
        .await
        .with_context(|| {
            format!(
                "failed to run git ls-files in {}",
                worktree_abs_path.display()
            )
        })?;

    if !output.status.success() {
        let stderr = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr);
        bail!(
            "git ls-files failed in {} with status {}: {}",
            worktree_abs_path.display(),
            output.status,
            stderr.trim()
        );
    }

    let output =
        String::from_utf8(output.stdout).context("git ls-files output was not valid UTF-8")?;
    Ok(output
        .split('\0')
        .filter(|path| !path.is_empty())
        .map(PathBuf::from)
        .collect())
}

fn documents_for_file(
    worktree_abs_path: &Path,

View on GitHub (pinned to f4178619ac)

Solutions

1. Run `git -C <worktree> ls-files` manually to see the underlying git error
2. For dubious ownership: `git config --global --add safe.directory <worktree-path>`
3. Confirm the path is a worktree: `git -C <worktree> rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree`
4. Ensure git is installed and reachable from the environment the helper inherits

let ok = std::process::Command::new("git")
    .args(["-C", worktree.to_str().unwrap(), "rev-parse", "--is-inside-work-tree"])
    .output()
    .map(|o| o.status.success())
    .unwrap_or(false);
if !ok { /* skip BM25 context for this worktree instead of failing */ }

Catch the bail, log the embedded git stderr, and degrade to serving the request without BM25 file-list context rather than failing the whole context lookup.

When it happens

Trigger: worktree_abs_path is not a git worktree; git refuses the repo with 'detected dubious ownership' (safe.directory); a corrupted .git/index; git not resolvable from the process environment.

Common situations: Pointing the context helper at a plain extracted directory (no .git); CI containers where the repo is owned by a different UID; spawned processes with a restricted PATH that can't find git.

Related errors

• git log failed in {} with status {}: {}
• git merge-base --is-ancestor failed
• too many arguments
• git status failed: {stderr}
• git diff-tree failed: {stderr}

AI-assisted analysis of zed-industries/zed@f4178619ac (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c9447862dcae58e5. Report an issue: GitHub.