Fork this repository” fails in file-creation interface while direct /fork succeeds

[sm-shaw]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

Body

Description

The Fork this repository button displayed by GitHub when attempting to create a file in a repository without direct write access fails with:

An unexpected error occurred. Please try again.

Normal repository forking remains functional. Opening the repository’s direct /fork URL successfully creates the fork.

This appears to be a problem with GitHub’s combined “create fork and continue editing” operation, rather than the repository’s permissions or the user’s ability to create a fork.

Repository

https://github.com/TPC-Council/hammerdb-results

Steps to reproduce

1. Sign in with a GitHub account that does not have direct write access to the repository.

2. Follow a link that opens GitHub’s file-creation interface for the upstream repository.

3. GitHub displays:

   You need to fork this repository to propose changes.

4. Click Fork this repository.

5. GitHub displays:

   An unexpected error occurred. Please try again.

6. No fork is created and the file-creation process cannot continue.

Expected behaviour

GitHub should create a fork under the user’s account and continue to the file-creation interface in that fork.

Actual behaviour

The operation fails with an unexpected error and does not create the fork.

Workaround

Creating the fork directly succeeds:

https://github.com/TPC-Council/hammerdb-results/fork

This confirms that:

• The repository permits forking.
• The user is permitted to create the fork.
• The failure is specific to the Fork this repository action in the file-creation interface.

Reproduction and investigation

The problem has been reproduced:

• By multiple GitHub accounts.
• In multiple browsers.
• By a repository maintainer after observing another user encounter the problem.
• After checking the relevant repository and account permissions.
• While the direct /fork operation continued to work correctly.

The issue is being tracked in the affected repository:

TPC-Council/hammerdb-results#7

Related reports

A previous GitHub Community report describes the same unexpected error when using the GitHub web interface:

https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/185908

That report was closed after the problem temporarily started working again. The current reproductions indicate that the problem has persisted or recurred.

The following unrelated repository discussion shows the identical You need to fork this repository to propose changes page and unexpected error:

is-a-dev/register#31745

The workaround reported there is also to use the repository’s direct /fork URL.

Summary

This is not a general failure to fork a repository. Direct forking works consistently. The failure occurs specifically when GitHub attempts to create a fork from the file-creation interface and then continue the proposed change.

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