Troubleshooting Git

Problems with git itself, and how to fix them: git not found, hooks that fail, signing in to a server, and the errors git reports. Nibtree runs your own git for every change, so most fixes are the same as in the Terminal. Problems with the app are on Troubleshooting.

"Could not start git"

Nibtree runs your own git for every change. It looks in /opt/homebrew/bin, /usr/local/bin and /usr/bin, then in your PATH. If git is missing, you may still see your changes, but committing, pushing and similar fail with a note such as Commit failed and "Could not start git" followed by the command.

Install git, for example with xcode-select --install (Apple's command line tools) or brew install git, then try again.

Hooks fail with "command not found"

PATH is the list of folders where programs are looked up. Apps started from the Dock get a very short PATH, so tools like node, npx or husky used by hooks go missing. Nibtree asks your login shell for the real PATH the first time it runs git. A login shell is your shell started the way it is when you log in, reading your profile files.

A login shell does not read ~/.zshrc. If you add tools to your PATH only there (common with nvm), move those lines to ~/.zprofile, then quit and reopen Nibtree. On Windows, Nibtree uses the PATH Windows gives it; after installing a tool, quit and reopen Nibtree.

Push, pull or fetch fails to sign in

Nibtree never shows a password prompt, because it cannot answer one. You may see git messages like "terminal prompts disabled" or "could not read Username". Set up sign-in so it works without typing:

• HTTPS: use a credential helper, for example git config --global credential.helper osxkeychain, then push once in the Terminal so the keychain stores your token. For GitHub, gh auth login from the GitHub CLI sets this up for you.
• SSH: add your key to the agent and keychain, for example ssh-add --apple-use-keychain ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.
• On Windows, Git for Windows comes with Git Credential Manager: push once in a terminal and sign in when it asks, and it remembers you.

Test in the Terminal with git fetch. If it works there without asking anything, it works in Nibtree too.

Signed commits have the same catch: a GPG passphrase needs a graphical prompt such as pinentry-mac.

Other git errors

When git refuses something, its own message is shown. A few common ones:

• Checkout refuses because your changes would be overwritten: commit or stash them first.
• Push rejected because the server has newer commits: pull first. After a rebase or amend, use Git > Force Push..., or tick Force push (--force-with-lease) in Git > Push.... See Remotes.
• "Cannot push a detached HEAD": create a branch first.
• "This repository has no remote to push to": add one in Git > Manage Remotes..., or with git remote add origin <url>.
• "No local changes to stash": there is nothing to put aside. If you only have new files, tick Include untracked files.

A commit from blame is not found

"Commit is not in the loaded history" means the Log could not find that commit in the history it shows. Turn on All branches in the Log toolbar and try again. See History and Log.

Related

• Troubleshooting
• Remotes
• Git Menu
• Changes and Commits