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Most commitdog errors are recoverable — when something goes wrong during a sync or push, commitdog detects the failure, explains what happened, and often offers to fix it automatically. This page covers the most common error scenarios, what causes them, and what to do when the automatic fix is not available or is not enough.
Keep commitdog up to date. Many issues are fixed in newer releases. Run commitdog --update to install the latest version — it checks GitHub for the newest release, downloads the correct binary for your platform, and replaces the current binary in place. Your config and saved settings are not affected.
What it means: You ran a commitdog command in a directory that is not a git repository (no .git folder found).Fix: Either navigate to an existing repository, or start a new one.To create a new repository on your platform, initialize it locally, and push the first commit in one step, run:
This creates the repository on your configured platform via API, runs git init, makes the first commit, sets the remote, and pushes — no browser needed. See Setup for the full flow.If you already have a local Git repository that you want to connect to an existing remote, add the remote manually with git remote add origin <url>.
What it means: Git rejected your push because HTTPS password authentication is no longer supported by GitHub (and many other platforms). This typically shows as “authentication failed” or “invalid username or password” in the error output.Fix: commitdog detects this failure automatically and offers to switch your remote to SSH:
Press Enter (or type Y) to accept. commitdog switches the remote URL and retries the push immediately. Make sure you have an SSH key set up and added to your platform account before accepting.
What it means: The remote branch has commits that you do not have locally. Git cannot push because it would overwrite those remote commits.Fix: Run commitdog sync. It fetches the latest changes, rebases your local commits on top, and pushes — all in one command:
If the rebase produces conflicts, commitdog detects them and offers to stash your changes, pull, and reapply them automatically.
What it means: Your local branch has no upstream tracking reference on the remote. This happens when you create a branch locally and push it for the first time without --set-upstream.Fix: Run commitdog sync. It detects that the remote branch does not exist yet and automatically pushes with --set-upstream to create the tracking reference. You do not need to run any Git commands manually.
What it means: You tried to push directly to a branch that your platform has configured as protected (typically main or master). Direct pushes to protected branches are blocked by the platform.Fix: Do your work on a feature branch and open a pull request instead. If you are currently on a protected branch, commitdog detects this and offers to run commitdog pr for you automatically.To create a feature branch and open a PR manually:
commitdog pr on a feature branch opens an interactive diff viewer and creates the pull request on your platform.
What it means: The tag you are trying to push already exists on the remote (for example, from a previous failed release attempt). Git rejects the push because the tag conflicts.Fix: commitdog detects the stale tag and offers to delete it from the remote automatically:
After the tag is deleted, run commitdog release again to retry from the beginning.
What it means: Your version file (for example, the version constant in main.go) says one version, but the latest Git tag on your repository says another. This usually happens after a partial or failed release.Fix: commitdog warns you before touching anything:
Resolve the drift by either:
  • Updating the version file to match the latest tag, then committing, or
  • Deleting the mismatched tag if it was created by a failed release
Once the version file and the latest tag agree, run commitdog release again.
What it means: The token you entered during commitdog setup does not match the expected format for the platform you selected. commitdog validates token prefixes and rejects tokens that look wrong.Expected formats:Fix: Re-run commitdog setup, select the correct platform, and paste the token again. Make sure you are copying the full token — some password managers or terminals truncate long strings.Create or regenerate your token at the platform’s token settings page:
  • GitHub: github.com/settings/tokens
  • GitLab: gitlab.com/-/profile/personal_access_tokens
  • Gitea / Forgejo: Settings → Applications
What it means: commitdog scanned your staged diff and found no changes to generate a commit message from. This happens when no files have been modified, or when all changes have already been committed.Fix: Check your working directory for uncommitted changes:
If you intended to commit a specific file, pass it directly to commitdog:
This stages only that file and proceeds with the commit flow.
Run the following to print the installed version:
To update to the latest release:
On Linux and macOS, commitdog may ask for sudo if the binary is installed in a system directory. On Windows, run PowerShell as Administrator if the update fails due to permissions.