roboco/docs/rag/troubleshooting/git-errors.md

# Git Error Troubleshooting

## Missing Git Token

**Error:** `Project requires a git token for HTTPS repositories` (also surfaces as `WorkspaceError` during clone)

**Cause:** No encrypted token on `projects.git_token_encrypted` for this project.

**Fix:**

1. Open the project's settings tab in the panel
2. Paste a Personal Access Token for the project's forge (`repo` scope on GitHub/Gitea; an equivalent `api`/`write_repository` scope on GitLab) — the Forge select on the project decides which provider `GitService` routes to
3. Save — the panel encrypts and stores it; the API never returns the plaintext

Notes:

- Each project has its own token (no global fallback)
- Tokens are encrypted at rest with Fernet
- The token is injected only at the MCP layer (commit / clone / PR ops); `.git/config` is scrubbed post-clone so a leaked token from there is not a recovery path
- The field is historically named for GitHub PATs but works unchanged for a project registered against Gitea or GitLab (`projects.git_provider`)

## Workspace Not Found

**Error:** `Workspace does not exist`

**Cause:** Workspace not cloned yet (or `ROBOCO_WORKSPACE_AUTO_CLONE` is `false` and no manual clone has run).

**Fix:**

- If `ROBOCO_WORKSPACE_AUTO_CLONE=true` (default), the first MCP verb that touches the workspace will trigger the clone. Just call your next verb (`i_will_work_on`, `commit`, etc.).
- Otherwise check `ROBOCO_WORKSPACE_CLONE_TIMEOUT` and the orchestrator logs for a stuck clone.

## BRANCH_MISMATCH

**Error envelope:** `Workspace is on '<other-branch>' but task requires '<task-branch>'`

**Cause:** You're trying to act on task A while your workspace is still on task B's branch — usually after a respawn/resume on a shared clone, or a re-provisioned clone that no longer has your task's branch locally.

**Auto-recovery first:** a commit-time check now *recovers* this for you — it re-checks out your task's branch (recreating a missing local ref from origin) before acting, without ever discarding your local commits. So you normally won't see this error on resume at all; just continue your work.

**When you still see it:** the only case left is **uncommitted changes blocking the switch** (the clone can't move off its current branch). Then:

- `commit(message=..., files=...)` your in-progress work, or escalate via `i_am_blocked` if the changes aren't yours / are conflicting.
- Re-call your role's claim verb on the intended task: `i_will_work_on(task_id)` (devs), `i_will_plan(task_id, plan)` (PMs), `claim_doc_task(task_id)` (documenters), `claim_review(task_id)` (QA).

Don't checkout by hand — there is no `roboco_git_checkout` tool.

## NO_COMMITS on open_pr

**Cause:** No commits on the task yet — the choreographer has nothing to open a PR over.

**Fix:** `commit(message=..., files=...)` at least once, then call `open_pr(task_id)` again.

## Branch Behind Its Base / master

**Symptom:** `roboco_git_status` shows `behind > 0` against the base branch when you go to submit, OR `i_am_done` refuses with "your branch is N commit(s) behind its base".

**Cause:** The base (cell branch or master) advanced after your branch was cut, so your branch is stale — a sibling's PR merged into the parent branch while you worked.

**Fix (devs):** Call `sync_branch(task_id)` — that is your gate-level rebase verb (raw `Bash git rebase` is denied). It fetches, rebases your branch onto its base, and force-pushes with-lease. On `conflicts` the rebase is aborted and your branch is untouched; resolve the conflicted files in your working tree, `commit(message=...)`, then `sync_branch(task_id)` again. Do **not** create a rebase task or improvise shell git. After it returns `rebased`, continue editing + `commit`, then `open_pr` / `i_am_done` as normal.

**Fix (PMs, for a cell/root integration branch — NOT a dev leaf):** `escalate_up(task_id, reason='branch behind base — needs rebase')` — bringing an integration branch current is a platform action. A dev's own leaf branch is the dev's to `sync_branch`.

## DIRTY_WORKSPACE on sync_branch

**Error:** `sync_branch failed: DIRTY_WORKSPACE: Cannot rebase with uncommitted changes.`

**Cause:** `sync_branch` refuses to rebase over uncommitted edits by default (a `git reset --hard` mid-rebase would discard them).

**Fix:** Either `commit(message=...)` (omit `files` to stage everything) then `sync_branch(task_id)` again, OR call `sync_branch(task_id, stash=True)` to auto-stash (tracked + untracked), rebase, and restore your changes in one call. If the stash pop conflicts, the envelope's `next` tells you so — your stash is preserved (never dropped); resolve by hand and `commit(...)`. Still stuck after that? `unclaim(task_id)` releases the claim back to the pool rather than looping.

## sync_branch refused: branch DIVERGED from its origin copy

**Error:** `sync_branch` returns `next` telling you your branch and its origin copy have DIVERGED (both sides carry commits the other lacks).

**Cause:** Your workspace and `origin/<your-branch>` each hold real work the other doesn't — not the routine "behind base" case. `sync_branch` first checks whether this is actually the harmless residue of an EARLIER `sync_branch` call whose rebase succeeded locally but whose force-push then failed (a network blip, a container reap) — that self-heals silently as an ordinary rebase on this retry. What's left after that check is a genuine divergence, most often your task bounced to a different agent's clone that pushed meanwhile.

**Fix:** Neither side is touched or lost — nothing was reset, nothing was rebased, nothing was pushed. `i_am_blocked(reason='...')` naming the divergence so a human can reconcile the two histories by hand (fetch, inspect both tips, merge or rebase deliberately). If `stash=True` was passed and the stash pop ALSO conflicted, your stash is preserved (never dropped) — resolve it by hand alongside the divergence.

## src refspec does not match any (during open_pr)

**Error:** `src refspec '<branch>' does not match any`

**Cause:** A re-provisioned or shared clone can be missing the local branch ref even though the commits are already on origin.

**Fix:** Just call `open_pr(task_id)` again — the gateway recovers the ref from origin, or returns an explicit "unclaim and re-claim to rebuild" instruction. Follow whichever the envelope gives you; don't switch branches by hand.

## Updates were rejected / non-fast-forward (on push)

**Cause:** Your branch is behind its remote, so the push can't fast-forward.

**Fix (devs):** Call `sync_branch(task_id)` to rebase onto your base through the gate, then retry the push-bearing verb (`open_pr` / `i_am_done`). If `sync_branch` itself refuses with DIRTY_WORKSPACE, see that section below (`commit(...)` then retry, or `sync_branch(task_id, stash=True)`). **PMs** escalate: `escalate_up(...)`. There is no agent-layer pull — `sync_branch` is the dev's rebase path. Still stuck after trying both? `unclaim(task_id)` releases the claim back to the pool rather than looping on `i_am_done`.

## NO_PR on pass / fail

**Cause:** The PR was never created — usually because `open_pr(task_id)` did not run cleanly.

**Fix:** Roll back to the dev: have them re-call `open_pr(task_id)` after fixing whatever blocked the PR opening (see PR Creation Failed, below). QA cannot create the PR.

## PR Creation Failed (during open_pr)

**Causes:**

1. Nothing to push — no commits on the branch
2. Branch is on the workspace but not pushed yet (rare; the choreographer pushes during `commit`, but a stale workspace can drift)
3. Project has no git token configured
4. The forge repo doesn't allow PRs from your branch (rare; usually org-level branch protection — applies on GitHub, Gitea, and GitLab alike)

**Fix:**

- Verify commits exist with `roboco_git_log(project_slug=...)`
- Verify the project has a git token (Missing Git Token, above)
- If the task is in a stuck state, `unclaim(task_id)` and re-`claim` to rebuild the branch

## "GitHub API" wording in an error on a Gitea/GitLab project

Some low-level git error messages still say "GitHub API" in their text regardless of which forge the project actually uses (a known wording gap, not a routing bug) — the underlying failure is real even when the vendor name in the message is wrong. Diagnose from the actual symptom (missing token, PR-not-found, merge conflict, etc.), not from the vendor name in the message.

## Rebase/sync_branch refused on a protected branch

**Cause:** `sync_branch`/rebase refuses to force-push a branch whose name matches the project's operator-declared `protected_branches` list, its environment-ladder rungs, or the hardcoded `master`/`main` floor. You should never legitimately be working on one of these directly — your own feature branch is never a protected name.

**Fix:** If you see this, your task's recorded branch is misconfigured. `unclaim(task_id)` and re-claim to rebuild a proper branch; don't try to force through it.

## FORCE_PUSH_FORBIDDEN

**Cause:** Force-push is CEO-only. Anyone else attempting it (typically because their branch diverged) is denied.

**Fix:** `unclaim(task_id)` and re-`claim` it. The choreographer rebuilds the branch from the parent's HEAD; replay your commits with `commit(...)`.

## Merge Conflicts on `complete`

**Cause:** The leaf PR conflicts with the parent branch (cell branch or master).

**Fix:** This currently surfaces as an error envelope from `complete`. The recovery path:

1. PM `unblock(task_id, restore=False)` — frees the task back to the dev
2. Dev re-claims, the choreographer rebuilds the branch off the latest parent, and they replay their commits
3. Dev `open_pr` again
4. QA re-runs `pass` (or `fail` if the rebase changed behaviour)
5. PM `complete` again

We don't expose a "resolve conflicts in place" path at the agent layer — rebuilds via the lifecycle are the recovery.