Re: [bug?] git diff --cached in a non-git directory
- From
- Okke Timm <okke@timm.sh>
- Date
- Sep 9, 2024, 15:51 UTC
- Message-ID
- <A95B257B-2414-43C7-B041-AC22B03D9143@timm.sh>
- In-Reply-To
- <05b501db02ce$3bd49e30$b37dda90$@nexbridge.com>
Show 55 quoted lines
> Am 09.09.2024 um 17:37 schrieb <rsbecker@nexbridge.com> <rsbecker@nexbridge.com>: > > On September 9, 2024 10:26 AM, Okke Timm wrote: >> What did you do before the bug happened? (Steps to reproduce your issue) I >> changed into a non-git directory. >> Then I called git with 'git diff --cached', which produced this error: >> >> error: unknown option `cached' >> usage: git diff --no-index [<options>] <path> <path> [...] >> >> What did you expect to happen? (Expected behavior) A helfpul error message. >> >> What happened instead? (Actual behavior) An unhelpful error message saying > that >> cached is an unknown option. >> >> What's different between what you expected and what actually happened? >> Me being confused why git suddenly forgot that `git diff --cached` is an > allowed >> option. >> >> Anything else you want to add: >> Please fix and thank you for this great tool! >> >> Please review the rest of the bug report below. >> You can delete any lines you don't wish to share. >> >> >> [System Info] >> git version: >> git version 2.46.0 >> cpu: arm64 >> no commit associated with this build >> sizeof-long: 8 >> sizeof-size_t: 8 >> shell-path: /bin/sh >> feature: fsmonitor--daemon >> libcurl: 8.4.0 >> zlib: 1.2.12 >> uname: Darwin 23.6.0 Darwin Kernel Version 23.6.0: Mon Jul 29 21:14:21 PDT >> 2024; root:xnu-10063.141.2~1/RELEASE_ARM64_T8103 arm64 compiler info: >> clang: 15.0.0 (clang-1500.3.9.4) libc info: no libc information available > $SHELL >> (typically, interactive shell): /opt/homebrew/bin/bash >> >> >> [Enabled Hooks] >> not run from a git repository - no hooks to show > > Because you are not in a git repository clone, the --cached option has no > meaning. It refers to the staging area only, so when not in a clone, git > does not consider --cached as supported because there is no connection > between an external directory and an internal. If you want to perform a diff > from cached vs. external, run the git diff from inside the clone referencing > the internal and external file after —.
i criticized the error message in my bug report. If it would tell me that this is not a git repository, I’d be happy. But telling me that `—cached` is not an allowed option for `git diff` is very unhelpful and confusing.
The reason why I reported this is that git gets run in tools these days and not all check for the presence of a git repository correctly all the time. Also sometimes permission issue hide the `.git` directory for some reason (reported for Windows and VSCode).