git · Git
The message
error: failed to push some refs to 'https://github.com/user/repo.git'
What it means
The server rejected your push, and this line is only the summary — the real reason sits in the ! [rejected] line just above it. Usually the remote has commits you do not, but a protected branch, a server-side hook or a file-size limit produce the same summary. Read the reason first; for the ordinary case git pull --rebase && git push finishes it. The dangerous move is adding --force without reading, because that can erase a colleague's commits from the server.
The fix
git pull --rebase && git push- Printed by
- git
- Git
- 29
Almost every git error is a refusal that means "doing that from this state would lose something"; fatal: means git stopped without changing anything, and the hint: lines under the first line usually carry the actual remedy.
Reading an error message
- Read from the first line down. The lower you go the more it is about the tool’s internals; the cause is usually at the top.
- If there is a file and a line number, start there — not the top stack frame, but the topmost line that names a file you wrote.
- Search the message verbatim, but strip your own paths and variable names first; those are what stop the search from matching.
- The same condition is worded differently across tool versions. If results look wrong, add the version number to the query.
- Before pasting a fix, check what it throws away. Some of these cannot be undone.
Common questions
Q. What does “error: failed to push some refs to 'https://github.com/user/repo.git'” mean?
The server rejected your push, and this line is only the summary — the real reason sits in the ! [rejected] line just above it. Usually the remote has commits you do not, but a protected branch, a server-side hook or a file-size limit produce the same summary. Read the reason first; for the ordinary case git pull --rebase && git push finishes it. The dangerous move is adding --force without reading, because that can erase a colleague's commits from the server.
Q. How do I fix it?
git pull --rebase && git push — before running it, check the explanation above for what this command discards.
Q. Which tool prints this?
git. It sits under Git, and the message runs to 8 words.