Troubleshooting

Common issues and their solutions.

Tip: Run whogitit doctor first to diagnose most configuration issues automatically.

Installation Issues

`whogitit` command not found

Symptoms:

bash: whogitit: command not found

Solutions:

Check if installed:
```
ls ~/.cargo/bin/whogitit
```

Add cargo bin to PATH:

# Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc
export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH"

# Reload
source ~/.bashrc

Reinstall:

cargo install --path /path/to/whogitit --force

Build fails

Symptoms:

error[E0433]: failed to resolve: could not find `xyz` in `abc`

Solutions:

Update Rust:
```
rustup update stable
```
Clean and rebuild:
```
cargo clean
cargo build --release
```
Check dependencies:
```
cargo update
```

Capture Issues

No attribution data after commit

Symptoms:

whogitit status shows “No pending AI attribution”
whogitit show HEAD shows no attribution

Quick Fix:

Run the doctor command to diagnose:

whogitit doctor

If doctor shows issues, run setup to fix them:

whogitit setup

Manual Solutions:

Check Claude hooks are configured:
```
cat ~/.claude/settings.json | jq '.hooks'
```
Should show PreToolUse and PostToolUse entries.

Check capture script exists:

ls -la ~/.claude/hooks/whogitit-capture.sh

Check capture script is executable:

chmod +x ~/.claude/hooks/whogitit-capture.sh

Check debug logs:

cat .whogitit/state/hook-debug.log
cat .whogitit/state/hook-errors.log

Verify whogitit binary path:

# In capture script, check WHOGITIT_BIN
which whogitit

Pending buffer not updating

Symptoms:

Making edits with Claude but whogitit status shows old data

Solutions:

Check you’re in a git repo:
```
git rev-parse --show-toplevel
```
Check pending file location:
```
ls -la .whogitit-pending.json
```
Clear stale data and try again:
```
whogitit clear
```

Only some files tracked

Symptoms:

Some AI edits are tracked, others aren’t

Solutions:

Check tool matcher in settings.json:
```
"matcher": "Edit|Write|Bash"
```
Make sure all relevant tools are included.
For Bash commands: The hook tracks file changes. Ensure the files exist before the command.

Git Hooks Issues

post-commit hook not running

Symptoms:

Commits work but no attribution is created

Solutions:

Check hook exists:
```
ls -la .git/hooks/post-commit
```
Check hook is executable:
```
chmod +x .git/hooks/post-commit
```
Check hook content:
```
cat .git/hooks/post-commit
```
Should contain whogitit post-commit.
Reinstall hooks:
```
whogitit init
```

pre-push hook failing

Symptoms:

error: failed to push some refs to 'origin'

Solutions:

Push notes manually:
```
git push origin refs/notes/whogitit
```

Check for notes divergence:

git fetch origin refs/notes/whogitit
git log refs/notes/whogitit..FETCH_HEAD

Force push notes (caution):

git push origin refs/notes/whogitit --force

Notes Issues

Notes not visible after clone

Symptoms:

Cloned repo, but whogitit blame shows no AI attribution

Solutions:

Fetch notes:

git fetch origin refs/notes/whogitit:refs/notes/whogitit

Verify notes exist on remote:

git ls-remote origin refs/notes/whogitit

Configure auto-fetch:

git config --add remote.origin.fetch '+refs/notes/whogitit:refs/notes/whogitit'

Notes missing after rebase

Symptoms:

After rebasing, attribution data is gone

Cause: Git notes are attached to specific commit SHAs. Rebase creates new SHAs.

Solutions:

Install the post-rewrite hook (recommended):
```
whogitit init
```
This installs a post-rewrite hook that automatically preserves attribution during rebase and amend operations. Run this once per repository.

Manually copy notes after the fact:

whogitit copy-notes <old-sha> <new-sha>

For cherry-pick (not covered by hook):

whogitit copy-notes <original-sha> <cherry-picked-sha>

Corrupt note data

Symptoms:

Error: invalid JSON in note

Solutions:

View raw note:

git notes --ref=whogitit show <commit> | cat

Remove corrupt note:

git notes --ref=whogitit remove <commit>

Recreate if pending buffer exists: Not possible after buffer is cleared.

Output Issues

JSON parse errors

Symptoms:

Error: expected value at line 1 column 1

Solutions:

Check for empty output:
```
whogitit show HEAD 2>&1 | head -1
```
Verify note exists:
```
git notes --ref=whogitit show HEAD
```

Blame shows all “Unknown”

Symptoms:

whogitit blame shows ? for all lines

Cause:

File not in any commit with attribution
Attribution data doesn’t include this file

Solutions:

Check if file has attribution:

whogitit show HEAD | grep -i "filename"

Check commit history:
```
git log --oneline -- <file>
```

Performance Issues

Slow blame on large files

Symptoms:

whogitit blame takes long time on large files

Solutions:

Use --revision to limit scope:

whogitit blame --revision HEAD~10 <file>

Use JSON output for scripting:
```
whogitit blame --format json <file>
```

Large pending buffer

Symptoms:

.whogitit-pending.json is very large

Solutions:

Commit more frequently: Pending buffer grows with each edit.
Clear and restart:
```
whogitit clear
```

Getting Help

Run Doctor First

The doctor command checks all configuration automatically:

whogitit doctor

It verifies:

whogitit binary is installed
Capture hook is installed and executable
Claude Code settings are configured
Required tools (jq) are available
Repository hooks are installed (if in a git repo)

If any checks fail, it provides fix hints.

Debug Mode

Enable verbose logging:

# For capture hook
export WHOGITIT_HOOK_DEBUG=1

# Then use Claude Code, check:
cat .whogitit/state/hook-debug.log

Reporting Issues

When reporting issues, include:

whogitit version:
```
whogitit --version
```
OS and shell:
```
uname -a
echo $SHELL
```

Relevant logs:

cat .whogitit/state/hook-debug.log
cat .whogitit/state/hook-errors.log

Steps to reproduce

Report at: https://github.com/dotsetlabs/whogitit/issues

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