cz check range sometimes failed in GitLab CI

Description

Runcz check --range origin/master..HEAD to check commits in CI occasionally fails.
And it worked after I retried the job.But sometimes it didn't work after retrying multiple times.
I couldn't find out the reason ,

Steps to reproduce

lint:
retry: 1
script:
- cz version
- cz check --rev-range origin/master..HEAD

Current behavior

cz check --rev-range origin/master..HEAD failed. Outputs attached below:

  fatal: ambiguous argument 'master..HEAD': unknown revision or path not in the working tree.
  Use '--' to separate paths from revisions, like this:
  'git <command> [<revision>...] -- [<file>...]'

Desired behavior

cz check --rev-range can run successfully in gitlab CI.

Screenshots

Environment

commitizen version: 2.34.0
python version: 3.7.5
operating system: Linux

do you have remote origin and branch master?

yes.

What would be the output of git log origin/master..? Can it generate output as expected?

What would be the output of git log origin/master..? Can it generate output as expected?

Oh,it didn't show anything of git log origin/master. Maybe there's no git fetch on some CI machines. I try git fetch origin and it works. Thanks for your help!

@SsuperL

@SsuperL One of the stuff I can think of is shallow clone. Maybe you could take a look at this direction as well :)

@SsuperL

@SsuperL One of the stuff I can think of is shallow clone. Maybe you could take a look at this direction as well :)

Okay, I'll check it out.

Hi, I am having the same issue outside of CI. When I git push with the pre-push pre-commit hook, I get the following:

fatal: ambiguous argument 'origin/HEAD..HEAD': unknown revision or path not in the working tree.
Use '--' to separate paths from revisions, like this:
'git <command> [<revision>...] -- [<file>...]'

Whereas if I skip the verification everything works fine.

Unfortunately the repo is private and I can't share the url, but the configs are:

default_install_hook_types:
  - pre-commit
  - pre-push
default_language_version:
  python: python3.9
repos:
  - repo: https://github.com/commitizen-tools/commitizen
    rev: v2.42.1
    hooks:
      - id: commitizen-branch
        stages: [ push ]

And the hook (which should not matter) is:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# File generated by pre-commit: https://pre-commit.com
# ID: 138fd403232d2ddd5efb44317e38bf03

# start templated
INSTALL_PYTHON=/Users/lucabaggi/.local/share/pipx/venvs/pre-commit/bin/python
ARGS=(hook-impl --config=.pre-commit-config.yaml --hook-type=pre-push)
# end templated

HERE="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
ARGS+=(--hook-dir "$HERE" -- "$@")

if [ -x "$INSTALL_PYTHON" ]; then
    exec "$INSTALL_PYTHON" -mpre_commit "${ARGS[@]}"
elif command -v pre-commit > /dev/null; then
    exec pre-commit "${ARGS[@]}"
else
    echo '`pre-commit` not found.  Did you forget to activate your virtualenv?' 1>&2
    exit 1
fi

Hi, I am having the same issue outside of CI. When I git push with the pre-push pre-commit hook, I get the following:

fatal: ambiguous argument 'origin/HEAD..HEAD': unknown revision or path not in the working tree.
Use '--' to separate paths from revisions, like this:
'git <command> [<revision>...] -- [<file>...]'

Whereas if I skip the verification everything works fine.

Unfortunately the repo is private and I can't share the url, but the configs are:

default_install_hook_types:
  - pre-commit
  - pre-push
default_language_version:
  python: python3.9
repos:
  - repo: https://github.com/commitizen-tools/commitizen
    rev: v2.42.1
    hooks:
      - id: commitizen-branch
        stages: [ push ]

And the hook (which should not matter) is:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# File generated by pre-commit: https://pre-commit.com
# ID: 138fd403232d2ddd5efb44317e38bf03

# start templated
INSTALL_PYTHON=/Users/lucabaggi/.local/share/pipx/venvs/pre-commit/bin/python
ARGS=(hook-impl --config=.pre-commit-config.yaml --hook-type=pre-push)
# end templated

HERE="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
ARGS+=(--hook-dir "$HERE" -- "$@")

if [ -x "$INSTALL_PYTHON" ]; then
    exec "$INSTALL_PYTHON" -mpre_commit "${ARGS[@]}"
elif command -v pre-commit > /dev/null; then
    exec pre-commit "${ARGS[@]}"
else
    echo '`pre-commit` not found.  Did you forget to activate your virtualenv?' 1>&2
    exit 1
fi

Have you tried git fetch ? That works for me.

Have you tried git fetch ? That works for me.

Does not for me... Perhaps it can mess up if I have git push --force previously?

Hello, if I run cz check --rev-range origin/main..HEAD it works. I noticed that the pre-commit hook has --rev-range origin/HEAD..HEAD which is an invalid ref. Perhaps when the repo has multiple branches the reference becomes invalid? Will try to make a reprex soon.

build(vcs): Workaround commitizen push hook bug

The following fixed it for me:

git remote set-head origin -a

Eventually found a semi-good explanation at: https://learnku.com/articles/71493

(My issue is actually when I'm trying to run git push with the pre-push hook enabled, which then gives a similar error on ambiguity.)

Checking older or related issues to access the tool's status.

Access master branch on GitLab CI : Only the current branch commits are accessible + shallow history, fetching is needed for any branch
- Settings / CI/CD / Git shallow clone: The number of changes to fetch from GitLab when cloning a repository. Lower values can speed up pipeline execution. Set to 0 or blank to fetch all branches and tags for each job (default: 50)
- Comparing with another branch or even using the current branch or the merge request target branch needs fetching
- Variables : By default, the *_SHA variables are the ones for detecting the commit's / pipeline's context
- Predefine variables: https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/variables/predefined_variables.html)
The CI_COMMIT_BEFORE_SHA variable can be used to compare a CI with the previously pushed commit, but handlings are needed:
- Limitations: Value is 000.. in specific cases, and might be unknown if the commit was amended and force-pushed
- Example: https://gitlab.com/RadianDevCore/tools/gcil/-/blob/45897937b0f2104967921101241cf067ef4beceb/.gitlab-ci.yml#L217
origin/HEAD..HEAD push issues : fix(pre-commit-hooks)!: allow empty ranges in 'commitizen-branch' #1209

Having the same issue as new user in 2025; git fetch did not help

Having the same issue as new user in 2025; git fetch did not help

Hey could you please provide an example so that we could try to reproduce and see what's happening? Thanks!

Triage from #1964: This is caused by GitLab CI's shallow clone — origin/master isn't present in the runner's local refs — not a commitizen bug. Workaround: set GIT_DEPTH: 0 in your .gitlab-ci.yml (or git fetch --unshallow / git fetch origin master:master before running cz check --rev-range). Suggesting we close this.

Verification update (re #1964)

Reproduced against current master (4.15.1):

git clone --depth=1 of the default branch — cz check --rev-range origin/master..HEAD works fine (origin/master is present).
A more accurate GitLab-runner simulation (shallow + single-branch fetch missing master refs) reproduces the exact failure:
```
fatal: ambiguous argument 'origin/master..HEAD': unknown revision or path not in the working tree
(exit 23)
```
Mitigations confirmed working:
- git fetch --unshallow origin master:master — fixes master..HEAD
- git fetch origin master:refs/remotes/origin/master — fixes origin/master..HEAD without unshallowing

Verdict: NOT A BUG / CI ENVIRONMENT.

The failure is purely a GitLab-CI shallow-clone artifact: origin/master isn't a fetched ref in the runner's local repo. Commitizen passes the rev-range to git log, which errors as expected.

Workaround for the user's GitLab pipeline:

variables:
  GIT_DEPTH: "0"   # or sufficient depth to include the merge base
# or
script:
  - git fetch origin master:refs/remotes/origin/master
  - cz check --rev-range origin/master..HEAD

Closing-eligible.

(One improvement we could make in commitizen itself: catch the git log error in cz check --rev-range and surface a clearer message like "Could not resolve rev-range '<range>': did you forget to fetch the base branch in CI?". Optional.)

Closing as not a bug: reproduced as a CI shallow-clone artifact. Workarounds (GIT_DEPTH: 0 or git fetch origin master:refs/remotes/origin/master) confirmed working. See verification comment above.

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cz check range sometimes failed in GitLab CI #593

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cz check range sometimes failed in GitLab CI #593

Description

Description

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Current behavior

Desired behavior

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SsuperL commented on Dec 1, 2022

Lee-W commented on Dec 3, 2022

SsuperL commented on Dec 5, 2022

Lee-W commented on Dec 19, 2022

SsuperL commented on Dec 20, 2022

baggiponte commented on Mar 22, 2023

SsuperL commented on Mar 23, 2023

baggiponte commented on Mar 23, 2023

baggiponte commented on Mar 27, 2023

johanmynhardt commented on Dec 21, 2023

AdrianDC commented on Aug 19, 2024

dboeckenhoff commented on Jan 14, 2025

Lee-W commented on Mar 30, 2025

bearomorphism commented on May 9, 2026

bearomorphism commented on May 9, 2026

bearomorphism commented on May 9, 2026

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