git merge ai_generated true

fatal: Not possible to fast-forward, aborting.

ID: git/cannot-fast-forward

Also available as: JSON · Markdown
96%Fix Rate
97%Confidence
50Evidence
2023-01-01First Seen

Version Compatibility

VersionStatusIntroducedDeprecatedNotes
2 active — — —

Root Cause

git pull with --ff-only fails because the remote branch has diverged.

generic

Workarounds

  1. 95% success Use git pull --rebase to replay local commits on top of remote 
    git pull --rebase origin main — creates linear history

    Sources: https://git-scm.com/docs/git-pull#_rebase

  2. 90% success Use git pull (merge) if you want a merge commit 
    git pull origin main — creates a merge commit preserving both histories

Dead Ends

Common approaches that don't work:

  1. Using git push -f to overwrite remote 90% fail

    Destroys remote history; other collaborators lose work

  2. Deleting the local branch and re-checking out 80% fail

    Loses local unpushed commits

Error Chain

Frequently confused with: