git lfs ai_generated true

Smudge error: Error downloading object: Object does not exist on the server

ID: git/lfs-smudge-error

Also available as: JSON · Markdown
82%Fix Rate
85%Confidence
50Evidence
2023-01-01First Seen

Version Compatibility

VersionStatusIntroducedDeprecatedNotes
2 active — — —

Root Cause

Git LFS smudge filter fails to download large file objects from the LFS server. Commonly caused by missing LFS objects on the remote, expired credentials, or the LFS server being unreachable.

generic

Workarounds

  1. 88% success Verify LFS endpoint and credentials, then run git lfs pull 
    Check git lfs env to verify the endpoint URL is correct. Run git lfs install to ensure hooks are configured. Then git lfs pull to re-download all LFS objects.

    Sources: https://git-lfs.com

  2. 85% success Skip smudge on clone, then fetch LFS objects separately 
    GIT_LFS_SKIP_SMUDGE=1 git clone <repo>, then cd into the repo and run git lfs pull. This avoids smudge failures during clone.

Dead Ends

Common approaches that don't work:

  1. Deleting and re-cloning without LFS configured 80% fail

    Without LFS installed and configured, pointer files remain as-is and binaries are never fetched

  2. Running git checkout on the affected files without fixing the LFS endpoint 90% fail

    Checkout triggers the smudge filter again which fails with the same error if the underlying connectivity or auth issue is not resolved

Error Chain

Leads to:
Preceded by:
Frequently confused with: