Error when moving commit after merge

[philippgille]

Describe the bug

After pulling from remote, leading to a merge, I wanted to move one of the commits. I hit Ctrl+J and get this error message:

Or in text form (for better issue search):

Destination position for moving todo is out of range
error: there was a problem with the editor "'/opt/homebrew/bin/lazygit'"

I think the operation I attempted is invalid, so this bug report is not a request to make the operation work, but more to catch the error early and improve the error message.

To Reproduce

1. I'm on a feature branch with some commits ahead and behind of master.
2. On GitHub there's a pull request from the feature branch to the main branch. A reviewer comments a suggestion, which I commit via GitHub web UI
3. Before pulling that remote change, I add a new commit on my local branch. Now I'm one ahead and one behind of the remote branch
4. I pull with p, which leads to a merge commit
5. I navigate to the remote commit from the reviewer and hit Ctrl+J
6. => The error message appears

Expected behavior

I expect an error message like "This operation is invalid, see xyz", with xyz maybe being a reference to further documentation of why the operation is invalid.

Screenshots

See above

Version info:

• lazygit --version: commit=, build date=, build source=Homebrew, version=0.55.1, os=darwin, arch=arm64, git version=2.51.0
• git --version: git version 2.51.0

Additional context

The issue template for bugs mentions lazygit --debug, so I tried that to see if I can provide some useful logs, but it runs into a different error (directly upon launch, before interacting with the TUI) and exits:

$ lazygit --debug
POTENTIAL DEADLOCK: Recursive locking:
current goroutine 0 lock 0x1400025e0ac
github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go:500 helpers.(*RefreshHelper).refreshBranches ??? <<<<<
github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go:499 helpers.(*RefreshHelper).refreshBranches ???
github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go:130 helpers.(*RefreshHelper).Refresh.func2.3 ???
github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go:106 helpers.(*RefreshHelper).Refresh.func2.1.1 ???
github.com/jesseduffield/gocui@v0.3.1-0.20250711082438-4aa4fd0b4d22/gui.go:722 gocui.(*Gui).onWorkerAux ???
github.com/jesseduffield/gocui@v0.3.1-0.20250711082438-4aa4fd0b4d22/task.go:22 gocui.(*TaskImpl).Done ???

Previous place where the lock was grabbed (same goroutine)
github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go:318 helpers.(*RefreshHelper).refreshCommitsWithLimit ??? <<<<<
github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go:317 helpers.(*RefreshHelper).refreshCommitsWithLimit ???
github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go:273 helpers.(*RefreshHelper).refreshCommitsAndCommitFiles ???
github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go:106 helpers.(*RefreshHelper).Refresh.func2.1.1 ???
github.com/jesseduffield/gocui@v0.3.1-0.20250711082438-4aa4fd0b4d22/gui.go:722 gocui.(*Gui).onWorkerAux ???
github.com/jesseduffield/gocui@v0.3.1-0.20250711082438-4aa4fd0b4d22/task.go:22 gocui.(*TaskImpl).Done ???

Other goroutines holding locks:
goroutine 0 lock 0x1400025e094
github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go:508 helpers.(*RefreshHelper).refreshFilesAndSubmodules ??? <<<<<
github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go:507 helpers.(*RefreshHelper).refreshFilesAndSubmodules ???
github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go:153 helpers.(*RefreshHelper).Refresh.func2.8 ???
github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go:106 helpers.(*RefreshHelper).Refresh.func2.1.1 ???
github.com/jesseduffield/gocui@v0.3.1-0.20250711082438-4aa4fd0b4d22/gui.go:722 gocui.(*Gui).onWorkerAux ???
github.com/jesseduffield/gocui@v0.3.1-0.20250711082438-4aa4fd0b4d22/task.go:22 gocui.(*TaskImpl).Done ???

goroutine 0 lock 0x1400025e09c
github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go:453 helpers.(*RefreshHelper).refreshBranches ??? <<<<<
github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go:452 helpers.(*RefreshHelper).refreshBranches ???
github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go:130 helpers.(*RefreshHelper).Refresh.func2.3 ???
github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go:106 helpers.(*RefreshHelper).Refresh.func2.1.1 ???
github.com/jesseduffield/gocui@v0.3.1-0.20250711082438-4aa4fd0b4d22/gui.go:722 gocui.(*Gui).onWorkerAux ???
github.com/jesseduffield/gocui@v0.3.1-0.20250711082438-4aa4fd0b4d22/task.go:22 gocui.(*TaskImpl).Done ???

goroutine 0 lock 0x140003444f8
github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/commands/git_commands/main_branches.go:42 git_commands.(*MainBranches).Get ??? <<<<<
github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/commands/git_commands/main_branches.go:41 git_commands.(*MainBranches).Get ???
github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/commands/git_commands/commit_loader.go:103 git_commands.(*CommitLoader).GetCommits ???
github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go:334 helpers.(*RefreshHelper).refreshCommitsWithLimit ???
github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go:273 helpers.(*RefreshHelper).refreshCommitsAndCommitFiles ???
github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go:106 helpers.(*RefreshHelper).Refresh.func2.1.1 ???
github.com/jesseduffield/gocui@v0.3.1-0.20250711082438-4aa4fd0b4d22/gui.go:722 gocui.(*Gui).onWorkerAux ???
github.com/jesseduffield/gocui@v0.3.1-0.20250711082438-4aa4fd0b4d22/task.go:22 gocui.(*TaskImpl).Done ???

[stefanhaller]

While I agree that it's probably not a great idea to move a commit across a merge commit, I couldn't reproduce the failure.

I started with this:

Then I pressed ctrl-j on the "four" commit, and got this result:

The only problem that I see with this is a cosmetic one: after moving the commit, it is no longer selected ("three" is selected instead).

I wonder what was different in your example.

Finally, a word of advice: when you say

4. I pull with p, which leads to a merge commit

then I think this is the root of your problems. I strongly recommend to rebase instead of merging in this situation, and I don't understand why this isn't git's default. Consider setting git config --global pull.rebase true.

[philippgille]

Thanks for looking into it!

I couldn't reproduce the failure.
I started with this:
Then I pressed ctrl-j on the "four" commit, and got this result:

Ah I didn't have the "four" commit after the merge from the pull, and I tried to move "three" below. Here are the exact reproduction steps in a temporary local fresh repo (with help from an LLM to which I described what I wanted to reproduce, and following the steps it does reproduce my situation):

# 1) Setup workspace
mkdir -p /tmp/lazygit-repro && cd /tmp/lazygit-repro

# 2) Create a bare remote
git init --bare origin.git

# 3) Create and enter a local git repo, link to "origin"
mkdir myrepo && cd myrepo
git init
git remote add origin ../origin.git
git config pull.rebase false

# 4) On master create a commit "initial" and push
printf "initial\n" > file.txt
git add file.txt
git commit -m "initial"
git branch -M master
git push -u origin master

# 5) Branch off and commit "local branch commit 1", push branch
git checkout -b feature
printf "local branch commit 1\n" >> file.txt
git add file.txt
git commit -m "local branch commit 1"
git push -u origin feature

# 6) Simulate a remote commit on the same branch from another clone
cd ..
git clone origin.git remote-clone
cd remote-clone
git checkout feature
printf "remote branch commit 2\n" >> file.txt
git add file.txt
git commit -m "remote branch commit 2"
git push
cd ../myrepo

# 7) Locally add "local branch commit 3"
printf "local branch commit 3\n" > file2.txt
git add file2.txt
git commit -m "local branch commit 3"

# 8) Pull from origin to create a merge commit (merge, not rebase)
git pull

Then in lazygit go to "remote branch commit 2" and hit Ctrl+J, basically with the goal to have the order 1, 2, 3.

---

Regarding rebase on pull, instead of merge: Yes yes I know that would lead to the desired order of commits, and running git pull --rebase was what I did to do it.

But I actually use merge on pull on purpose, to prevent the rebase from changing my local commit, after which (when some automatic conflict resolution breaks the code) my previously working code can be broken and it's trickier to go back to a working state. With the merge commit my local history remains the same and I can do some diff check and testing of the code after the pull's merge commit, and if I don't like it I can instead reset to my latest local commit, do the changes (that remote did) in a different way, and then force push. Or, if the merge commit looks good, I can reset to my latest local commit and run git pull --rebase.

I didn't find a way to do the git pull --rebase in lazygit. Does it exist? If not, I can create a new issue with a feature request, for people like me who like to have the "merge on pull" config.
While for this issue here we can focus it on the error message for the commit move.