From 9bf36cdb56925e6591d332f7add0e40962976bf0 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Mohamed Boudra <boudra.moha@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 15 May 2026 15:08:41 +0700
Subject: [PATCH] Handle unborn repos in changes diff

---
 .../server/src/utils/checkout-git.test.ts     | 35 +++++++++++++++++++
 packages/server/src/utils/checkout-git.ts     | 27 +++++++++++---
 2 files changed, 58 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/packages/server/src/utils/checkout-git.test.ts b/packages/server/src/utils/checkout-git.test.ts
index 7cda4a9c6..9c8c87301 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/utils/checkout-git.test.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/utils/checkout-git.test.ts
@@ -204,6 +204,41 @@ describe("checkout git utilities", () => {
     expect(branch).toBeNull();
   });
 
+  it("returns untracked files in an uncommitted diff before the first commit", async () => {
+    const unbornRepo = join(tempDir, "unborn-repo");
+    mkdirSync(unbornRepo, { recursive: true });
+    execFileSync("git", ["init", "-b", "main"], { cwd: unbornRepo });
+    writeFileSync(join(unbornRepo, "greeting.txt"), "hello\n");
+
+    const diff = await getCheckoutDiff(unbornRepo, {
+      mode: "uncommitted",
+      includeStructured: true,
+    });
+
+    expect(diff.structured).toEqual([
+      {
+        path: "greeting.txt",
+        isNew: true,
+        isDeleted: false,
+        additions: 1,
+        deletions: 0,
+        hunks: [
+          {
+            oldStart: 0,
+            oldCount: 0,
+            newStart: 1,
+            newCount: 1,
+            lines: [
+              { type: "header", content: "@@ -0,0 +1 @@" },
+              { type: "add", content: "hello" },
+            ],
+          },
+        ],
+        status: "ok",
+      },
+    ]);
+  });
+
   it("returns the branch being rebased when HEAD is detached during a rebase", async () => {
     execFileSync("git", ["checkout", "-b", "feature/rebase-test"], { cwd: repoDir });
     writeFileSync(join(repoDir, "file.txt"), "feature\n");
diff --git a/packages/server/src/utils/checkout-git.ts b/packages/server/src/utils/checkout-git.ts
index e242abe6d..ba928da3d 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/utils/checkout-git.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/utils/checkout-git.ts
@@ -539,6 +539,15 @@ function buildGitDiffArgs(args: { ignoreWhitespace?: boolean; extra: string[] })
 
 const TRACKED_DIFF_NUMSTAT_MAX_BYTES = 2 * 1024 * 1024; // 2MB
 const TRACKED_MAX_CHANGED_LINES = 40_000;
+const EMPTY_TREE_OBJECT_ID = "4b825dc642cb6eb9a060e54bf8d69288fbee4904";
+
+function isUnbornHeadDiffError(error: unknown): boolean {
+  return (
+    error instanceof Error &&
+    error.message.includes("--name-status HEAD") &&
+    error.message.includes("ambiguous argument 'HEAD'")
+  );
+}
 
 async function getTrackedNumstatByPath(
   cwd: string,
@@ -1926,7 +1935,17 @@ export async function getCheckoutDiff(
   }
 
   const ignoreWhitespace = compare.ignoreWhitespace === true;
-  const changes = await listCheckoutFileChanges(cwd, refsForDiff, ignoreWhitespace);
+  let effectiveRefsForDiff = refsForDiff;
+  let changes: CheckoutFileChange[];
+  try {
+    changes = await listCheckoutFileChanges(cwd, effectiveRefsForDiff, ignoreWhitespace);
+  } catch (error) {
+    if (!isUnbornHeadDiffError(error)) {
+      throw error;
+    }
+    effectiveRefsForDiff = { ...refsForDiff, baseRef: EMPTY_TREE_OBJECT_ID };
+    changes = await listCheckoutFileChanges(cwd, effectiveRefsForDiff, ignoreWhitespace);
+  }
   changes.sort((a, b) => {
     if (a.path === b.path) return 0;
     return a.path < b.path ? -1 : 1;
@@ -1957,7 +1976,7 @@ export async function getCheckoutDiff(
 
   const trackedNumstatByPath =
     trackedChanges.length > 0
-      ? await getTrackedNumstatByPath(cwd, refsForDiff, ignoreWhitespace)
+      ? await getTrackedNumstatByPath(cwd, effectiveRefsForDiff, ignoreWhitespace)
       : new Map<string, FileStat>();
   const trackedDiffPaths: string[] = [];
   const trackedPlaceholderByPath = new Map<
@@ -1984,7 +2003,7 @@ export async function getCheckoutDiff(
     const trackedDiffResult = await runGitCommand(
       buildGitDiffArgs({
         ignoreWhitespace,
-        extra: [...getCheckoutDiffRefArgs(refsForDiff), "--", ...trackedDiffPaths],
+        extra: [...getCheckoutDiffRefArgs(effectiveRefsForDiff), "--", ...trackedDiffPaths],
       }),
       {
         cwd,
@@ -2020,7 +2039,7 @@ export async function getCheckoutDiff(
       trackedPlaceholderByPath,
       trackedDiffText,
       trackedDiffTruncated,
-      refsForDiff,
+      refsForDiff: effectiveRefsForDiff,
       ignoreWhitespace,
       structured,
       appendDiff,