Skip to content

DevDiff Troubleshooting Portal

🩺 Quick Diagnostic Command

bash
devdiff doctor

Running devdiff doctor checks local Git status, active AI providers, network connectivity, secret scanner rules, and persistent memory health, reporting immediate resolution steps.


🛠️ Common Errors by Symptom

1. "No changes detected"

Problem: DevDiff reports zero staged changes to analyze.

Solutions:

  1. Stage your modified files:
    bash
    git add .
    devdiff generate
  2. If working in a new branch or testing committed history, pass the --since flag:
    bash
    devdiff generate --since "1 day ago"

2. "Not a git repository"

Problem: Current working directory does not contain a .git folder.

Solutions:

bash
git init
git add .
git commit -m "initial commit"
devdiff init
devdiff generate

3. "Unknown option --persona"

Syntax check:

bash
devdiff generate --persona developer    # ✅ Valid
devdiff generate -p ceo                 # ✅ Valid (short form)

Valid Personas (v1.6.0): developer, ceo, educator, robot, data-analyst, journalist, pm, compliance


4. Memory Index Not Updating

Problem: devdiff ask returns outdated file context.

Solutions:

bash
# Force full codebase rescan
devdiff memory rescan --full

# Check memory index status
devdiff memory status

📖 Specialized Troubleshooting Guides

  • 🪟 Windows-Specific Issues — PowerShell execution policy, line endings, firewall ports, WSL2.
  • 🍏 macOS Issues — Keychain permissions, Homebrew Ollama service, Apple Silicon WebGPU acceleration.
  • 🐧 Linux Issues — Systemd services, user permissions, headless server configuration.
  • 🦙 Ollama Errors — Local model pulling, memory limits, daemon connection issues.
  • 🌐 Network Errors — API key configuration, proxy setups, offline-first fallback.
  • 📖 DevDiff Dictionary — Full dictionary of commands, flags, tools, settings, and ports.