Troubleshooting
Use this guide to fix common Git tooling, account, and subscription problems.
Sign in to your account
To sign in to your Zide account, complete the following steps.
- Click Account > Sign In….
- In the Subscription email or license key field, enter your subscription email or your license key.
- If you entered an email address, click Send Code. Enter the 6-digit code from the email and click Verify. If you entered a license key, click Activate Key.
Entering a license key remains available for legacy licenses and recovery.
If Continue is unavailable, check your entry. Enter your full subscription email address, including @, or your complete license key.
Codes expire after 10 minutes. If the code did not arrive, check your spam or junk folder. To request another code, click Use a different email, then Send Code.
If Zide shows Invalid or expired code, click Use a different email, then Send Code. Enter the new code and click Verify.
If you still can’t sign in after retrying, contact support@zide.dev.
Account status cannot be verified
If Zide cannot reach Zide Cloud Service after its offline grace period, a previously confirmed paid account appears as Unverified instead of Free. Plan and credit actions are hidden so Zide does not present an unconfirmed plan or balance.
Click Account > Status… and then click Reconnect. Zide checks the connected account again and restores the verified plan and credit details when the connection succeeds. Account Portal and Sign Out remain available while the account is unverified.
Cancellation
To cancel or change your Zide subscription, click Account > Account Portal. You can also manage your subscription at account.zide.dev.
Your subscription stays active until the end of the current paid period. After that, Zide reverts to the Free plan unless you have earned a perpetual license. A perpetual license retains the qualifying desktop features on your current version, but it does not include Zide Assist, AI generation, model connections, credits, or updates.
Monthly credits follow their monthly credit period and do not roll over. Purchased bulk credits cannot be used while your subscription is inactive. They are retained for up to 12 months after the subscription becomes inactive and become available again if you resubscribe before they expire.
You earn a perpetual license after subscribing to Zide for 12 continuous months. It lets you keep the qualifying version and its paid desktop features, including private repositories and unlimited project tabs, after cancellation.
For billing or entitlement problems, contact support@zide.dev.
Git is missing, unusable, or out of date
Zide can run without the Git command-line tool. You can keep editing and use many local Git features. Cloning, compatibility sync, submodules, subtrees, and some advanced Git features need the tool. Other actions may also need it, depending on the repository’s hooks, signing settings, sparse checkout, filters, or merge drivers.
When an action needs Git and Zide cannot find or run it, Zide shows a recovery card headed Git is needed to …. The end of the heading names the action you attempted.
Use Get Git to open the download page. Use Choose executable… if Git is already installed. Check again repeats the check, and Not now closes the card.
The card gives installation guidance for your platform. Click Copy command beside a command to copy it.
| Platform | What to do |
|---|---|
| Windows | Install Git for Windows, or run winget install --id Git.Git -e. |
| macOS | Install Apple’s Command Line Tools, or download Git directly. Run xcode-select --install to start the installer. |
| Ubuntu, Debian, Mint, or Pop!_OS | Use the system package manager: sudo apt install git. |
| Fedora, RHEL, CentOS, Rocky Linux, or AlmaLinux | Use the system package manager: sudo dnf install git. |
| Arch Linux or Manjaro | Use the system package manager: sudo pacman -S git. |
| openSUSE or SUSE | Use the system package manager: sudo zypper install git. |
| Alpine Linux | Use the system package manager: sudo apk add git. |
If Zide cannot identify your Linux distribution, the card asks you to use your distribution’s installation guidance and does not show a command.
Restart Zide if you installed Git or changed PATH while Zide was open. If Git is still missing after a new check, restart Zide or choose the executable directly.
Recover in place, without losing what you were doing
After a later check finds Git, the card changes to Git is ready. It gives you a button that resumes the action you attempted, so you do not have to start over.
The continuation buttons are Continue cloning, Continue fetching, Continue pulling, Continue pushing, Continue publishing, Continue force-pushing, Refresh sync status, and Continue for subtree work.
Choose the Git executable yourself
Use the Git command-line tool card when Git is installed somewhere Zide does not look, or when you want Zide to use a specific build. Click Choose executable… and select it.
Click Use automatic detection to let Zide find Git again.
A Git feature needs a newer Git
Some features need a specific Git capability. The feature shows a card in place of its content, while other Git features keep working.
| Feature | Requirement card | What it needs | Install action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sparse Checkout | A newer Git version is needed | Git 2.25 or newer | Update Git |
| Subtrees | Git subtree isn’t available | A Git build that includes the git subtree command | Learn how to install Git subtree |
Both cards also offer Choose another executable…, Check again, and Not now. When a check succeeds, the card changes to Git feature is ready and shows Continue.
A Git action did not start
Zide coordinates the Git actions in each repository, including actions from other Zide windows and from Zide Assist. Actions that would conflict run one at a time.
If your action must wait, Zide shows Waiting for and names what it waits for: an action, Zide Assist, another Zide window, or another Git process. The message closes when your action starts or stops.
If the wait is too long, your action does not start, and Zide names what is using the repository. Examine the repository before you try again.
An action that can remove changes, such as Discard Changes, waits only if Zide recorded the state you confirmed. Without a recorded state, Zide stops the action immediately if another action is changing the repository.
The repository changed before an action could start
Many confirmations record the repository state when Zide shows them: the branch, the commit, and the staged changes. For actions that can remove changes, Zide also records the working files. Before the action starts, Zide compares the repository with that record.
If something changed, for example another window made a commit, Zide stops the action and shows The repository changed, so followed by the action name and did not start. Click Show Details to see what changed. Click Review Updated State to refresh the views. Examine the current state before you try the action again.
Zide Assist uses the same check for Git tools. Zide records the state when it asks for your approval. If that state changes before the tool starts, the tool does not run.
A merge, revert, or cherry-pick did not start
Before a merge, revert, or cherry-pick starts, Zide checks for changes that the operation could overwrite. If something is in the way, Zide shows Cannot Merge, Cannot Revert, or Cannot Cherry-Pick. The dialog lists the files and changes in the way.
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| Commit or stash your changes first. | Commit or stash your staged and modified files. Move any untracked files that the dialog lists. |
| Resolve the conflicts first. | Resolve the conflicted files in Staging. |
| Finish or abort the current merge first. | Finish or abort the operation in progress from the conflict banner. The message names the operation. |
| Move the ignored files or folders first. | Move the ignored files or folders that the dialog lists. |
| Check out a branch to merge into. | Switch from a detached HEAD to a branch. |
If available, click Open Staging to review your changes. Click Stash Changes and Review to stash them and check the operation again. If no blockers remain, Zide asks you to confirm. The stash message starts with Stash before. After the operation, apply the stash to restore your changes. See Stashes.
If the repository changes after you confirm, the operation does not start and Zide tells you why. Click Show Details to see what is in the way.
A hook or commit signing blocked an operation
A Git hook can block a commit, merge, revert, cherry-pick, rebase, or push. Commit signing can also fail when Git creates a commit. Zide shows a notification that names the hook or says Commit signing failed. If the failure prevents a commit during an operation already in progress, that operation stays in progress.
Fix the cause, then try again. For the steps, see Review a blocked operation.
Abort, Continue, or Skip did not finish
If Commit, Continue, Skip, or an abort action fails, Zide shows the reason. Some failures occur after files or commits have changed. Review the current state before you try again.
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| Resolve and stage N conflicted files first. Nothing was committed. | Resolve and stage the files in Staging, then click Commit or Continue again. |
| The merge started at commit, but HEAD is now at commit. No files or commits were changed. Review Reflog. | HEAD moved after the operation started, so Abort cannot restore the start safely. Use the Reflog to find the commit you need. |
| Move the file, folder, or link blocking path, then try again. Nothing was changed. | Move the item at that path, then abort again. |
| The merge started on branch, but branch is checked out now. Nothing was changed. Use Commit or Continue in the conflict banner to review and confirm. | A different branch was checked out while the operation was paused. Zide Assist cannot confirm this. Click Commit, Continue, or Skip in the conflict banner and confirm, or abort the operation. |
| Unstage path first. Skip cannot apply the next commit over staged changes. Nothing was changed. | Unstage the file, then click Skip again. |
| The merge was committed, but its state could not be cleared: reason. Try again to finish. | Click Commit or Continue again to finish. |
In the message about the starting commit, Zide refers to the branch for a rebase and HEAD for other operations. For more information about the banner, see Conflict banner.
HTTPS authentication failed
For a push, pull, or fetch over HTTPS, Zide sends a bound account’s token only to that account’s host. If the server rejects authentication, the Sign in to continue recovery dialog lets you connect an account for that host or choose another connected account.
If Zide finds connected accounts for the host, select one in Account and click Choose account. If none apply, click Connect account.
Without a matching Zide account, Git uses its configured credential helper. SSH remotes use your SSH configuration instead. The dialog links to both routes under Other ways to authenticate with Set up a credential helper and Use SSH instead.
Git LFS is missing
When a repository uses Git LFS and Zide cannot find it, Zide shows Git LFS setup needed. The card says whether Zide could not find Git LFS or could not run it. Your repository is safe in either case, but large files may remain as pointer files.
Click Get Git LFS to open the Git LFS download page. After you install or repair it, click Check again.
Missing Git LFS does not make a clone fail on its own. The clone completes, but the LFS content still needs to be downloaded. See Recover LFS files after a clone. For a single file, see Recognize LFS files for the Pull File action.
Clean kept some files
Clean protects nested repositories, submodules, worktrees, and the .zide folder.
It also keeps files that changed after you reviewed the list. Check the Kept
list and the result message before trying again. See
Clean Untracked Files for the deletion rules.
Worktree creation was interrupted
If Zide finds files in an incomplete worktree, it lets you open the worktree without overwriting them. Review its files and Staging before discarding changes. See If worktree creation is interrupted.
A conflict outside sparse checkout cannot be resolved
If a conflicted file is outside your sparse checkout and is missing from the working tree, Zide lets you inspect it but disables resolution actions. See Conflicts outside the sparse checkout for ways to finish or abort the operation.