[Bug]: Error: `packfile trailer mismatch`

[osirismqz]

Description

I'm trying to clone a github repository and I'm getting this error:

I'm cloning it into an empty folder and tried with multiple repositories on my Github account resulting in the same error.

Minimal Reproduction

Just try to clone a repository.

Exception or Error

2025-07-18 12:09:23.472 [W] CloneRepo: Cloning Repo
2025-07-18 12:09:24.448 [E] CloneRepo: #0      SimpleDecoder.decode (package:flutter_rust_bridge/src/codec/base.dart:32)
#1      SseCodec._decode (package:flutter_rust_bridge/src/codec/sse.dart:45)
#2      SseCodec.decodeObject (package:flutter_rust_bridge/src/codec/sse.dart:35)
<asynchronous suspension>
#3      GitManager.clone.<anonymous closure>.<anonymous closure> (package:GitSync/api/manager/git_manager.dart:92)
<asynchronous suspension>
#4      useDirectory.preUseAccess (package:GitSync/api/helper.dart:126)
<asynchronous suspension>
#5      useDirectory (package:GitSync/api/helper.dart:129)
<asynchronous suspension>
#6      GitManager.clone.<anonymous closure> (package:GitSync/api/manager/git_manager.dart:90)
<asynchronous suspension>
#7      GitManager._runWithLock (package:GitSync/api/manager/git_manager.dart:36)
<asynchronous suspension>
#8      GitManager.clone (package:GitSync/api/manager/git_manager.dart:82)
<asynchronous suspension>
#9      showDialog.<anonymous closure> (package:GitSync/ui/dialog/cloning_repository.dart:25)
<asynchronous suspension>
Error: error reading from the zlib stream; class=Zlib (5)
Stack backtrace:
   0: <unknown>
   1: <unknown>
   2: <unknown>
   3: <unknown>
   4: <unknown>
   5: <unknown>
   6: <unknown>
   7: <unknown>
   8: <unknown>
   9: <unknown>
  10: <unknown>
  11: <unknown>
  12: <unknown>
  13: <unknown>
  14: <unknown>
  15: <unknown>
  16: _ZL15__pthread_startPv
  17: __start_thread
2025-07-18 12:09:41.940 [W] CloneRepo: Cloning Repo
2025-07-18 12:09:42.094 [E] CloneRepo: #0      SimpleDecoder.decode (package:flutter_rust_bridge/src/codec/base.dart:32)
#1      SseCodec._decode (package:flutter_rust_bridge/src/codec/sse.dart:45)
#2      SseCodec.decodeObject (package:flutter_rust_bridge/src/codec/sse.dart:35)
<asynchronous suspension>
#3      GitManager.clone.<anonymous closure>.<anonymous closure> (package:GitSync/api/manager/git_manager.dart:92)
<asynchronous suspension>
#4      useDirectory.preUseAccess (package:GitSync/api/helper.dart:126)
<asynchronous suspension>
#5      useDirectory (package:GitSync/api/helper.dart:129)
<asynchronous suspension>
#6      GitManager.clone.<anonymous closure> (package:GitSync/api/manager/git_manager.dart:90)
<asynchronous suspension>
#7      GitManager._runWithLock (package:GitSync/api/manager/git_manager.dart:36)
<asynchronous suspension>
#8      GitManager.clone (package:GitSync/api/manager/git_manager.dart:82)
<asynchronous suspension>
#9      showDialog.<anonymous closure> (package:GitSync/ui/dialog/cloning_repository.dart:25)
<asynchronous suspension>
Error: packfile trailer mismatch; class=Indexer (15)
Stack backtrace:
   0: <unknown>
   1: <unknown>
   2: <unknown>
   3: <unknown>
   4: <unknown>
   5: <unknown>
   6: <unknown>
   7: <unknown>
   8: <unknown>
   9: <unknown>
  10: <unknown>
  11: <unknown>
  12: <unknown>
  13: <unknown>
  14: <unknown>
  15: <unknown>
  16: _ZL15__pthread_startPv
  17: __start_thread
2025-07-18 13:30:05.133 [W] CloneRepo: Cloning Repo

[ViscousPot]

Hi, any chance any of the repos are public, just to see if I can repro on my end?

[osirismqz]

Sure! I made my test repo public: https://github.com/osirismqz/nexus-obsidian

They issue happens with all my repos, public and private.

[ViscousPot]

Sorry for taking some time to respond. I can confirm that cloning this works fine for me using GitHub OAuth authentication.
I would appreciate more details on your setup and selected auth provider in case that helps.

It seems to be that this is an intermittent issue with no root cause identified in libgit2 (what GitSync currently uses for git)
libgit2/libgit2#3692

[osirismqz]

I'm using GitHub OAuth too, select the repository, a folder and that's it. There's not much more in terms of configuration.

What I can tell you is that it happens on two different devices (tablet and phone) which makes me think it has something to do with my GitHub account.

Anything you can think of in terms of my GitHub account configuration that might be worth a try?

[ViscousPot]

There's no reason I can think of that the auth methods would differ.. 🤔

Maybe try SSH auth, just in case? Maybe there are some oauth scopes missing? (doubt this to be honest).

If you can trigger the issue consistently, could you try using the "Share Logs" button found in the settings page to share logs with me directly via email?

[osirismqz]

There's no reason I can think of that the auth methods would differ.. 🤔

Maybe try SSH auth, just in case? Maybe there are some oauth scopes missing? (doubt this to be honest).

If you can trigger the issue consistently, could you try using the "Share Logs" button found in the settings page to share logs with me directly via email?

Sure! Just did that.

[ViscousPot]

Hi, thanks for doing that :)

I'm looking at the errors and I don't see an immediate fix. I'm trying a few changes locally right now, but I'm getting pretty low level so it's hard to test, especially when I can't reproduce.

I would appreciate your help testing when I can get a build in beta

[ViscousPot]

Sorry, forgot to add the most important bit. There's a chance that these issues only exist when using HTTP auth, so could you give it a try using SSH keys instead?

[ViscousPot]

Hey, I have an update in the latest beta version. Can you try it out and see if it works any different/better?

https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.viscouspot.gitsync

[osirismqz]

Tried the beta and got the same error. Sent you the log via mail if that helps at all.

[ViscousPot]

Yeah, thanks for sharing the logs again. Looks like the same issue persists.

I'm somewhat guessing but it feels like this is a zlib issue and so that's the path I'm exploring but I don't have any great ideas for a fix right now. I will keep you updated here if I have any breakthroughs :)

[ViscousPot]

Just wanted to add here that I have just gone through testing a few Android versions and none of them give me this error at all, nevermind reliably enough to root cause it..

[ViscousPot]

Can you confirm if you tried SSH auth at all? 🙏🏾