---
source_keys:
  - context7-pre-commit-com
  - pre-commit-com
---

# Hook Failure Patterns

Common hook failure causes and concrete next-step suggestions.

## Hook modified files — commit blocked

Cause: A fixer hook (e.g. `trailing-whitespace`, `end-of-file-fixer`, `pretty-format-json`) modified staged files. The commit is blocked because the staged version is now stale.

Fix: Re-stage and recommit.
```bash
rtk git add -u
rtk git commit -m "same message"
```

Do NOT reach for `pre-commit install -f` here. That flag overwrites existing hook files in `.git/hooks/`; it has nothing to do with re-staging.

## Secret detected (gitleaks)

> Not sourced from the pre-commit research corpus (`context7-pre-commit-com`/`pre-commit-com` cover pre-commit itself, not gitleaks) — general tool knowledge, verify against gitleaks' own docs if precision matters.

Cause: gitleaks found a high-entropy string or known secret pattern in a staged file.

Suggestions:
- If it's a false positive: add a `# gitleaks:allow` inline comment, or add the path to `.gitleaksignore`.
- If it's a real secret: remove it from the file, rotate the credential, then commit.

## Shellcheck warning

> Not sourced from the pre-commit research corpus — general tool knowledge, verify against shellcheck's own docs if precision matters.

Cause: shellcheck found a shell script issue. The output includes the file path, line number, and SC-code.

Fix: Look up the SC-code on shellcheck.net or pass `--explain SCxxxx` to shellcheck for a detailed explanation.

## `check-hooks-apply` fails

Cause: A hook's `files`/`types` filter matches zero files in the repo — the hook is dead weight.

Fix: Broaden the filter, or remove the hook if it no longer applies to this repo.

## `check-useless-excludes` fails

Cause: An `exclude` pattern matches no files.

Fix: Remove or fix the pattern.

## `rev` is a branch name — `autoupdate` broke it

Cause: Branch refs are mutable and drift over time; pre-commit resolves them once at install time, so pinning to a branch name (instead of a tag or commit SHA) leads to silent version drift.

Fix:
```bash
pre-commit autoupdate     # finds the latest tag and rewrites rev in place
```

## pretty-format-json fails but doesn't fix

Cause: `pretty-format-json` requires `args: [--autofix]` to modify files. Without it, the hook only fails.

Fix: The user (or `pc-author`) must add `args: [--autofix]` to the hook override in `.pre-commit-config.yaml`.

## Environment stale or broken

Cause: A hook's cached environment is corrupted or out of date.

Fix: `pre-commit clean` is gated. It wipes the machine-wide cache at `~/.cache/pre-commit`, shared by every repo on the box, so get explicit confirmation before running it — "This will wipe the entire pre-commit cache. All hook environments will be re-downloaded on next run. Proceed?"

```bash
pre-commit clean          # gated — confirm with the user first
pre-commit install-hooks  # rebuild everything
```

Or less destructively, needing no confirmation:
```bash
pre-commit gc             # remove only unused environments
```

## Hooks don't run on `git commit`

Cause: `pre-commit install` was never run in this clone.

Fix: `pre-commit install`. Git hooks are per-clone — they are not committed to the repo.

## Hook runs but matches wrong files (or no files)

Cause: The `files:` pattern uses `re.search()` not full-string match. A pattern that looks correct may match unexpectedly.

Diagnosis: `identify-cli <filename>` shows the type tags for a file. Verify `types:` filters against these.

## stages mismatch — hook never fires

Cause: Hook is defined for a stage (e.g. `pre-push`) but `pre-commit install` was not run with `-t pre-push`.

Fix:
```bash
pre-commit install -t pre-commit -t pre-push -t commit-msg
```

Or add `default_install_hook_types` to `.pre-commit-config.yaml` and re-run `pre-commit install`.

## `validate-config` schema error

Common causes: missing `id` under a hook block, missing `rev` under a non-local repo block, a `repo: local` hook missing `language` or `entry`, or an indentation error (valid YAML but invalid pre-commit schema).