Git error: src refspec master does not match any error: failed to push some refs

Question

I am trying to add a file to my repository on BitBucket and I am having trouble.

I am using GIT and this is what I type in

$ cd lis4368/assignments
$ git remote
$ git remote -v
$ git remote rm origin

and then I type this in (this is what BitBucket tells me to enter)

$ git remote add origin https://[email protected]/cpb09e/cpb09e.git
$ git push -u origin master

And I keep getting this error message:

error: src refspec master does not match any.
error: failed to push some refs to 'https://[email protected]/cpb09e/cpb09e.git'

Can someone pleas help me out? I have tried everything from git commit to rm -rf * and I cannot get anything to work at all.

Answer 1

One classic root cause for this message is:

• when the repo has been initialized (git init lis4368/assignments),
• but no commit has ever been made

Ie, if you don't have added and committed at least once, there won't be a local master branch to push to.

Try first to create a commit:

• either by adding (git add .) then git commit -m "first commit"
  (assuming you have the right files in place to add to the index)
• or by create a first empty commit: git commit --allow-empty -m "Initial empty commit"

And then try git push -u origin master again.

See "Why do I need to explicitly push a new branch?" for more.