git filename too long and error: unable to index file

Andrew Fletcher published: 5 September 2023 1 minute read

Git filename error when running the git add command. The error I'm receiving is

error: open("content/vendor/composer/1ab38258/drupal-core-c84bab7/modules/content_moderation/tests/modules/content_moderation_test_views/config/install/views.view.test_content_moderation_state_filter_base_table_filter_group_or.yml"): Filename too long
error: unable to index file 'content/vendor/composer/1ab38258/drupal-core-c84bab7/modules/content_moderation/tests/modules/content_moderation_test_views/config/install/views.view.test_content_moderation_state_filter_base_table_filter_group_or.yml'
fatal: adding files failed

The consequence of this error means nothing is added to git. So what's causing this issue? To begin it handy to know that Git has a limit of 4096 characters for a filename - clearly not issue in this situation. However, on Windows when Git is compiled with msys. It uses an older version of the Windows API and there's a limit of 260 characters for a filename. Therefore, the limitation is on msys rather than Git. To circumvent this issue, use another Git client on Windows or set core.longpaths to true.

How to set the git long paths:

git config --system core.longpaths true

Post running this command - running git add workd without issue.

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