How to fix fatal: No tag exactly matches 'abc1234' in Git

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The git describe command fails when used with --match or --exact-match options and no tags match the specified pattern or commit. This occurs when trying to find a specific tag that describes the current commit.

What this error means

The git describe command is used to give a human-readable name to a commit based on the nearest reachable tag. When you use the --exact-match option, git describe will only output if the current commit is tagged exactly. If you use the --match option with a pattern, it will only consider tags matching that glob pattern. This error occurs when git describe cannot find any tags that satisfy your search criteria. With --exact-match, it means the current commit doesn't have a tag pointing directly to it. With --match, it means no tags in your repository match the specified pattern, or none of the matching tags are reachable from the current commit. This is commonly encountered in CI/CD pipelines when trying to determine version numbers from tags, or when attempting to verify that a specific commit has been tagged for release.

How to fix "fatal: No tag exactly matches 'abc1234'"

1Check if any tags exist in your repository

First, verify that your repository has tags:

bash

git tag -l

If this returns no output, you have no tags. You'll need to create at least one tag:

bash

git tag v1.0.0

2Verify the current commit has a tag (for --exact-match)

If you're using --exact-match, check if the current commit (HEAD) has a tag:

bash

git tag --points-at HEAD

If this returns no output, the current commit is not tagged. You can either:
- Switch to a tagged commit
- Create a tag for the current commit: git tag v1.0.1
- Use git describe without --exact-match to find the nearest tag

3Test your --match pattern

If using --match, verify that tags matching your pattern exist:

bash

# List all tags matching pattern
git tag -l 'v*'

# Try describe with --match
git describe --match 'v*'

Adjust your glob pattern to match your actual tag naming convention. Common patterns:
- v* - matches v1.0.0, v2.1.3, etc.
- release-* - matches release-2024.1, release-2024.2, etc.
- * - matches all tags

4Fetch tags from remote if in CI/CD or after shallow clone

In CI/CD environments or after shallow clones, tags may not be present:

bash

# Fetch all tags from remote
git fetch --tags

# Or fetch with full history (unshallow)
git fetch --unshallow

For GitHub Actions, ensure your workflow fetches full history:

yaml

- uses: actions/checkout@v4
  with:
    fetch-depth: 0  # Fetch all history for all branches and tags

For GitLab CI, disable shallow cloning in Settings → CI/CD → General Pipelines or use:

yaml

variables:
  GIT_DEPTH: 0

5Include lightweight tags if needed

By default, git describe only considers annotated tags. If you have lightweight tags, add the --tags option:

bash

# Consider both annotated and lightweight tags
git describe --tags --match 'v*'

To check what type your tags are:

bash

# Annotated tags show detailed info
git show v1.0.0

# Lightweight tags show the commit they point to

6Use --always as a fallback

If you want git describe to always return something even when no tags match, use --always:

bash

# Returns tag if found, otherwise abbreviated commit hash
git describe --tags --always

# With --match pattern
git describe --match 'v*' --always

This is useful in build scripts where you need some identifier regardless of whether tags exist.

How to fix fatal: No tag exactly matches 'abc1234' in Git

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How to fix "fatal: No tag exactly matches 'abc1234'"

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