How to fix error: unable to access path: Operation not permitted (requires Full Disk Access) in Git

First, determine exactly which path is triggering the permission error:

Check the full error message:

# Run the Git command with verbose output
GIT_TRACE=1 git status 2>&1 | grep -i "permission\|not permitted"

# Or check the specific path mentioned in the error
ls -la /path/to/problematic/directory

Common protected locations on macOS:
- ~/Desktop - Desktop folder
- ~/Documents - Documents folder
- ~/Downloads - Downloads folder
- ~/Library/Mobile Documents - iCloud Drive
- ~/Dropbox - Dropbox folder
- ~/Google Drive - Google Drive folder
- ~/OneDrive - OneDrive folder

Check if the error is TCC-related:

# Look for TCC denials in system log
log show --predicate 'subsystem == "com.apple.TCC"' --last 5m

Understanding which path is protected helps determine the right solution.

The most common fix is granting Full Disk Access to your terminal application:

For Terminal.app:
1. Open System Preferences (or System Settings on macOS Ventura+)
2. Go to Privacy & Security > Privacy tab
3. Select Full Disk Access from the left sidebar
4. Click the lock icon and enter your password to make changes
5. Click the + button
6. Navigate to /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app
7. Add Terminal to the list and ensure the checkbox is enabled
8. Quit and reopen Terminal for changes to take effect

For iTerm2:
1. Follow the same steps as above
2. Add /Applications/iTerm.app instead

For other terminal emulators:
Add the specific application (Hyper, Alacritty, Warp, etc.) using the same process.

Verify the permission was granted:

# After restarting Terminal, try accessing a protected path
ls ~/Desktop
cd ~/Documents && git status

Important: You must quit and reopen the terminal application after granting permissions.

If you're using Git through an IDE, the IDE itself needs Full Disk Access:

For Visual Studio Code:
1. Open System Preferences > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access
2. Click the lock and authenticate
3. Click + and add /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app
4. Restart VS Code completely

For JetBrains IDEs (IntelliJ, WebStorm, PyCharm, etc.):
1. Add the specific IDE app from /Applications/
2. For example: /Applications/IntelliJ IDEA.app

For Xcode:
1. Add /Applications/Xcode.app
2. Also consider adding /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools if using command-line tools

For Sublime Text, Atom, or other editors:
Add the respective application from your Applications folder.

Common IDE locations:

/Applications/Visual Studio Code.app
/Applications/Sublime Text.app
/Applications/IntelliJ IDEA.app
/Applications/PyCharm.app
/Applications/WebStorm.app
/Applications/Xcode.app

After adding the IDE, restart it completely (quit and reopen).

In some cases, you may need to grant access to the Git binary directly:

Find your Git installation:

# Find which Git you're using
which git

# Common locations:
# /usr/bin/git - Apple's built-in Git
# /usr/local/bin/git - Homebrew Git (Intel Macs)
# /opt/homebrew/bin/git - Homebrew Git (Apple Silicon)
# /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/usr/bin/git - Xcode Git

Add Git to Full Disk Access:
1. Open System Preferences > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access
2. Click + and press Cmd+Shift+G to open "Go to folder"
3. Enter the path to your Git binary (e.g., /usr/local/bin/git)
4. Select the git file and click Open

For Homebrew Git:

# Find the actual binary location
readlink -f $(which git)
# This might show something like:
# /opt/homebrew/Cellar/git/2.43.0/bin/git

Note: Adding just the terminal application usually suffices. Only add Git directly if terminal access doesn't resolve the issue.

If granting Full Disk Access isn't desirable or possible, move your repository to an unprotected location:

Create a development directory outside protected areas:

# Create a dev folder in your home directory (not protected by default)
mkdir -p ~/dev

# Move your repository
mv ~/Documents/my-project ~/dev/my-project

# Or clone to the new location
git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git ~/dev/repo

Safe locations for Git repositories:
- ~/dev or ~/code - Custom development folders
- ~/projects - Project directory
- /usr/local/src - Local source directory (may need sudo)
- Any custom folder you create outside Desktop/Documents

Update your IDE workspace:
After moving the repository, update any IDE projects or workspace files to point to the new location.

Create a symlink (optional):

# If you need the project accessible from Documents
ln -s ~/dev/my-project ~/Documents/my-project

This approach avoids security permission issues entirely.

If your repository is in iCloud Drive, you have several options:

Option 1: Move out of iCloud Drive

# Find your iCloud Drive path
cd ~/Library/Mobile\ Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs

# Move repository to a local folder
mv my-repo ~/dev/my-repo

Option 2: Disable iCloud Desktop & Documents sync for development folders
1. Open System Preferences > Apple ID > iCloud
2. Click Options next to iCloud Drive
3. Uncheck Desktop & Documents Folders

Option 3: Grant Full Disk Access (see Step 2)
This allows Git to access iCloud Drive, but may cause issues with cloud sync.

Best practice for iCloud users:
Keep Git repositories outside of iCloud-synced folders. Cloud sync and Git don't mix well due to:
- .git folder can become corrupted during sync
- File locking conflicts
- Large repository sizes consuming iCloud storage
- Sync delays causing inconsistent state

# Recommended: Keep code separate
~/dev/           # Git repositories (local only)
~/Documents/     # iCloud-synced documents

Similar to iCloud, repositories in cloud-synced folders require special handling:

Move repository out of cloud folder:

# Example for Dropbox
mv ~/Dropbox/projects/my-repo ~/dev/my-repo

# Update remote if needed
cd ~/dev/my-repo
git remote -v

Grant Full Disk Access to terminal and cloud client:
If you must keep repositories in cloud folders, grant Full Disk Access to:
1. Your terminal application
2. The cloud sync application (Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive)

Exclude .git folders from sync:
Some cloud clients allow excluding folders:

Dropbox:

# Use Selective Sync or add .git to ignore
# Or use the xattr command
xattr -w com.dropbox.ignored 1 .git

Google Drive:
Right-click folder in Finder > "Do not sync"

OneDrive:
Use the "Free up space" option or exclude via settings.

Best practice: Don't store Git repositories in cloud-synced folders. Use Git remotes (GitHub, GitLab) for backup and collaboration instead.

If Git hooks are failing due to permission errors:

Check hook permissions:

# List hooks and their permissions
ls -la .git/hooks/

# Make hooks executable
chmod +x .git/hooks/*

Ensure hooks can access required paths:
If a hook script accesses protected directories, either:
1. Grant Full Disk Access to the terminal running Git
2. Modify the hook to avoid protected paths
3. Use environment variables for paths

Example: Pre-commit hook accessing Documents:

#!/bin/bash
# Before (problematic):
# DOCS_PATH="$HOME/Documents/templates"

# After (use unprotected location):
DOCS_PATH="$HOME/dev/templates"

For Husky or other Git hook managers:
Ensure the Node.js or script interpreter has Full Disk Access if needed:

# Find node location
which node
# Add to Full Disk Access if necessary

Debug hook execution:

# Run hook manually to see errors
.git/hooks/pre-commit

If permissions seem correct but Git still fails, the TCC database may be corrupted:

Warning: This resets all privacy permissions and requires re-authorizing all applications.

Reset via Terminal (requires SIP disabled or Recovery Mode):

# This usually doesn't work with SIP enabled
tccutil reset All

Reset specific service:

# Reset just Full Disk Access
tccutil reset SystemPolicyAllFiles

More reliable: Reset via System Preferences
1. Go to System Preferences > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access
2. Remove the application (Terminal, IDE, etc.)
3. Re-add the application
4. Restart the application

Check TCC database status:

# View TCC log entries
log show --predicate 'subsystem == "com.apple.TCC"' --last 10m --info

# Find TCC database (read-only without SIP disabled)
ls -la ~/Library/Application\ Support/com.apple.TCC/TCC.db

If nothing works:
Consider creating a new macOS user account and testing Git there to rule out user-specific corruption.

After applying fixes, verify that Git works correctly:

Test basic operations:

# Navigate to the previously problematic directory
cd /path/to/repository

# Test status
git status

# Test fetching
git fetch origin

# Test file operations
git diff
git log --oneline -5

Test in previously blocked locations:

# Test in Documents (if that was the issue)
cd ~/Documents
mkdir test-repo && cd test-repo
git init
echo "test" > README.md
git add .
git commit -m "Test commit"

# Clean up
cd ..
rm -rf test-repo

Test IDE integration:
1. Open your IDE
2. Open a project in the previously problematic location
3. Make a change and verify Git detects it
4. Try committing through the IDE

If issues persist:

# Check for extended attributes
xattr -l /path/to/file

# Remove problematic attributes if safe
xattr -c /path/to/file