How to fix error: another maintenance operation is in progress in Git

Before removing any lock files, verify whether a maintenance operation is actually running:

# On Linux/macOS
ps aux | grep -i git

# On Windows (PowerShell)
Get-Process | Where-Object {/home/jonas/.claude/shell-snapshots/snapshot-bash-1764676531613-9a9t8a.sh.ProcessName -like '*git*'}

If you see a git maintenance, git gc, or git repack process running, wait for it to complete naturally. Killing it may require lock file cleanup.

If no git processes are running, the lock file is likely stale and can be safely removed:

# Remove maintenance lock
rm -f .git/objects/maintenance.lock

# If there are other lock files
find .git -name '*.lock' -type f

# Remove all lock files (use with caution)
find .git -name '*.lock' -type f -delete

On Windows:

del .git\objects\maintenance.lock

After removing the lock file, retry your maintenance operation.

If you've been mixing git gc with git maintenance run, use the maintenance command exclusively:

# Instead of: git gc
# Use:
git maintenance run --task=gc

# Run all maintenance tasks
git maintenance run

# Schedule automatic maintenance (recommended)
git maintenance start

The git maintenance command takes proper locks, while git gc may not coordinate correctly with maintenance operations.

If the lock file resulted from a system crash, check your repository for corruption:

# Check repository integrity
git fsck

# If issues found, attempt repair
git fsck --full

# Rebuild index if needed
rm -f .git/index
git reset

If git fsck reports errors, you may need to recover from a backup or use more advanced repair techniques.

Git GUI applications and IDEs often run background maintenance tasks:

1. Close all Git GUI clients (GitKraken, SourceTree, GitHub Desktop, etc.)
2. Close IDEs with Git integration (VS Code, IntelliJ, etc.)
3. Wait 30 seconds for background processes to terminate
4. Check Task Manager/Activity Monitor to confirm no git processes remain
5. Retry your maintenance operation

You may need to disable automatic maintenance in these tools if conflicts persist.