How to fix fatal: Not a valid object name: 'main' in Git

# Check commit history
git log --oneline

# If this shows "fatal: your current branch 'main' does not have any commits yet"
# or "fatal: bad default revision 'HEAD'", you need to make your first commit

# List all branches - empty output means no commits exist
git branch -a

# Create a file if the directory is empty
echo "# My Project" > README.md

# Stage the file
git add README.md

# Create the initial commit
git commit -m "Initial commit"

# Now this will work
git branch feature-branch

# Set your name and email
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "[email protected]"

# Then try the commit again
git commit -m "Initial commit"

# Fetch all remote branches
git fetch origin

# Now you can reference remote branches
git checkout -b local-branch origin/main

# Or see all available remote branches
git branch -r

# Create and switch to a new branch
git checkout -b main

# Or with the newer 'switch' command
git switch -c main

# List all local branches
git branch

# List all remote branches
git branch -r

# List all branches (local and remote)
git branch -a

# Check if you're in a nested repo
git rev-parse --show-toplevel

# If the path seems wrong, navigate to the correct root
# and remove the nested .git folder if needed