The Scalar command is not available in your Git installation. Scalar is a repository management tool for large monorepos that was integrated into Git v2.38+.
The "git: 'scalar' is not a git command" error occurs when you try to run the `scalar` command but it's not available in your Git installation. Scalar is a repository management tool that optimizes Git for use in large repositories and monorepos by enabling advanced features like partial clone, sparse-checkout, and background maintenance. Scalar was integrated into core Git starting with version 2.38 (released October 2022). If you're running an older version of Git, the scalar command won't be available. On some systems, even with Git 2.38+, Scalar may be excluded from the installation or require separate installation steps. This error typically appears when following documentation or tutorials that reference Scalar commands, or when working with large repository workflows that rely on Scalar's performance optimizations.
First, verify which version of Git you have installed:
git --versionScalar was added to Git in version 2.38. If your version is 2.37 or earlier, you'll need to upgrade Git to access Scalar.
macOS (Homebrew):
brew update
brew upgrade gitUbuntu/Debian:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:git-core/ppa
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade gitWindows:
Download the latest Git for Windows installer from [git-scm.com](https://git-scm.com/download/win) and run it. Ensure "Scalar" is selected during installation.
From source:
wget https://mirrors.edge.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/git-2.48.0.tar.gz
tar -xvf git-2.48.0.tar.gz
cd git-2.48.0
make configure
./configure --prefix=/usr/local
make all
sudo make installAfter upgrading, confirm that Scalar is installed:
git scalar --helpor
scalar --helpYou should see the Scalar help documentation listing available subcommands like clone, list, register, and unregister.
If upgrading is not possible immediately, you can achieve similar results using Git's built-in features:
Instead of `scalar clone`:
git clone --filter=blob:none --sparse <repo-url>
cd <repo>
git sparse-checkout init --cone
git maintenance startInstead of `scalar register`:
git maintenance start
git config core.fsmonitor true
git config core.untrackedCache trueThese commands manually configure the performance features that Scalar enables automatically.
About Scalar's Integration:
Scalar was originally developed by Microsoft as a separate tool to help Git work with massive monorepos like the Windows operating system codebase. Through significant engineering effort, its core features were gradually upstreamed into Git itself. As of Git 2.38, Scalar is a thin wrapper around native Git features rather than a standalone tool.
When You Actually Need Scalar:
For most repositories (even those with thousands of commits), standard Git performs excellently without Scalar. Scalar primarily benefits repositories that are:
- Multiple gigabytes in size
- Contain hundreds of thousands of files
- Have extensive commit histories (100k+ commits)
- Are monorepos with highly componentized structures
Distribution Differences:
Some Linux distributions package Scalar separately from the main Git package. On Arch Linux, for example, you may need to install the git-scalar package explicitly. Check your distribution's package manager if scalar is not available after upgrading Git.
Sparse-Checkout and Partial Clone:
Scalar's primary value comes from automating sparse-checkout (downloading only needed files) and partial clone (deferring blob downloads) configurations. These features are available in Git 2.25+ but require manual setup without Scalar.
warning: BOM detected in file, this may cause issues
UTF-8 Byte Order Mark (BOM) detected in file
fatal: Server does not support --shallow-exclude
Server does not support --shallow-exclude
warning: filtering out blobs larger than limit
Git partial clone filtering large blobs warning
fatal: Server does not support --shallow-since
Server does not support --shallow-since in Git
kex_exchange_identification: Connection closed by remote host
Connection closed by remote host when connecting to Git server