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@paolocarrasco
paolocarrasco / README.md
Last active April 7, 2025 22:13
How to understand the `gpg failed to sign the data` problem in git

Problem

You have installed GPG, then tried to commit and suddenly you see this error message after it:

error: gpg failed to sign the data
fatal: failed to write commit object

Debug

@cezaraugusto
cezaraugusto / gpg_fix.txt
Last active November 7, 2024 16:39
fixing `gpg failed to sign data` error on macOS
For troubleshooting, two things to first try:
run `git config --global gpg.program gpg2`, to make sure git uses gpg2 and not gpg
run `echo "test" | gpg2 --clearsign`, to make sure gpg2 itself is working
If that all looks all right, one next thing to try:
run `brew install pinentry` to ensure you have a good tool installed for passphrase entry
If after that install and you re-try git commit and still get the "failed to sign the data" error:
run `gpgconf --kill gpg-agent` to kill any running agent that might be hung