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`gh stack submit` fails on forks by attempting to create PRs on upstream repository (`Head sha can't be blank`)

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Assessment

Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Newbie friendliness
65/100
Issue type
Bug
Clarity
Mostly clear
Activity status
Active
Tech stack
git, github, go
Domain
api, cli

Research direction

Start with the gh stack submit entry point and trace repository resolution, including gh-stack.remote and the configured default repository, through the GraphQL createPullRequest call. Reproduce with the fork setup and GH_DEBUG=1. Done means stacked PR creation targets the fork or explicitly supports the intended head repository without the blank SHA errors.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

When using gh stack submit on a repository cloned from a fork, the command attempts to query and submit the stack against the upstream parent repository instead of the fork (or specified default repository).

Since the feature branches only exist on the fork (origin), GitHub's GraphQL API rejects the PR creation because the branches do not exist on the target upstream repository, resulting in Head sha can't be blank / Base sha can't be blank.

Executing gh repo set-default <fork-owner>/<repo> does not alter this behavior.

Environment
  • OS: Windows 11 (Git Bash / MINGW64)
  • gh version: gh version 2.100.0 (2026-09-03)
  • gh stack extension version: github/gh-stack v0.1.1
Repository Setup
Steps to Reproduce
  1. Clone a fork repository that has an upstream remote configured.
  2. Create stacked branches locally and push them to origin:
    a. main -> feature/branch-1 -> feature/branch-2
  3. Set the default repository using gh repo set-default Hakzai/pokerpulsepro-tauri.
  4. Run gh stack submit.
Expected Behavior

gh stack submit should resolve stacked PRs against the configured default repository (Hakzai/pokerpulsepro-tauri) or provide cross-repository fork support by specifying the head branch owner/ref.

Actual Behavior

The command targets davidelvar/pokerpulsepro-tauri and fails with:

⚠ failed to create PR for feature/add-brazil-real-currency: creating PR: GraphQL: Head sha can't be blank, Base sha can't be blank, No commits between main and feature/add-brazil-real-currency, Head ref must be a branch (createPullRequest)
Debug Output (GH_DEBUG=1 gh stack submit)

Relevant log excerpts showing API requests targeting the upstream repo instead of the fork:

* Request to https://api.github.com/repos/davidelvar/pokerpulsepro-tauri/stacks?per_page=100&page=1
...
[git.exe push origin --force-with-lease=refs/heads/feature/add-brazil-real-currency:... refs/heads/feature/add-brazil-real-currency:refs/heads/feature/add-brazil-real-currency]
* Request to https://api.github.com/graphql
⚠ failed to create PR for feature/add-brazil-real-currency: creating PR: GraphQL: Head sha can't be blank, Base sha can't be blank, No commits between main and feature/add-brazil-real-currency, Head ref must be a branch (createPullRequest)
Git Config

Git config is pointing correctly the upstream to davidelvar/pokerpulsepro-tauri and the origin to the fork at Hakzai/pokerpulsepro-tauri.

submodule.active=.
remote.origin.url=https://github.com/Hakzai/pokerpulsepro-tauri.git
remote.origin.fetch=+refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
remote.origin.gh-resolved=base
branch.main.remote=origin
branch.main.merge=refs/heads/main
branch.main.vscode-merge-base=origin/main
lfs.repositoryformatversion=0
remote.upstream.url=https://github.com/davidelvar/pokerpulsepro-tauri.git
remote.upstream.fetch=+refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/upstream/*
...
branch.feature/full-backup-impl.vscode-merge-base=origin/main
branch.feature/full-backup-impl.remote=origin
branch.feature/full-backup-impl.merge=refs/heads/feature/full-backup-impl
branch.feature/add-brazil-real-currency.vscode-merge-base=origin/main
branch.feature/add-brazil-real-currency.remote=origin
branch.feature/add-brazil-real-currency.merge=refs/heads/feature/add-brazil-real-currency
branch.feature/create-winners-board.vscode-merge-base=origin/main
branch.feature/create-winners-board.remote=origin
branch.feature/create-winners-board.merge=refs/heads/feature/create-winners-board
branch.bugfix/prize-tab-not-showing-champion.vscode-merge-base=origin/main
branch.bugfix/prize-tab-not-showing-champion.remote=origin
branch.bugfix/prize-tab-not-showing-champion.merge=refs/heads/bugfix/prize-tab-not-showing-champion
branch.chore/deploy-to-github-pages.vscode-merge-base=origin/main
branch.chore/deploy-to-github-pages.remote=origin
branch.chore/deploy-to-github-pages.merge=refs/heads/chore/deploy-to-github-pages
rerere.enabled=true
rerere.autoupdate=true
gh-stack.remote=origin
Dominant language
Go
Stars
1.5k
Forks
73
Avg merge
1d 8h
Merged PRs (30d)
7

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