fix: fixed issue where git may not be setup on users computer.

src/__tests__/create.test.ts

@@ -36,10 +36,11 @@ import { sanitizeRepoName, offerAndCreateGitHubRepo } from '../github.js';
 import { runCreate } from '../create.js';
 import { defaultTemplates } from '../templates.js';
 
-const mockPathExists = fs.pathExists as jest.MockedFunction<typeof fs.pathExists>;
+/** Partial `fs-extra` mock: use `jest.Mock` for `mockResolvedValue` (typed mocks infer `never` here). */
+const mockPathExists = fs.pathExists as jest.MockedFunction<typeof fs.pathExists> & jest.Mock;
 const mockReadJson = fs.readJson as jest.MockedFunction<typeof fs.readJson>;
 const mockWriteJson = fs.writeJson as jest.MockedFunction<typeof fs.writeJson>;
-const mockRemove = fs.remove as jest.MockedFunction<typeof fs.remove>;
+const mockRemove = fs.remove as jest.MockedFunction<typeof fs.remove> & jest.Mock;
 const mockExeca = execa as jest.MockedFunction<typeof execa>;
 const mockPrompt = inquirer.prompt as jest.MockedFunction<typeof inquirer.prompt>;
 const mockOfferAndCreateGitHubRepo = offerAndCreateGitHubRepo as jest.MockedFunction<
@@ -62,7 +63,7 @@ function setupHappyPathMocks() {
   mockReadJson.mockResolvedValue({ name: 'template-name', version: '0.0.0' });
   mockWriteJson.mockResolvedValue(undefined);
   mockRemove.mockResolvedValue(undefined);
-  mockOfferAndCreateGitHubRepo.mockResolvedValue(undefined);
+  mockOfferAndCreateGitHubRepo.mockResolvedValue(false);
   mockPrompt.mockResolvedValue(projectData);
   return projectData;
 }

src/__tests__/git-user-config.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+jest.mock('inquirer', () => ({
+  __esModule: true,
+  default: { prompt: jest.fn() },
+}));
+
+jest.mock('execa', () => ({
+  __esModule: true,
+  execa: jest.fn(),
+}));
+
+import inquirer from 'inquirer';
+import { execa } from 'execa';
+import { promptAndSetLocalGitUser } from '../git-user-config.js';
+
+const mockPrompt = inquirer.prompt as jest.MockedFunction<typeof inquirer.prompt>;
+const mockExeca = execa as jest.MockedFunction<typeof execa>;
+
+describe('promptAndSetLocalGitUser', () => {
+  const consoleErrorSpy = jest.spyOn(console, 'error').mockImplementation(() => {});
+  const consoleLogSpy = jest.spyOn(console, 'log').mockImplementation(() => {});
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    jest.clearAllMocks();
+  });
+
+  afterAll(() => {
+    consoleErrorSpy.mockRestore();
+    consoleLogSpy.mockRestore();
+  });
+
+  it('reads global defaults then sets local user.name and user.email', async () => {
+    mockExeca
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce({ stdout: 'Jane Doe\n', stderr: '', exitCode: 0 } as Awaited<ReturnType<typeof execa>>)
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce({ stdout: 'jane@example.com\n', stderr: '', exitCode: 0 } as Awaited<
+        ReturnType<typeof execa>
+      >)
+      .mockResolvedValue({ stdout: '', stderr: '', exitCode: 0 } as Awaited<ReturnType<typeof execa>>);
+
+    mockPrompt.mockResolvedValue({
+      userName: '  Local Name  ',
+      userEmail: ' local@example.com ',
+    });
+
+    await promptAndSetLocalGitUser('/tmp/proj');
+
+    expect(mockExeca).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(1, 'git', ['config', '--global', 'user.name'], {
+      reject: false,
+    });
+    expect(mockExeca).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(2, 'git', ['config', '--global', 'user.email'], {
+      reject: false,
+    });
+    expect(mockExeca).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(3, 'git', ['config', '--local', 'user.name', 'Local Name'], {
+      cwd: '/tmp/proj',
+      stdio: 'inherit',
+    });
+    expect(mockExeca).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(
+      4,
+      'git',
+      ['config', '--local', 'user.email', 'local@example.com'],
+      { cwd: '/tmp/proj', stdio: 'inherit' },
+    );
+    expect(consoleLogSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.stringContaining('Set local git user.name and user.email'),
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('skips git config when name or email is empty after trim', async () => {
+    mockExeca.mockResolvedValue({ stdout: '', stderr: '', exitCode: 0 } as Awaited<ReturnType<typeof execa>>);
+    mockPrompt.mockResolvedValue({ userName: '', userEmail: 'a@b.com' });
+
+    await promptAndSetLocalGitUser('/tmp/proj');
+
+    const localConfigCalls = mockExeca.mock.calls.filter(
+      ([cmd, args]) =>
+        cmd === 'git' && Array.isArray(args) && (args as string[]).includes('--local'),
+    );
+    expect(localConfigCalls).toHaveLength(0);
+    expect(consoleErrorSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.stringContaining('Both user.name and user.email are required'),
+    );
+  });
+});

src/cli.ts

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import { runSave } from './save.js';
 import { runLoad } from './load.js';
 import { runDeployToGitHubPages } from './gh-pages.js';
 import { readPackageVersion } from './read-package-version.js';
+import { promptAndSetLocalGitUser } from './git-user-config.js';
 
 const packageJsonPath = path.join(path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), '..', 'package.json');
 const packageVersion = readPackageVersion(packageJsonPath);
@@ -42,14 +43,27 @@ program
   .command('init')
   .description('Initialize the current directory (or path) as a git repo and optionally create a GitHub repository')
   .argument('[path]', 'Path to the project directory (defaults to current directory)')
-  .action(async (dirPath) => {
-    const cwd = dirPath ? path.resolve(dirPath) : process.cwd();
-    const gitDir = path.join(cwd, '.git');
-    if (!(await fs.pathExists(gitDir))) {
-      await execa('git', ['init'], { stdio: 'inherit', cwd });
-      console.log('✅ Git repository initialized.\n');
+  .option('--git-init', 'Prompt for git user.name and user.email and store them locally for this repository')
+  .action(async (dirPath, options) => {
+    try {
+      const cwd = dirPath ? path.resolve(dirPath) : process.cwd();
+      const gitDir = path.join(cwd, '.git');
+      if (!(await fs.pathExists(gitDir))) {
+        await execa('git', ['init'], { stdio: 'inherit', cwd });
+        console.log('✅ Git repository initialized.\n');
+      }
+      if (options.gitInit) {
+        await promptAndSetLocalGitUser(cwd);
+      }
+      await offerAndCreateGitHubRepo(cwd);
+    } catch (error) {
+      if (error instanceof Error) {
+        console.error(`\n❌ ${error.message}\n`);
+      } else {
+        console.error(error);
+      }
+      process.exit(1);
     }
-    await offerAndCreateGitHubRepo(cwd);
   });
 
 /** Command to list all available templates */

src/create.ts

@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ export async function runCreate(
     await execa(packageManager, ['install'], { cwd: projectPath, stdio: 'inherit' });
     console.log('✅ Dependencies installed.');
 
-    // Optional: Create GitHub repository
+    // Optional: Create GitHub repository (explains what to check if it does not complete)
     await offerAndCreateGitHubRepo(projectPath);
 
     // Let the user know the project was created successfully

src/git-user-config.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+import { execa } from 'execa';
+import inquirer from 'inquirer';
+
+async function getGlobalGitValue(key: 'user.name' | 'user.email'): Promise<string | undefined> {
+  const result = await execa('git', ['config', '--global', key], { reject: false });
+  const value = result.stdout?.trim();
+  return value || undefined;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Prompts for user.name and user.email and sets them locally for the repository at cwd.
+ * Defaults are taken from global git config when present.
+ */
+export async function promptAndSetLocalGitUser(cwd: string): Promise<void> {
+  const defaultName = await getGlobalGitValue('user.name');
+  const defaultEmail = await getGlobalGitValue('user.email');
+
+  const answers = await inquirer.prompt([
+    {
+      type: 'input',
+      name: 'userName',
+      message: 'Git user.name for this repository:',
+      default: defaultName ?? '',
+    },
+    {
+      type: 'input',
+      name: 'userEmail',
+      message: 'Git user.email for this repository:',
+      default: defaultEmail ?? '',
+    },
+  ]);
+
+  const name = typeof answers.userName === 'string' ? answers.userName.trim() : '';
+  const email = typeof answers.userEmail === 'string' ? answers.userEmail.trim() : '';
+
+  if (!name || !email) {
+    console.error('\n⚠️  Both user.name and user.email are required. Git user was not configured.\n');
+    return;
+  }
+
+  try {
+    await execa('git', ['config', '--local', 'user.name', name], { cwd, stdio: 'inherit' });
+    await execa('git', ['config', '--local', 'user.email', email], { cwd, stdio: 'inherit' });
+    console.log('\n✅ Set local git user.name and user.email for this repository.\n');
+  } catch {
+    console.error('\n⚠️  Could not set git config. Ensure git is installed and this directory is a repository.\n');
+  }
+}

src/github.ts

@@ -61,15 +61,53 @@ async function ensureInitialCommit(projectPath: string): Promise<void> {
     });
   } catch {
     await execa('git', ['add', '.'], { stdio: 'inherit', cwd: projectPath });
-    await execa('git', ['commit', '-m', 'Initial commit'], {
-      stdio: 'inherit',
-      cwd: projectPath,
-    });
+    try {
+      await execa('git', ['commit', '-m', 'Initial commit'], {
+        stdio: 'inherit',
+        cwd: projectPath,
+      });
+    } catch (err) {
+      const stderr =
+        err && typeof err === 'object' && 'stderr' in err
+          ? String((err as { stderr?: unknown }).stderr ?? '')
+          : '';
+      const msg = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
+      const combined = `${msg}\n${stderr}`;
+      const looksLikeIdentityError =
+        /author identity unknown|please tell me who you are|unable to auto-detect email address|user\.email is not set|user\.name is not set/i.test(
+          combined,
+        );
+      if (looksLikeIdentityError) {
+        throw new Error(
+          'Could not create the initial git commit. Set your git identity, then try again:\n' +
+            '  git config --global user.name "Your Name"\n' +
+            '  git config --global user.email "you@example.com"',
+        );
+      }
+      throw err;
+    }
   }
 }
 
-/** 
- * Create a new GitHub repository and return its URL. Does not push. 
+/**
+ * After `create` removes the template `.git`, only a successful GitHub flow adds a repo back.
+ * Call this when the user asked for GitHub but setup did not finish.
+ */
+function logGitHubSetupDidNotComplete(projectPath: string): void {
+  const resolved = path.resolve(projectPath);
+  console.log('\n⚠️  Git repository setup did not complete.');
+  console.log('   The template’s .git directory was removed after clone, so this folder is not a git repo yet.\n');
+  console.log('   Check:');
+  console.log('   • GitHub CLI: `gh auth status` — if not logged in, run `gh auth login`');
+  console.log('   • Network and API errors above (permissions, repo name already exists, etc.)');
+  console.log(
+    '   • Your git user.name and/or user.email may not be set. Run `patternfly-cli init --git-init` in the project directory to set local git identity and try again.',
+  );
+  console.log(`\n   Project path: ${resolved}\n`);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Create a new GitHub repository and return its URL. Pushes the current branch via `gh repo create --push`.
  */
 export async function createRepo(options: {
   repoName: string;
@@ -114,7 +152,8 @@ export async function offerAndCreateGitHubRepo(projectPath: string): Promise<boo
     {
       type: 'confirm',
       name: 'createGitHub',
-      message: 'Would you like to create a GitHub repository for this project?',
+      message:
+        'Would you like to create a GitHub repository for this project? (requires GitHub CLI and gh auth login)',
       default: false,
     },
   ]);
@@ -124,7 +163,8 @@ export async function offerAndCreateGitHubRepo(projectPath: string): Promise<boo
   const auth = await checkGhAuth();
   if (!auth.ok) {
     console.log(`\n⚠️  ${auth.message}`);
-    console.log('   Skipping GitHub repository creation.\n');
+    console.log('   Skipping GitHub repository creation.');
+    logGitHubSetupDidNotComplete(projectPath);
     return false;
   }
 
@@ -149,7 +189,10 @@ export async function offerAndCreateGitHubRepo(projectPath: string): Promise<boo
     repoName = sanitizeRepoName(alternativeName.trim());
   }
 
-  if (!repoName) return false;
+  if (!repoName) {
+    logGitHubSetupDidNotComplete(projectPath);
+    return false;
+  }
 
   const repoUrl = `https://github.com/${auth.username}/${repoName}`;
   console.log('\n📋 The following will happen:\n');
@@ -168,7 +211,8 @@ export async function offerAndCreateGitHubRepo(projectPath: string): Promise<boo
   ]);
 
   if (!confirmCreate) {
-    console.log('\n❌ GitHub repository was not created.\n');
+    console.log('\n❌ GitHub repository was not created.');
+    logGitHubSetupDidNotComplete(projectPath);
     return false;
   }
 
@@ -187,7 +231,8 @@ export async function offerAndCreateGitHubRepo(projectPath: string): Promise<boo
     return true;
   } catch (err) {
     console.error('\n❌ Failed to create GitHub repository:');
-    if (err instanceof Error) console.error(`   ${err.message}\n`);
+    if (err instanceof Error) console.error(`   ${err.message}`);
+    logGitHubSetupDidNotComplete(projectPath);
     return false;
   }
 }