Can not create pull request. Unclear error

[G0rocks]

Brief description of your issue

Everytime I try to make a pull request to submit manifest to winget pkg repo I get long error message with http error 422 that is unclear about what is actually wrong.

Steps to reproduce

Make sure to have a valid github personal access token before reproducing.
run wingetcreate new as normal.
Say no to modifying anything
Say yes to submitting manifest to windows package manager repository.

Expected behavior

Open a pull request on winget-pkg repo.

Or alternatively, if wingetcreate can not open the pull request, print 1 clear and concise line with an error message that explains the underlying issue.

Actual behavior

Prints:

Submitting pull request for manifest...

System.Net.Http.HttpRequestException: Response status code does not indicate success: 422 (Unprocessable Entity).
   at System.Net.Http.HttpResponseMessage.EnsureSuccessStatusCode()
   at Microsoft.WingetCreateCore.Common.GitHub.UpdateForkedRepoWithUpstreamCommits(Repository forkedRepo)
   at Microsoft.WingetCreateCore.Common.GitHub.<>c__DisplayClass20_0.<<SubmitPRAsync>b__1>d.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location ---
   at Polly.AsyncPolicy.<>c__DisplayClass40_0.<<ImplementationAsync>b__0>d.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location ---
   at Polly.Retry.AsyncRetryEngine.ImplementationAsync[TResult](Func`3 action, Context context, CancellationToken cancellationToken, ExceptionPredicates shouldRetryExceptionPredicates, ResultPredicates`1 shouldRetryResultPredicates, Func`5 onRetryAsync, Int32 permittedRetryCount, IEnumerable`1 sleepDurationsEnumerable, Func`4 sleepDurationProvider, Boolean continueOnCapturedContext)
   at Polly.AsyncPolicy.ExecuteAsync(Func`3 action, Context context, CancellationToken cancellationToken, Boolean continueOnCapturedContext)
   at Microsoft.WingetCreateCore.Common.GitHub.SubmitPRAsync(String packageId, String version, Dictionary`2 contents, Boolean submitToFork, String prTitle, Boolean shouldReplace, String replaceVersion)
   at Microsoft.WingetCreateCore.Common.GitHub.SubmitPRAsync(String packageId, String version, Dictionary`2 contents, Boolean submitToFork, String prTitle, Boolean shouldReplace, String replaceVersion)
   at Microsoft.WingetCreateCLI.Commands.BaseCommand.GitHubSubmitManifests(Manifests manifests, String prTitle, Boolean shouldReplace, String replaceVersion)
   at Microsoft.WingetCreateCLI.Commands.NewCommand.Execute()
   at Microsoft.WingetCreateCLI.Program.Main(String[] args)

Environment

Windows Package Manager Manifest Creator v1.9.4.0
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Operating System: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.19045.0
System Architecture: X64

[G0rocks]

This has been happening at least with NetCDF and HDF5.
I've just tried those 2 today. But this has also been happening for other packages in the past, I just have not been keeping track and have never thought much of it but now I felt like reporting the bug.

[mdanish-kh]

Same error as

• 422 Error with Submitting Manifest #590
• Bug - Fork Sync Issue #502

This happens when wingetcreate tries to sync your winget-pkgs fork before creating a PR and gets an error response back from the GitHub API. The error messages will get more clearer in a new release (#591)

[mdanish-kh]

For now, can you manually trying syncing your winget-pkgs fork from GitHub and try again? If you're using wingetcreate in a CI environment I suggest adding a Sync fork step as

      - name: Sync fork
        run: gh repo sync <username>/winget-pkgs -b master
        env:
          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.<TOKEN>}}

[G0rocks]

You mean to run winget source update?
Thanks.
I'm just using it on my own computer in the command line. Dvd-Znf has made a PR for the package I was trying to add here:
microsoft/winget-pkgs#263422 so I'll see the next time I try to use wingetcreate.

Edit:
If nobody adds a comment on this issue before 2025-09-06 (three months from now) it is probably dealt with and can be closed.

[mdanish-kh]

You mean to run winget source update?

No, I mean to update your winget-pkgs fork repository on GitHub, which if you're doing this from your own account would be this repository

https://github.com/G0rocks/winget-pkgs/

I see it's way out of sync with the master branch, which could be another reason wingetcreate is failing to sync it via the GitHub API

You should have a Sync fork button on your repository, similar to the one I have here

[G0rocks]

Ok, thank you!
I didn't even think about that.
If that's the case then it would be really cool if wingetcreate could either

1. say in the error message that the repository needs to be synced or
2. create a new branch on the repo, sync it and then make a PR for that branch that would always be up to date.
3. Attempt suggestion 2 first and if it does not work then perform suggestion 1

I do like suggestion 3 the best.

I'll try it next time I want to submit a package and keep the date 2025-09-06 as the date to close this issue if there is nothing being implemented from this.

[mdanish-kh]

1. say in the error message that the repository needs to be synced or

Already done in PR #591, the changes will come in a new wingetcreate release

2. create a new branch on the repo, sync it and then make a PR for that branch that would always be up to date.

The issue is in the sync step failing via the GitHub API, and I don't think making a new branch would help, as it would still be behind the same number of commits as the main branch and would require to fetch the same number of upstream commits. wingetcreate right now does not retry if syncing fails however, something which I've added in PR #597, which could hopefully improve the situation

[G0rocks]

Well if the error message being clear has already been implemented and will come out in the next release then mabye we can mark this issue as a duplicate and close it?

Unless we want to do something more?

Though also (and I don't know if it works this way) but what I meant when I said make a new branch, I meant make a new branch from the winget-pkg repository, not from a users out of date fork of the official winget-pkg repo.
By making a new branch from the up to date official winget-pkg repo first then this issue should never come up right?
I'm not sure how it works with git though if it's possible or not but I don't see why not even though I don't know how the implementation would work.

[mdanish-kh]

Though also (and I don't know if it works this way) but what I meant when I said make a new branch, I meant make a new branch from the winget-pkg repository, not from a users out of date fork of the official winget-pkg repo.

wingetcreate takes a user personal access token for Git/GitHub operations. A user only has direct write access to their own fork, not the parent Microsoft's repository. We would not be able to create a new branch in the parent repository. Instead one has to create a new branch in the fork, sync with upstream and then create a PR

Unless we want to do something more?

Yes, I believe we can close this one