macOS High Sierra下通过Terminal配置Git遇到的问题求助

Hey there! Let's break down what's happening with that error and get your Git repo set up the right way.

That error crops up because of how you’re structuring the git init command after dragging your folder into Terminal. When you drag a folder into Terminal, it automatically pastes the full path of that folder. If you run something like:

git init /Users/yourname/Projects/MyTargetFolder

Git interprets this as "create a brand new Git repository at the exact path I just specified". But since that folder already exists, Git throws the "is a directory" error—it won’t overwrite or initialize inside an existing directory using this syntax by default (and that’s a good thing, to avoid accidental data changes!).

When you run git init straight in your home directory (\Users\<username>), you’re not adding an extra path—you’re telling Git to initialize a repo in your current working directory, which works smoothly because it just creates the hidden .git folder there without conflicts.

Here are two straightforward methods to fix this:

• Option 1: Navigate to the folder first, then initialize

  1. Drag your target folder into Terminal to pull up its full path (it’ll show up in the command line).
  2. Type cd (make sure to leave a space after cd) before the pasted path, so your command looks like:

     cd /Users/yourname/Projects/MyTargetFolder
     

  3. Press Enter—you’ll now be working inside that folder (you can confirm this by checking the Terminal prompt, which should display the folder name).
  4. Run git init—this will create the .git hidden folder in your target directory, exactly as you need.

• Option 2: Initialize directly with the folder path (optional)
  If you want to set up Git without navigating into the folder, you can use a flag to confirm you’re targeting the existing directory. This is less common, but here’s how it works:

  git init /Users/yourname/Projects/MyTargetFolder --initial-branch=main
  

  That said, navigating into the folder first is the standard, error-free approach most developers use.

Once you run git init correctly, you can verify it worked by running ls -a in the folder—you’ll see the .git hidden directory listed.

内容的提问来源于stack exchange，提问作者NotationMaster