Gemini CLI PR fixes background Git update checks hijacking the TUI via hidden auth prompts
villahernandez-coder · ghdev · 2026-10-15
A community PR against google-gemini/gemini-cli fixes terminal freezes caused by background Git extension update checks spawning interactive credential or SSH prompts that steal stdin from the Ink raw-mode TUI.
The author documents three code paths that bypass GITTERMINALPROMPT=0: askpass helpers (GITASKPASS/core.askPass) are executed before the flag is checked; OpenSSH ignores it entirely and opens /dev/tty directly via readpassphrase() for encrypted keys or host-key confirmation unless BatchMode=yes is set; and credential helpers like gh auth git-credential or Git Credential Manager can still prompt interactively.
The fix hardens getSafeGitEnv() by setting GITTERMINALPROMPT=0, clearing both askpass variables, forcing GITSSHCOMMAND='ssh -o BatchMode=yes', and disabling gh/GCM prompts, so unauthenticated background fetches fail fast and silently. The env-var recipe is useful for anyone invoking git inside TUIs or coding agents.
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