~/tmp/tmprepo$ git init Initialized empty Git repository in /home/npostavs/tmp/tmprepo/.git/ ~/tmp/tmprepo$ git --literal-pathspecs add -u fatal: pathspec ':/' did not match any files ~/tmp/tmprepo$ git --version git version 2.6.1 It was reported[1] that 2.0.2 and several following versions also fail with the same error; I found that version 1.9.5 succeeds. Adding a "." argument: git --literal-pathspecs add -u . succeeds in all versions. [1]: https://github.com/magit/magit/issues/2354#issuecomment-150665961 -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe git" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html