Heroku Git Push Rejected / Remote Rejected

How to fix it

Try these in order — the most common fix is first.

1. 1. Push the right branch

   Copy steps
   1. Heroku only deploys the main or master branch of the remote
   2. From another branch: git push heroku mybranch:main
   3. Local master: git push heroku master:main
   Did this fix it? Yes No

2. 2. Check the remote

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   1. git remote -v should list heroku
   2. If not: heroku git:remote -a <app>
   Did this fix it? Yes No

3. 3. Log in again

   Copy steps
   1. Run heroku login
   2. Do not use your account password with Git over HTTPS
   Did this fix it? Yes No

4. 4. Deploy from the app root

   Copy steps
   1. The app must be in the repository root; a subfolder app will not run
   2. Commit the manifest (package.json, requirements.txt, Gemfile) so a buildpack is detected
   Did this fix it? Yes No

5. 5. Shrink a huge repo

   Copy steps
   1. Repos above ~600 MB cause slow or failed pushes
   2. Remove committed binaries or logs; Git LFS is not supported
   Did this fix it? Yes No

6. 6. Wait out rate limits

   1. 'Too many requests for this Git repo' means 75 requests per hour: stop scripts that poll and wait
   Did this fix it? Yes No

Symptoms

git push heroku main shows 'src refspec main does not match any', 'remote rejected', 'Everything up-to-date' with no deploy, or an authentication warning.

Why it happens

• Local branch is master, not main
• Pushing a non-main branch (it has no effect on Heroku)
• No heroku git remote
• App lives in a repo subdirectory
• Password auth instead of heroku login
• Repo too large or Git LFS used

This guide also covers

• heroku push rejected
• heroku remote rejected
• heroku git push error
• heroku src refspec main does not match

Other Heroku errors

• Heroku H10 App Crashed Error
• Heroku H12 Request Timeout Error
• Heroku R14 Memory Quota Exceeded Error
• Heroku Application Error Page
• Heroku Build Failed Error
• Heroku H14 No Web Dynos Running
• Heroku R10 Boot Timeout / H20 App Boot Timeout
• Heroku Custom Domain SSL Certificate Not Working