Git refusing-to-update-checked-out-branch A push into a non-bare repository's active branch was denied by that repository's settings.

The protection exists because pushed commits would exist only in the object database. The checked-out files and index would still describe the old commit, and the divergence would stay invisible until someone inspected the server directory.

The remote controls the outcome: bare repositories have no current branch and accept such pushes without comment, while non-bare ones can set receive.denyCurrentBranch to updateInstead to apply incoming changes to the work tree, or to warn and ignore knowingly. The client cannot override any of this.