You created the repository, added the remote, ran the push, and Git answered with this:

```text
error: src refspec main does not match any
error: failed to push some refs to 'git@github.com:you/your-repo.git'
```

The message is about your machine, not the server. `git push origin main` asks Git to send a local branch named `main`, and Git is saying no such branch exists here. Four things cause that, and the first two account for most of it. All output below came from Git 2.55.

## Find the Cause in One Command

```bash
git branch --show-current && git log --oneline -1
```

Read the result:

* **Nothing printed at all.** You have no commits yet. Go to Fix 1.
* **A branch name that isn't the one you pushed** (`master` when you pushed `main`). Go to Fix 2.
* **The right branch and a commit.** You mistyped the branch name in the push. Go to Fix 3.

`git status` answers the same question in more words: "No commits yet" is the phrase to look for.

## Fix 1: Commit Something First

A branch in Git points at a commit, so a branch with no commits doesn't exist yet, even though `git branch --show-current` prints a name. This is the usual case right after `git init`: files staged, nothing committed.

```bash
git status --porcelain     # 'A  file.txt' means staged, not committed
git add .
git commit -m "First commit"
git push origin main
```

Staging is not committing. `git add` alone leaves you with the same error, because there's still no commit for the branch to point at.

## Fix 2: Push the Branch You Actually Have

Git init created `master` for years, and many machines still do. GitHub names the default branch `main`, so the branch you have and the branch you push differ.

```bash
git branch --show-current
# master
git push origin main
# error: src refspec main does not match any
```

Push the branch you have:

```bash
git push origin master
```

Or rename it to match the remote, which is usually what you want:

```bash
git branch -M main
git push -u origin main
```

Set the default for new repositories so this stops happening:

```bash
git config --global init.defaultBranch main
```

`-M` renames the branch and overwrites any existing one of that name. `-u` records the upstream, so later pushes are a bare `git push`.

## Fix 3: Check the Branch Name for Typos

The refspec is echoed back to you verbatim, so the error names the branch Git looked for:

```text
error: src refspec mian does not match any
```

That is `mian`, not `main`. Compare the name in the error with `git branch --show-current`, character by character. The same applies to a branch you deleted or never created locally.

## Fix 4: Push the Current Branch Without Naming It

When you keep hitting the wrong name, let Git supply it:

```bash
git push -u origin HEAD
```

`HEAD` means the branch you're on, so the name can't disagree with reality. After the first `-u` push, `git push` alone does the right thing.

## Why the Second Line Appears

The error always arrives in a pair:

```text
error: src refspec main does not match any
error: failed to push some refs to 'git@github.com:you/your-repo.git'
```

The second line is a consequence, not a separate problem. Git had nothing to send, so the push failed. If the second line instead mentions permissions or authentication, you have a different problem: see [Fix Permission Denied (publickey)][ssh-publickey].

## Verify

```bash
git push -u origin main
git branch -vv          # the branch now tracks origin/main
git ls-remote --heads origin
```

`git ls-remote` asks the server what branches it has. Seeing your branch there means the push landed.

## Related Content

* [Fix Permission Denied (publickey) in SSH and GitHub][ssh-publickey] covers the authentication error that stops a push for a different reason.
* [Fix GitHub Push Declined Email Privacy Error][push-declined] covers the third error people hit on a first push to GitHub.

## References

* [git-push(1)][git-push-man], for refspec syntax and what `HEAD` means in a push.
* [Git Book: Remote Branches][git-book-remotes], for how local branches map to remote ones.

[ssh-publickey]: https://jeffbailey.us/blog/2019/11/10/setting-ssh-key-permissions/
[push-declined]: https://jeffbailey.us/blog/2020/01/20/push-declined-due-to-email-privacy-restrictions-on-github/
[git-push-man]: https://git-scm.com/docs/git-push
[git-book-remotes]: https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Branching-Remote-Branches