diff --git a/bin/core/src/api/write/stack.rs b/bin/core/src/api/write/stack.rs
index e16b359a0..eb14838f8 100644
--- a/bin/core/src/api/write/stack.rs
+++ b/bin/core/src/api/write/stack.rs
@@ -357,6 +357,40 @@ async fn write_stack_file_contents_git(
     })?;
   }
 
+  // Probe the remote first so an empty remote (or missing branch) can be
+  // bootstrapped locally instead of failing on `git pull`, and an
+  // unreachable remote surfaces an actionable error before any local work.
+  let remote_state =
+    match git::check_remote_state(&repo_args, git_token.as_deref())
+      .await
+      .context("Failed to check remote state")
+    {
+      Ok(state) => state,
+      Err(e) => {
+        update
+          .push_error_log("Check Remote", format_serror(&e.into()));
+        update.finalize();
+        update.id = add_update(update.clone()).await?;
+        return Ok(update);
+      }
+    };
+
+  if let git::RemoteState::Unreachable { stderr } = &remote_state {
+    update.push_error_log(
+      "Check Remote",
+      format!(
+        "Remote not reachable: {}/{}\n\n{}\n\n\
+         Create the repo or fix credentials, then refresh this stack.",
+        repo_args.provider,
+        repo_args.repo.as_deref().unwrap_or(""),
+        stderr.trim(),
+      ),
+    );
+    update.finalize();
+    update.id = add_update(update.clone()).await?;
+    return Ok(update);
+  }
+
   // Ensure the folder is initialized as git repo.
   // This allows a new file to be committed on a branch that may not exist.
   if !root.join(".git").exists() {
@@ -377,27 +411,54 @@ async fn write_stack_file_contents_git(
 
   // Save this for later -- repo_args moved next.
   let branch = repo_args.branch.clone();
-  // Pull latest changes to repo to ensure linear commit history
-  match git::pull_or_clone(
-    repo_args,
-    &core_config().repo_directory,
-    git_token,
-  )
-  .await
-  .context("Failed to pull latest changes before commit")
-  {
-    Ok((res, _)) => update.logs.extend(res.logs),
-    Err(e) => {
-      update.push_error_log("Pull Repo", format_serror(&e.into()));
-      update.finalize();
-      return Ok(update);
-    }
-  };
 
-  if !all_logs_success(&update.logs) {
-    update.finalize();
-    update.id = add_update(update.clone()).await?;
-    return Ok(update);
+  match remote_state {
+    git::RemoteState::BranchExists => {
+      // Pull latest changes to repo to ensure linear commit history
+      match git::pull_or_clone(
+        repo_args,
+        &core_config().repo_directory,
+        git_token,
+      )
+      .await
+      .context("Failed to pull latest changes before commit")
+      {
+        Ok((res, _)) => update.logs.extend(res.logs),
+        Err(e) => {
+          update
+            .push_error_log("Pull Repo", format_serror(&e.into()));
+          update.finalize();
+          return Ok(update);
+        }
+      };
+
+      if !all_logs_success(&update.logs) {
+        update.finalize();
+        update.id = add_update(update.clone()).await?;
+        return Ok(update);
+      }
+    }
+    git::RemoteState::Empty => {
+      update.push_simple_log(
+        "Check Remote",
+        format!(
+          "Remote is empty. Bootstrapping branch '{branch}' from \
+           this initial commit."
+        ),
+      );
+    }
+    git::RemoteState::BranchMissing { available_branches } => {
+      update.push_simple_log(
+        "Check Remote",
+        format!(
+          "Branch '{branch}' does not exist on remote. Available \
+           branches: [{}]. Bootstrapping branch '{branch}' from \
+           this initial commit.",
+          available_branches.join(", "),
+        ),
+      );
+    }
+    git::RemoteState::Unreachable { .. } => unreachable!(),
   }
 
   if let Err(e) = tokio::fs::write(&full_path, &contents)
diff --git a/bin/core/src/stack/remote.rs b/bin/core/src/stack/remote.rs
index 41cf6b6e9..3ee9a0ab7 100644
--- a/bin/core/src/stack/remote.rs
+++ b/bin/core/src/stack/remote.rs
@@ -2,8 +2,10 @@ use std::{fs, path::PathBuf};
 
 use anyhow::Context;
 use formatting::format_serror;
+use git::RemoteState;
 use komodo_client::entities::{
   FileContents, RepoExecutionArgs,
+  all_logs_success,
   repo::Repo,
   stack::{Stack, StackRemoteFileContents},
   update::Log,
@@ -108,10 +110,107 @@ pub async fn ensure_remote_repo(
     clone_args.unique_path(&core_config().repo_directory)?;
   clone_args.destination = Some(repo_path.display().to_string());
 
-  git::pull_or_clone(clone_args, &config.repo_directory, access_token)
-    .await
-    .context("Failed to clone stack repo")
-    .map(|(res, _)| {
-      (repo_path, res.logs, res.commit_hash, res.commit_message)
-    })
+  // Probe the remote first so we can distinguish "repo unreachable"
+  // from "repo reachable but empty / branch missing" and bootstrap
+  // empty remotes locally instead of failing on `git pull`.
+  let remote_state = git::check_remote_state(
+    &clone_args,
+    access_token.as_deref(),
+  )
+  .await
+  .context("Failed to check remote state before clone")?;
+
+  match remote_state {
+    RemoteState::Unreachable { stderr } => {
+      let log = Log::error(
+        "Check Remote",
+        format!(
+          "Remote not reachable: {}/{}\n\n{}\n\n\
+           Create the repo or fix credentials, then refresh this stack.",
+          clone_args.provider,
+          clone_args.repo.as_deref().unwrap_or(""),
+          stderr.trim(),
+        ),
+      );
+      Ok((repo_path, vec![log], None, None))
+    }
+    RemoteState::Empty => {
+      let mut logs =
+        bootstrap_local_clone(&repo_path, &clone_args, &access_token)
+          .await?;
+      if !all_logs_success(&logs) {
+        return Ok((repo_path, logs, None, None));
+      }
+      logs.push(Log::simple(
+        "Check Remote",
+        format!(
+          "Remote repository is reachable but empty. \
+           Initialized local clone on branch {}. \
+           Use Initialize File to write the first commit.",
+          clone_args.branch,
+        ),
+      ));
+      Ok((repo_path, logs, None, None))
+    }
+    RemoteState::BranchMissing { available_branches } => {
+      let mut logs =
+        bootstrap_local_clone(&repo_path, &clone_args, &access_token)
+          .await?;
+      if !all_logs_success(&logs) {
+        return Ok((repo_path, logs, None, None));
+      }
+      logs.push(Log::simple(
+        "Check Remote",
+        format!(
+          "Remote repository is reachable but branch '{}' does not \
+           exist. Available branches: [{}]. Use Initialize File to \
+           create the branch from the first commit.",
+          clone_args.branch,
+          available_branches.join(", "),
+        ),
+      ));
+      Ok((repo_path, logs, None, None))
+    }
+    RemoteState::BranchExists => {
+      git::pull_or_clone(
+        clone_args,
+        &config.repo_directory,
+        access_token,
+      )
+      .await
+      .context("Failed to clone stack repo")
+      .map(|(res, _)| {
+        (repo_path, res.logs, res.commit_hash, res.commit_message)
+      })
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+/// Ensure the local clone directory exists and is initialized as a git repo
+/// pointing at origin + the configured branch. Used when the remote is
+/// reachable but has nothing to pull (empty repo or branch missing).
+async fn bootstrap_local_clone(
+  repo_path: &std::path::Path,
+  clone_args: &RepoExecutionArgs,
+  access_token: &Option<String>,
+) -> anyhow::Result<Vec<Log>> {
+  let mut logs = Vec::new();
+  if let Some(parent) = repo_path.parent() {
+    tokio::fs::create_dir_all(parent).await.with_context(|| {
+      format!("Failed to create repo parent directory {parent:?}")
+    })?;
+  }
+  tokio::fs::create_dir_all(repo_path).await.with_context(
+    || format!("Failed to create repo directory {repo_path:?}"),
+  )?;
+  if !repo_path.join(".git").exists() {
+    git::init_folder_as_repo(
+      repo_path,
+      clone_args,
+      access_token.as_deref(),
+      &mut logs,
+    )
+    .await;
+  }
+  Ok(logs)
 }
diff --git a/lib/git/src/lib.rs b/lib/git/src/lib.rs
index 6a209ad0b..12b60c737 100644
--- a/lib/git/src/lib.rs
+++ b/lib/git/src/lib.rs
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ use komodo_client::entities::{
 mod clone;
 mod commit;
 mod init;
+mod ls_remote;
 mod pull;
 mod pull_or_clone;
 
@@ -17,6 +18,7 @@ pub use crate::{
   clone::clone,
   commit::{commit_all, commit_file, write_commit_file},
   init::init_folder_as_repo,
+  ls_remote::{check_remote_state, RemoteState},
   pull::pull,
   pull_or_clone::pull_or_clone,
 };
diff --git a/lib/git/src/ls_remote.rs b/lib/git/src/ls_remote.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f0079a3c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/git/src/ls_remote.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+use anyhow::Context;
+use command::run_standard_command;
+use komodo_client::entities::RepoExecutionArgs;
+
+/// Structured view of the remote repository's state,
+/// used to decide whether a pull/clone can succeed or
+/// whether we can bootstrap from an empty remote.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+pub enum RemoteState {
+  /// Remote is reachable and the configured branch ref exists.
+  BranchExists,
+  /// Remote is reachable and has refs, but not the configured branch.
+  BranchMissing { available_branches: Vec<String> },
+  /// Remote is reachable but has zero refs (freshly created empty repo).
+  Empty,
+  /// Remote is not reachable. Could be: repo not found, auth failure,
+  /// network error. `stderr` is scrubbed of the access token.
+  Unreachable { stderr: String },
+}
+
+/// Cheap read-only probe of the remote via `git ls-remote`.
+/// Uses the raw `run_standard_command` so the token-embedded URL
+/// never reaches a log record. `stderr` returned in the Unreachable
+/// variant is scrubbed.
+pub async fn check_remote_state(
+  args: &RepoExecutionArgs,
+  access_token: Option<&str>,
+) -> anyhow::Result<RemoteState> {
+  let repo_url = args
+    .remote_url(access_token)
+    .context("Failed to build remote URL for ls-remote probe")?;
+
+  let output = run_standard_command(
+    &format!("git ls-remote {repo_url}"),
+    None,
+  )
+  .await;
+
+  if !output.success() {
+    let mut stderr = output.stderr;
+    if let Some(token) = access_token {
+      stderr = stderr.replace(token, "<TOKEN>");
+    }
+    return Ok(RemoteState::Unreachable { stderr });
+  }
+
+  let stdout = output.stdout.trim();
+  if stdout.is_empty() {
+    return Ok(RemoteState::Empty);
+  }
+
+  let branch_ref = format!("refs/heads/{}", args.branch);
+  let mut has_branch = false;
+  let mut available_branches = Vec::new();
+  for line in stdout.lines() {
+    let Some(refname) = line.split_whitespace().nth(1) else {
+      continue;
+    };
+    if refname == branch_ref {
+      has_branch = true;
+    }
+    if let Some(branch) = refname.strip_prefix("refs/heads/") {
+      available_branches.push(branch.to_string());
+    }
+  }
+
+  if has_branch {
+    Ok(RemoteState::BranchExists)
+  } else {
+    Ok(RemoteState::BranchMissing { available_branches })
+  }
+}
diff --git a/ui/src/resources/stack/info.tsx b/ui/src/resources/stack/info.tsx
index 6ca59bb10..82082cb3d 100644
--- a/ui/src/resources/stack/info.tsx
+++ b/ui/src/resources/stack/info.tsx
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ export default function StackInfo({
                 {error.path}
               </Group>
 
-              {canEdit && (
+              {canEdit && !error.path.startsWith("Failed at:") && (
                 <ConfirmButton
                   loading={isPending}
                   icon={<FilePlus size="1rem" />}