Title: Error when calling GitLoader module when using LangChain in Python
Tags: python,langchain

Question: Unfortunately I'm not a Python expert and do have a problem when trying to use module GitLoader from LangChain project to load data from github. I run the program in Jupyter a notebook.
Here's a fragment of my code:
kb_loader = GitLoader(
   clone_url="https://github.com/neo4j-documentation/knowledge-base",
   repo_path="./repos/kb/",
   branch="master",
   file_filter=lambda file_path: file_path.endswith(".adoc")
   and "articles" in file_path,
)
kb_data = kb_loader.load()

I get an error like:
ImportError                               Traceback (most recent call last)
File ~\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.10_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python310\site-packages\git\__init__.py:89
     88 try:
---> 89     refresh()
     90 except Exception as exc:

File ~\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.10_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python310\site-packages\git\__init__.py:76, in refresh(path)
     74 GIT_OK = False
---> 76 if not Git.refresh(path=path):
     77     return

File ~\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.10_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python310\site-packages\git\cmd.py:392, in Git.refresh(cls, path)
    391     else:
--> 392         raise ImportError(err)
    393 else:

ImportError: Bad git executable.
The git executable must be specified in one of the following ways:
    - be included in your $PATH
    - be set via $GIT_PYTHON_GIT_EXECUTABLE
    - explicitly set via git.refresh()

All git commands will error until this is rectified.

This initial warning can be silenced or aggravated in the future by setting the
$GIT_PYTHON_REFRESH environment variable. Use one of the following values:
    - quiet|q|silence|s|none|n|0: for no warning or exception
    - warn|w|warning|1: for a printed warning
    - error|e|raise|r|2: for a raised exception

Example:
    export GIT_PYTHON_REFRESH=quiet


The above exception was the direct cause of the following exception:

ImportError                               Traceback (most recent call last)
File ~\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.10_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python310\site-packages\langchain\document_loaders\git.py:33, in GitLoader.load(self)
     32 try:
---> 33     from git import Blob, Repo  # type: ignore
     34 except ImportError as ex:

File ~\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.10_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python310\site-packages\git\__init__.py:91
     90 except Exception as exc:
---> 91     raise ImportError("Failed to initialize: {0}".format(exc)) from exc
     92 #################

ImportError: Failed to initialize: Bad git executable.
The git executable must be specified in one of the following ways:
    - be included in your $PATH
    - be set via $GIT_PYTHON_GIT_EXECUTABLE
    - explicitly set via git.refresh()

All git commands will error until this is rectified.

This initial warning can be silenced or aggravated in the future by setting the
$GIT_PYTHON_REFRESH environment variable. Use one of the following values:
    - quiet|q|silence|s|none|n|0: for no warning or exception
    - warn|w|warning|1: for a printed warning
    - error|e|raise|r|2: for a raised exception

Example:
    export GIT_PYTHON_REFRESH=quiet


`The above exception was the direct cause of the following exception:

ImportError                               Traceback (most recent call last)
Cell In [27], line 9
      1 # Knowledge base
      2 kb_loader = GitLoader(
      3     clone_url="https://github.com/neo4j-documentation/knowledge-base",
      4     repo_path="./repos/kb/",
   (...)
      7     and "articles" in file_path,
      8 )
----> 9 kb_data = kb_loader.load()
     10 print(len(kb_data))`

File ~\AppData\Local\Packages\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.10_qbz5n2kfra8p0\LocalCache\local-packages\Python310\site-packages\langchain\document_loaders\git.py:35, in GitLoader.load(self)
     33     from git import Blob, Repo  # type: ignore
     34 except ImportError as ex:
---> 35     raise ImportError(
     36         "Could not import git python package. "
     37         "Please install it with `pip install GitPython`."
     38     ) from ex
     40 if not os.path.exists(self.repo_path) and self.clone_url is None:
     41     raise ValueError(f"Path {self.repo_path} does not exist")

ImportError: Could not import git python package. Please install it with `pip install GitPython`.

I did the pip install GitPython as recommended and it seems to be correctly installed... evertheless the error is still there.
Any idea on what I shall do to fix this?
Many thanks for your help!

Answer: This one will do
import os
os.environ['GIT_PYTHON_REFRESH'] = 'quiet'