In this article, we will see how to solve "No remote refs found similar to ‘flathub’" error. Last night when I was trying to install an application from flathub repository using flatpak utility, I noticed this error on the output and then I decided to write a post about this while fixing this error so that it will help you folks as well in case if you are also facing the same error. But before that let's understand few key things first in case you are not already aware of.

What is Flatpak

Flatpak is a software deployment and package management utility that allows user to deploy and run their application in a sandboxed or an isolated environment. It was written in C language with an aim to provide a runtime environment for applications which works in isolation with the host system.

What is Flathub

Flathub is an app store very much similar to snap store, which contains hundreds of apps that can be installed on any Linux environment using flatpak utility. You can check more about this on official website.

Solved "No remote refs found similar to ‘flathub’" error

Also Read: How to Install Flameshot Screenshot Tool on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa)

So I was trying to install Komikku manga reader application on my Ubuntu 20.04 LTS system from flathub repository using flatpak utility then I noticed "No remote refs found similar to ‘flathub’" error on the output as shown below.

root@cyberithub:~# flatpak install flathub info.febvre.Komikku
Looking for matches…
error: No remote refs found similar to ‘flathub’

While the above error could occur due to any reasons but in most of the cases it is because flathub repo remote URL is not added. Since flatpak search and download all the applications from flathub repo so without the repo URL added it won't able to find any reference to flathub where it can search the application. This you can also verify by running below flatpak remotes command. It will show you blank output.

root@cyberithub:~# flatpak remotes

So to fix the "No remote refs found similar to ‘flathub’" error, you need to add flathub repo URL using below flatpak remote-add command. You can check 21 Popular Flatpak command examples on Linux to understand the usage of flatpak utility.

root@cyberithub:~# flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Now again if you check the remote flathub repo using flatpak remotes command, you will see it added as below .

root@cyberithub:~# flatpak remotes
Name    Options
flathub system

This should fix the error. To verify you can try to install the application again by using same flatpak install flathub info.febvre.Komikku command as shown below. You can notice that this time it works as expected and it is now able to proceed with the installation.

root@cyberithub:~# flatpak install flathub info.febvre.Komikku
Looking for matches…
Required runtime for info.febvre.Komikku/x86_64/stable (runtime/org.gnome.Platform/x86_64/41) found in remote flathub
Do you want to install it? [Y/n]: Y

info.febvre.Komikku permissions:
ipc network fallback-x11 wayland x11 dri file access [1] dbus access [2]

[1] xdg-pictures
[2] org.freedesktop.Notifications, org.freedesktop.secrets, org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Color


ID Branch Op Remote Download
1. [✓] info.febvre.Komikku.Locale stable i flathub 2.6 kB / 268.2 kB
2. [|] org.freedesktop.Platform.GL.default 21.08 i flathub 16.7 MB / 131.3 MB
3. [ ] org.freedesktop.Platform.openh264 2.0 i flathub < 1.5 MB
4. [ ] org.gnome.Platform.Locale 41 i flathub < 336.5 MB (partial)
5. [ ] org.gnome.Platform 41 i flathub < 291.0 MB
6. [ ] info.febvre.Komikku stable i flathub < 9.0 MB

Installing 2/6… ███▍ 17% 16.7 MB/s

Hope this will help you fixing your issue as well. Please let me know your feedback on comment box.