GoogleContainerTools/skaffold · error

CONFIG_DUPLICATE_NAMES_ACROSS_FILES_ERR

CONFIG_DUPLICATE_NAMES_ACROSS_FILES_ERR

Error message

skaffold config named %q found in multiple files: %q and %q

What it means

DuplicateConfigNamesAcrossFilesErr fires when configs with the same `metadata.name` exist in two different files being loaded together, making name-based references (config dependencies) ambiguous. Code CONFIG_DUPLICATE_NAMES_ACROSS_FILES_ERR with suggestion CONFIG_CHANGE_NAMES.

Source

Thrown at pkg/skaffold/schema/errors/errors.go:111

func DuplicateConfigNamesInSameFileErr(config, file string) error {
	msg := fmt.Sprintf("multiple skaffold configs named %q found in file %q", config, file)
	return sErrors.NewError(errors.New(msg),
		&proto.ActionableErr{
			Message: msg,
			ErrCode: proto.StatusCode_CONFIG_DUPLICATE_NAMES_SAME_FILE_ERR,
			Suggestions: []*proto.Suggestion{
				{
					SuggestionCode: proto.SuggestionCode_CONFIG_CHANGE_NAMES,
					Action:         fmt.Sprintf("Change the name of one of the occurrences of config %q in file %q to make it unique", config, file),
				},
			},
		})
}

// DuplicateConfigNamesAcrossFilesErr specifies that multiple configs have the same name in different files
func DuplicateConfigNamesAcrossFilesErr(config, file1, file2 string) error {
	msg := fmt.Sprintf("skaffold config named %q found in multiple files: %q and %q", config, file1, file2)
	return sErrors.NewError(errors.New(msg),
		&proto.ActionableErr{
			Message: msg,
			ErrCode: proto.StatusCode_CONFIG_DUPLICATE_NAMES_ACROSS_FILES_ERR,
			Suggestions: []*proto.Suggestion{
				{
					SuggestionCode: proto.SuggestionCode_CONFIG_CHANGE_NAMES,
					Action:         fmt.Sprintf("Change the name of config %q in file %q or file %q to make it unique", config, file1, file2),
				},
			},
		})
}

// ConfigProfileActivationErr specifies that profile activation failed for this config
func ConfigProfileActivationErr(config, file string, err error) error {
	return sErrors.NewError(err,
		&proto.ActionableErr{
			Message: fmt.Sprintf("failed to apply profiles to config %q defined in file %q: %v", config, file, err),
			ErrCode: proto.StatusCode_CONFIG_APPLY_PROFILES_ERR,

View on GitHub (pinned to a1189de023)

Solutions

1. Rename the config in one of the files so names are globally unique across the loaded set.
2. Remove the duplicate `-f` flag / import if one file was included by mistake.
3. Namespace names per project, e.g. `teamA-api` vs `teamB-api`.

Example fix

// before: both skaffold.yaml and ../shared/skaffold.yaml contain
metadata:
  name: api
// after: rename in the shared file
metadata:
  name: shared-api

# across all loaded files:
yq e '.metadata.name // ""' skaffold.yaml ../shared/skaffold.yaml | sort | uniq -d
# empty output means no cross-file duplicate names

When it happens

Trigger: Loading multiple config files (e.g. via `-f` flags or config dependency imports) where two files each define a config named identically.

Common situations: Teams sharing a common skaffold config module where both repos coincidentally named their config `api` or `web`, then combining them with multiple `-f` flags.

Related errors

• CONFIG_DUPLICATE_NAMES_SAME_FILE_ERR
• bucket name is empty
• INSPECT_PROFILE_NOT_FOUND_ERR
• cannot resolve active Kubernetes context - multiple contexts
• CONFIG_BAD_FILTER_ERR

AI-assisted analysis of GoogleContainerTools/skaffold@a1189de023 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/294c09f7a8399814. Report an issue: GitHub.