GoogleContainerTools/skaffold · error

failed determining remote cache directory: %w

Error message

failed determining remote cache directory: %w

What it means

SyncObjects wraps a failure from config.GetRemoteCacheDir, which resolves the local directory that mirrors the remote GCS cache (derived from SkaffoldOptions). If Skaffold cannot determine that directory, it cannot sync remote GCS objects into the local cache. The underlying error is preserved with %w.

Source

Thrown at pkg/skaffold/gcs/gsutil.go:82

	log.Entry(ctx).Info(out)
	return nil
}

// GetGCSClient returns a GCS client that uses Client libraries.
var GetGCSClient = func() gscClient {
	return &client.Native{}
}

type gscClient interface {
	// Downloads the content that match the given src uri and subfolders.
	DownloadRecursive(ctx context.Context, src, dst string) error
}

// SyncObjects syncs the target Google Cloud Storage objects with skaffold's local cache and returns the local path to the objects.
func SyncObjects(ctx context.Context, g latest.GoogleCloudStorageInfo, opts config.SkaffoldOptions) (string, error) {
	remoteCacheDir, err := config.GetRemoteCacheDir(opts)
	if err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed determining remote cache directory: %w", err)
	}
	if err := os.MkdirAll(remoteCacheDir, 0700); err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed creating remote cache directory: %w", err)
	}

	sourceDir, err := getPerSourceDir(g)
	if err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed determining Google Cloud Storage remote cache directory for %q: %w", g.Source, err)
	}
	cacheDir := filepath.Join(remoteCacheDir, sourceDir)
	if _, err := os.Stat(cacheDir); os.IsNotExist(err) {
		// If cache doesn't exist and cloning is disabled then we can't move forward.
		if opts.SyncRemoteCache.CloneDisabled() {
			return "", syncDisabledErr(g, cacheDir)
		}
		// The subdirectory needs to exist to work with gsutil.
		if err := os.MkdirAll(cacheDir, 0700); err != nil {
			return "", fmt.Errorf("failed creating Google Cloud Storage cache directory for %q: %w", g.Source, err)

View on GitHub (pinned to a1189de023)

Solutions

1. Set the remote cache directory option explicitly when running skaffold (the flag/config GetRemoteCacheDir reads)
2. Inspect the wrapped error (errors.Unwrap or log output) to see why GetRemoteCacheDir rejected the value
3. Validate skaffold.yaml's GoogleCloudStorageInfo section matches your skaffold version's schema
4. Ensure the GCS cache feature flags are enabled for your skaffold version

Example fix

// before
skaffold build --default-repo=gcr.io/me
// after
skaffold build --default-repo=gcr.io/me --remote-cache-dir=/tmp/skaffold-gcs-cache

// resolve and sanity-check before calling SyncObjects
remoteCacheDir := ""
for _, f := range opts.ConfigurationFiles { /* or read your own flag */ }
if remoteCacheDir == "" {
	return errors.New("remote cache directory must be configured for GCS sync")
}

func hasRemoteCacheDir(opts config.SkaffoldOptions) bool {
	dir, err := config.GetRemoteCacheDir(opts)
	return err == nil && dir != ""
}

localPath, err := gcs.SyncObjects(ctx, gcsInfo, opts)
if err != nil {
	if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "remote cache directory") {
		return fmt.Errorf("set the remote cache dir option: %w", err)
	}
	return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling SyncObjects with SkaffoldOptions that lack a valid remote cache directory configuration (missing/empty --remote-cache-dir style flag value or config value that GetRemoteCacheDir rejects).

Common situations: GCS remote cache configured in skaffold.yaml but the corresponding CLI flag/config field was never set; typo in flag name; config parsing produced an empty value; older/newer skaffold config schema mismatch where the field name changed.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required config value" errors: why libraries refuse to start when a configuration key is empty, unset, or blank — this error's family across 48 libraries.

Related errors

• failed determining Google Cloud Storage remote cache directo
• CONFIG_REMOTE_REPO_CACHE_NOT_FOUND_ERR
• bucket name is empty
• CONFIG_REMOTE_REPO_CACHE_NOT_FOUND_ERR
• INSPECT_PROFILE_NOT_FOUND_ERR

AI-assisted analysis of GoogleContainerTools/skaffold@a1189de023 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9cdbe12bb5a73748. Report an issue: GitHub.