GoogleContainerTools/skaffold · error

failed to clone repo: %w

Error message

failed to clone repo: %w

What it means

Thrown by syncRepo when the initial `git clone <uri> ./<hash> --branch <ref> --depth 1` fails with 'Could not find remote branch', and the fallback `git clone <uri> ./<hash> --depth 1` (without --branch) also fails. This means the repo could not be cloned at all on the second attempt — a hard clone failure, not a missing branch. The git error is wrapped.

Source

Thrown at pkg/skaffold/git/gitutil.go:130

		ref, err = defaultRef(ctx, g.RepoCloneURI, g.Repo)
		if err != nil {
			return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to clone repo %s: trouble getting default branch: %w", g.Repo, err)
		}
	}

	hash, err := getRepoDir(g)
	if err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to clone git repo: unable to create directory name: %w", err)
	}
	repoCacheDir := filepath.Join(skaffoldCacheDir, hash)
	if _, err := os.Stat(repoCacheDir); os.IsNotExist(err) {
		if opts.SyncRemoteCache.CloneDisabled() {
			return "", SyncDisabledErr(g, repoCacheDir)
		}
		if _, err := r.Run(ctx, "clone", g.RepoCloneURI, fmt.Sprintf("./%s", hash), "--branch", ref, "--depth", "1"); err != nil {
			if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "Could not find remote branch") {
				if _, err := r.Run(ctx, "clone", g.RepoCloneURI, fmt.Sprintf("./%s", hash), "--depth", "1"); err != nil {
					return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to clone repo: %w", err)
				}

				r.Dir = repoCacheDir
				if _, err := r.Run(ctx, "checkout", ref); err != nil {
					if rmErr := os.RemoveAll(repoCacheDir); rmErr != nil {
						err = fmt.Errorf("failed to remove repo cache dir: %w", rmErr)
					}

					return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to checkout commit: %w", err)
				}
			} else {
				return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to clone repo: %w", err)
			}
		}
	} else {
		r.Dir = repoCacheDir
		// check remote is defined
		if remotes, err := r.Run(ctx, "remote", "-v"); err != nil {

View on GitHub (pinned to a1189de023)

Solutions

1. Run `git clone <URI>` manually in the same environment to surface the raw git error.
2. Fix credentials: add the SSH key to ssh-agent or configure an HTTPS credential helper/token for the remote.
3. Correct the repo URL in the skaffold git sync configuration.
4. Confirm the remote repo exists and has at least one branch (empty repos cannot be cloned).

Example fix

// before
repo: https://github.com/org/wrong-repo-name
// after
repo: https://github.com/org/correct-repo

const { execSync } = require('child_process');
function canClone(uri) {
  try { execSync(`git ls-remote ${uri}`, { stdio: 'pipe' }); return true; }
  catch (e) { console.error(e.stderr.toString()); return false; }
}
if (!canClone(repoUri)) throw new Error(`precheck failed: cannot access ${repoUri}`);

null

try {
  await syncRepo(g, ctx, opts);
} catch (err) {
  if (/failed to clone repo:/.test(err.message)) {
    // surface underlying git stderr; check creds/url before retrying
    console.error('clone failed:', err.cause ?? err);
    throw new Error(`Fix git credentials or repo URL for ${g.repo}: ${err.message}`);
  }
  throw err;
}

When it happens

Trigger: First clone with --branch <ref> reports the ref missing, then the ref-less fallback clone also errors: invalid URL, auth rejected, network failure, or repo truly absent.

Common situations: Wrong or typo'd repo URL; cloning a private repo without credentials; the fallback clone failing due to the same auth/network problem that caused the branch lookup to fail; empty repository on the remote (no branches at all).

Related errors

• caching remote dependency %s: %w
• failed to lookup %s branch for repo %s: %w
• failed to clone repo %s: trouble getting default branch: %w
• failed to clone repo %s: trouble resetting branch to origin/
• CONFIG_REMOTE_REPO_CACHE_NOT_FOUND_ERR

AI-assisted analysis of GoogleContainerTools/skaffold@a1189de023 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ffea9ad54cc5c7ed. Report an issue: GitHub.