GoogleContainerTools/skaffold · error

failed to create repository manager client: %w

Error message

failed to create repository manager client: %w

What it means

GetRepoInfo resolves a Cloud Build (Artifact Registry) repository reference to its remote URI and access token. It first constructs a Repository Manager client via the RepositoryManagerClient function; if that client cannot be created (usually an auth or endpoint failure), it wraps the error with this message.

Source

Thrown at pkg/skaffold/gcbreposv2/repo_resolver.go:49

	FetchReadToken(ctx context.Context, req *cloudbuildpb.FetchReadTokenRequest, opts ...gax.CallOption) (*cloudbuildpb.FetchReadTokenResponse, error)
	Close() error
}

type Repo struct {
	// Original repo URI.
	URI string

	// URI with oauth2 format.
	CloneURI string
}

var RepositoryManagerClient = repositoryManagerClient

func GetRepoInfo(ctx context.Context, gcpProject, gcpRegion, gcpConnectionName, gcpRepoName string) (Repo, error) {
	cbRepoRef := fmt.Sprintf("projects/%v/locations/%v/connections/%v/repositories/%v", gcpProject, gcpRegion, gcpConnectionName, gcpRepoName)
	cbClient, err := RepositoryManagerClient(ctx)
	if err != nil {
		return Repo{}, fmt.Errorf("failed to create repository manager client: %w", err)
	}
	defer cbClient.Close()

	repoURI, err := getRepoURI(ctx, cbClient, cbRepoRef)
	if err != nil {
		return Repo{}, fmt.Errorf("failed to get remote URI for repository %v: %w", gcpRepoName, err)
	}

	readAccessToken, err := getRepoReadAccessToken(ctx, cbClient, cbRepoRef)
	if err != nil {
		return Repo{}, fmt.Errorf("failed to get repository read access token for repo %v: %w", gcpRepoName, err)
	}

	repoCloneURI, err := buildRepoURIWithToken(repoURI, readAccessToken)
	if err != nil {
		return Repo{}, fmt.Errorf("failed to clone repo %s: trouble building repo URI with token: %w", repoURI, err)
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to a1189de023)

Solutions

1. Run `gcloud auth application-default login` or set GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS to a valid service-account key.
2. Verify network access to the Repository Manager API (repositorymanager.googleapis.com) from the environment.
3. Check the wrapped cause (context deadline / credential / transport error) and fix it specifically.
4. Retry if the failure was a transient network error or expired metadata-server token.

Example fix

// before (CI with no creds)
$ skaffold ... # fails: failed to create repository manager client
// after
$ gcloud auth activate-service-account --key-file=$GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS

creds, err := google.FindDefaultCredentials(ctx, "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform")
if err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("no GCP credentials available for repository manager: %w", err)
}

repo, err := gcbreposv2.GetRepoInfo(ctx, proj, region, conn, name)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "failed to create repository manager client") {
    return fmt.Errorf("check gcloud auth / network to googleapis.com: %w", err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling GetRepoInfo when the repository manager client factory fails: missing/invalid Application Default Credentials, gcloud not authenticated, network failure reaching the Repository Manager API, or a bad context (canceled deadline).

Common situations: Running Skaffold in CI without a service account key or ADC configured; no network access to googleapis.com; the gcbreposv2 feature used on a machine with no gcloud login; project/region values pointing at an endpoint the credentials cannot access.

Related errors

• failed to get repository read access token for repo %v: %w
• error getting google authenticator
• failed to get remote URI for repository %v: %w
• failed to clone repo %s: trouble building repo URI with toke
• failed to get access token %v

AI-assisted analysis of GoogleContainerTools/skaffold@a1189de023 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fee07d3a054e0dab. Report an issue: GitHub.