GoogleContainerTools/skaffold · error

failed to deploy: %w

Error message

failed to deploy: %w

What it means

This error wraps any failure from the deploy phase of `skaffold run`. After builds and rendering succeed, r.DeployAndLog applies the manifests to the Kubernetes cluster; any deploy error (kubectl/helm failure, cluster unreachable) is wrapped here.

Source

Thrown at cmd/skaffold/app/cmd/run.go:69

		if !opts.SkipTests {
			err = r.Test(ctx, out, bRes)
			if err != nil {
				return fmt.Errorf("failed to test: %w", err)
			}
		}

		// Render
		manifestList, err := r.Render(ctx, out, bRes, false)
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("rendering manifests: %w", err)
		}
		if opts.RenderOnly {
			return manifest.Write(manifestList.String(), opts.RenderOutput, out)
		}

		err = r.DeployAndLog(ctx, out, bRes, manifestList)
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("failed to deploy: %w", err)
		}

		tips.PrintForRun(out, opts)

		return nil
	})
}

View on GitHub (pinned to a1189de023)

Solutions

1. Read the wrapped cause after 'failed to deploy:' for the kubectl/helm error
2. Verify cluster connectivity: kubectl cluster-info and kubectl config current-context
3. Run `skaffold deploy` (after a successful build) to isolate the deploy step
4. Fix the underlying cause: correct kubecontext, create missing namespaces, or fix rejected manifests

Example fix

// before
kubectl config use-context prod-cluster // cluster unreachable
// after
kubectl config use-context dev-cluster && skaffold run

kubectl cluster-info --context $(kubectl config current-context) >/dev/null && echo 'cluster reachable'

err := r.DeployAndLog(ctx, out, bRes, manifestList)
if err != nil {
	if errors.Is(err, context.DeadlineExceeded) {
		// retry or increase timeout
	}
	return fmt.Errorf("failed to deploy: %w", err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `skaffold run` when DeployAndLog fails: kubectl apply errors, cluster connection refused, namespace missing, image pull failures, or helm deploy failures.

Common situations: kubectl context points to a nonexistent cluster; RBAC denies apply; invalid manifest rejected by API server; wrong kubeconfig in CI.

Related errors

• exiting dev mode because first deploy failed: %w
• watching files for deployer: %w
• getting cluster: %w
• c.Message (pod status condition message)
• unable to lookup minikube executable. Please add it to PATH

AI-assisted analysis of GoogleContainerTools/skaffold@a1189de023 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fd1e21fdbde4bfbc. Report an issue: GitHub.