GoogleContainerTools/skaffold · error

invalid path: %s

Error message

invalid path: %s

What it means

Profiles can modify the config with JSON/YAML patch fragments (`profile.patches`) using RFC-6902-style paths. `applyProfile` (pkg/skaffold/schema/profiles.go:300) applies each patch to the marshaled config and calls `tryPatch`; if the patched result is invalid — typically because the patch `path` does not resolve in the Skaffold config document — it returns `invalid path: <path>`.

Source

Thrown at pkg/skaffold/schema/profiles.go:300

			op = "replace"
		}

		var value *yamlpatch.Node
		if v := patch.Value; v != nil {
			value = &v.Node
		}

		patch := yamlpatch.Operation{
			Op:    yamlpatch.Op(op),
			Path:  yamlpatch.OpPath(patch.Path),
			From:  yamlpatch.OpPath(patch.From),
			Value: value,
		}

		updated, valid := tryPatch(patch, buf)
		buf = updated
		if !valid {
			return fmt.Errorf("invalid path: %s", patch.Path)
		}

		// TODO(aaron-prindle) we can ignore - op:'remove' - patch profiles as there is no corresponding schema object for them (it is removed already)
		yamlOverrideInfo := configlocations.YAMLOverrideInfo{
			ProfileName:    profile.Name,
			PatchOperation: string(patch.Op),
			PatchIndex:     i,
		}
		if patch.Op == "copy" {
			yamlOverrideInfo.PatchCopyFrom = patch.From.String()
		}
		if patch.Op != "remove" { // TODO(aaron-prindle) yamlpatch lib doesn't export op types, should copy paste the types elsewhere and refer to that here
			fieldsOverrodeByProfile[string(patch.Path)] = yamlOverrideInfo
		}
	}

	if err != nil {
		return err

View on GitHub (pinned to a1189de023)

Solutions

1. Fix the patch `path` in skaffold.yaml to match the actual config structure (run `skaffold diagnose` to dump the parsed config and verify field names)
2. If the target may not exist, use `op: add` instead of `replace`, or add the parent node first
3. Check array indices in the path against the current artifact/profile order; prefer stable ordering or select by content
4. After a skaffold version upgrade, verify patch paths against the new schema (fields may have moved, e.g. under `deploy` or `portForward`)

Example fix

# before
patches:
  - op: replace
    path: build/artifacts/0/image   # missing leading slash, invalid pointer
    value: gcr.io/proj/img
# after
patches:
  - op: replace
    path: /build/artifacts/0/image
    value: gcr.io/proj/img

yq '.profiles[].patches[].path' skaffold.yaml | grep -v '^/' && echo 'paths must be JSON pointers'

When it happens

Trigger: A profile in skaffold.yaml defines `patches:` with an `op: replace/add/copy` whose `path` (e.g. `/build/artifacts/0/image`) does not exist or does not match the config schema at that location, so the yaml-patch library cannot produce a valid merged document. Wrapped as `applying profile "X": invalid path: ...` by ApplyProfiles.

Common situations: Typos in JSON-pointer paths or missing the leading `/`; wrong array index (artifact order changed); patching a field that was removed/renamed in a newer skaffold schema version; using `replace` on a path that must first be `add`ed; copy/move paths referencing nonexistent locations.

Related errors

• applying profile %q: %w
• invalid env variable format: %s, should be KEY=VALUE
• value must be one of `always`, `missing`, or `never`
• CONFIG_REMOTE_REPO_CACHE_NOT_FOUND_ERR
• CONFIG_REMOTE_REPO_CACHE_NOT_FOUND_ERR

AI-assisted analysis of GoogleContainerTools/skaffold@a1189de023 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/301ee6aea605e2df. Report an issue: GitHub.