GoogleContainerTools/skaffold · error

invalid skaffold config: %w

Error message

invalid skaffold config: %w

What it means

The loaded skaffold configuration set failed static validation (validation.Process). Skaffold checks schema-level and semantic correctness (e.g. required fields, mutually exclusive options) before building a runner.

Source

Thrown at cmd/skaffold/app/cmd/runner.go:88

	instrumentation.Init(v2Configs, opts.User, runCtx.GetKubeContext())
	hooks.SetupStaticEnvOptions(runCtx)
	runner, err := runner.NewForConfig(ctx, runCtx)
	if err != nil {
		event.InititializationFailed(err)
		return nil, nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("creating runner: %w", err)
	}
	return runner, configs, runCtx, nil
}

func runContext(ctx context.Context, out io.Writer, opts config.SkaffoldOptions) (*runcontext.RunContext, []util.VersionedConfig, error) {
	cfgSet, err := withFallbackConfig(ctx, out, opts, parser.GetConfigSet)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, nil, err
	}
	setDefaultRendererAndDeployer(cfgSet)

	if err := validation.Process(cfgSet, validation.GetValidationOpts(opts)); err != nil {
		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid skaffold config: %w", err)
	}
	var configs []util.VersionedConfig
	for _, cfg := range cfgSet {
		configs = append(configs, cfg.SkaffoldConfig)
	}

	runCtx, err := runcontext.GetRunContext(ctx, opts, configs)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("getting run context: %w", err)
	}

	if err := validation.ProcessWithRunContext(ctx, runCtx); err != nil {
		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid skaffold config: %w", err)
	}

	return runCtx, configs, nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to a1189de023)

Solutions

1. Read the validation messages wrapped after 'invalid skaffold config:' - they list each offending field
2. Fix the reported fields in skaffold.yaml
3. Run `skaffold inspect` or `skaffold fix` to lint/migrate the config
4. If using multi-config, validate each dependency config individually

Example fix

// before
build:
  artifacts: []
// after
build:
  artifacts:
    - image: my-app
      context: .

skaffold diagnose || echo 'config failed static validation'

_, _, _, err := createNewRunner(ctx, out, opts)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "invalid skaffold config") {
	// validation messages are wrapped - print full error chain
	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "%+v\n", err)
	os.Exit(1)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running any command that loads config when validation.Process reports problems: missing required fields, invalid profiles, conflicting build/deploy definitions in skaffold.yaml or its included configs.

Common situations: Typo in artifact fields; profile referencing a nonexistent artifact; multiple configs merged via dependencies that violate schema rules; hand-edited skaffold.yaml with invalid YAML structure.

Related errors

• validating upgraded config: %w
• marshaling new config: %w
• parsing skaffold config: %w
• cannot add an empty image value
• INSPECT_PROFILE_NOT_FOUND_ERR

AI-assisted analysis of GoogleContainerTools/skaffold@a1189de023 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/bd847210bf3b576b. Report an issue: GitHub.