GoogleContainerTools/skaffold · error

kubectl apply: %w

Error message

kubectl apply: %w

What it means

The kubectl deployer's Apply runs `kubectl apply -f -` with the rendered manifests. If kubectl exits non-zero, the error is wrapped in a userErr as 'kubectl apply'. This is the main deployment failure path: server-side validation, admission webhooks, or connectivity problems surface here.

Source

Thrown at pkg/skaffold/deploy/kubectl/cli.go:115

	// TODO(dgageot): should we delete a manifest that was deployed and is not anymore?
	updated := c.previousApply.Diff(manifests)
	log.Entry(ctx).Debugf("%d manifests to deploy. %d are updated or new", len(manifests), len(updated))
	if len(updated) == 0 {
		return nil
	}

	args := []string{"-f", "-"}
	if c.forceDeploy {
		args = append(args, "--force", "--grace-period=0")
	}

	if c.Flags.DisableValidation {
		args = append(args, "--validate=false")
	}

	if err := c.Run(ctx, updated.Reader(), out, "apply", c.args(c.Flags.Apply, args...)...); err != nil {
		endTrace(instrumentation.TraceEndError(err))
		return userErr(fmt.Errorf("kubectl apply: %w", err))
	}
	c.previousApply = manifests

	return nil
}

type getResult struct {
	Items []struct {
		Metadata struct {
			Name              string `json:"name"`
			DeletionTimestamp string `json:"deletionTimestamp"`
		} `json:"metadata"`
	} `json:"items"`
}

// WaitForDeletions waits for resource marked for deletion to complete their deletion.
func (c *CLI) WaitForDeletions(ctx context.Context, out io.Writer, manifests manifest.ManifestList) error {
	if !c.waitForDeletions.Enabled {

View on GitHub (pinned to a1189de023)

Solutions

1. Re-run with the wrapped kubectl error visible and fix the offending manifest field (often server-side validation messages name the resource).
2. Verify you're deploying to the intended context: `kubectl config current-context`.
3. Check quotas, RBAC, and admission webhooks on the target namespace (`kubectl describe ns`, webhook logs).
4. Temporarily test the exact manifests with `kubectl apply -f out/rendered.yaml` to iterate outside skaffold.

Example fix

// before: schema-invalid field
spec:
  replicas: "3"
// after
spec:
  replicas: 3

// Dry-run manifests against the cluster before real apply
if err := exec.Command("kubectl", "apply", "--dry-run=server", "-f", renderedFile).Run(); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("pre-apply validation failed: %w", err)
}

if err := cli.Apply(ctx, out, manifests); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "kubectl apply") {
        log.Errorf("apply failed: %v\nInspect rendered yaml and server validation errors", err)
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: c.Run for `kubectl apply` fails during Deploy — invalid manifest rejected by the API server, field validation errors, quota/admission webhook denials, image pull of non-existent registry, or auth/connection failure.

Common situations: Typo'd schema fields after hydration; namespace missing from cluster; admission webhook rejecting pods; deployment to wrong context; image tags never pushed.

Related errors

• %s: %s
• kubectl delete: %w
• %d resources failed to complete their deletion before a new
• kubectl create: %w
• unable to connect to Kubernetes: %w

AI-assisted analysis of GoogleContainerTools/skaffold@a1189de023 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f82dfaf1adc2fa39. Report an issue: GitHub.