GoogleContainerTools/skaffold · error

no Kustomization configuration found in directory: %s

Error message

no Kustomization configuration found in directory: %s

What it means

FindKustomizationConfig checks each of constants.KustomizeFilePaths (kustomization.yaml, kustomization.yml, Kustomization) in a directory and errors when none exist. Called from DependenciesForKustomization while resolving a kustomize directory into its file dependencies.

Source

Thrown at pkg/skaffold/render/renderer/kustomize/kustomize.go:556

		if generator.EnvSource != "" {
			envs = append(envs, generator.EnvSource)
		}
		deps = append(deps, sUtil.AbsolutePaths(dir, envs)...)
	}

	return deps, nil
}

// FindKustomizationConfig finds the kustomization config relative to the provided dir.
// A Kustomization config must be at the root of the directory. Kustomize will
// error if more than one of these files exists so order doesn't matter.
func FindKustomizationConfig(dir string) (string, error) {
	for _, candidate := range constants.KustomizeFilePaths {
		if local, _ := pathExistsLocally(candidate, dir); local {
			return filepath.Join(dir, candidate), nil
		}
	}
	return "", fmt.Errorf("no Kustomization configuration found in directory: %s", dir)
}

func pathExistsLocally(filename string, workingDir string) (bool, os.FileMode) {
	path := filename
	if !filepath.IsAbs(filename) {
		path = filepath.Join(workingDir, filename)
	}
	if f, err := os.Stat(path); err == nil {
		return true, f.Mode()
	}
	return false, 0
}

// kustomizeBuildArgs returns a list of build args to be passed to kustomize build.
func kustomizeBuildArgs(buildArgs []string, kustomizePath string) []string {
	var args []string

	if len(buildArgs) > 0 {

View on GitHub (pinned to a1189de023)

Solutions

1. Create kustomization.yaml (or yml / Kustomization) in the target directory
2. Correct the configured path to the directory that actually holds the kustomization file
3. Rename misspelled variants (kustomisation.yaml) to an accepted candidate name
4. Verify the file exists in CI (git add/commit, correct checkout)

Example fix

// before
ls base/   # only deployment.yaml
// after
printf 'resources:\n  - deployment.yaml\n' > base/kustomization.yaml

func hasKustomization(dir string) bool {
    for _, n := range []string{"kustomization.yaml","kustomization.yml","Kustomization"} {
        if _, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(dir, n)); err == nil { return true }
    }
    return false
}

When it happens

Trigger: A path in Kustomize.Paths resolves (after expansion) to a directory with no recognized kustomization file present.

Common situations: Wrong directory in skaffold.yaml (parent of overlays rather than the overlay); file named kustomisation.yaml (British spelling); file extension .yaml vs .yml mismatch with none of the three candidates; uncommitted kustomization.yaml in CI checkout.

Related errors

• cannot locate kustomization file from provided directory: %s
• rendering manifests: %w
• unable to parse path %q: %w
• failed to apply setter to file %s, err: %v
• kustomization parse error in %v: %w

AI-assisted analysis of GoogleContainerTools/skaffold@a1189de023 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/918582d44eb6a6fc. Report an issue: GitHub.