GoogleContainerTools/skaffold · error

retrieving home directory: %w

Error message

retrieving home directory: %w

What it means

ResolveConfigFile derives the default global config path (~/.skaffold/config.yaml) when no configFile argument is given. It throws this wrapped error when homedir.Dir() fails, because the config location cannot be determined; the error then propagates to all config read/update helpers.

Source

Thrown at pkg/skaffold/config/util.go:98

		if err != nil {
			configFileErr = err
			log.Entry(context.TODO()).Warnf("Could not load global Skaffold defaults. Error resolving config file %q", filenameOrDefault)
			return
		}
		configFile, configFileErr = ReadConfigFileNoCache(filenameOrDefault)
		if configFileErr == nil {
			log.Entry(context.TODO()).Infof("Loaded Skaffold defaults from %q", filenameOrDefault)
		}
	})
	return configFile, configFileErr
}

// ResolveConfigFile determines the default config location, if the configFile argument is empty.
func ResolveConfigFile(configFile string) (string, error) {
	if configFile == "" {
		home, err := homedir.Dir()
		if err != nil {
			return "", fmt.Errorf("retrieving home directory: %w", err)
		}
		configFile = filepath.Join(home, defaultConfigDir, defaultConfigFile)
	}
	return configFile, util.VerifyOrCreateFile(configFile)
}

// ReadConfigFileNoCache reads the given config yaml file and unmarshals the contents.
// Only visible for testing, use ReadConfigFile instead.
func ReadConfigFileNoCache(configFile string) (*GlobalConfig, error) {
	contents, err := os.ReadFile(configFile)
	if err != nil {
		log.Entry(context.TODO()).Warnf("Could not load global Skaffold defaults. Error encounter while reading file %q", configFile)
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("reading global config: %w", err)
	}
	config := GlobalConfig{}
	if err := yaml.Unmarshal(contents, &config); err != nil {
		log.Entry(context.TODO()).Warnf("Could not load global Skaffold defaults. Error encounter while unmarshalling the contents of file %q", configFile)
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unmarshalling global skaffold config: %w", err)

View on GitHub (pinned to a1189de023)

Solutions

1. Set the HOME environment variable to a writable directory
2. Pass an explicit --config-file path so home lookup is skipped
3. Ensure the executing user has a valid passwd entry with a home directory

func ensureHome() error {
  if os.Getenv("HOME") == "" && runtime.GOOS != "windows" {
    return errors.New("HOME is not set; skaffold cannot resolve its global config path")
  }
  return nil
}

configFile, err := config.ResolveConfigFile(flagConfigFile)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "retrieving home directory") {
  home := os.Getenv("HOME")
  if home == "" { home = "/tmp" }
  configFile = filepath.Join(home, ".skaffold", "config.yaml")
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling ResolveConfigFile (or any caller like WriteFullConfig, UpdateMsgDisplayed, UpdateHaTSSurveyTaken, UpdateGlobalCollectMetrics) with an empty configFile while the OS home directory is unresolvable (HOME unset, service account without home).

Common situations: Containers or CI jobs running without HOME set; running skaffold as a daemon/system user with no home; Kerberos/nsswitch misconfiguration on Linux breaking home lookup.

Related errors

• retrieving home directory: %w
• reading global config: %w
• normalizing dockerfile path: %w
• getting last log file %w
• writing config to file: %w

AI-assisted analysis of GoogleContainerTools/skaffold@a1189de023 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/09e43507855030a0. Report an issue: GitHub.