GoogleContainerTools/skaffold · error

retrieving home directory: %w

Error message

retrieving home directory: %w

What it means

lastLogFile resolves the destination for the last log. When no explicit path is given, it defaults to ~/.skaffold/last.log by calling homedir.Dir(); failure of that call is wrapped as this error. Without a home directory the library cannot infer a default location, so SaveLastLog cannot proceed.

Source

Thrown at pkg/skaffold/event/v2/event.go:386

		}
	}

	// Write contents of temporary buffer to file
	if _, err = f.Write(contents.Bytes()); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("writing buffer contents to file: %w", err)
	}
	return nil
}

func lastLogFile(fp string) (string, error) {
	if fp != "" {
		return fp, nil
	}

	// last log location unspecified, use ~/.skaffold/last.log
	home, err := homedir.Dir()
	if err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("retrieving home directory: %w", err)
	}
	return filepath.Join(home, constants.DefaultSkaffoldDir, "last.log"), nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to a1189de023)

Solutions

1. Set HOME (or USERPROFILE on Windows) to a valid writable directory before invoking skaffold.
2. Pass an explicit path to SaveLastLog to bypass home-directory resolution entirely.
3. Ensure the OS user has a valid home directory entry.

Example fix

// shell
export HOME=/home/user   # or: docker run -e HOME=/tmp ...
// code alternative
err := event.SaveLastLog("/tmp/skaffold-last.log")

if home, err := os.UserHomeDir(); err != nil || home == "" {
    return errors.New("no home directory available; pass an explicit SaveLastLog path")
}

if err := event.SaveLastLog(""); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "retrieving home directory") {
        return event.SaveLastLog(filepath.Join(os.TempDir(), "last.log"))
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling SaveLastLog("") on a system where homedir.Dir() errors: HOME environment variable unset/empty, the OS reports no home directory for the current UID, or the underlying lookup returns an unusable path.

Common situations: Minimal Docker containers running as non-root without HOME set; systemd services with a sanitized environment; users without a passwd home entry; cross-platform (Windows) profile lookup failures.

Related errors

• error getting docker client: %s
• getting last log file %w
• retrieving home directory: %w
• unable to lookup minikube executable. Please add it to PATH
• value must be one of `always`, `missing`, or `never`

AI-assisted analysis of GoogleContainerTools/skaffold@a1189de023 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6c26ac04320f5b13. Report an issue: GitHub.