GoogleContainerTools/skaffold · error

unable to get value for key %q: %w

Error message

unable to get value for key %q: %w

What it means

EvaluateEnvTemplateMapWithEnv expands every map value as an env template against the given env map. This error means one value (identified by key k) failed ExpandEnvTemplate — either bad template syntax or a bad value — and it aborts evaluating the whole map. The key name and inner error are wrapped.

Source

Thrown at pkg/skaffold/util/env_template.go:106

	return EvaluateEnvTemplateMapWithEnv(args, nil)
}

// EvaluateEnvTemplateMapWithEnv parses and executes all map values as templates based on OS and custom environment variables
func EvaluateEnvTemplateMapWithEnv(args map[string]*string, env map[string]string) (map[string]*string, error) {
	if args == nil {
		return nil, nil
	}

	evaluated := map[string]*string{}
	for k, v := range args {
		if v == nil {
			evaluated[k] = nil
			continue
		}

		value, err := ExpandEnvTemplate(*v, env)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to get value for key %q: %w", k, err)
		}

		evaluated[k] = &value
	}

	return evaluated, nil
}

// MapToFlag parses all map values and returns them as `key=value` with the given flag
// Example: --my-flag key0=value0 --my-flag key1=value1  --my-flag key2=value2
func MapToFlag(m map[string]*string, flag string) ([]string, error) {
	kv, err := EvaluateEnvTemplateMap(m)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to evaluate build args: %w", err)
	}

	var keys []string
	for k := range kv {

View on GitHub (pinned to a1189de023)

Solutions

1. Check the specific key named in the error and fix its template syntax in skaffold.yaml.
2. Ensure Go-template syntax {{.KEY}} rather than shell ${KEY} or {{KEY}}.
3. Test the value standalone: util.ExpandEnvTemplate(value, os.Environ-as-map).
4. Run 'skaffold diagnose' to surface all template issues at once.

Example fix

// before
buildArgs:
  TAG: {{.GIT_TAG
// after
buildArgs:
  TAG: "{{.GIT_TAG}}"

for k, v := range m {
    if v != nil && !isValidEnvTemplate(*v) {
        return fmt.Errorf("key %q has invalid template %q", k, *v)
    }
}

func allValuesAreValidTemplates(m map[string]*string) bool {
    for _, v := range m {
        if v != nil && !isValidEnvTemplate(*v) { return false }
    }
    return true
}

evaled, err := util.EvaluateEnvTemplateMap(m)
if err != nil {
    // error message names the offending key via %q
    var key string
    fmt.Sscanf(err.Error(), "unable to get value for key %q", &key)
    return fmt.Errorf("fix template under key %s", key)
}

When it happens

Trigger: ExpandEnvTemplate(*v, env) errors for a key in the map: value contains invalid {{...}} syntax (e.g. build args like '{{.FOO' with a missing brace) or ParseEnvTemplate rejects the string.

Common situations: skaffold.yaml buildArgs / artifacts fields where one entry has malformed Go-template syntax; mixing ${VAR} shell syntax where {{.VAR}} is expected; values copied from Helm charts with different templating engines.

Related errors

• unable to parse template: %q: %w
• unable to expand build args: %w
• unable to evaluate build args: %w
• bucket name is empty
• INSPECT_PROFILE_NOT_FOUND_ERR

AI-assisted analysis of GoogleContainerTools/skaffold@a1189de023 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ebad83f824c3dfa7. Report an issue: GitHub.