GoogleContainerTools/skaffold · error

writing %q to %q: %w

Error message

writing %q to %q: %w

What it means

Wraps an os.WriteFile failure when copying an embedded asset to the export directory during `skaffold credits export`. The error reflects OS-level problems creating or writing newPath: missing parent directory, insufficient permissions, or disk-full. The wrapped err is the raw *os.PathError.

Source

Thrown at cmd/skaffold/app/cmd/credits/export.go:56

		newPath := path.Join(Path, strings.Replace(filePath, "assets/credits_generated", "", 1))
		if dirEntry.IsDir() {
			err := os.Mkdir(newPath, 0755)
			if err != nil && !os.IsExist(err) {
				return fmt.Errorf("creating directory %q: %w", newPath, err)
			}
		} else {
			file, err := fs.AssetsFS.Open(filePath)
			if err != nil {
				return fmt.Errorf("opening %q in embedded filesystem: %w", filePath, err)
			}

			buf, err := io.ReadAll(file)
			if err != nil {
				return fmt.Errorf("reading %q in embedded filesystem: %w", filePath, err)
			}

			if err := os.WriteFile(newPath, buf, 0664); err != nil {
				return fmt.Errorf("writing %q to %q: %w", filePath, newPath, err)
			}
		}
		return nil
	}); err != nil {
		return err
	}

	s, err := filepath.Abs(Path)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	log.Printf("Successfully exported third party notices to %s", s)
	return nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to a1189de023)

Solutions

1. Verify the export directory exists and is writable (ls -ld <dir>, touch <dir>/.probe)
2. Check free disk space (df -h) and quota on the target filesystem
3. Ensure newPath is not a directory / remove the conflicting entry
4. Run with sufficient permissions or choose a different export directory

Example fix

// before
skaffold credits export /etc/readonly-dir  // EACCES
// after
mkdir -p ~/skaffold-credits && chmod u+w ~/skaffold-credits
skaffold credits export ~/skaffold-credits

// preflight the export target
info, err := os.Stat(exportDir)
if err != nil { return err }
if !info.IsDir() { return fmt.Errorf("%s is not a directory", exportDir) }
if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(exportDir, ".probe"), nil, 0664); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("export dir not writable: %w", err)
}

if err := os.WriteFile(newPath, buf, 0664); err != nil {
    var pe *fs.PathError
    if errors.As(err, &pe) && errors.Is(pe.Err, syscall.EACCES) {
        // fall back to a user-writable temp dir
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: `skaffold credits export <dir>` attempts os.WriteFile(newPath, buf, 0664) and the OS returns EACCES, ENOENT (target dir absent), EISDIR, or ENOSPC.

Common situations: Export target directory is read-only or owned by another user; the target path exists as a directory; running inside a container with a read-only mount; disk quota exceeded on the export volume.

Related errors

• failed creating remote cache directory: %w
• reading .dockerignore: %w
• walking workspace: %w
• unable to stat file %q: %w
• failed to create directory: %v

AI-assisted analysis of GoogleContainerTools/skaffold@a1189de023 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3a895b1f50cb4f43. Report an issue: GitHub.