abiosoft/colima · error

error retrieving current runtime: empty value

Error message

error retrieving current runtime: empty value

What it means

Thrown by colimaApp.currentRuntime (app/app.go:513) when the Lima VM reports as running but the guest returns an empty string for the 'runtime' key (environment.ContainerRuntimeKey, environment/vm.go:21). It means colima cannot determine which container runtime the active profile was provisioned with, so runtime-dependent operations (Runtime(), Update(), containers()) cannot proceed.

Source

Thrown at app/app.go:513

	}

	if kube != nil && kube.Version(ctx) != "" {
		fmt.Println()
		fmt.Println(kubernetes.Name)
		fmt.Println(kube.Version(ctx))
	}

	return nil
}

func (c colimaApp) currentRuntime(ctx context.Context) (string, error) {
	if !c.guest.Running(ctx) {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("%s is not running", config.CurrentProfile().DisplayName)
	}

	r := c.guest.Get(environment.ContainerRuntimeKey)
	if r == "" {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("error retrieving current runtime: empty value")
	}

	return r, nil
}

func (c colimaApp) setRuntime(runtime string) error {
	err := store.Set(func(s *store.Store) {
		// update runtime if runtime disk is in use
		if s.DiskFormatted {
			s.DiskRuntime = runtime
		}
	})

	if err != nil {
		log.Traceln(fmt.Errorf("error persisting store: %w", err))
	}

	return c.guest.Set(environment.ContainerRuntimeKey, runtime)

View on GitHub (pinned to c3a5f9184d)

Solutions

1. Run `colima status -p <profile>` and `colima list`, wait ~10s for the guest agent to settle, then retry the command
2. Restart the VM so provisioning records the runtime: `colima stop -p <profile> && colima start -p <profile>`
3. Check guest/SSH logs under the Lima instance dir (~/.colima/_lima/<profile>/*.log) for provisioning failures
4. If the profile is incomplete or corrupted, `colima delete -p <profile>` and recreate with `colima start --runtime docker`

// Pre-check VM state before any runtime-dependent call
if !app.Active() {
    return fmt.Errorf("profile not running; start it before querying runtime")
}
// optionally wait for the guest agent to publish the runtime key
// (simple retry with timeout around app.Runtime())

if _, err := app.Runtime(); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "error retrieving current runtime: empty value") {
        // guest agent still settling or provisioning incomplete:
        // wait briefly, restart the VM, or prompt recreation
        time.Sleep(10 * time.Second)
        if _, err2 := app.Runtime(); err2 != nil {
            return fmt.Errorf("runtime unavailable after retry: %w", err2)
        }
    } else {
        return err
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling app.Runtime(), app.Update(), or app.containers() while c.guest.Running(ctx) is true but c.guest.Get("runtime") returns "". This happens when the VM is up yet provisioning never stored the runtime: a first start that failed midway, the guest agent not yet responsive after boot, or a Lima VM created/started outside colima (e.g. limactl start).

Common situations: Running `colima update` immediately after a start that failed during provisioning; interrupting the very first `colima start`; using a profile created by an older colima version whose guest state lacks the runtime key; querying runtime while the guest agent is still booting.

Related errors

• dependency check failed for VM: %w
• error starting %s: %w
• error stopping %s: %w
• error initiating container runtime: %w
• runtime cannot be updated, %s is not running

AI-assisted analysis of abiosoft/colima@c3a5f9184d (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/66c1126add3e001e. Report an issue: GitHub.