abiosoft/colima · error

error traversing yaml node: %w

Error message

error traversing yaml node: %w

What it means

encodeYAML (util/yamlutil/yaml.go:59) walks the parsed default-config node tree with traverseNode, collecting every key path; this error wraps whatever traverseNode returned. In the current code traverseNode's only failure mode is the uneven-children mapping check (see error 298), so in practice 'error traversing yaml node' means the embedded default contains a structurally malformed mapping (odd number of Content entries, i.e. a key without a value).

Source

Thrown at util/yamlutil/yaml.go:59

	f, err := embedded.Read("defaults/colima.yaml")
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error reading config file: %w", err)
	}

	if err := yaml.Unmarshal(f, &doc); err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("embedded default config is invalid yaml: %w", err)
	}

	if l := len(doc.Content); l != 1 {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unexpected error during yaml decode: doc has multiple children of len %d", l)
	}
	root := doc.Content[0]

	// get all nodes
	nodeVals := map[string]*yaml.Node{}
	if err := traverseNode("", root, nodeVals); err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error traversing yaml node: %w", err)
	}

	// get all node values
	structVals := map[string]any{}
	traverseConfig("", conf, structVals)

	// apply values to nodes
	for key, node := range nodeVals {
		val := structVals[key]

		// top level, ignore. except known maps.
		if node.Kind == yaml.MappingNode {
			switch val.(type) {
			case map[string]any:
			case map[string]string:

			default:
				continue

View on GitHub (pinned to c3a5f9184d)

Solutions

1. Restore the stock embedded/defaults/colima.yaml from git and reapply changes carefully
2. Run any YAML parser over the file — it will pinpoint the key missing its value
3. Prefer colima's runtime config layer over editing the embedded default
4. Add a unit test calling yamlutil round-trips (Save on defaults) to catch structural damage in CI

Example fix

# before (dangling key makes the mapping uneven)
vm:
  cpu: 4
  memory

# after
vm:
  cpu: 4
  memory: 4

// strict-parse the embedded default before use
var strict yaml.Node
if err := yaml.Unmarshal(b, &strict); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("embedded defaults are structurally broken: %w", err)
}

if err := util.Save(cfg, file); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "error traversing yaml node") {
        // structural damage in the embedded asset — reinstall the binary
        return fmt.Errorf("colima install corrupted — reinstall: %w", err)
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: A hand-edited embedded/defaults/colima.yaml where a mapping has a dangling key with no value (odd Content length), e.g. a trailing 'key:' pair removed by a bad regex edit.

Common situations: Fork edits and sed/regex surgery on the defaults template; merge conflict resolution dropping half of a key/value pair; YAML minimizers that strip 'empty' values incorrectly.

Related errors

• embedded default config is invalid yaml: %w
• unexpected error during yaml decode: doc has multiple childr
• error reading config file: %w
• unexpected error during yaml node traversal: %w
• unexpected error during yaml node traversal: doc has multipl

AI-assisted analysis of abiosoft/colima@c3a5f9184d (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/87a30a8c16c626ae. Report an issue: GitHub.