ahmetb/kubectx · error

failed to get context names: %w

Error message

failed to get context names: %w

What it means

Wrapper error in formatContextList: kc.ContextNames() failed while collecting context names from the parsed kubeconfig (structural/kyaml error). Cause preserved via %w; the sorted list cannot be produced.

Source

Thrown at cmd/kubectx/list.go:54

	defer kc.Close()
	if err := kc.Parse(); err != nil {
		if cmdutil.IsNotFoundErr(err) {
			printer.Warning(stderr, "kubeconfig file not found")
			return nil
		}
		return fmt.Errorf("kubeconfig error: %w", err)
	}
	return formatContextList(kc, stdout)
}

// formatContextList writes the sorted, current-context-highlighted list of
// contexts from kc to w (one per line). The format mirrors what ListOp.Run
// prints so that the interactive fzf picker shows the same list the user would
// see from `kubectx | fzf`.
func formatContextList(kc *kubeconfig.Kubeconfig, w io.Writer) error {
	ctxs, err := kc.ContextNames()
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get context names: %w", err)
	}
	natsort.Sort(ctxs)

	cur, err := kc.GetCurrentContext()
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get current context: %w", err)
	}
	for _, c := range ctxs {
		s := c
		if c == cur {
			s = printer.ActiveItemColor.Sprint(c)
		}
		fmt.Fprintf(w, "%s\n", s)
	}
	return nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 12ad6fb22e)

Solutions

1. Inspect the wrapped cause for kubeconfig structure issues
2. Repair the 'contexts' section and rerun

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cmd/kubectx/list.go:54 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of ahmetb/kubectx@12ad6fb22e (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/331ebb5c8be87de9. Report an issue: GitHub.