ahmetb/kubectx · error

failed to get current context: %w

Error message

failed to get current context: %w

What it means

Wrapper error in RenameOp.Run: kc.GetCurrentContext() failed while reading current-context, needed to detect whether the rename target is the active context ('.') and to update current-context accordingly. Cause wrapped with %w; rename aborts.

Source

Thrown at cmd/kubectx/rename.go:57

	return new, old, true
}

// rename changes the old (NAME or '.' for current-context)
// to the "new" value. If the old refers to the current-context,
// current-context preference is also updated.
func (op RenameOp) Run(_, stderr io.Writer) error {
	if err := checkIsolatedMode(); err != nil {
		return err
	}
	kc := new(kubeconfig.Kubeconfig).WithLoader(kubeconfig.DefaultLoader)
	defer kc.Close()
	if err := kc.Parse(); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("kubeconfig error: %w", err)
	}

	cur, err := kc.GetCurrentContext()
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get current context: %w", err)
	}
	if op.Old == "." {
		op.Old = cur
	}

	oldExists, err := kc.ContextExists(op.Old)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to check context: %w", err)
	}
	if !oldExists {
		return fmt.Errorf("context \"%s\" not found, can't rename it", op.Old)
	}

	newExists, err := kc.ContextExists(op.New)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to check context: %w", err)
	}
	if newExists {

View on GitHub (pinned to 12ad6fb22e)

Solutions

1. Inspect the wrapped cause for kubeconfig structure errors
2. Repair the kubeconfig with kubectl, then retry the rename

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cmd/kubectx/rename.go:57 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/12f9b61cccdc839c. Report an issue: GitHub.