ahmetb/kubectx · error

failed to get current context: %w

Error message

failed to get current context: %w

What it means

GetCurrentContext failed while reading the current-context field to record the previous context for the exit message. Fires when the kyaml read of the current-context field errors in every file (e.g. field present but not a scalar), not when it is simply unset.

Source

Thrown at cmd/kubectx/shell_session.go:58

		return err
	}

	// Verify context exists and get current context for exit message.
	kc := new(kubeconfig.Kubeconfig).WithLoader(kubeconfig.DefaultLoader)
	defer kc.Close()
	if err := kc.Parse(); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("kubeconfig error: %w", err)
	}
	exists, err := kc.ContextExists(s.target)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to check context: %w", err)
	}
	if !exists {
		return fmt.Errorf("no context exists with the name: %q", s.target)
	}
	previousCtx, err := kc.GetCurrentContext()
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get current context: %w", err)
	}

	// Extract minimal kubeconfig for the target context.
	data, err := extractMinimalKubeconfig(kubectlPath, s.target)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to extract kubeconfig for context: %w", err)
	}

	// Optionally transform the kubeconfig (e.g. rewrite for readonly proxy).
	var cleanup func()
	if s.transformKubeconfig != nil {
		data, cleanup, err = s.transformKubeconfig(data)
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}
		if cleanup != nil {
			defer cleanup()
		}

View on GitHub (pinned to 12ad6fb22e)

Solutions

1. Check that current-context entries in kubeconfig files are plain string scalars
2. Fix or remove the malformed current-context field and retry
3. Use kubectl config current-context to identify which file is problematic

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cmd/kubectx/shell_session.go:58 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/879749074926509e. Report an issue: GitHub.