ahmetb/kubectx · error

failed to read previous context file: %w

Error message

failed to read previous context file: %w

What it means

readLastContext failed while loading the saved previous context for the '-' swap operation. The not-exists case is handled silently, so this fires on actual read errors: permission denied on the state file or an I/O error reading it.

Source

Thrown at cmd/kubectx/switch.go:98

	}

	if prev != name {
		if err := writeLastContext(prevCtxFile, prev); err != nil {
			return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to save previous context name: %w", err)
		}
	}
	return name, nil
}

// swapContext switches to previously switch context.
func swapContext() (string, error) {
	prevCtxFile, err := kubectxPrevCtxFile()
	if err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to determine state file: %w", err)
	}
	prev, err := readLastContext(prevCtxFile)
	if err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to read previous context file: %w", err)
	}
	if prev == "" {
		return "", errors.New("no previous context found")
	}
	return switchContext(prev)
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 12ad6fb22e)

Solutions

1. Check permissions on the kubectx state file (~/.kube/kubectx or XDG state equivalent)
2. Remove the corrupted/locked state file — you lose only the previous-context memory
3. Fix filesystem issues on the home directory mount

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cmd/kubectx/switch.go:98 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/6baaf0cd1ba1465f. Report an issue: GitHub.