ahmetb/kubectx · error

kubeconfig error: %w

Error message

kubeconfig error: %w

What it means

Wrapper error in ListOp.Run: kc.Parse() failed with an error other than 'kubeconfig file not found' (which is downgraded to a warning), meaning a real load/decode failure — bad YAML, permissions, or an invalid file among those in KUBECONFIG. Wrapped with %w; the context list aborts.

Source

Thrown at cmd/kubectx/list.go:42

	"github.com/ahmetb/kubectx/internal/kubeconfig"
	"github.com/ahmetb/kubectx/internal/printer"
)

// ListOp describes listing contexts.
type ListOp struct{}

func (_ ListOp) Run(stdout, 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 {
		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)

View on GitHub (pinned to 12ad6fb22e)

Solutions

1. Read the wrapped cause; typically fix malformed YAML or file permissions
2. Test with `kubectl config view` to isolate the bad file in KUBECONFIG

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cmd/kubectx/list.go:42 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/f8a1a009f9d0acc2. Report an issue: GitHub.