ahmetb/kubectx · error

'%s' accepts at most one context name argument

Error message

'%s' accepts at most one context name argument

What it means

Argument-validation error from parseArgs: --readonly/-r (or --shell/-s style flags) was supplied with more than one positional argument; at most a single context name is accepted. Excess arguments make the intent ambiguous, so the op is rejected.

Source

Thrown at cmd/kubectx/flags.go:53

func parseArgs(argv []string) Op {
	if len(argv) == 0 {
		if cmdutil.IsInteractiveMode(os.Stdout) {
			return InteractiveSwitchOp{}
		}
		return ListOp{}
	}

	if argv[0] == "--readonly" || argv[0] == "-r" {
		if len(argv) == 1 {
			if cmdutil.IsInteractiveMode(os.Stdout) {
				return InteractiveReadonlyShellOp{}
			}
			return UnsupportedOp{Err: fmt.Errorf("'%s' requires a context name argument (or fzf for interactive mode)", argv[0])}
		}
		if len(argv) == 2 {
			return ReadonlyShellOp{Target: argv[1]}
		}
		return UnsupportedOp{Err: fmt.Errorf("'%s' accepts at most one context name argument", argv[0])}
	}

	if argv[0] == "--shell" || argv[0] == "-s" {
		if len(argv) == 1 {
			if cmdutil.IsInteractiveMode(os.Stdout) {
				return InteractiveShellOp{}
			}
			return UnsupportedOp{Err: fmt.Errorf("'%s' requires a context name argument (or fzf for interactive mode)", argv[0])}
		}
		if len(argv) == 2 {
			return ShellOp{Target: argv[1]}
		}
		return UnsupportedOp{Err: fmt.Errorf("'%s' accepts at most one context name argument", argv[0])}
	}

	if argv[0] == "-d" {
		if len(argv) == 1 {
			if cmdutil.IsInteractiveMode(os.Stdout) {

View on GitHub (pinned to 12ad6fb22e)

Solutions

1. Pass only one context name after the flag
2. Quote context names containing spaces

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cmd/kubectx/flags.go:53 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/a896022ba80f4de4. Report an issue: GitHub.