ahmetb/kubectx · error

write error

Error message

write error: %w

What it means

Wraps the error returned when writing the usage/help text to the output writer inside printUsage. It fires when the io.Writer passed by Run fails during the Fprintf of the usage template (e.g. a broken pipe, closed stdout, or write failure on the destination stream), not because of any problem with the help content itself.

Solutions

1. Ensure stdout is open and the downstream consumer (pipe/head) is alive
2. Rerun `kubectx --help` without piping to a short-lived consumer

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cmd/kubectx/help.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/08ce3f3ef92ad539. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at cmd/kubectx/help.go:57

  %PROG% -s, --shell <NAME>    : start a shell scoped to context <NAME>
  %PROG% -s, --shell           : interactively select a context to start a shell
  %PROG% -r, --readonly <NAME> : start a read-only shell for context <NAME>
  %PROG% -r, --readonly        : interactively select a context for read-only shell
  %PROG% -c, --current         : show the current context name
  %PROG% -u, --unset           : unset the current context
  %PROG% <NEW_NAME>=<NAME>     : rename context <NAME> to <NEW_NAME>
  %PROG% <NEW_NAME>=.          : rename current-context to <NEW_NAME>
  %PROG% -d <NAME> [<NAME...>] : delete context <NAME> ('.' for current-context)
  %SPAC%                         (this command won't delete the user/cluster entry
  %SPAC%                          referenced by the context entry)
  %PROG% -h, --help            : show this message
  %PROG% -V, --version         : show version`
	help = strings.ReplaceAll(help, "%PROG%", selfName())
	help = strings.ReplaceAll(help, "%SPAC%", strings.Repeat(" ", len(selfName())))

	_, err := fmt.Fprintf(out, "%s\n", help)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("write error: %w", err)
	}
	return nil
}

// selfName guesses how the user invoked the program.
func selfName() string {
	me := filepath.Base(os.Args[0])
	pluginPrefix := "kubectl-"
	if strings.HasPrefix(me, pluginPrefix) {
		return "kubectl " + strings.TrimPrefix(me, pluginPrefix)
	}
	return "kubectx"
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 12ad6fb22e)