{"record":{"id":"11610612e4fc30c3","repo":"GoogleContainerTools/skaffold","slug":"cannot-parse-the-release-namespace-template-w-116106","errorCode":null,"errorMessage":"cannot parse the release namespace template: %w","messagePattern":"cannot parse the release namespace template: %w","errorType":"exception","errorClass":null,"httpStatus":null,"severity":"error","filePath":"pkg/skaffold/helm/util.go","lineNumber":116,"sourceCode":"\t\treturn fmt.Sprintf(`\"%s\"`, string(b))\n\t}\n\treturn string(b)\n}\n\nfunc ChartSource(r latest.HelmRelease) string {\n\tif r.RemoteChart != \"\" {\n\t\treturn r.RemoteChart\n\t}\n\treturn r.ChartPath\n}\n\nfunc ReleaseNamespace(namespace string, release latest.HelmRelease) (string, error) {\n\tif namespace != \"\" {\n\t\treturn namespace, nil\n\t} else if release.Namespace != \"\" {\n\t\tnamespace, err := util.ExpandEnvTemplateOrFail(release.Namespace, nil)\n\t\tif err != nil {\n\t\t\treturn \"\", fmt.Errorf(\"cannot parse the release namespace template: %w\", err)\n\t\t}\n\t\treturn namespace, nil\n\t}\n\treturn \"\", nil\n}\n","sourceCodeStart":98,"sourceCodeEnd":122,"githubUrl":"https://github.com/GoogleContainerTools/skaffold/blob/a1189de023efc32d4b8e11f395acc678aa555011/pkg/skaffold/helm/util.go#L98-L122","documentation":"ReleaseNamespace resolves the namespace a Helm release should be deployed to. If no CLI/config namespace was supplied, it expands the release's namespace field as an environment-variable template via util.ExpandEnvTemplateOrFail. When that template expansion fails (bad syntax or undefined variable), the error is wrapped with 'cannot parse the release namespace template' so the user knows which part of the Helm config is invalid.","triggerScenarios":"Calling ReleaseNamespace (directly or via Cleanup, deployRelease, or generateHelmManifest) with an empty namespace argument and a latest.HelmRelease whose Namespace field contains an invalid template — e.g. unmatched '{{', or references to env vars that fail expansion under ExpandEnvTemplateOrFail's strict mode.","commonSituations":"Typo in skaffold.yaml helm release namespace such as 'namespace: {{ .NS' (unbalanced braces); using template parameters not exported into the environment; hand-edited manifests with stray '{{' characters; copying Go templating from Helm chart values into skaffold.yaml where only env-var expansion is supported.","solutions":["Fix the namespace template syntax in the helm release config in skaffold.yaml (balanced {{ }} and valid shell/env variable names)","Export the referenced environment variable before running skaffold (e.g. export NS=myns)","Replace the templated namespace with a literal string to confirm which variable is failing","Pass an explicit --namespace flag to skaffold deploy so the template is never evaluated"],"exampleFix":"// before (skaffold.yaml)\nhelm:\n  releases:\n    - name: myrelease\n      namespace: {{ .NS }\n// after\nhelm:\n  releases:\n    - name: myrelease\n      namespace: {{ .NS }}  # with NS exported, or a literal: myns","handlingStrategy":"validation","validationCode":"ns := os.Getenv(\"MY_NAMESPACE\")\nif strings.ContainsAny(release.Namespace, \"{}\") {\n    // pre-expand or sanity check before calling skaffold\n    if _, err := os.ExpandEnv(release.Namespace); err != nil { return err }\n}\nresult, err := helm.ReleaseNamespace(ns, release)","typeGuard":null,"tryCatchPattern":"ns, err := helm.ReleaseNamespace(cliNs, release)\nif err != nil {\n    var tplErr error\n    if errors.As(err, &tplErr) {\n        return fmt.Errorf(\"check namespace template in skaffold.yaml: %w\", err)\n    }\n    return err\n}","preventionTips":["Keep release.Namespace a literal string or only simple $VAR references","Always export every env var referenced in skaffold.yaml templates before deploy","Lint skaffold.yaml with 'skaffold config' or schema validation in CI","Prefer --namespace flag over templated namespaces"],"tags":["helm","template","config","namespace"],"backgroundTag":"template-parse-failed","analyzedSha":"a1189de023efc32d4b8e11f395acc678aa555011","analyzedAt":"2026-09-05T12:09:27.064Z","contentChangedAt":"2026-09-05T12:09:27.064Z","schemaVersion":2},"datasetVersion":"2026-09-12T17:17:11.597Z"}