{"record":{"id":"8154655ec69a0eb9","repo":"GoogleContainerTools/skaffold","slug":"unable-to-get-kubernetes-config-w","errorCode":null,"errorMessage":"unable to get kubernetes config: %w","messagePattern":"unable to get kubernetes config: %w","errorType":"exception","errorClass":null,"httpStatus":null,"severity":"error","filePath":"pkg/skaffold/kubernetes/loader/load.go","lineNumber":183,"sourceCode":"\n\toutput.Default.Fprintln(out, \"Images loaded in\", timeutil.Humanize(time.Since(start)))\n\treturn nil\n}\n\nfunc findKnownImages(ctx context.Context, cli *kubectl.CLI) ([]string, error) {\n\tnodeGetOut, err := cli.RunOut(ctx, \"get\", \"nodes\", `-ojsonpath={@.items[*].status.images[*].names[*]}`)\n\tif err != nil {\n\t\treturn nil, fmt.Errorf(\"unable to inspect the nodes: %w\", err)\n\t}\n\n\tknownImages := strings.Split(string(nodeGetOut), \" \")\n\treturn knownImages, nil\n}\n\nfunc (i *ImageLoader) getCurrentContext() (*api.Context, error) {\n\tcurrentCfg, err := kubectx.CurrentConfig()\n\tif err != nil {\n\t\treturn nil, fmt.Errorf(\"unable to get kubernetes config: %w\", err)\n\t}\n\n\tcurrentContext, present := currentCfg.Contexts[i.kubeContext]\n\tif !present {\n\t\treturn nil, fmt.Errorf(\"unable to get current kubernetes context: %w\", err)\n\t}\n\treturn currentContext, nil\n}\n","sourceCodeStart":165,"sourceCodeEnd":192,"githubUrl":"https://github.com/GoogleContainerTools/skaffold/blob/a1189de023efc32d4b8e11f395acc678aa555011/pkg/skaffold/kubernetes/loader/load.go#L165-L192","documentation":"getCurrentContext loads the full kubeconfig via kubectx.CurrentConfig() to resolve the Cluster associated with i.kubeContext. This error wraps a failure to read or parse the Kubernetes client configuration — missing, malformed, or unreadable kubeconfig files, or client-go config loading errors.","triggerScenarios":"LoadImages calls getCurrentContext before loading into a kind/k3d cluster; kubectx.CurrentConfig() fails because no kubeconfig exists, KUBECONFIG points to an invalid path, or a kubeconfig file contains invalid YAML/schema.","commonSituations":"Fresh machine with no ~/.kube/config; KUBECONFIG env var referencing a nonexistent or syntactically broken file; permissions issue on the kubeconfig; a partially written kubeconfig after an interrupted cluster provisioning; malformed entries merged from multiple KUBECONFIG files.","solutions":["Run `kubectl config view` with the same environment to see the parse error","Validate KUBECONFIG points at an existing, readable file: `echo $KUBECONFIG && ls -l $KUBECONFIG`","Regenerate the kubeconfig from your provider (e.g. `kind get kubeconfig-path`, `gcloud container clusters get-credentials`, `k3d kubeconfig get`)","Check YAML syntax of the kubeconfig if it was hand-edited; remove broken entries from merged KUBECONFIG lists"],"exampleFix":"// before: KUBECONFIG points to a missing file\nexport KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/nonexistent\n// after\nunset KUBECONFIG  # or export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/config","handlingStrategy":"validation","validationCode":"// Validate kubeconfig exists and parses before invoking the loader\npath := os.Getenv(\"KUBECONFIG\")\nif path == \"\" { path = filepath.Join(homedir.Get(), \".kube\", \"config\") }\ndata, err := os.ReadFile(path)\nif err != nil {\n    return fmt.Errorf(\"kubeconfig unreadable: %w\", err)\n}\nvar cfg map[string]interface{}\nif err := yaml.Unmarshal(data, &cfg); err != nil {\n    return fmt.Errorf(\"kubeconfig malformed: %w\", err)\n}","typeGuard":null,"tryCatchPattern":"err := loader.LoadImages(ctx, out, artifacts)\nif err != nil {\n    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), \"unable to get kubernetes config\") {\n        return fmt.Errorf(\"fix KUBECONFIG/kubeconfig file first: %w\", err)\n    }\n    return err\n}","preventionTips":["Never hand-edit kubeconfig without validating with `kubectl config view`","Check every file in a merged KUBECONFIG list parses","Regenerate kubeconfig from the cluster provider after provisioning"],"tags":["kubernetes","kubeconfig","configuration"],"backgroundTag":"invalid-kubeconfig","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"}