{"record":{"id":"9fc51bd7f7a65aed","repo":"GoogleContainerTools/skaffold","slug":"config-version-q-is-more-recent-than-target-versi","errorCode":null,"errorMessage":"config version %q is more recent than target version %q: upgrade Skaffold","messagePattern":"config version %q is more recent than target version %q: upgrade Skaffold","errorType":"exception","errorClass":null,"httpStatus":null,"severity":"error","filePath":"pkg/skaffold/schema/versions.go","lineNumber":406,"sourceCode":"// UpgradeTo upgrades the given configs to toVersion.\nfunc UpgradeTo(configs []util.VersionedConfig, toVersion string) ([]util.VersionedConfig, error) {\n\tupgradeNeeded := false\n\tfor _, cfg := range configs {\n\t\t// Check that the config's version is not newer than the target version\n\t\tcurrentVersion, err := apiversion.Parse(cfg.GetVersion())\n\t\tif err != nil {\n\t\t\treturn nil, err\n\t\t}\n\t\ttargetVersion, err := apiversion.Parse(toVersion)\n\t\tif err != nil {\n\t\t\treturn nil, err\n\t\t}\n\n\t\tif currentVersion.NE(targetVersion) {\n\t\t\tupgradeNeeded = true\n\t\t}\n\t\tif currentVersion.GT(targetVersion) {\n\t\t\treturn nil, fmt.Errorf(\"config version %q is more recent than target version %q: upgrade Skaffold\", cfg.GetVersion(), toVersion)\n\t\t}\n\t}\n\tif !upgradeNeeded {\n\t\treturn configs, nil\n\t}\n\tlog.Entry(context.TODO()).Debugf(\"config version out of date: upgrading to latest %q\", toVersion)\n\tvar err error\n\tvar upgraded []util.VersionedConfig\n\tfor _, cfg := range configs {\n\t\tfor cfg.GetVersion() != toVersion {\n\t\t\tcfg, err = cfg.Upgrade()\n\t\t\tif err != nil {\n\t\t\t\treturn nil, fmt.Errorf(\"transforming skaffold config: %w\", err)\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t}\n\t\tupgraded = append(upgraded, cfg)\n\t}\n\treturn upgraded, nil","sourceCodeStart":388,"sourceCodeEnd":424,"githubUrl":"https://github.com/GoogleContainerTools/skaffold/blob/a1189de023efc32d4b8e11f395acc678aa555011/pkg/skaffold/schema/versions.go#L388-L424","documentation":"UpgradeTo in pkg/skaffold/schema/versions.go upgrades configs to a target version but refuses to downgrade: if a config's parsed apiVersion is GREATER than the target version, it errors and tells the user to upgrade Skaffold itself. This protects against data loss from migrating a newer schema back to an older one.","triggerScenarios":"Calling UpgradeTo(configs, toVersion) (directly, or via fix/ParseConfigAndUpgrade) when some cfg.GetVersion(), e.g. 'skaffold/v4beta7', parses to a version newer than toVersion, e.g. 'skaffold/v3alpha1'. Typically happens when the skaffold.yaml was written by a newer Skaffold release than the binary being run.","commonSituations":"Developer downgraded their Skaffold binary (e.g. 2.x -> 1.x) or switched to an older release/CI image, but the repo's skaffold.yaml still carries the newer apiVersion written by the previous binary.","solutions":["Upgrade the Skaffold binary to a version whose latest schema version is >= the apiVersion in skaffold.yaml.","If the older binary is required, hand-edit skaffold.yaml back to an apiVersion the binary supports (or regenerate it from that version).","Pin the CI image / devcontainer Skaffold version to match the schema version used by the team.","Check `skaffold version` vs the apiVersion in skaffold.yaml before running fix/parse."],"exampleFix":"# before: skaffold v1.39 binary with skaffold.yaml:\napiVersion: skaffold/v4beta3\n\n# fix by upgrading skaffold, or edit yaml:\napiVersion: skaffold/v2beta29","handlingStrategy":"validation","validationCode":"cur, err := apiversion.Parse(cfg.GetVersion())\ntgt, err2 := apiversion.Parse(toVersion)\nif err == nil && err2 == nil && cur.GT(tgt) {\n\treturn fmt.Errorf(\"skaffold.yaml (%s) is newer than binary target (%s); upgrade the skaffold binary\", cfg.GetVersion(), toVersion)\n}","typeGuard":"func canUpgradeTo(cfgVersion, toVersion string) bool {\n\tcur, err1 := apiversion.Parse(cfgVersion)\n\ttgt, err2 := apiversion.Parse(toVersion)\n\treturn err1 == nil && err2 == nil && !cur.GT(tgt)\n}","tryCatchPattern":"upgraded, err := schema.UpgradeTo(configs, toVersion)\nif err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), \"more recent than target\") {\n\treturn fmt.Errorf(\"%w — run `skaffold version` and upgrade your Skaffold install\", err)\n}","preventionTips":["Keep the Skaffold binary at or above the version that wrote skaffold.yaml","Avoid downgrading the Skaffold binary in CI/devcontainers after configs were migrated","Check `skaffold version` against the apiVersion in skaffold.yaml before parsing","Commit an apiVersion your whole team's binary versions support"],"tags":["skaffold","config","versioning","downgrade"],"backgroundTag":"schema-version-newer-than-binary","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"}