argoproj/argo-workflows · error

failed to get submodules: %w

Error message

failed to get submodules: %w

What it means

git artifact Load called w.Submodules() to enumerate submodules and it failed — usually a missing/corrupt .gitmodules file or an unexpected work-tree state. Only reached when disableSubmodules is false.

Source

Thrown at workflow/artifacts/git/git.go:195

		opts := &git.FetchOptions{Auth: auth, RefSpecs: refSpecs, InsecureSkipTLS: g.InsecureSkipTLS}
		if err := opts.Validate(); err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("failed to validate fetch %v: %w", refSpecs, err)
		}
		if err := r.Fetch(opts); isFetchErr(err) {
			return fmt.Errorf("failed to fetch %v: %w", refSpecs, err)
		}
		h, err := r.ResolveRevision(plumbing.Revision(a.Revision))
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("failed to get resolve revision: %w", err)
		}
		if err := w.Checkout(&git.CheckoutOptions{Hash: plumbing.NewHash(h.String())}); err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("failed to checkout %q: %w", h, err)
		}
	}
	if !a.DisableSubmodules {
		s, err := w.Submodules()
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("failed to get submodules: %w", err)
		}
		if err := s.Update(&git.SubmoduleUpdateOptions{
			Init:              true,
			RecurseSubmodules: git.DefaultSubmoduleRecursionDepth,
			Auth:              auth,
		}); err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("failed to update submodules: %w", err)
		}
	}
	return nil
}

func isFetchErr(err error) bool {
	return err != nil && err.Error() != "already up-to-date"
}

func (g *ArtifactDriver) OpenStream(ctx context.Context, a *wfv1.Artifact) (io.ReadCloser, error) {
	// todo: this is a temporary implementation which loads file to disk first

View on GitHub (pinned to 35bff19146)

Solutions

1. Set disableSubmodules: true if submodules are not needed
2. Fix or remove a broken .gitmodules in the source repo

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at workflow/artifacts/git/git.go:195 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of argoproj/argo-workflows@35bff19146 (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9df4f3f71ae5492c. Report an issue: GitHub.