argoproj/argo-workflows · warning

failed waiting for debug-pause-before marker: %w

Error message

failed waiting for debug-pause-before marker: %w

What it means

When ARGO_DEBUG_PAUSE_BEFORE=true, argoexec deliberately pauses before launching the main command and blocks until a human creates the marker file /var/run/argo/ctr/<containerName>/before (for interactive debugging via kubectl exec). This error means that wait was interrupted — the context was cancelled (pod terminating / timeout) or the file watcher failed — so the container cannot proceed.

Source

Thrown at cmd/argoexec/commands/emissary.go:219

				exitCode = code
				if exitCode != 0 {
					return fmt.Errorf("dependency %q exited with non-zero code: %d", y, exitCode)
				}
			}
		}
	}

	name, err = exec.LookPath(name)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to find name in PATH: %w", err)
	}

	if os.Getenv("ARGO_DEBUG_PAUSE_BEFORE") == "true" {
		// User can create the file: /ctr/NAME_OF_THE_CONTAINER/before
		// in order to break out of the wait and release the container from
		// the debugging state.
		if waitErr := file.WaitForCreate(ctx, varRunArgo+"/ctr/"+containerName+"/before"); waitErr != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("failed waiting for debug-pause-before marker: %w", waitErr)
		}
	}

	backoff, err := template.GetRetryStrategy()
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get retry strategy: %w", err)
	}

	cmdErr := retry.OnError(backoff, func(error) bool { return true }, func() error {
		command, closer, err := startCommand(ctx, name, args, template, containerName, includeScriptOutput)
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("failed to start command: %w", err)
		}
		defer closer()

		forwardSignals(ctx, signals, command.Process.Pid, false)
		pid := command.Process.Pid
		innerCtx, cancel := context.WithCancel(ctx)

View on GitHub (pinned to 35bff19146)

Solutions

1. kubectl exec into the pod and create the marker: touch /var/run/argo/ctr/<containerName>/before
2. Unset ARGO_DEBUG_PAUSE_BEFORE (remove it from the container env) and rerun the workflow
3. If the pod is gone, resubmit the workflow without the debug flag
4. Ensure activeDeadlineSeconds is generous while debugging

Example fix

// before
env:
- name: ARGO_DEBUG_PAUSE_BEFORE
  value: "true"
// after (remove or set false)
env:
- name: ARGO_DEBUG_PAUSE_BEFORE
  value: "false"

// ensure the flag is only set in dev
if (process.env.ARGO_DEBUG_PAUSE_BEFORE === 'true' && process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production') throw new Error('ARGO_DEBUG_PAUSE_BEFORE must not be set in production')

try { await run() } catch (e) { if (/failed waiting for debug-pause-before marker/.test(e.message)) { // exec into pod: touch /var/run/argo/ctr/<name>/before, or disable flag and retry
 } throw e }

When it happens

Trigger: ARGO_DEBUG_PAUSE_BEFORE env var set to "true" and the marker file was never created before the pod's context ended: pod deleted/deadline exceeded, or file.WaitForCreate failed (inotify watch error on /var/run/argo/ctr/<name>).

Common situations: A developer enabled the debug pause (typically via the ARGO_DEBUG_PAUSE_BEFORE env var) but forgot to exec into the pod and touch the file; CI runs with the flag accidentally set; activeDeadlineSeconds kills the pod while paused.

Related errors

• not supported
• %w
• %w
• failed to create ctr directory: %w
• failed to read container args file %s: %w

AI-assisted analysis of argoproj/argo-workflows@35bff19146 (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6da7da78b19fd672. Report an issue: GitHub.