What causes "context `{name}` not found (run `cube login --name {name}`)" in cube-js/cube?

Create the context first: `cube login --name `

context `{name}` not found (run `cube login --name {name}`)

Error message

context `{name}` not found (run `cube login --name {name}`)

What it means

The `cube context use <name>` command looks up the named context in the saved CLI config. If the name is absent, it fails with this message, hinting the user to create the context first via `cube login --name <name>`.

Source

Thrown at rust/cube-cli/src/commands/context.rs:43

        Cmd::List => {
            let rows = ctx
                .config
                .contexts
                .iter()
                .map(|(name, c)| {
                    let active = if ctx.config.default_context.as_deref() == Some(name.as_str()) {
                        "*"
                    } else {
                        ""
                    };
                    vec![active.to_string(), name.clone(), c.url.clone()]
                })
                .collect();
            output::table(&["", "NAME", "URL"], rows);
        }
        Cmd::Use { name } => {
            if !ctx.config.contexts.contains_key(&name) {
                bail!("context `{name}` not found (run `cube login --name {name}`)");
            }
            ctx.config.default_context = Some(name.clone());
            ctx.config.save()?;
            output::success(&format!("Switched to context `{name}`"));
        }
    }
    Ok(())
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 7d981676b3)

Solutions

Create the context first: `cube login --name <name>`
List existing contexts (`cube context list`) and use one of the listed names
Check the config file path used by the CLI to confirm which config you are editing
Fix the spelling of the context name

Example fix

// before
cube context use prod-us  # not found
// after
cube login --name prod-us
cube context use prod-us

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

import { execSync } from 'child_process';
const list = execSync('cube context list').toString();
if (!list.includes(name)) { console.error(`Context '${name}' missing — run: cube login --name ${name}`); process.exit(1); }

Type guard

function contextExists(config: { contexts: Record<string, unknown> }, name: string): boolean {
  return Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(config.contexts, name);
}

Try / catch

try {
  await exec('cube context use ' + name);
} catch (e) {
  if (/not found \(run `cube login/.test(String(e))) { await exec(`cube login --name ${name}`); }
  else throw e;
}

Prevention

Run `cube context list` to confirm names before switching
Script logins for every environment used by CI
Use one consistent config file path across machines
Guard against typos with shell completion or exact-match checks

When it happens

Trigger: Running `cube context use <name>` where <name> is not a key in config.contexts — typo in the name, context never created, or config file on a different machine/profile.

Common situations: Switching contexts after reinstalling the CLI or on a new machine; typos in context names; team members using context names that only exist in a colleague's config.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of cube-js/cube@7d981676b3 (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/cb5d79362354cc73. Report an issue: GitHub.