docker/cli · error

failed to read metadata: %w

Error message

failed to read metadata: %w

What it means

Error "failed to read metadata: %w" thrown in docker/cli.

Source

Thrown at cli/context/store/metadatastore.go:121

	return nil
}

func (s *metadataStore) list() ([]Metadata, error) {
	ctxDirs, err := listRecursivelyMetadataDirs(s.root)
	if err != nil {
		if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
			return nil, nil
		}
		return nil, err
	}
	res := make([]Metadata, 0, len(ctxDirs))
	for _, dir := range ctxDirs {
		c, err := s.getByID(contextdir(dir))
		if err != nil {
			if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
				continue
			}
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to read metadata: %w", err)
		}
		res = append(res, c)
	}
	sort.Slice(res, func(i, j int) bool {
		return sortorder.NaturalLess(res[i].Name, res[j].Name)
	})
	return res, nil
}

func isContextDir(path string) bool {
	s, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(path, metaFile))
	if err != nil {
		return false
	}
	return !s.IsDir()
}

func listRecursivelyMetadataDirs(root string) ([]string, error) {

View on GitHub (pinned to e9452d6e78)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cli/context/store/metadatastore.go:121 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of docker/cli@e9452d6e78 (2026-08-01). Data as JSON: /data/errors/82d91e783fb66fe5.json. Report an issue: GitHub.