github/copilot-sdk · error

go list failed

Error message

go list failed: %s

What it means

getSDKVersion shells out to `go list -m -f {{.Version}} <sdkModule>`. If the command exits nonzero, the captured stderr is surfaced as 'go list failed: <stderr>'. This reports exactly why Go's module tooling refused to resolve the copilot-sdk module.

Solutions

1. Read the stderr shown in the error and address the `go list` cause directly
2. Run `go mod tidy` from the module root to restore go.mod/go.sum consistency
3. Confirm copilot-sdk appears in go.mod's require block
4. Retry from the directory containing go.mod

Example fix

// before: go list failed: no required module provides package ...
// after:
// $ cd /path/to/module
// $ go get github.com/github/copilot-sdk@latest && go mod tidy

if _, err := exec.LookPath("go"); err != nil {
    return errors.New("go toolchain required")
}
out, err := exec.Command("go", "list", "-m", "all").Output()
if err != nil || !bytes.Contains(out, []byte("copilot-sdk")) {
    return errors.New("copilot-sdk not in module graph")
}

if err != nil {
    if exitErr, ok := err.(*exec.ExitError); ok {
        log.Fatalf("go list failed: %s", exitErr.Stderr) // surface stderr to the user
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: copilot-sdk is not a requirement of the current module, the go.mod/go.sum are inconsistent, the module is replaced to an invalid path, or `go` itself errors (bad toolchain, corrupt cache).

Common situations: Running the bundler outside the module that requires copilot-sdk; a broken replace directive; go.sum mismatch ('missing go.sum entry'); wrong Go toolchain version.

Understand the failure class

Background: "git command failed": what it means when a tool shells out to git and git exits non-zero — this error's family across 21 libraries.

Related errors

• module not found in go.mod
• failed to get SDK version
• failed to add zstd dependency
• WebSocket forwarding requires the 'websockets' package…
• SessionFS.InitialWorkingDirectory is required

AI-assisted analysis of github/copilot-sdk@cd8cf15dc3 (2026-09-09). Data as JSON: /api/errors/abd7a5807d1a5ec0. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at go/cmd/bundler/main.go:289

	fmt.Printf("Found copilot-sdk %s in go.mod\n", sdkVersion)

	// Fetch package.json from the SDK repo at that version
	cliVersion, err := fetchCLIVersionFromRepo(sdkVersion)
	if err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to fetch CLI version: %w", err)
	}

	return cliVersion, nil
}

// getSDKVersion runs "go list -m" to get the copilot-sdk version from go.mod
func getSDKVersion() (string, error) {
	cmd := exec.Command("go", "list", "-m", "-f", "{{.Version}}", sdkModule)
	output, err := cmd.Output()
	if err != nil {
		if exitErr, ok := err.(*exec.ExitError); ok {
			return "", fmt.Errorf("go list failed: %s", string(exitErr.Stderr))
		}
		return "", err
	}

	version := strings.TrimSpace(string(output))
	if version == "" {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("module %s not found in go.mod", sdkModule)
	}

	return version, nil
}

// fetchCLIVersionFromRepo fetches package.json from GitHub and extracts the CLI version.
func fetchCLIVersionFromRepo(sdkVersion string) (string, error) {
	// Convert Go module version to Git ref
	// v0.1.0 -> v0.1.0
	// v0.1.0-beta.1 -> v0.1.0-beta.1
	// v0.0.0-20240101120000-abcdef123456 -> abcdef123456 (pseudo-version)

View on GitHub (pinned to cd8cf15dc3)