golang/go · error

cannot parse GOAUTH command %s: %v

Error message

cannot parse GOAUTH command %s: %v

What it means

Raised by buildCommand when quoted.Split(command) fails to parse the GOAUTH command string with Go's shell-like quoting rules. The %s is the offending command string, %v the quoted.Split error (typically an unclosed quote or invalid escape). This happens before any process is started.

Source

Thrown at src/cmd/go/internal/auth/userauth.go:110

	}
	return credentials, nil
}

// mapHeadersToPrefixes returns a mapping of prefix → http.Header without
// the leading "https://".
func mapHeadersToPrefixes(prefixes []string, header http.Header) map[string]http.Header {
	prefixToHeaders := make(map[string]http.Header, len(prefixes))
	for _, p := range prefixes {
		p = strings.TrimPrefix(p, "https://")
		prefixToHeaders[p] = header.Clone() // Clone the header to avoid sharing
	}
	return prefixToHeaders
}

func buildCommand(command string) (*exec.Cmd, error) {
	words, err := quoted.Split(command)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot parse GOAUTH command %s: %v", command, err)
	}
	cmd := exec.Command(words[0], words[1:]...)
	return cmd, nil
}

// writeResponseToStdin writes the HTTP response to the command's stdin.
func writeResponseToStdin(cmd *exec.Cmd, res *http.Response) error {
	var output strings.Builder
	output.WriteString(res.Proto + " " + res.Status + "\n")
	for k, v := range res.Header {
		output.WriteString(k + ": " + strings.Join(v, ", ") + "\n")
	}
	output.WriteString("\n")
	cmd.Stdin = strings.NewReader(output.String())
	return nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to b6b368adc5)

Solutions

1. Balance all quotes in the GOAUTH value.
2. Quote paths containing spaces with single quotes: `GOAUTH='/path with spaces/auth'`.
3. Inspect the resolved value: `go env GOAUTH`.
4. Avoid unnecessary nesting of quotes; prefer one quoting style.

Example fix

// before
GOAUTH='my-auth "cmd'
// after
GOAUTH='my-auth "cmd"'

// Validate the GOAUTH command string parses before the go command reads it.
if _, err := quoted.Split(os.Getenv("GOAUTH")); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("GOAUTH has unbalanced quoting: %w", err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: The GOAUTH environment variable contains a command string with unbalanced single or double quotes, or an invalid backslash escape that quoted.Split rejects.

Common situations: An unclosed quote such as `GOAUTH='my-auth "cmd'`; a Windows path with an unquoted trailing backslash; mixed quote styles; a value built by string concatenation that drops a closing quote.

Related errors

• GOAUTH=%s: %v
• no explicit url was passed
• 'git credential fill' failed (url=%s): %w %s
• 'git credential fill' failed for url=%s, could not parse url
• requested a credential for %s, but 'git credential fill' pro

AI-assisted analysis of golang/go@b6b368adc5 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5bfac4ae713ba600. Report an issue: GitHub.