golangci/golangci-lint · error

can't load config: %w

Error message

can't load config: %w

What it means

In migrate's `persistentPreRunE`, the configuration is loaded once just to discover the effective config file path. If the loader fails for any reason, the error is wrapped as `can't load config: %w`. The root cause is in the wrapped error (parse error, unknown keys with strict mode, unreadable file, etc.).

Source

Thrown at pkg/commands/migrate.go:180

		}

		printValidationDetail(cmd, v.DetailedOutput())

		return errors.New("the configuration contains invalid elements")
	}

	return nil
}

func (c *migrateCommand) persistentPreRunE(_ *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
	c.log.Infof("%s", c.buildInfo.String())

	loader := config.NewBaseLoader(c.log.Child(logutils.DebugKeyConfigReader), c.viper, c.opts.LoaderOptions, fakeloader.NewConfig(), args)

	// Loads the configuration just to get the effective path of the configuration.
	err := loader.Load()
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("can't load config: %w", err)
	}

	srcPath := c.viper.ConfigFileUsed()
	if srcPath == "" {
		c.log.Warnf("No config file detected")
		os.Exit(exitcodes.NoConfigFileDetected)
	}

	return fakeloader.Load(srcPath, c.cfg)
}

func (c *migrateCommand) backupConfigurationFile(srcPath string) error {
	filename := strings.TrimSuffix(filepath.Base(srcPath), filepath.Ext(srcPath)) + ".bck" + filepath.Ext(srcPath)
	dstPath := filepath.Join(filepath.Dir(srcPath), filename)

	c.log.Infof("Saving the v1 configuration to: %s", dstPath)

	stat, err := os.Stat(srcPath)

View on GitHub (pinned to ed7a235d2d)

Solutions

1. Read the wrapped error after 'can't load config:' — it names the offending file/key.
2. Fix YAML/JSON syntax errors in the config file.
3. Remove or correct unknown/deprecated keys flagged by the loader.
4. Verify the config path with `golangci-lint config path` and pass --config explicitly if multiple configs exist.

Example fix

# before (.golangci.yml)
linters:
  enable: govet  # must be a list
# after
linters:
  enable:
    - govet

// pre-flight: confirm the config file exists and parses
if _, err := os.Stat(cfgPath); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("config not found: %w", err)
}
var v map[string]any
if err := yaml.Unmarshal(mustRead(cfgPath), &v); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("config parse error: %w", err)
}

if err := loader.Load(); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("can't load config: %w", err) // inspect wrapped cause: parse, unknown key, IO
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `golangci-lint migrate` when the config file at the discovered path cannot be loaded: syntax errors, invalid values failing strict decoding, unreadable file, or an environment/config search issue producing a bad path.

Common situations: Corrupted or hand-edited .golangci.yml; deprecated or unknown keys in strict mode; config referencing env vars that aren't set; wrong CONFIG path via --config.

Related errors

• can't load config: %w
• configuration version is already set: %s
• can't load config: %w
• hash plugin directory: %w
• file %s not found: %w

AI-assisted analysis of golangci/golangci-lint@ed7a235d2d (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/81277acb6d15d4b9. Report an issue: GitHub.