golangci/golangci-lint · error

can't load config: %w

Error message

can't load config: %w

What it means

The `linters` command's preRunE wraps any failure from loader.Load(config.LoadOptions{Validation: true}) — i.e. the golangci-lint configuration could not be loaded or failed validation. Everything downstream (building the linters DB) requires a valid config, so the command stops here with the wrapped cause preserved.

Source

Thrown at pkg/commands/linters.go:76

	fs := lintersCmd.Flags()
	fs.SortFlags = false // sort them as they are defined here

	setupConfigFileFlagSet(fs, &c.opts.LoaderOptions)
	setupLintersFlagSet(c.viper, fs)

	fs.BoolVar(&c.opts.JSON, "json", false, color.GreenString("Display as JSON"))

	c.cmd = lintersCmd

	return c
}

func (c *lintersCommand) preRunE(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
	loader := config.NewLintersLoader(c.log.Child(logutils.DebugKeyConfigReader), c.viper, cmd.Flags(), c.opts.LoaderOptions, c.cfg, args)

	err := loader.Load(config.LoadOptions{Validation: true})
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("can't load config: %w", err)
	}

	dbManager, err := lintersdb.NewManager(c.log.Child(logutils.DebugKeyLintersDB), c.cfg,
		lintersdb.NewLinterBuilder(), lintersdb.NewPluginModuleBuilder(c.log), lintersdb.NewPluginGoBuilder(c.log))
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	c.dbManager = dbManager

	return nil
}

func (c *lintersCommand) execute(_ *cobra.Command, _ []string) error {
	enabledLintersMap, err := c.dbManager.GetEnabledLintersMap()
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("can't get enabled linters: %w", err)
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to ed7a235d2d)

Solutions

1. Read the wrapped cause after 'can't load config:' — it names the exact file/line/key problem.
2. Run `golangci-lint config verify` to validate the config against the JSON schema.
3. Run `golangci-lint migrate` to convert configs from older versions to the current format.
4. Fix or temporarily remove --config to test whether the file itself is the problem.

Example fix

// before (.golangci.yml, deprecated key)
linters-settings:
  golint:
    min-confidence: 0.8
// after
linters-settings:
  revive:
    min-confidence: 0.8

// run before invoking the linters command
// golangci-lint config verify
// or in Go:
if _, err := os.Stat(cfgPath); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("config %s not readable: %w", cfgPath, err)
}

if err := cmd.Execute(); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "can't load config") {
        // inspect wrapped cause; run `golangci-lint config path` and fix/verify
    }
    os.Exit(1)
}

When it happens

Trigger: loader.Load fails while running `golangci-lint linters`: missing config file, invalid YAML/TOML/JSON, schema validation failures (unknown keys, bad types, deprecated settings), or unreadable file permissions.

Common situations: Upgrading golangci-lint to a version where config keys were renamed or removed, a malformed .golangci.yml, --config pointing to a nonexistent path, or running in a directory without the expected config.

Related errors

• the configuration contains invalid elements
• the configuration contains invalid elements
• can't set severity rule option: no default severity defined
• severity should be set
• enable-all and disable-all options must not be combined

AI-assisted analysis of golangci/golangci-lint@ed7a235d2d (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/adddf627c7f42912. Report an issue: GitHub.