golangci/golangci-lint · error

can't load config: %w

Error message

can't load config: %w

What it means

The run command's `persistentPreRunE` loads the full configuration through a LintersLoader with deprecation checks and validation enabled. Any failure (syntax, unknown/invalid keys, bad values, unreadable file) is wrapped as `can't load config: %w`. It is the run-command counterpart of the migrate loader error.

Source

Thrown at pkg/commands/run.go:159

	setupRunPersistentFlags(runCmd.PersistentFlags(), &c.opts)

	c.cmd = runCmd

	return c
}

func (c *runCommand) persistentPreRunE(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
	if err := c.startTracing(); err != nil {
		return err
	}

	c.log.Infof("%s", c.buildInfo.String())

	loader := config.NewLintersLoader(c.log.Child(logutils.DebugKeyConfigReader), c.viper, cmd.Flags(), c.opts.LoaderOptions, c.cfg, args)

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

	// https://go.dev/doc/go1.25#container-aware-gomaxprocs
	if c.cfg.Run.Concurrency != 0 {
		runtime.GOMAXPROCS(c.cfg.Run.Concurrency)
	}

	return nil
}

func (c *runCommand) persistentPostRunE(_ *cobra.Command, _ []string) error {
	if err := c.stopTracing(); err != nil {
		return err
	}

	os.Exit(c.exitCode)

	return nil

View on GitHub (pinned to ed7a235d2d)

Solutions

1. Read the wrapped error after 'can't load config:' — it names the exact file, key, or value that failed.
2. Run `golangci-lint config verify` to validate the config against the schema.
3. If migrating from v1, run `golangci-lint migrate` instead of hand-editing.
4. Fix YAML syntax (indentation, lists vs scalars) at the reported location.
5. Confirm the --config path exists on the machine running the command (especially in CI).

Example fix

# before (v1 config with v2 binary)
run:
  deadline: 5m
# after
run:
  timeout: 5m

// pre-flight config check in CI
if [ ! -f .golangci.yml ]; then echo "config missing"; exit 1; fi
golangci-lint config verify || exit 1

if err := loader.Load(config.LoadOptions{CheckDeprecation: true, Validation: true}); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("can't load config: %w", err) // read the wrapped cause for file/key
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `golangci-lint run` with a config that fails loading: YAML/JSON syntax errors, unknown linter names or settings keys, invalid values for typed fields, deprecated keys flagged during strict loading, or an unreadable config path.

Common situations: Upgrading golangci-lint to v2 where old v1 keys are invalid; typos in linter names under `enable:`; using a v1 config with the v2 binary; CI passing a --config file that doesn't exist on the runner.

Related errors

• can't load config: %w
• hash plugin directory: %w
• file %s not found: %w
• file %s open: %w
• YAML decoding: %w

AI-assisted analysis of golangci/golangci-lint@ed7a235d2d (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/cb684d1ce157adf6. Report an issue: GitHub.