googleapis/mcp-toolbox · error

failed to initialize resources: %w

Error message

failed to initialize resources: %w

What it means

The `skills-generate` command wraps any failure from `server.InitializeOfflineConfigs` (which parses the toolbox config and instantiates tools and groups without connecting to live sources) with the message "failed to initialize resources: %w". It is a generic wrapper, so the underlying cause (YAML parse error, missing env var, invalid tool kind, bad group reference) is always included after it. It indicates the config file could not be turned into usable tool/group primitives for skill generation.

Source

Thrown at cmd/internal/skills/command.go:272

	}
	if group != "" {
		return group, nil
	}
	if toolset != "" {
		return toolset, nil
	}
	if len(prebuiltConfigs) == 1 {
		return strings.ReplaceAll(prebuiltConfigs[0], "/", "-"), nil
	}
	return "", fmt.Errorf("--name is required unless --group or --toolset is set, or exactly one --prebuilt config is provided")
}

func (c *skillsCmd) collectContents(ctx context.Context, opts *internal.ToolboxOptions) (map[string]skillContent, error) {
	// Initialize tools and groups only; skills generation does not need live
	// sources, auth services, or embedding models.
	toolsMap, groupsMap, err := server.InitializeOfflineConfigs(ctx, opts.Cfg)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to initialize resources: %w", err)
	}

	return c.buildSkillContents(toolsMap, groupsMap)
}

// buildSkillContents maps each skill name to the tools and description it should
// be generated with. In group mode, a group's own description takes precedence
// over the --description flag, which acts as a fallback.
func (c *skillsCmd) buildSkillContents(toolsMap map[string]tools.Tool, groupsMap map[string]group.Group) (map[string]skillContent, error) {
	primitiveMgr := primitives.NewPrimitiveManager(nil, nil, nil, toolsMap, nil, groupsMap)

	skillsToContents := make(map[string]skillContent)

	getToolsFromGroup := func(g group.Group) map[string]tools.Tool {
		groupTools := make(map[string]tools.Tool)
		for _, name := range g.ToolNames {
			if tool, ok := toolsMap[name]; ok {
				groupTools[name] = tool

View on GitHub (pinned to 8cc6e09de2)

Solutions

1. Read the wrapped underlying error after "failed to initialize resources:" — it names the exact tool/source/group that failed
2. Validate the config YAML syntax with a linter (yamllint) or by loading it in another tool
3. Check that all referenced `kind:` values (sources, tools, groups) are supported by your toolbox version (`toolbox --version`)
4. Run `toolbox serve` or a config validation flow with the same file to reproduce and get richer logs

Example fix

// before: config.yaml references an unsupported tool kind
// after: correct the kind or upgrade toolbox
# tools:
#   my-tool:
#     kind: postgres-sql   # must match a registered tool kind
#     source: my-pg
#     statement: SELECT 1

// Validate the config before running skills-generate
import ("os"; "gopkg.in/yaml.v3")
func configParses(path string) error {
	b, err := os.ReadFile(path)
	if err != nil { return err }
	var m map[string]any
	return yaml.Unmarshal(b, &m)
}
// if err := configParses(cfgPath); err != nil { fix before invoking }

if err := collectContents(ctx, opts); err != nil {
	var initErr error
	if errors.Unwrap(err) != nil { initErr = errors.Unwrap(err) }
	log.Fatalf("resource init failed: %v (cause: %v)", err, initErr)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `toolbox skills-generate` with a config file whose YAML fails to parse, references an unknown source kind/tool kind, contains an invalid tool definition, or references a group that fails to build; `InitializeOfflineConfigs(ctx, opts.Cfg)` in `collectContents` returns an error.

Common situations: Hand-edited YAML with wrong indentation; using a prebuilt config field that doesn't exist in the installed toolbox version; a tool requiring environment variables that resolve to invalid values; typos in `kind:` fields.

Related errors

• failed to initialize resources: %w
• unable to initialize reloaded configs: %w
• tool %q not found
• unable to retrieve source for tool %s
• group %q not found

AI-assisted analysis of googleapis/mcp-toolbox@8cc6e09de2 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/aa284fef2552470e. Report an issue: GitHub.