goreleaser/goreleaser · error

open merge request: %w

Error message

open merge request: %w

What it means

Wrapped error in gitlabClient.OpenPullRequest: the pre-flight checkIsPrivateToken call failed. Because GitLab requires a non-job token for merge-request creation, this fires when CI_JOB_TOKEN is in use and gitlab_urls.use_job_token is enabled — the wrapped error explains which condition failed.

Source

Thrown at internal/client/gitlab.go:851

	// UseJobToken. Older versions of GitLab don't work with this, so we
	// want to be specific
	if ctx.Config.GitLabURLs.UseJobToken {
		// We may be creating a new client with a non-CI_JOB_TOKEN, for
		// things like Homebrew publishing. We can't use the
		// CI_JOB_TOKEN there
		return token == ciToken
	}
	return false
}

func (c *gitlabClient) OpenPullRequest(
	ctx *context.Context,
	base, head Repo,
	title string,
	draft bool,
) (string, error) {
	if err := c.checkIsPrivateToken(); err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("open merge request: %w", err)
	}
	var targetProjectID int64
	if base.Owner != "" {
		fullProjectPath := fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", base.Owner, base.Name)

		p, res, err := gitlabDo(ctx, func() (*gitlab.Project, *gitlab.Response, error) {
			return c.client.Projects.GetProject(fullProjectPath, nil)
		})
		if err != nil {
			log := log.WithField("project", fullProjectPath)
			if res != nil {
				log = log.WithField("statusCode", res.StatusCode)
			}
			log.WithError(err).Warn("error getting base project id")
			return "", err
		}
		targetProjectID = p.ID
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to f5edd73956)

Solutions

1. Use a private access token instead of a CI job token when opening merge requests from publishing steps
2. Only set use_job_token when the flow actually runs with CI_JOB_TOKEN; disable it for Homebrew-style publishing
3. Run OpenPullRequest in a context where the configured token equals the CI token if job-token mode is intended

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at internal/client/gitlab.go:851 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of goreleaser/goreleaser@f5edd73956 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/71f73f2e4b477a3d. Report an issue: GitHub.