hashicorp/packer · error

AddArtifacts: failed to add artifact to build %q: %w

Error message

AddArtifacts: failed to add artifact to build %q: %w

What it means

Returned by Build.AddArtifacts when an artifact fails packerSDKRegistry Image.Validate. Validation requires a usable image identity (non-empty ImageID and ProviderName), so artifacts lacking these cannot be attached to the build.

Source

Thrown at internal/hcp/registry/types.builds.go:89

		// TODO: (nywilken) Determine why we skip labels already set
		// if _, ok := build.Labels[k]; ok {
		// continue
		// }
		build.Labels[k] = v
	}

}

// AddArtifacts appends one or more artifacts to the build.
func (build *Build) AddArtifacts(artifacts ...packerSDKRegistry.Image) error {

	if build.Artifacts == nil {
		build.Artifacts = make(map[string]packerSDKRegistry.Image)
	}

	for _, artifact := range artifacts {
		if err := artifact.Validate(); err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("AddArtifacts: failed to add artifact to build %q: %w", build.ComponentType, err)
		}

		if build.Platform == "" {
			build.Platform = artifact.ProviderName
		}

		build.MergeLabels(artifact.Labels)
		build.Artifacts[artifact.String()] = artifact
	}

	return nil
}

// IsNotDone returns true if build does not satisfy all requirements of a completed build.
// A completed build must have a valid ID, one or more Artifacts, and its Status is HashicorpCloudPacker20230101BuildStatusBUILDDONE.
func (build *Build) IsNotDone() bool {
	hasBuildID := build.ID != ""
	hasNoArtifacts := len(build.Artifacts) == 0

View on GitHub (pinned to eb36e3c3e4)

Solutions

1. Ensure the builder produces an artifact with a valid external identifier (e.g. an AMI ID, image name)
2. Verify ImageID and ProviderName are set when constructing packerSDKRegistry.Image values in custom plugins
3. Inspect the wrapped Validate error (%w) for the exact missing field
4. Skip registering non-image artifacts rather than forcing them into the HCP registry

Example fix

// before
build.AddArtifacts(packerSDKRegistry.Image{ImageID: "", ProviderName: "aws"})
// after
if artifact.ExternalIdentifier == "" {
    return fmt.Errorf("artifact has no external identifier")
}
build.AddArtifacts(packerSDKRegistry.Image{ImageID: artifact.ExternalIdentifier, ProviderName: "aws"})

img := packerSDKRegistry.Image{ImageID: artifact.ExternalIdentifier, ProviderName: provider, ProviderRegion: region}
if err := img.Validate(); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("skip invalid artifact: %w", err)
}
build.AddArtifacts(img)

func validImage(img packerSDKRegistry.Image) bool {
    return img.ImageID != "" && img.ProviderName != ""
}

When it happens

Trigger: Any AddArtifacts call where an Image has an empty ImageID (artifact.ExternalIdentifier) or ProviderName; also reached indirectly via NewBuildFromCloudPackerBuild, AddArtifactToBuild, and doCompleteBuild artifact registration.

Common situations: Builders that emit artifacts without external identifiers (e.g. docker builder not exporting, or local files); misconfigured post-processors dropping IDs; populating builds from cloud records with blank provider fields.

Related errors

• there is no iteration associated with the channel %s
• there is no iteration associated with the channel %s
• No HCP Packer-compatible artifacts were found for the build
• failed to update HCP Packer artifacts for %q: %s
• NewBuildFromCloudPackerBuild: %w

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/packer@eb36e3c3e4 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e165dbd0a5b3da28. Report an issue: GitHub.