kubernetes/kubernetes · error

Please add %s as dependencies under destination %s

Error message

Please add %s as dependencies under destination %s

What it means

checkDependencies (publishing-verifier.go:149-151) fires when the destination's go.mod declares staging dependencies but the rule's master branch declares zero dependencies (len(branch.Dependencies) == 0). The verifier expects the rule to mirror every intra-staging replace directive. The first %s is the full list of go.mod dependencies, the second is the destination repository.

Source

Thrown at hack/tools/publishing-verifier/publishing-verifier.go:150

}

func checkDependencies(rule config.RepositoryRule, gomodDependencies map[string][]string) error {
	var processedDeps []string
	branch := rule.Branches[0]
	for _, dep := range gomodDependencies[rule.DestinationRepository] {
		found := false
		if len(branch.Dependencies) > 0 {
			for _, dep2 := range branch.Dependencies {
				processedDeps = append(processedDeps, dep2.Repository)
				if dep2.Branch != "master" {
					return fmt.Errorf("looking for master branch of %s and found : %s for destination", dep2.Repository, rule.DestinationRepository)
				}
				if dep2.Repository == dep {
					found = true
				}
			}
		} else {
			return fmt.Errorf("Please add %s as dependencies under destination %s", gomodDependencies[rule.DestinationRepository], rule.DestinationRepository)
		}
		if !found {
			return fmt.Errorf("Please add %s as a dependency under destination %s", dep, rule.DestinationRepository)
		} else {
			fmt.Printf("dependency %s found\n", dep)
		}
	}
	// check if all deps are processed.
	extraDeps := diffSlice(processedDeps, gomodDependencies[rule.DestinationRepository])
	if len(extraDeps) > 0 {
		return fmt.Errorf("extra dependencies in rules for %s: %s", rule.DestinationRepository, strings.Join(extraDeps, ","))
	}
	return nil
}

func verifyPublishingBotRules() error {
	rules, err := config.LoadRules(rulesFile)
	if err != nil {

View on GitHub (pinned to 94c1367642)

Solutions

1. Read the destination module's go.mod replace section and list each k8s.io peer module under the master branch dependencies with branch: master.
2. Re-run the verifier; it should now progress to per-dependency matching.
3. If a replace directive is not a real staging dependency, confirm the go.mod is correct before adding it.

Example fix

# before
branches:
  - name: master
    source:
      branch: master
# go.mod has: replace k8s.io/apimachinery => ../apimachinery
# after
branches:
  - name: master
    source:
      branch: master
    dependencies:
      - repository: apimachinery
        branch: master

// Pre-flight: if go.mod has staging replaces, the rule branch must declare dependencies.
func checkHasDepsWhenNeeded(rules []RepositoryRule, gomodDeps map[string][]string) error {
    for _, r := range rules {
        if len(r.Branches) == 0 { continue }
        b := r.Branches[0]
        if deps, ok := gomodDeps[r.DestinationRepository]; ok && len(deps) > 0 && len(b.Dependencies) == 0 {
            return fmt.Errorf("destination %s: go.mod has %v but branch declares no dependencies", r.DestinationRepository, deps)
        }
    }
    return nil
}

When it happens

Trigger: A staging module's go.mod has replace directives onto other k8s.io modules, but the corresponding rule branch has no dependencies: block at all.

Common situations: A new module gained staging dependencies (new replace directives in go.mod) but the rules.yaml branch was not updated; the dependencies block was accidentally deleted.

Related errors

• Please add %s as a dependency under destination %s
• extra dependencies in rules for %s: %s
• looking for master branch of %s and found : %s for destinati
• use of deprecated `dir` field in rules for `%s`
• cannot have more than one directory (%s) per source branch `

AI-assisted analysis of kubernetes/kubernetes@94c1367642 (2026-08-08). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6ca242db3a72645c. Report an issue: GitHub.