CircleCI
CircleCI config and execution errors - solved.
Resolve CircleCI failures: config.yml validation, orbs, executors, workspaces, caching, and context/secret errors.
Config & orbs
config.yml, orbs, workflows.
"Unable to parse YAML"Fix CircleCI "Build error: Unable to parse YAML" - config.yml failed YAML parsing from bad indentation, a tab…
"Cannot find a definition for orb"Fix CircleCI "Cannot find a definition for command/job/executor in orb" - a missing orb declaration, wrong or…
"Cannot find a definition for command named"Fix CircleCI "Cannot find a definition for command named X" - a step calls a reusable command that is not dec…
"command not defined"Fix CircleCI cannot find a definition for command X - the named reusable command is undefined, misspelled, or…
"Cannot find a definition for executor named"Fix CircleCI "Cannot find a definition for executor named X" - a job references an executor that is not decla…
"executor not defined"Fix CircleCI cannot find a definition for executor X - the job references an executor that is undefined, miss…
"Cannot find a job named"Fix CircleCI "Cannot find a job named X in workflow" - a workflow references a job that has no matching entry…
"Cannot find a job named"Fix CircleCI "Error calling workflow ... Cannot find a job named X" - a workflow lists a job that is not defi…
config validate failuresFix CircleCI CLI "config validate" errors - a stale CLI, an unset org-id for private orbs, or local validatio…
"circular dependency"Fix CircleCI "circular dependency detected" in a workflow - two jobs that require each other, or a chain of r…
"does not conform to schema"Fix CircleCI "Config does not conform to schema" from circleci config validate - a misspelled key, a missing…
"Config does not conform to schema"Fix CircleCI "Config does not conform to schema" - the YAML parses but a key is unknown, mistyped, or has the…
"your config has no workflows"Fix CircleCI pipelines where no jobs run because the config defines no workflows - in 2.1 every job must be r…
config process expansionFix CircleCI errors surfaced by "circleci config process" - orb/command expansion failures, unresolved parame…
"Context not found"Fix CircleCI "Context ... not found" and missing environment variable errors - an undefined context, wrong na…
"context ... not authorized"Fix CircleCI context errors where a job is denied a context - the context is restricted to groups the running…
"config.yml not found"Fix CircleCI "Could not find a .circleci/config.yml" - a missing or misnamed config file, wrong path, or the…
"Could not find a usable config"Fix CircleCI "Could not find a usable config.yml" - CircleCI cannot locate or read .circleci/config.yml at th…
"Error calling workflow"Fix CircleCI "Error calling workflow" - an undefined job referenced in a workflow, a bad requires dependency,…
"Error calling workflow"Fix CircleCI "Error calling workflow" / "Error calling job" - an undefined job referenced in a workflow or a…
"Error resolving orb"Fix CircleCI "Error resolving orb" / "orb not found" - a nonexistent orb version, an uncertified orb blocked…
"mapping values are not allowed here"Fix CircleCI "Unable to parse YAML ... mapping values are not allowed here" - a colon in the wrong place or b…
"matrix params" undeclaredFix CircleCI matrix errors where matrix parameters are not declared on the target job - every matrix key must…
"No workflow defined"Fix CircleCI "No workflow defined" / no jobs triggered - a missing workflows section, an empty jobs list, or…
"orb not found"Fix CircleCI "orb not found" / orb not loaded - an undeclared orb, a nonexistent version, an uncertified orb…
"Orb ... not loaded"Fix CircleCI "Cannot find orb X" / "Orb X not loaded" - an orb reference cannot be resolved because of a wron…
"parameter" not declaredFix CircleCI parameter X is not declared - a job, command, or executor uses a parameter that was never declar…
"parameter not defined"Fix CircleCI "pipeline parameter ... is not defined" - using pipeline.parameters without declaring it, a type…
"Skipping pipeline: config ... has errors"Fix CircleCI "Skipping pipeline: the configuration file for this project has errors" - a push triggered no pi…
"Unable to parse YAML"Fix CircleCI "Unable to parse YAML" errors in .circleci/config.yml - caused by bad indentation, tabs, unquote…
"mapping values not allowed"Fix CircleCI "Unexpected argument" and "mapping values are not allowed here" - an unquoted colon, a misindent…
"when" condition invalidFix CircleCI when/unless logic errors - malformed and/or/not/equal blocks, comparing against an unexpanded pa…
"config disabled"Fix CircleCI builds that do not run because the project config is disabled or there is no committed .circleci…
config version errorsFix CircleCI config version errors - a missing top-level `version: 2.1`, an unsupported version, or 2.0-only…
Config schema errorFix CircleCI config schema validation errors - "is not a valid key", "missing required key", or wrong types i…
restricted context deniedFix CircleCI "context is restricted" errors - a context limited to a security group the pipeline’s actor is n…
continuation/continue failsFix CircleCI "continuation/continue" failures - a 400 from the continuation API, invalid generated config, or…
"no continuation key"Fix CircleCI dynamic config errors - a setup workflow that never calls continuation/continue, a missing setup…
dynamic config "no continuation"Fix CircleCI dynamic config pipelines that stop after the setup workflow - the continuation step never genera…
invalid generated configFix CircleCI "generated config is invalid" in dynamic config - a script that emits malformed YAML, missing ve…
matrix job collisionsFix CircleCI matrix job errors - duplicate generated job names, requires pointing at the base name instead of…
command param errorsFix CircleCI reusable command/executor parameter errors - a required parameter not passed, an undeclared para…
"max recursion"Fix CircleCI reusable config recursion errors - a command, executor, or orb that references itself directly o…
when/unless logic errorsFix CircleCI when/unless workflow conditions that never gate jobs - a non-boolean condition, a string where a…
Executors & resource
Docker/machine executors, resource classes.
No space left on CircleCIFix "No Space Left on Device" on CircleCI: why it happens and the CircleCI-specific way to give the job the r…
"build canceled"Fix CircleCI builds canceled because a newer commit superseded them - auto-cancel-redundant-workflows stops i…
"Build was canceled"Understand CircleCI "Build was canceled" / "Canceled" status - auto-cancel of redundant pipelines, a manual c…
"Cannot connect to the Docker daemon"Fix CircleCI "Cannot connect to the Docker daemon at unix:///var/run/docker.sock" - docker commands ran in a…
"authentication required"Fix CircleCI "Cannot pull image" / "unauthorized: authentication required" - a private docker executor image…
"could not find executor"Fix CircleCI "could not find executor" - a job references a reusable executor that is not defined under execu…
"executor not found"Fix CircleCI "executor not found" / "could not find executor" - an undefined executor name, a missing orb dec…
"exited with code 1"Diagnose CircleCI steps that fail with "exited with code 1" - a real command failure (test, lint, build) wher…
"exceeded the memory limit"Fix CircleCI "Job exceeded the memory limit" - the job's total RSS passed the resource class ceiling and Circ…
"pull access denied" / Docker Hub rate limitFix CircleCI "Error response from daemon: pull access denied" and Docker Hub "toomanyrequests" rate limits -…
"Received 'killed' signal"Fix CircleCI "Received 'killed' signal" - the kernel OOM-killed a process because the job exceeded the memory…
"Received \"killed\" signal"Fix CircleCI "Received \"killed\" signal" - an out-of-memory kill when the job exceeds the resource class RAM…
"Received \"killed\" signal"Fix CircleCI "Received \"killed\" signal" - an out-of-memory kill when the job exceeds the resource class RAM…
"resource class ... is not available"Fix CircleCI "resource_class X is not available" - the requested class is not enabled for the org plan, execu…
plan-gated resource classFix CircleCI "resource class is not available on your plan" - arm/GPU/large classes that need an upgrade or o…
"resource_class is invalid"Fix CircleCI "resource_class ... is not available" / invalid - an unknown class name, a class your plan can’t…
"resource_class not available"Fix CircleCI "resource_class is not available" - an unknown class, a class your plan cannot use, or a class t…
"resource_class" planFix CircleCI resource_class errors when a larger class requires a paid plan - the requested class is not avai…
"Spin up environment ... failed"Fix CircleCI "Spin up environment" step failures - the executor image could not be pulled or the container fa…
"Spin up environment: failed"Fix CircleCI "Spin up environment: failed" - the executor could not be provisioned before the job ran: image…
image pull failedFix CircleCI "Spin up environment" failures pulling the job image - a transient registry blip, Docker Hub rat…
"Too long with no output"Fix CircleCI "Too long with no output (exceeded 10m0s): context deadline exceeded" - a step that produced no…
"Too long with no output"Fix CircleCI "Too long with no output (exceeded 10m0s): context canceled" - a step that produced no stdout fo…
"Too long with no output (exceeded 10m0s)"Fix CircleCI "Too long with no output (exceeded 10m0s): context deadline exceeded" - a step produced no stdou…
"concurrency limit"Fix CircleCI too many concurrent runs - the plan concurrency limit is reached, so new jobs queue until runnin…
"unauthorized" image pullFix CircleCI "unauthorized: authentication required" / "pull access denied" for private Docker images - add r…
"workflow halted"Fix CircleCI workflows that stop and wait - an approval job pauses the workflow until someone approves, so do…
approval gate errorsFix CircleCI manual approval job errors - an approval job with steps, downstream jobs not requiring it, or an…
"image name" interpolationFix CircleCI image name interpolation failures - shell environment variables do not expand in the docker imag…
"Permission denied (publickey)"Fix CircleCI checkout "Permission denied (publickey)" - the job could not authenticate to the git remote beca…
"Permission denied (publickey)"Fix CircleCI checkout "git@github.com: Permission denied (publickey)" - the job's checkout/deploy key is miss…
"pull rate limit"Fix CircleCI jobs failing on Docker Hub pull rate limits - authenticate the pull or mirror the image so trans…
registry login errorsFix CircleCI "docker login" / push auth failures in a run step - missing registry credentials, an unattached…
intermittent test failuresDiagnose CircleCI flaky test failures - tests that pass on re-run with no code change, caused by timing, shar…
machine executor errorsFix CircleCI machine executor errors - an invalid machine image tag, missing `machine: true`/image, or Docker…
"machine image" not foundFix CircleCI machine executor image not found - an invalid, deprecated, or removed machine image tag, or a tr…
"Xcode not available"Fix CircleCI macOS executor "Xcode version X is not available" - an unsupported Xcode image tag, a retired ve…
"orb @volatile"Fix CircleCI orb @volatile resolution failures - the volatile tag points at the latest dev release which may…
executor param inheritanceFix CircleCI reusable executor parameter errors - a job passing executor params the executor never declared,…
scheduled pipeline issuesFix CircleCI scheduled pipelines that never trigger - leftover legacy cron triggers in config, a schedule on…
remote docker versionFix CircleCI setup_remote_docker errors - an unsupported or retired version tag, missing setup_remote_docker…
step runtime timeoutFix CircleCI steps that time out from genuinely long runtime (not silence) - a transient slow dependency, an…
Test-splitting errorsFix CircleCI test-splitting problems - uneven splits, "no tests found", or duplicate runs from circleci tests…
Registry timeout on CircleCIFix Dependency Download Timeout / Registry 5xx on CircleCI: why it happens and the CircleCI-specific way to g…
Exit code 137 on CircleCIFix Exit Code 137 (Out of Memory) on CircleCI: why it happens and the CircleCI-specific way to give the job t…
Job timeout on CircleCIFix Job Timeout / Exceeded Maximum Time on CircleCI: why it happens and the CircleCI-specific way to give the…
Cache & workspaces
save_cache, workspaces, artifacts.
"Context not found"Fix CircleCI "Context(s) not found, or not authorized" - an undefined context, a name/case mismatch, a contex…
"DLC not available"Fix CircleCI "Docker Layer Caching is not available" - DLC requires a paid plan and setup_remote_docker/machi…
"no cache found"Fix CircleCI restore_cache misses - "Skipping cache: no cache found" because the key changed, no key matched,…
"Skipping cache - error checking cache"Fix CircleCI "Skipping cache - error checking cache" and restore_cache misses - a cache lookup failed or no k…
"test results path not found"Fix CircleCI store_test_results "path not found" / empty results - no JUnit XML was written, the path is wron…
"No workspace found"Fix CircleCI attach_workspace "No workspace found" / "not available" - a missing requires dependency, no upst…
cross-arch cache reuseFix CircleCI caches that break when shared across OS/arch/executor - native modules built for one platform re…
checkout path errorsFix CircleCI "No such file or directory" after checkout - a wrong working_directory, a missing checkout step,…
"Permission denied (publickey)"Fix CircleCI checkout "Permission denied (publickey)" - a missing/wrong deploy key, no checkout SSH key for t…
parallelism without "circleci tests split"Fix CircleCI jobs where parallelism is set but every node runs the whole suite - tests must be divided with c…
stale partial restoreFix CircleCI builds that use stale dependencies from a partial-key cache restore - a prefix fallback hits an…
"persist_to_workspace"Fix CircleCI persist_to_workspace errors when a path has no such file - the artifact was not produced, the pa…
persist_to_workspace errorsFix CircleCI persist_to_workspace errors - a root/paths mismatch, persisting nothing, or paths outside the de…
restore_cache key missFix CircleCI restore_cache always missing - keys that change every run, a checksum over the wrong file, or sa…
"save_cache: no such file"Fix CircleCI save_cache failures - "no such file or directory" when a cached path does not exist yet, or the…
save_cache path issuesFix CircleCI save_cache "path ... not found" / empty cache warnings - a path that doesn’t exist yet, the wron…
"save_cache" path missingFix CircleCI save_cache warnings when a path does not exist - the directory was never created, has a differen…
save_cache "path does not exist"Fix CircleCI save_cache warnings where a path does not exist - the cache stores nothing because the listed pa…
store_* path issuesFix CircleCI store_artifacts and store_test_results producing nothing - a wrong path, results not written bef…
JUnit format errorsFix CircleCI store_test_results leaving the Tests tab empty - non-JUnit output, a single merged XML where per…
"no timing data"Fix CircleCI test splitting falling back to name-based splitting because no timing data was found - the first…
workspace fan-in conflictsFix CircleCI workspace conflicts when multiple parallel jobs persist overlapping paths - fan-in attaches clob…
attach_workspace path mismatchFix CircleCI workspace path mismatches - attach_workspace looks in a different directory than persist_to_work…
Explore other topics
GitHub ActionsWorkflow, runner, and YAML errors - diagnosed and fixed.
Node.js & npmnpm, yarn, and pnpm failures in CI - solved.
DockerBuild, run, compose, and registry errors - explained.
Pythonpip, poetry, venv, and pytest failures - fixed.
Java & JVMMaven, Gradle, and JVM failures in CI - resolved.
GoGo build, module, and test failures - diagnosed.