# GitHub Actions docker/login-action "Username and password required"

> Fix docker/login-action "Error: Username and password required" - the action got an empty username or password, usually from an unset secret.

Source: https://latchkey.dev/learn/github-actions/docker-login-action-username-password-required  
Updated: 2026-06-26

docker/login-action needs both a username and a password (or token). When a referenced secret is empty or misnamed, the action receives a blank value and refuses to attempt the login.

## Diagnose it: what token do you actually have?

Permission failures in Actions are almost never about your repository settings alone. Three things combine: the default `GITHUB_TOKEN` permission set for the repo or organization, the `permissions:` block in the workflow, and whether the event is a fork pull request, which downgrades the token to read-only regardless of everything else.

```.github/workflows/ci.yml
- name: Show the token scopes actually granted
  run: |
    curl -sI -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
      https://api.github.com/ | grep -i "^x-oauth-scopes\|^x-accepted"
    echo "event: ${{ github.event_name }}"
    echo "fork PR: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.fork }}"
  env:
    GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
```

> If `fork PR` prints `true`, stop looking at `permissions:`. A fork pull request gets a read-only token by design, and no workflow-level grant can raise it.

## Grant the narrowest permission that works

Declaring a `permissions:` block switches the job from the repository default to exactly what you list, so an incomplete block is a common cause of a new failure right after someone tightened security. List every scope the job needs, not just the one that failed.

```.github/workflows/ci.yml
permissions:
  contents: read        # checkout
  packages: write       # push to GHCR
  id-token: write       # OIDC to a cloud provider
  pull-requests: write  # comment on or label a PR
  checks: write         # publish check runs
```

> Set `permissions` at the job level rather than the workflow level where you can. A workflow-level grant applies to every job, including ones that only run tests.

## FAQ

### What causes GitHub Actions docker/login-action "Username and password required"?

There are 2 common causes: secret unset or misnamed and secret not available to the context. A password mapped to a secret that does not exist resolves to an empty string, which the action rejects.

### How do I fix GitHub Actions docker/login-action "Username and password required"?

Supply non-empty credentials. Confirm the secret name matches exactly and the secret has a value.

### What does GitHub Actions docker/login-action "Username and password required" actually mean?

A docker/login-action step fails immediately stating that a username and password are required, before contacting the registry.

### How do I stop GitHub Actions docker/login-action "Username and password required" happening again?

Double-check secret names against repository/organization settings. The prevention section lists 2 changes that keep it from recurring.

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Latchkey runs CI/CD that repairs its own failures. Agent entry points: https://latchkey.dev/agent.txt, https://latchkey.dev/openapi.json, https://latchkey.dev/llms.txt