Tekton step "OOMKilled" (exit 137) in CI

The step container tried to use more memory than its limit allowed, so the kernel OOM killer terminated it. Tekton reports the step as terminated with reason OOMKilled and exit code 137.

What this error means

A TaskRun step is terminated with reason OOMKilled; kubectl describe pod shows "Last State: Terminated, Reason: OOMKilled, Exit Code: 137".

Tekton

    Last State:     Terminated
      Reason:       OOMKilled
      Exit Code:    137

Common causes

The memory limit is below what the step needs

A build or test step (compiler, node, JVM) needs more memory than the step or stepTemplate limit allows, so it is killed.

A quota-derived default limit is too low

A LimitRange in the namespace injected a default memory limit that is smaller than the workload requires.

How to fix it

Raise the step memory limit

Set a computeResources limit large enough for the step's peak usage.

task.yaml

steps:
  - name: build
    image: node:20
    computeResources:
      requests:
        memory: 1Gi
      limits:
        memory: 4Gi

Cap the tool's own memory use

For the JVM or Node, cap heap size so it stays under the container limit instead of being killed.