fastlane "Could not find action, lane or variable" in CI

fastlane could not resolve the name you invoked to a known lane, built-in action, or plugin action. Either the lane is misspelled or in the wrong context, or a plugin that defines the action is not installed on the runner.

What this error means

fastlane fails with "Could not find action, lane or variable 'deploy_beta'. Check out the documentation for more details." right after invocation.

[!] Could not find action, lane or variable 'upload_to_testflight'. Check out the
documentation for more details: https://docs.fastlane.tools/actions

Common causes

A misspelled or wrong-context lane name

The lane invoked on the command line does not match a lane defined in the Fastfile, or it lives under a different platform block.

A plugin action that is not installed

An action provided by a fastlane plugin is referenced, but the plugin was not installed via the Pluginfile/bundle on the runner.

How to fix it

Invoke an existing lane name

1. Run fastlane lanes to list defined lanes and their platforms.
2. Call the lane with the correct platform prefix if needed (e.g. fastlane ios beta).
3. Fix any typo in the workflow invocation.

fastlane lanes
fastlane ios beta

Install required plugins via bundle

Install the Gemfile and fastlane plugins so plugin actions resolve, and run fastlane through bundler.

bundle install
bundle exec fastlane ios beta

How to prevent it

• Run fastlane through bundle exec so the Pluginfile is honored.
• Commit the Gemfile.lock and Pluginfile so plugins install in CI.
• Verify lane names with fastlane lanes when wiring up workflows.

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