bug: YAML parse error in config is silently swallowed, login overwrites all other contexts

A tab instead of spaces — or any YAML syntax error — in the config file causes ReadLocalConfig to return an empty config with no error, making every command behave as if the user has never logged in.

The dangerous part: login sees the empty config, treats it as a fresh install, and writes a brand-new file over it. Every other context, server, user and refresh token in the file is gone with no warning.

Root cause

localconfig.go line 103:

err = configUtil.UnmarshalLocalFile(path, &config)
if os.IsNotExist(err) {
    return nil, nil
}
err = ValidateLocalConfig(config)  // parse error is silently overwritten here

Only os.IsNotExist is handled. A YAML parse error falls through and gets immediately overwritten by ValidateLocalConfig. Same bug in ReadLocalWatchConfig.

To reproduce

Put a tab on any indented line in ~/.config/microcks/config
Run microcks context → reports "no contexts defined" instead of a parse error
Run microcks login <any-server> → the file is truncated and rewritten. All previous contexts are gone.

Fix

if err != nil {
    return nil, fmt.Errorf("reading config %s: %w", path, err)
}

Same in ReadLocalWatchConfig. After this, nil, nil keeps its only meaning — file doesn't exist — and fresh-install logic stays untouched.

There is no test for malformed input in config_test.go, which is how this went unnoticed.

@Harsh4902

what is @Harsh4902 @Vaishnav88sk view on this

@gyanranjanpanda

@gyanranjanpanda I did a quick check on current implementation and I think you are right on this

to keep existing behavior but ensure Unmarshall errors are reported properly, something like this might be enough

err = configUtil.UnmarshalLocalFile(path, &config)
if err != nil {
    // keep current behavior
    if os.IsNotExist(err) {
        return nil, nil
    }
    // report unmarshall errors
    return nil, err
}

@lekaf974

@lekaf974 yes, +1. It's the right way to go nesting both cases under if err != nil. Can't break
it by accidentally adding something below.

Checked all 8 callsites, they all check err != nil before the == nil check, so none of them
will treat a parse error as a "fresh install". No change needed in any of the callers.

Two more things to add to the commit:

Wrap with a Kind. Currently the same cofrom import/start/context but 20 from
login/logout/stop/service/test, since KindOf defaults to KindGeneric when uReadLocalConfig
fixes it globally without modifying any callers (no import cycle — pkg/errors has no internal dependencies):
```
return nil, errors.Wrap(errors.KindEnvironmonfig %s: %w", path, err))

The %s part is important too, since the bare yaml  error never names the file.
```
Heads up about ReadLocalWatchConfig. When running import --rt on a broken
watch file, it doesn't start off with an empty set but rather loads the existing config first. The
correct behaviour IMO, but user-visible. No impact on runtime — WatchManager.Reload already handles

Plus a regression test for both of them, currently in config_test case in #497.

@gyanranjanpanda

Thanks @gyanranjanpanda for sharing this issue. It's really an issue, and feel free to raise a PR to fix this.

I made ReadLocalConfig and ReadLocalWatchConfig return an error when the file cannot be parsed, so only a missing file returns nil with no error. I also added a test that uses a config with a tab in its indentation. (PR: #574)

Reproduced on master (f9550f5). I used a config with one tab-indented line, which makes it invalid YAML. It had two contexts (http://localhost:8080 and other-ctx).

microcks context printed no contexts defined in …/config (exit 2) instead of a parse error. The same file with the tab fixed lists both contexts.
microcks login http://localhost:<port> then exited 0 and overwrote the file: only the new context remained, and other-ctx with its server, user and tokens was gone.

Still valid. PR #574 targets this.

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bug: YAML parse error in config is silently swallowed, login overwrites all other contexts #572

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bug: YAML parse error in config is silently swallowed, login overwrites all other contexts #572

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gyanranjanpanda commented on Oct 5, 2026

lekaf974 commented on Oct 7, 2026

gyanranjanpanda commented on Oct 7, 2026

Harsh4902 commented on Oct 8, 2026

Sarthak-Shreshtha01 commented on Oct 8, 2026

yada commented on Oct 14, 2026

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