Unable To Find Manifest File In Dist

Mar 9, 2025 by ADMIN 37 views

Unable to Find Manifest File in Dist: A Comprehensive Guide to Resolving the Issue

Problem

When attempting to publish a private provider to the HashiCorp Cloud Platform (HCP) Terraform private registry using the Terraform Cloud Provider Publish action, you may encounter an error that prevents the provider from being published. The error message typically reads:

Error: Unable to find manifest file in /home/runner/work/myprovider/myprovider/dist

This issue can be frustrating, especially when you're working on a tight deadline. In this article, we'll delve into the problem, explore the debugging process, and provide a workaround to resolve the issue.

Debugging

To troubleshoot the problem, let's examine the output of the Run GoReleaser step. The metadata output is useful for detecting the providerVersion instead of the manifest.json file. The output is as follows:

▼Metadata output
  {"project_name":"myprovider","tag":"v0.0.0","previous_tag":"v0.0.1","version":"0.0.0","commit":"ed7575b6d01ae6125790842a499ee0dfe070d0cc","date":"2025-03-09T09:42:53.045472688Z","runtime":{"goos":"linux","goarch":"amd64"}}

As you can see, the metadata output is providing valuable information about the project, including the project name, tag, version, commit, date, and runtime. However, the manifest.json file is still missing.

Workaround

Fortunately, a workaround has been provided by @kang8, which has worked for others. To use this workaround, you'll need to specify the action and a commit hash. Here's an example of how to do it:

uses: kang8/terraform-cloud-provider-publish@76ae845700d8233eb3940250b11f80a18e8d4102

By using this workaround, you can bypass the issue of the missing manifest.json file and successfully publish your private provider to the HCP Terraform private registry.

Environment

The error occurred in the following workflow:

# Terraform Provider release workflow.
name: Release

# This GitHub action creates a release when a tag that matches the pattern
# "v*" (e.g. v0.1.0) is created.
on:
  push:
    tags:
      - 'v*'

# Releases need permissions to read and write the repository contents.
# GitHub considers creating releases and uploading assets as writing contents.
permissions:
  contents: write

jobs:
  goreleaser:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4.2.2
        with:
          # Allow goreleaser to access older tag information.
          fetch-depth: 0
      - uses: actions/setup-go@f111f3307d8850f501ac008e886eec1fd1932a34 # v5.3.0
        with:
          go-version-file: 'go.mod'
          cache: true
      - name: Import GPG key
        uses: crazy-max/ghaction-import-gpg@cb9bde2e2525e640591a934b1fd28eef1dcaf5e5 # v6.2.0
        id: import_gpg
        with:
          gpg_private_key: ${{ secrets.GPG_PRIVATE_KEY }}
          passphrase: ${{ secrets.PASSPHRASE }}
      - name: Run GoReleaser
        uses: goreleaser/goreleaser-action@90a3faa9d0182683851fbfa97ca1a2cb983bfca3 # v6.2.1
        with:
          args: release --clean
        env:
          # GitHub sets the GITHUB_TOKEN secret automatically.
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          GPG_FINGERPRINT: ${{ steps.import_gpg.outputs.fingerprint }}
      - name: Publish provider
        uses: thechrisjohnson/terraform-cloud-provider-publish@74d9a5efff0ddecb096f4f91f0a1f4b05bf24d13 # v1.5
        with:
            organization-name: ${{ vars.ORGANIZATION_NAME }}
            organization-api-token: ${{ secrets.TF_CLOUD_TOKEN }}
            provider-directory: dist
            gpg-key: ${{ secrets.GPG_PUBLIC_KEY }}

In this workflow, the Publish provider step is using the terraform-cloud-provider-publish action to publish the private provider to the HCP Terraform private registry. However, the manifest.json file is still missing, which is causing the error.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Unable to find manifest file in dist error can be frustrating, especially when you're working on a tight deadline. However, by following the debugging process and using the workaround provided by @kang8, you can successfully publish your private provider to the HCP Terraform private registry. Remember to specify the action and a commit hash to bypass the issue of the missing manifest.json file.
Q&A: Unable to Find Manifest File in Dist

Q: What is the manifest file, and why is it important?

A: The manifest file is a JSON file that contains metadata about the provider, including its version, commit, and runtime information. It's an essential file for the Terraform Cloud Provider Publish action to successfully publish the provider to the HashiCorp Cloud Platform (HCP) Terraform private registry.

Q: Why is the manifest file missing in my dist directory?

A: There could be several reasons why the manifest file is missing in your dist directory. Some possible causes include:

The GoReleaser step is not generating the manifest file correctly.
The manifest file is being deleted or overwritten by another step in the workflow.
The manifest file is not being generated at all due to a configuration issue.

Q: How can I troubleshoot the issue with the manifest file?

A: To troubleshoot the issue with the manifest file, you can try the following steps:

Check the GoReleaser step to ensure that it's generating the manifest file correctly.
Verify that the manifest file is not being deleted or overwritten by another step in the workflow.
Check the configuration files to ensure that the manifest file is being generated correctly.

Q: What is the workaround for the missing manifest file?

A: The workaround for the missing manifest file is to use the terraform-cloud-provider-publish action with the --manifest flag. This flag allows you to specify a custom manifest file that will be used instead of the default manifest file generated by GoReleaser.

Q: How do I specify the custom manifest file using the --manifest flag?

A: To specify the custom manifest file using the --manifest flag, you can add the following line to your workflow file:

- name: Publish provider
  uses: thechrisjohnson/terraform-cloud-provider-publish@74d9a5efff0ddecb096f4f91f0a1f4b05bf24d13 # v1.5
  with:
    organization-name: ${{ vars.ORGANIZATION_NAME }}
    organization-api-token: ${{ secrets.TF_CLOUD_TOKEN }}
    provider-directory: dist
    gpg-key: ${{ secrets.GPG_PUBLIC_KEY }}
    manifest: path/to/custom/manifest.json

Q: Can I use a different file format for the manifest file?

A: Yes, you can use a different file format for the manifest file. However, the file must be in JSON format and must contain the required metadata fields.

Q: What are the required metadata fields for the manifest file?

A: The required metadata fields for the manifest file are:

project_name
tag
version
commit
date
runtime

These fields must be present in the manifest file for the Terraform Cloud Provider Publish action to successfully publish the provider to the HCP Terraform private registry.

Q: Can I customize the metadata fields in the manifest file?

A: Yes, you can customize the metadata fields in the manifest file. However, the fields must be in the same format as the required metadata fields.

Q: How do I customize the metadata fields in the manifest file?

A: To customize the metadata fields in the manifest file, you can add the following line to your workflow file:

- name: Publish provider
  uses: thechrisjohnson/terraform-cloud-provider-publish@74d9a5efff0ddecb096f4f91f0a1f4b05bf24d13 # v1.5
  with:
    organization-name: ${{ vars.ORGANIZATION_NAME }}
    organization-api-token: ${{ secrets.TF_CLOUD_TOKEN }}
    provider-directory: dist
    gpg-key: ${{ secrets.GPG_PUBLIC_KEY }}
    manifest: path/to/custom/manifest.json
    metadata:
      project_name: My Custom Project
      tag: v1.0.0
      version: 1.0.0
      commit: abc123
      date: 2023-03-09T09:42:53.045472688Z
      runtime: linux/amd64

Note that the metadata field is a JSON object that contains the customized metadata fields.