Troubleshooting Dependabot errors

Sometimes Dependabot is unable to raise a pull request to update your dependencies. You can review the error and unblock Dependabot.

Dans cet article

About Dependabot errors

Dependabot déclenche des demandes de tirage pour mettre à jour les dépendances. Selon la configuration de votre dépôt, Dependabot peut déclencher des demandes de tirage pour des mises à jour de version et/ou des mises à jour de sécurité. Vous gérez ces demandes de tirage comme toute demande de tirage, mais des commandes supplémentaires sont disponibles. Pour plus d’informations sur l’activation des mises à jour de dépendances Dependabot, consultez « Configuration des mises à jour de sécurité Dependabot » et « Configuration de mises à jour de version Dependabot ».

If anything prevents Dependabot from raising a pull request, this is reported as an error.

Note

Dependabot doesn't create pull requests for inactive repositories. For information about inactivity criteria, see À propos des mises à jour de sécurité Dependabot and À propos des mises à jour de version Dependabot, for security and version updates, respectively.

For more information about troubleshooting when running Dependabot on GitHub Actions runners, see À propos de Dependabot sur les exécuteurs GitHub Actions.

Investigating errors with Dependabot security updates

When Dependabot is blocked from creating a pull request to fix a Dependabot alert, it posts the error message on the alert. The Dependabot alerts view shows a list of any alerts that have not been resolved yet. To access the alerts view, click Dependabot alerts on the Security tab for the repository. Where a pull request that will fix the vulnerable dependency has been generated, the alert includes a link to that pull request.

Screenshot of the Dependabot alerts view. To the right of one alert, a link to a pull request, titled "#353", is outlined in orange.

There are several reasons why an alert may have no pull request link:

  1. Dependabot security updates are not enabled for the repository.
  2. The alert is for an indirect or transitive dependency that is not explicitly defined in a lock file.
  3. An error blocked Dependabot from creating a pull request.

If an error blocked Dependabot from creating a pull request, you can display details of the error by clicking the alert.

Investigating errors with Dependabot version updates

When Dependabot is blocked from creating a pull request to update a dependency in an ecosystem, you can view the job logs list to find out more about the error .

La liste des journaux des projets est accessible à partir du graphique de dépendance d'un référentiel. Dans le graphique de dépendance, cliquez sur l’onglet Dependabot, puis à droite du fichier manifeste concerné, cliquez sur Projets de mise à jour récents.

To view the full logs files for a particular job, to the right of the log entry you are interested in, click view logs.

Screenshot of the Dependabot job log entries for a manifest file. A button, called "View logs", is highlighted in a dark orange outline.

For more information, see Viewing Dependabot job logs.

Understanding Dependabot errors

Pull requests for security updates act to upgrade a vulnerable dependency to the minimum version that includes a fix for the vulnerability. In contrast, pull requests for version updates act to upgrade a dependency to the latest version allowed by the package manifest and Dependabot configuration files. Consequently, some errors are specific to one type of update.

Dependabot cannot update DEPENDENCY to a non-vulnerable version

Security updates only. Dependabot cannot create a pull request to update the vulnerable dependency to a secure version without breaking other dependencies in the dependency graph for this repository.

Every application that has dependencies has a dependency graph, that is, a directed acyclic graph of every package version that the application directly or indirectly depends on. Every time a dependency is updated, this graph must resolve otherwise the application won't build. When an ecosystem has a deep and complex dependency graph, for example, npm and RubyGems, it is often impossible to upgrade a single dependency without upgrading the whole ecosystem.

The best way to avoid this problem is to stay up to date with the most recently released versions, for example, by enabling version updates. This increases the likelihood that a vulnerability in one dependency can be resolved by a simple upgrade that doesn't break the dependency graph. For more information, see Configuration de mises à jour de version Dependabot.

Dependabot tries to update dependencies without an alert

Security updates only. Dependabot updates explicitly defined transitive dependencies that are vulnerable for all ecosystems. For npm, Dependabot will raise a pull request that also updates the parent dependency if it's the only way to fix the transitive dependency.

For example, a project with a dependency on A version ~2.0.0 which has a transitive dependency on B version ~1.0.0 which has resolved to 1.0.1.

my project
|
--> A (2.0.0) [~2.0.0]
       |
       --> B (1.0.1) [~1.0.0]

If a security vulnerability is released for B versions <2.0.0 and a patch is available at 2.0.0 then Dependabot will attempt to update B but will find that it's not possible due to the restriction in place by A which only allows lower vulnerable versions. To fix the vulnerability, Dependabot will look for updates to dependency A which allow the fixed version of B to be used.

Dependabot automatically generates a pull request that upgrades both the locked parent and child transitive dependencies.

Dependabot fails to close a open pull request for an update that has already been applied on the default branch

Dependabot will close pull requests for dependency updates, once it detects these updates have been committed to the default branch. However, in rare circumstances, the pull request may remain open. If you notice that you have committed an update to a dependency manually, and that the pull request for that same update is still open, you can use one of the following commands in a comment on the pull request:

  • @dependabot recreate, or
  • @dependabot rebase.

Either comment will trigger Dependabot to check if the dependency is no longer upgradable or vulnerable. If Dependabot detects that the pull request is no longer required, it will close the pull request in this particular case.

For more information about Dependabot comment commands, see Gestion des demandes de tirage (pull request) pour les mises à jour des dépendances.

Dependabot cannot update to the required version as there is already an open pull request for the latest version

Security updates only. Dependabot will not create a pull request to update the vulnerable dependency to a secure version because there is already an open pull request to update this dependency. You will see this error when a vulnerability is detected in a single dependency and there's already an open pull request to update the dependency to the latest version.

There are two options: you can review the open pull request and merge it as soon as you are confident that the change is safe, or close that pull request and trigger a new security update pull request. For more information, see Triggering a Dependabot pull request manually.

No security update is needed as DEPENDENCY is no longer vulnerable

Security updates only. Dependabot cannot close a pull request to update a dependency that is not, or is no longer, vulnerable. You may see this error when dependency graph data is stale, or when the dependency graph and Dependabot do not agree if a particular version of a dependency is vulnerable.

To debug the problem, we recommend you first examine the dependency graph for your repository, review what version it has detected for the dependency, and check if the identified version matches what is being used in your repository.

If you suspect your dependency graph data is out of date, you may need to manually update the dependency graph for your repository or investigate your dependency information further. For more information, see Résolution des problèmes liés au graphe de dépendances.

If you are able to confirm the dependency version is no longer vulnerable, you can close the Dependabot pull request.

Dependabot timed out during its update

Dependabot took longer than the maximum time allowed to assess the update required and prepare a pull request. This error is usually seen only for large repositories with many manifest files, for example, npm or yarn monorepo projects with hundreds of package.json files. Updates to the Composer ecosystem also take longer to assess and may time out.

This error is difficult to address. If a version update times out, you could specify the most important dependencies to update using the allow parameter or, alternatively, use the ignore parameter to exclude some dependencies from updates. Updating your configuration might allow Dependabot to review the version update and generate the pull request in the time available.

If a security update times out, you can reduce the chances of this happening by keeping the dependencies updated, for example, by enabling version updates. For more information, see Configuration de mises à jour de version Dependabot.

Dependabot cannot open any more pull requests

There's a limit on the number of open pull requests Dependabot will generate. When this limit is reached, no new pull requests are opened and this error is reported. The best way to resolve this error is to review and merge some of the open pull requests.

There are separate limits for security and version update pull requests, so that open version update pull requests cannot block the creation of a security update pull request. The limit for security update pull requests is 10. By default, the limit for version updates is 5 but you can change this using the open-pull-requests-limit parameter in the configuration file. For more information, see Dependabot options reference.

The best way to resolve this error is to merge or close some of the existing pull requests and trigger a new pull request manually. For more information, see Triggering a Dependabot pull request manually.

Dependabot can't resolve or access your dependencies

If Dependabot attempts to check whether dependency references need to be updated in a repository, but can't access one or more of the referenced files, the operation will fail with the error message "Dependabot can't resolve your LANGUAGE dependency files." The API error type is git_dependencies_not_reachable.

Similarly, if Dependabot can't access a private package registry in which a dependency is located, one of the following errors is generated:

  • "Dependabot can't reach a dependency in a private package registry"
    (API error type: private_source_not_reachable)
  • "Dependabot can't authenticate to a private package registry"
    (API error type:private_source_authentication_failure)
  • "Dependabot timed out while waiting for a private package registry"
    (API error type:private_source_timed_out)
  • "Dependabot couldn't validate the certificate for a private package registry"
    (API error type:private_source_certificate_failure)

To allow Dependabot to update the dependency references successfully, make sure that all of the referenced dependencies are hosted at accessible locations.

Version updates only. Lors de l’exécution de mises à jour de sécurité ou de version, certains écosystèmes doivent être capables de résoudre toutes les dépendances de leur source pour vérifier que les mises à jour ont réussi. Si vos fichiers manifeste ou de verrouillage contiennent des dépendances privées, Dependabot doit être capable d’accéder à l’emplacement auquel ces dépendances sont hébergées. Les propriétaires de l’organisation peuvent octroyer à Dependabot un accès aux dépôts privés contenant des dépendances pour un projet au sein de cette même organisation. Pour plus d’informations, consultez « Gestion des paramètres de sécurité et d'analyse pour votre organisation ». Vous pouvez configurer un accès aux registres privés dans le fichier de configuration dependabot.yml d’un dépôt. Pour plus d’informations, consultez « Dependabot options reference ». Additionally, Dependabot doesn't support private GitHub dependencies for all package managers. For more information, see Les écosystèmes et dépôts pris en charge par Dependabot.

Dependabot fails to group a set of dependencies into a single pull request for Dependabot version updates

The groups configuration settings in the dependabot.yml file can apply to version updates and security updates. Use the applies-to key to specify where (version updates or security updates) a set of grouping rules is applied.

Vous ne pouvez pas appliquer un seul ensemble de règles de regroupement aux mises à jour de version et aux correctifs de sécurité. Au lieu de cela, si vous souhaitez regrouper à la fois les mises à jour de version et les correctifs de sécurité à l’aide des mêmes critères, vous devez définir deux ensembles de règles, nommés séparément, groupant des ensembles de règles.

When you configure grouped version updates, you must configure groups per package ecosystem. To debug the problem, we recommend you look at the logs. For information about accessing the logs for a manifest, see Investigating errors with Dependabot version updates above.

You may have unintentionally created empty groups. This happens, for example, when you set a dependency-type in the allow key for the overall job.

YAML
allow:
  dependency-type: production
  # this restricts the entire job to production dependencies
  groups:
      development-dependencies:
        dependency-type: "development"
        # this group will always be empty

In this example, Dependabot will:

  1. Look at your dependency list and restrict the job to dependencies used in production only.
  2. Try to create a group called development-dependencies which is a subset of this reduced list.
  3. Work out that the development-dependencies group is empty as all development dependencies were removed in step 1.
  4. Individually update all the dependencies that are not in the group. As the group for dependencies in production is empty, Dependabot will ignore the group, and create a separate pull request for each dependency.

You need to ensure that configuration settings don't cancel each other, and update them appropriately in your configuration file.

For more information on how to configure groups for Dependabot version updates, see Dependabot options reference.

Dependabot fails to group a set of dependencies into a single pull request for Dependabot security updates

The groups configuration settings in the dependabot.yml file can apply to version updates and security updates. Use the applies-to key to specify where (version updates or security updates) a set of grouping rules is applied. Check you have grouping configured to apply to security updates. If the applies-to key is absent from a set of grouping rules in your configuration, any group rules will by default only apply to version updates.

Vous ne pouvez pas appliquer un seul ensemble de règles de regroupement aux mises à jour de version et aux correctifs de sécurité. Au lieu de cela, si vous souhaitez regrouper à la fois les mises à jour de version et les correctifs de sécurité à l’aide des mêmes critères, vous devez définir deux ensembles de règles, nommés séparément, groupant des ensembles de règles.

For grouped security updates, Dependabot uses the following guidelines to create grouped pull requests.

  • Dependabot will group dependencies from the same package ecosystem that are located in different directories when grouping rules are specified for configurations that use the directories key.
  • Dependabot will apply other relevant customization options from the dependabot.yml file to pull requests for grouped security updates. Les règles de groupe configurées dans un fichier dependabot.yml remplacent les paramètres d’interface utilisateur pour activer ou désactiver les correctifs de sécurité groupés au niveau de l’organisation ou du référentiel.
  • Dependabot will not group dependencies from different package ecosystems together.
  • Dependabot will not group security updates with version updates.

For more information, see À propos des mises à jour de sécurité Dependabot and Customizing pull requests for Dependabot security updates.

Dependabot fails to update one of the dependencies in a grouped pull request

There are different troubleshooting techniques you can use for failed version updates and failed security updates.

Handling failures in grouped version updates

Version updates only. Dependabot will show the failed update in your logs, as well as in the job summary at the end of your logs. You should use the @dependabot recreate comment on the pull request to build the group again. For more information, see Gestion des demandes de tirage (pull request) pour les mises à jour des dépendances.

If the dependency still fails to update, you should use the exclude-patterns configuration so that the dependency is excluded from the group. Dependabot will then raise a separate pull request to update the dependency.

If the dependency still fails to update, there may be a problem with the dependency itself, or with Dependabot for that specific ecosystem.

Si vous souhaitez ignorer les mises à jour pour la dépendance, vous devez effectuer l’une des opérations suivantes.

Handling failures in grouped security updates

Security updates only. If a grouped pull request for security updates fails or is unable to be merged, we recommend you manually open pull requests to bump the versions of breaking changes. When you manually update a package that is included in a grouped pull request, Dependabot will rebase the pull request so it does not include the manually updated package.

Si vous souhaitez ignorer les mises à jour pour la dépendance, vous devez effectuer l’une des opérations suivantes.

Continuous integration (CI) fails on my grouped pull request

Version updates only. If the failure is due to a single dependency, you should use the exclude-patterns configuration so that the dependency is excluded from the group. Dependabot will then raise a separate pull request to update the dependency.

Si vous souhaitez ignorer les mises à jour pour la dépendance, vous devez effectuer l’une des opérations suivantes.

If you continue to see CI failures, you should remove the group configuration so that Dependabot reverts to raising individual pull requests for each dependency. Then, you should check and confirm that the update works correctly for each individual pull request.

Triggering a Dependabot pull request manually

If you unblock Dependabot, you can manually trigger a fresh attempt to create a pull request.

  • Security updates: Display the Dependabot alert that shows the error you have fixed and click Create Dependabot security update.
  • Version updates: On the Insights tab for the repository click Dependency graph, and then click the Dependabot tab. Click Last checked TIME ago to see the log file that Dependabot generated during the last check for version updates. Click Check for updates.

Further reading