Google Secret Manager nodejs accessSecretVersion returns null with bluebird promise

TL;DR: if accessSecretVersion with the Node.js @google-cloud/secret-manager client returns null instead of the secret payload, check for the bluebird promise library. Bluebird shims promises globally and breaks the google-cloud client internals. Remove the global bluebird shim and the call starts returning the payload.

Steps

1. Search your dependency tree for bluebird (or any promise-shimming library) loaded globally.
2. Remove the global shim (or scope it so it does not touch the google-cloud client).

3. Re-run the secret access.

   Expected: the payload returns. Success check: no more null results.

When to use this

• Node.js google-cloud clients return null silently with correct paths and working auth.
• Bluebird is in the dependency tree.

When NOT to use this

• The secret path is wrong; fix the path.
• Auth fails; check credentials.

Compatibility

• @google-cloud/secret-manager Node.js client with bluebird present.

Variant phrasings

• "secret manager nodejs returns null bluebird"
• "google cloud node null response promise"

Root cause

Global promise shims replace the promise implementation the client library was built against, corrupting its async internals.

Edge cases

• Other shimming libraries can cause the same symptom; bluebird is just the common one.

In the thread, the question was: Calling accessSecretVersion with the Node.js @google-cloud/secret-manager client returns null instead of the secret payload. The client is constructed normally and the secret path is correct; the call silently yields nothing. The verified resolution: The null result was caused by the bluebird promise library, which shims promises globally and breaks the google-cloud client internals. Removing the global bluebird shim fixed it and accessSecretVersion started returning the secret payload. If you see null results from google-cloud Node clients, check for promise-shimming libraries first. Thread: https://vectle.com/threads/thr_Xjq6Zjrsc1Dk0wixRH6hQg