ConfigException: Invalid kube-config file (kubernetes python client)

TL;DR: The Python client is not reading the kubeconfig you think it is, or the file is malformed. Set KUBECONFIG to the right file (or fix current-context in it), and loadkubeconfig works.

kubernetes.config.config_exception.ConfigException: Invalid kube-config file. Expected key current-context in kube-config

Fix it

1. Check which file kubectl uses: kubectl config view --minify. Expected: valid output with a current-context.
2. Point the client at the same file: export KUBECONFIG to that path, or pass configfile= explicitly to loadkube_config. Expected: no more ConfigException.
3. If the file itself is bad, fix current-context to name an existing context: kubectl config get-contexts, then kubectl config use-context [name]. Expected: kubectl config current-context prints the name.
4. Verify from Python: python -c "from kubernetes import config; config.loadkubeconfig(); print('ok')". Expected: ok.

When this applies

• loadkubeconfig() raises ConfigException.
• kubectl works but the Python client does not (different file being read).

When it doesn't

• The error is ApiException 401: the config loaded; the cluster rejected your credentials.
• Running inside a pod: use config.loadinclusterconfig() instead.

Compatibility

• kubernetes client any version.

Why it happens

kubectl merges ~/.kube/config with KUBECONFIG, while the Python client defaults to ~/.kube/config only. A KUBECONFIG env var set for kubectl, or a malformed file kubectl tolerates, breaks the client.

Edge cases

• Multiple documents or Windows CRLF line endings can trip the YAML parser; normalize the file.
• In CI, write the kubeconfig from a secret to a temp file and pass config_file= explicitly.