GitHub Actions docker/login-action "Username and password required"

By Kaveh Alemi·Latchkey

docker/login-action needs both a username and a password (or token). When a referenced secret is empty or misnamed, the action receives a blank value and refuses to attempt the login.

What this error means

A docker/login-action step fails immediately stating that a username and password are required, before contacting the registry.

Error: Username and password required

Common causes

Secret unset or misnamed

A password mapped to a secret that does not exist resolves to an empty string, which the action rejects.

Secret not available to the context

Secrets are not passed to workflows triggered by forked pull_request events, so the value is empty there.

How to fix it

Supply non-empty credentials

1. Confirm the secret name matches exactly and the secret has a value.
2. For GHCR, use github.actor and secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN.
3. Skip or gate the login on forked PRs where secrets are unavailable.

- uses: docker/login-action@v3
  with:
    registry: docker.io
    username: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_USERNAME }}
    password: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_TOKEN }}

How to prevent it

• Double-check secret names against repository/organization settings.
• Guard registry login steps so forked PRs without secrets do not run them.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

References

• GitHub Actions documentation
• Workflow syntax for GitHub Actions