Error while publishing file in VS Code – Cannot read properties of null (reading ‘password’)

Question

Hello,

I am running into an issue while publishing files from Visual Studio Code to SharePoint using the publishing extension (likely SPGo or similar). The publishing process fails with authentication errors and null/undefined property errors.

Problem Summary:

When I try to publish the file Master.js to SharePoint, VS Code fails with multiple errors. The issue seems related to missing authentication configuration (username/password) or workspace setup.

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Open Visual Studio Code.
2. Load the workspace at this path: C:\Users\Kavitha\Documents\AFWFB-IMS\src\SiteAssets\AFWFBJS\
3. Attempt to publish the file Master.js to SharePoint.
4. The publishing process fails, and errors appear in the Output window. Actual Error Messages: Error while resolving authentication class No Username Cannot read properties of null (reading 'password') TypeError: Cannot read properties of null (reading 'password') No active workspace selected Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'length') TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'length') Environment Details:
   • VS Code version: (please fill in, e.g., 1.94.0)
   • OS: Windows 10 / 11 (please specify)
   • Extension used: SPGo
   • Target: SharePoint Online and onprem What I Tried:
   • Verified that my workspace is open in VS Code.
   • Checked if authentication credentials are stored in settings.
   • Tried republishing the file multiple times.

Answer 1

Hi Sai Kumar Polavaram

Thanks for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A forum support.

Based on your description, I suspect the root cause of the issue is that the SPGo extension in Visual Studio Code fails to recognize an active workspace due to a missing or misaligned spgo.json configuration file, which is critical for defining the workspace and its connection to SharePoint, as evidenced by the "No active workspace selected" error.  

This misconfiguration prevents the extension from properly initializing, leading to downstream authentication failures ("Error while resolving authentication class" and "No Username") and null/undefined property errors ("Cannot read properties of null (reading 'password')" and "Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'length')") when attempting to access uninitialized objects like 'password' or 'length'. Ultimately, the absence of a valid workspace setup disrupts the entire publishing process, hindering credential handling and file deployment to SharePoint.  

So as the workaround method, ensure that your .spgo.json file is located at the root of your workspace and includes all required fields such as username, password, sharePointSiteUrl, and sourceRoot. Open the entire project folder in Visual Studio Code rather than a subfolder to ensure the workspace is recognized. 

If the issue continues to persist, I’d like to share that, as a forum moderator, my capabilities are limited, and I’m unfortunately not able to provide a definitive solution in this case. Given the nature of the problem, I suggest raising it on platforms that offer deeper expertise and experience in this area. You might consider reaching out through the following channels: 

• Microsoft TechCommunity: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/
• GitHub – SpGO topic: https://github.com/projectoperations/spgo-server 

I understand that being redirected may not be ideal, and I truly appreciate your patience. However, this is currently the most effective way to gain more insight into the issue. I genuinely hope you’ll find the support you need through these resources. 

Hope my answer will help you and thank you for your understanding

---

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".     

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Answer 2

Hi, @Sai Kumar Polavaram . Did you manage to fix it? If so, what did you do?
I’m also facing the same issue. Even at the root of the project, it gives the same error. I’ve already uninstalled and reinstalled SPGo, disabled it… and the error still persists.