From 61874cf532eb98a5b26dc57dcbb061f5917760a1 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Cloud-Architect-Emma <emmanuela_prince@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:46:39 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] fix: return nil IndexFile on error paths in
 LoadIndexFileForEntries

Return nil instead of partially initialized IndexFile on:
- empty file (ErrEmptyIndexYaml)
- unmarshal failure
- missing API version (ErrNoAPIVersion)
Matches LoadIndexFile contract and prevents callers from
accidentally proceeding with an invalid index.

Signed-off-by: Cloud-Architect-Emma <emmanuela_prince@yahoo.com>
---
 pkg/repo/v1/index.go | 8 ++++----
 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/pkg/repo/v1/index.go b/pkg/repo/v1/index.go
index 470e28514..19c357d5d 100644
--- a/pkg/repo/v1/index.go
+++ b/pkg/repo/v1/index.go
@@ -129,10 +129,10 @@ func LoadIndexFileForEntries(path string, names []string) (*IndexFile, error) {
 	}
 	i := &IndexFile{}
 	if len(b) == 0 {
-		return i, ErrEmptyIndexYaml
+		return nil, ErrEmptyIndexYaml
 	}
 	if err := jsonOrYamlUnmarshal(b, i); err != nil {
-		return i, err
+		return nil, err
 	}
 	// Build a new map containing only the requested entries to reduce heap usage.
 	retained := make(map[string]ChartVersions, len(names))
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ func LoadIndexFileForEntries(path string, names []string) (*IndexFile, error) {
 	}
 	i.SortEntries()
 	if i.APIVersion == "" {
-		return i, ErrNoAPIVersion
+		return nil, ErrNoAPIVersion
 	}
 	return i, nil
 }
@@ -450,7 +450,7 @@ func loadIndex(data []byte, source string) (*IndexFile, error) {
 	}
 	i.SortEntries()
 	if i.APIVersion == "" {
-		return i, ErrNoAPIVersion
+		return nil, ErrNoAPIVersion
 	}
 	return i, nil
 }