Kubernetes image pull secrets fail on namespace or name mismatch

Kubernetes image pull secrets work locally but fail in CI when the secret doesn't exist in the correct namespace or the deployment references a mismatched secret name. Kubernetes fails silently on name typos, making debugging difficult.

Verify the secret exists in the right namespace with `kubectl get secret regcred --output=yaml`. Ensure deployment spec references the exact secret name - even one character difference causes silent failure. Check that .dockerconfigjson is base64 encoded correctly.