output already exists; pass --force to replace it after…

Error message

output {} already exists; pass --force to replace it after validation

What it means

`ensure_output_available` refuses to overwrite an existing output file unless `--force` is passed. Output JSON files are written atomically (via AtomicWriteFile), but even atomically an existing file is never silently replaced — validation must complete and the operator must explicitly opt in with `--force`.

Solutions

Re-run the command with `--force` after you have validated the replacement is intended.
Delete or move the existing file first (`rm <path>` or `mv <path> <path>.bak`) and re-run without --force.
Write to a fresh output directory so the id/output naming requirement yields an unused path.

Example fix

// before
openlogi fixture contribute finish --id mx-master --name "MX Master" ...  # output exists
// after
openlogi fixture contribute finish --id mx-master --name "MX Master" ... --force

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if [ -e "$OUT" ]; then echo "output exists; pass --force or remove it first" >&2; exit 1; fi

Try / catch

match write_outputs() {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("already exists; pass --force") => {
        // prompt the user, then retry with force=true after validation
    }
    other => other?,
}

Prevention

Clean previous output artifacts before re-running generation.
Only pass --force after reviewing the file that would be replaced.
Use fresh output directories per contribution to avoid collisions.

When it happens

Trigger: Any command that writes an output JSON (via write_json_atomically) targets a path that already exists while `force` is false. Also triggered in the test `refuses_existing_files_without_force`.

Common situations: Re-running a contribute/generate step whose output file from a previous run still exists; a partially completed earlier attempt left artifacts behind.

Understand the failure class

Background: "already exists" / EEXIST / FileAlreadyExistsException: what the 'file already exists' error means and how to fix it — this error's family across 37 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of AprilNEA/OpenLogi@e846e6f4b4 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/84e86bced6c1d87a. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at crates/openlogi-cli/src/cmd/fixture/output.rs:12

//! Validated fixture-only atomic publication.

use std::io::Write as _;
use std::path::Path;

use anyhow::{Context, Result, bail};
use atomic_write_file::AtomicWriteFile;
use serde::Serialize;

pub(super) fn ensure_output_available(path: &Path, force: bool) -> Result<()> {
    if !force && path.try_exists().context("could not inspect output path")? {
        bail!(
            "output {} already exists; pass --force to replace it after validation",
            path.display()
        );
    }
    Ok(())
}

pub(super) fn write_json_atomically<T: Serialize>(
    path: &Path,
    value: &T,
    force: bool,
    asset: &str,
) -> Result<()> {
    ensure_output_available(path, force)?;
    let mut json =
        serde_json::to_vec_pretty(value).with_context(|| format!("could not serialize {asset}"))?;
    json.push(b'\n');
    if let Some(parent) = path

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