Fission-AI/OpenSpec · error · Error

Cannot fork schema '${source}' onto itself; choose a differe

Error message

Cannot fork schema '${source}' onto itself; choose a different destination name

What it means

Error "Cannot fork schema '${source}' onto itself; choose a different destination name" thrown in Fission-AI/OpenSpec.

Source

Thrown at src/commands/schema.ts:748

        parseSchema(
          fs.readFileSync(path.join(trustedSourceDir, 'schema.yaml'), 'utf-8')
        );

        // Check destination
        const schemasDir = getProjectSchemasDir(projectRoot);
        const destinationDir = path.join(schemasDir, destinationName);

        // Reject a self-fork. Forking a schema onto itself with --force would
        // otherwise remove the source at the replacement step below and then
        // fail the copy, destroying the only copy of the schema. Resolve both
        // sides to their real paths (realpathSync follows symlinks; path.resolve
        // is a fallback only for a destination that does not exist yet) so a
        // symlink or a `.`/`..` spelling of the same directory is still caught.
        const resolvedDestination = fs.existsSync(destinationDir)
          ? fs.realpathSync(destinationDir)
          : path.resolve(destinationDir);
        if (resolvedDestination === trustedSourceDir) {
          throw new Error(
            `Cannot fork schema '${source}' onto itself; choose a different destination name`
          );
        }

        const destinationExists = fs.existsSync(destinationDir);
        if (destinationExists && !options?.force) {
          if (options?.json) {
            console.log(JSON.stringify({
              forked: false,
              error: `Schema '${destinationName}' already exists`,
              suggestion: 'Use --force to overwrite',
            }, null, 2));
          } else {
            console.error(`Error: Schema '${destinationName}' already exists at ${destinationDir}`);
            console.error('Use --force to overwrite');
          }
          process.exitCode = 1;
          return;

View on GitHub (pinned to 6926ccb18a)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at src/commands/schema.ts:748 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of Fission-AI/OpenSpec@6926ccb18a (2026-08-25). Data as JSON: /api/errors/10cb777c7026564a. Report an issue: GitHub.