Hmbown/CodeWhale · error · ValidationError

Cargo metadata contains duplicate workspace package names

Error message

Cargo metadata contains duplicate workspace package names

What it means

validate-crate-publish-order.py validates `cargo metadata` output before computing the crate publish order. Every workspace package in the metadata must be uniquely named; duplicates would make the name-keyed workspace_by_name map ambiguous and corrupt dependency-graph construction. It throws when the list of package names contains any repeat.

Solutions

1. Run `cargo metadata --format-version 1` and grep package names for duplicates (e.g. pipe through jq '.packages[].name' | sort | uniq -d).
2. Check workspace.members / workspace.exclude in the root Cargo.toml for a duplicated path.
3. Rename the duplicate package in its Cargo.toml or remove the redundant member entry.
4. Re-run `cargo metadata` to confirm the duplicate is gone before re-running the validator.

Example fix

// before (root Cargo.toml)
members = ["crates/tui", "crates/tui"]
// after
members = ["crates/tui"]

import json, sys
meta = json.loads(subprocess.check_output(['cargo','metadata','--format-version','1']))
names = [p['name'] for p in meta['packages']]
dups = {n for n in names if names.count(n) > 1}
if dups: sys.exit(f'duplicate workspace packages: {dups}')

try:
    validate_order(...)
except ValidationError as e:
    print(f'workspace duplicate packages: {e}', file=sys.stderr); sys.exit(1)

When it happens

Trigger: Running the validator on Cargo metadata where two workspace members resolve to the same package name — e.g. a crate listed twice in workspace.members, a vendored/duplicate package entry, or a renamed crate whose old name still exists somewhere in the graph.

Common situations: Copy-pasting a workspace member entry without removing the old one; adding a directory that contains a Cargo.toml with the same package name as an existing crate; accidental duplicate `path` dependencies pulling the same crate in twice.

Understand the failure class

Background: Schema validation failed / invalid input schema: payload rejected because its shape doesn't match the expected schema — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

• Cargo metadata omits workspace package ids
• workspace packages have mixed versions
• Cargo metadata dependencies for
• cargo metadata failed with exit code
• Cargo metadata must contain workspace_members and packages…

AI-assisted analysis of Hmbown/CodeWhale@433685b202 (2026-09-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a64b7796390e437c. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at scripts/release/validate-crate-publish-order.py:96

    return [packages_by_id[member] for member in members]


def validate_order(
    packages: list[dict[str, Any]], ordered_crates: list[str]
) -> tuple[str, dict[str, bool]]:
    duplicate_crates = sorted(
        {name for name in ordered_crates if ordered_crates.count(name) > 1}
    )
    if duplicate_crates:
        raise ValidationError(
            "publish package list contains duplicates: " + ", ".join(duplicate_crates)
        )

    names = [package.get("name") for package in packages]
    if any(not isinstance(name, str) or not name for name in names):
        raise ValidationError("workspace package is missing a name")
    if len(set(names)) != len(names):
        raise ValidationError("Cargo metadata contains duplicate workspace package names")

    versions = sorted({package.get("version") for package in packages})
    if len(versions) != 1 or not isinstance(versions[0], str) or not versions[0]:
        rendered = ", ".join(str(version) for version in versions)
        raise ValidationError(f"workspace packages have mixed versions: {rendered}")

    workspace_by_name = {package["name"]: package for package in packages}
    release_names = sorted(
        name for name in workspace_by_name if name.startswith("codewhale-")
    )
    ordered_set = set(ordered_crates)
    missing = sorted(set(release_names) - ordered_set)
    extra = sorted(ordered_set - set(release_names))
    if missing or extra:
        messages = []
        if missing:
            messages.append("publish package list is missing workspace crates: " + " ".join(missing))
        if extra:

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