OpenBMB/ChatDev · warning · ValidationError

Source and target filenames must be different

Error message

Source and target filenames must be different

What it means

rename_workflow validates both filenames, then rejects the operation when the sanitized source and target are identical (case-insensitive/path-normalized equality after validate_workflow_filename). It is a client-input validation error, not a filesystem error.

Source

Thrown at server/services/workflow_storage.py:116

        logger.log_exception(exc, f"Failed to save workflow file {safe_filename}")
        raise WorkflowExecutionError(
            "Failed to save workflow file", details={"filename": safe_filename}
        )

    logger.info(
        "Workflow file persisted",
        log_type=LogType.WORKFLOW,
        filename=safe_filename,
        action=action,
    )


def rename_workflow(source_filename: str, target_filename: str, *, directory: Path) -> None:
    source_safe = validate_workflow_filename(source_filename, require_yaml_extension=True)
    target_safe = validate_workflow_filename(target_filename, require_yaml_extension=True)

    if source_safe == target_safe:
        raise ValidationError("Source and target filenames must be different", field="new_filename")

    source_path = directory / source_safe
    target_path = directory / target_safe

    if not source_path.exists() or not source_path.is_file():
        raise ResourceNotFoundError(
            "Workflow file not found",
            resource_type="workflow",
            resource_id=source_safe,
        )

    if target_path.exists():
        raise ResourceConflictError(
            "Target workflow already exists",
            resource_type="workflow",
            resource_id=target_safe,
        )

View on GitHub (pinned to 4fb2db0ea9)

Solutions

1. Skip the rename API call when new filename equals the old one in the UI
2. Send a genuinely different target filename
3. Check for leading/trailing whitespace or case-only differences that normalize to the same safe name

Example fix

# before
rename_workflow_file(sid, wf, new_name)
# after
if Path(wf).name != new_name:
    rename_workflow_file(sid, wf, new_name)

if Path(filename).name == new_filename:
    return  # no-op rename, skip API call

try:
    rename_workflow_file(sid, name, new)
except ValidationError as e:
    if e.field == 'new_filename':
        notify_user('choose a different name')

When it happens

Trigger: Calling rename_workflow_file with new_filename equal to the current filename, or differing only in characters the sanitizer strips/normalizes (e.g. case or path segments).

Common situations: UI rename form pre-filled with the old name and submitted unchanged; client lowercases the filename before sending.

Related errors

• YAML root must be a mapping
• expected mapping
• expected string
• expected non-empty string
• Task prompt cannot be empty

AI-assisted analysis of OpenBMB/ChatDev@4fb2db0ea9 (2026-08-27). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5f34de0c6bbd9a31. Report an issue: GitHub.