apache/dolphinscheduler · error · ServiceException

10168

10168

Error message

workflow definition name {0} already exists

What it means

Thrown by createWorkflowDefinition when workflowDefinitionDao.verifyByDefineName(project.getCode(), name) returns an existing definition, meaning a workflow with the same name already exists in that project. Names are unique per project.

Source

Thrown at dolphinscheduler-api/src/main/java/org/apache/dolphinscheduler/api/service/impl/WorkflowDefinitionServiceImpl.java:258

                                                       String taskRelationJson,
                                                       String taskDefinitionJson,
                                                       String otherParamsJson,
                                                       WorkflowExecutionTypeEnum executionType) {
        Project project = projectDao.queryByCode(projectCode);

        // check if user have write perm for project
        projectService.checkHasProjectWritePermissionThrowException(loginUser, project);

        if (checkDescriptionLength(description)) {
            log.warn("Parameter description is too long.");
            throw new ServiceException(Status.DESCRIPTION_TOO_LONG_ERROR);
        }
        // check whether the new workflow definition name exist
        WorkflowDefinition definition = workflowDefinitionDao.verifyByDefineName(project.getCode(), name);
        if (definition != null) {
            log.warn("workflow definition with the same name {} already exists, workflowDefinitionCode:{}.",
                    definition.getName(), definition.getCode());
            throw new ServiceException(Status.WORKFLOW_DEFINITION_NAME_EXIST, name);
        }

        globalParamsValidator.validate(globalParams);

        List<TaskDefinitionLog> taskDefinitionLogs = generateTaskDefinitionList(taskDefinitionJson);
        List<WorkflowTaskRelationLog> taskRelationList = generateTaskRelationList(taskRelationJson, taskDefinitionLogs);

        long workflowDefinitionCode = CodeGenerateUtils.genCode();
        WorkflowDefinition workflowDefinition =
                new WorkflowDefinition(projectCode, name, workflowDefinitionCode, description,
                        globalParams, locations, timeout, loginUser.getId());
        workflowDefinition.setExecutionType(executionType);

        return createDagDefine(loginUser, taskRelationList, workflowDefinition, taskDefinitionLogs);
    }

    protected WorkflowDefinition createDagDefine(User loginUser,
                                                 List<WorkflowTaskRelationLog> taskRelationList,

View on GitHub (pinned to 02eac45a1b)

Solutions

1. Choose a unique workflow name within the project, or delete/rename the existing workflow.
2. Make import scripts idempotent: look up the existing definition by name first and update instead of create.
3. Use the updateWorkflowDefinition API (with code+version) when the workflow already exists.

Example fix

// before
createWorkflowDefinition(project, "daily_etl", ...) // exists -> 10168
// after
WorkflowDefinition existing = dao.verifyByDefineName(projectCode, "daily_etl");
if (existing == null) createWorkflowDefinition(...); else updateWorkflowDefinition(existing, ...);

WorkflowDefinition existing = workflowDefinitionDao.verifyByDefineName(projectCode, name);
boolean canCreate = existing == null;

try {
    workflowDefinitionService.createWorkflowDefinition(...);
} catch (ServiceException e) {
    if (e.getCode() == 10168) { /* fall back to update by code */ }
    else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: POST creating a workflow whose (projectCode, name) pair already exists; re-running an import script; UI duplicate submit.

Common situations: Importing a workflow JSON twice; renaming projects then recreating same-named workflows; concurrent creation by two users; CI/CD workflow provisioning without idempotency.

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

• 10105
• The releaseState {releaseState} is illegal, please check it.
• 1400004
• 50037
• 50003

AI-assisted analysis of apache/dolphinscheduler@02eac45a1b (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5c44fcad857fc1b5. Report an issue: GitHub.