argoproj/argo-workflows · error

failed to get existing cluster workflow template %q to updat

Error message

failed to get existing cluster workflow template %q to update: %w

What it means

updateClusterWorkflowTemplates in `argo cluster-template update` first GETs each existing ClusterWorkflowTemplate to fetch its resourceVersion (required for a conflict-free k8s update). If the server-side GetClusterWorkflowTemplate call fails, the loop aborts with this wrapped error naming the template. It is a pre-update fetch failure, not the update itself failing.

Source

Thrown at cmd/argo/commands/clustertemplate/update.go:63

		cliOpts = &cliUpdateOpts{}
	}
	ctx, apiClient, err := client.NewAPIClient(ctx)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	serviceClient, err := apiClient.NewClusterWorkflowTemplateServiceClient()
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	clusterWorkflowTemplates := generateClusterWorkflowTemplates(ctx, filePaths, cliOpts.strict)

	for _, wftmpl := range clusterWorkflowTemplates {
		current, err := serviceClient.GetClusterWorkflowTemplate(ctx, &clusterworkflowtemplate.ClusterWorkflowTemplateGetRequest{
			Name: wftmpl.Name,
		})
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("failed to get existing cluster workflow template %q to update: %w", wftmpl.Name, err)
		}
		wftmpl.ResourceVersion = current.ResourceVersion
		updated, err := serviceClient.UpdateClusterWorkflowTemplate(ctx, &clusterworkflowtemplate.ClusterWorkflowTemplateUpdateRequest{
			Template: &wftmpl,
		})
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("failed to update cluster workflow template: %s,  %w", wftmpl.Name, err)
		}
		printClusterWorkflowTemplate(updated, cliOpts.output.String())
	}
	return nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 35bff19146)

Solutions

1. If the template may not exist, create it instead (or use `argo cluster-template update` only for existing templates) — check with `argo cluster-template get <name>` first
2. Fix RBAC: grant the caller's service account get/update on clusterworkflowtemplates.argoproj.io (ClusterRole)
3. Verify server connectivity and context: `argo cluster-template list` with the same KUBECONFIG/ARGO_SERVER settings
4. Correct the template Name in the manifest file so it matches an existing ClusterWorkflowTemplate

Example fix

// before (fails when template absent)
argo cluster-template update ./templates
// after (create or update based on existence)
argo cluster-template get my-tmpl && argo cluster-template update ./templates || argo cluster-template create ./templates

argo cluster-template get "$TMPL_NAME" >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "$TMPL_NAME missing; use create"; exit 1; }

err := runClusterTemplateUpdate(files)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "failed to get existing cluster workflow template") {
    // template absent or RBAC denied: fall back to create or fix RBAC
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling `argo cluster-template update <files...>` where a template in the files does not yet exist on the cluster (Get returns NotFound), the user lacks RBAC permission to get clusterworkflowtemplates (cluster-scoped), or the argo server/k8s API is unreachable.

Common situations: Running update on templates never submitted before (should use `create` or `argo cluster-template lint`/install first); CI job using a service account without cluster-scoped get rights; wrong namespace/KUBECONFIG context pointing at a cluster missing the template; typo in template name in the manifest vs cluster.

Understand the failure class

Background: 'Could not be found', 'does not exist', 'not found in database': the resource-not-found family when an ID, slug, key, or URI lookup comes back empty — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• failed to update cluster workflow template: %s, %w
• failed to create cluster workflow template: %s, %w
• unknown output mode: %s
• invalid shell %q: supported shells are bash, zsh, and fish
• error converting %s: %w

AI-assisted analysis of argoproj/argo-workflows@35bff19146 (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/bb17f1dd0c0b386d. Report an issue: GitHub.