argoproj/argo-workflows · error

successCondition, failureCondition and outputs are not suppo

Error message

successCondition, failureCondition and outputs are not supported for delete action

What it means

execResource in argoexec rejects resource templates whose action is `delete` but that also declare successCondition, failureCondition, or output parameters. Conditions and output capture only make sense for verbs that create/update resources; a delete leaves nothing to evaluate, so the executor fails fast and records the error on the node via wfExecutor.AddError.

Source

Thrown at cmd/argoexec/commands/resource.go:60

	// Don't allow cancellation to impact capture of results, parameters, artifacts, or defers.
	//nolint:contextcheck
	bgCtx := tracing.InjectTraceContext(logging.RequireLoggerFromContext(ctx).NewBackgroundContext())

	wfExecutor.InitializeOutput(bgCtx)
	errHandler := wfExecutor.HandleError(bgCtx)
	defer errHandler()
	if !wfExecutor.Template.SaveLogsAsArtifact() {
		defer wfExecutor.FinalizeOutput(bgCtx) // Ensures the LabelKeyReportOutputsCompleted is set to true.
	}
	err := wfExecutor.StageFiles(ctx)
	if err != nil {
		wfExecutor.AddError(ctx, err)
		return err
	}

	isDelete := action == "delete"
	if isDelete && (wfExecutor.Template.Resource.SuccessCondition != "" || wfExecutor.Template.Resource.FailureCondition != "" || len(wfExecutor.Template.Outputs.Parameters) > 0) {
		err = fmt.Errorf("successCondition, failureCondition and outputs are not supported for delete action")
		wfExecutor.AddError(ctx, err)
		return err
	}
	manifestPath := common.ExecutorResourceManifestPath
	if wfExecutor.Template.Resource.ManifestFrom != nil {
		targetArtName := wfExecutor.Template.Resource.ManifestFrom.Artifact.Name
		for _, art := range wfExecutor.Template.Inputs.Artifacts {
			if art.Name == targetArtName {
				manifestPath = art.Path
				break
			}
		}
	}
	resourceNamespace, resourceName, selfLink, err := wfExecutor.ExecResource(ctx,
		action, manifestPath, wfExecutor.Template.Resource.Flags,
	)
	if err != nil {
		wfExecutor.AddError(ctx, err)

View on GitHub (pinned to 35bff19146)

Solutions

1. Remove successCondition, failureCondition, and outputs.parameters from the resource template when action is delete
2. If you need outputs from the deleted resource, first do `get`/`apply` to capture them, then delete in a separate step
3. Use the error text to locate the offending fields in your Workflow spec's templates[].resource

Example fix

// before
resource:
  action: delete
  manifest: |
    apiVersion: v1
    kind: Pod
  successCondition: status.phase == 'Succeeded'
// after
resource:
  action: delete
  manifest: |
    apiVersion: v1
    kind: Pod

// reject invalid delete templates before submit
func validateResourceTemplate(rt *wfv1.ResourceTemplate) error {
    if rt.Action == "delete" && (rt.SuccessCondition != "" || rt.FailureCondition != "" || len(rt.Outputs.Parameters) > 0) {
        return errors.New("successCondition, failureCondition and outputs are not supported for delete action")
    }
    return nil
}

When it happens

Trigger: A Workflow resource template with `action: delete` whose `resource.successCondition`, `resource.failureCondition`, or `resource.outputs.parameters` is non-empty; the executor hits this check immediately after dispatching, before touching the cluster.

Common situations: Copy-pasting a resource template that previously did `create`/`apply` (with conditions/outputs) and switching only the action to `delete`; forgetting to strip outputs when templating delete actions.

Related errors

• %w
• CodeBadRequest
• %w
• %w
• failed to write template: %w

AI-assisted analysis of argoproj/argo-workflows@35bff19146 (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8e1a1d9008a41f32. Report an issue: GitHub.