argoproj/argo-workflows · error

--wait cannot be combined with --server-dry-run

Error message

--wait cannot be combined with --server-dry-run

What it means

The argo CLI rejects flag combinations where --wait is used together with --server-dry-run. --wait blocks until the workflow completes, while --server-dry-run only validates the workflow server-side without actually creating it, so waiting would block forever. validateOptions enforces this before any API call is made.

Source

Thrown at cmd/argo/commands/submit.go:157

			return errors.New("cannot watch more than one workflow")
		}
		if cliOpts.Wait {
			return errors.New("--wait cannot be combined with --watch")
		}
		if submitOpts.DryRun {
			return errors.New("--watch cannot be combined with --dry-run")
		}
		if submitOpts.ServerDryRun {
			return errors.New("--watch cannot be combined with --server-dry-run")
		}
	}

	if cliOpts.Wait {
		if submitOpts.DryRun {
			return errors.New("--wait cannot be combined with --dry-run")
		}
		if submitOpts.ServerDryRun {
			return errors.New("--wait cannot be combined with --server-dry-run")
		}
	}

	if submitOpts.DryRun {
		if cliOpts.Output.String() == "" {
			return errors.New("--dry-run should have an output option")
		}
		if submitOpts.ServerDryRun {
			return errors.New("--dry-run cannot be combined with --server-dry-run")
		}
	}

	if submitOpts.ServerDryRun {
		if cliOpts.Output.String() == "" {
			return errors.New("--server-dry-run should have an output option")
		}
	}
	return nil

View on GitHub (pinned to 35bff19146)

Solutions

1. Remove --wait when using --server-dry-run (a dry run finishes immediately; there is nothing to wait for).
2. If you want both validation and watching a real run, do two invocations: first `argo submit --server-dry-run --output yaml`, then `argo submit --wait`.
3. Remove --server-dry-run instead if the intent was a real submission that the CLI waits on.
4. If flags come from a script/template, gate them so only one of --wait / --server-dry-run is ever passed.

Example fix

// before
argo submit workflow.yaml --wait --server-dry-run
// after
argo submit workflow.yaml --server-dry-run --output yaml

if wait && serverDryRun {
    return fmt.Errorf("drop either --wait or --server-dry-run before submitting")
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `argo submit` (or `argo submit --from resource/name` via submitWorkflowFromResource) with both --wait and --server-dry-run flags set; validateOptions returns this error immediately before contacting the server.

Common situations: Users copying a submit command that already had --wait and adding --server-dry-run to test the manifest; CI scripts templating flags where both options can be enabled simultaneously; misunderstanding that server-dry-run creates anything to wait on.

Related errors

• --dry-run should have an output option
• --dry-run cannot be combined with --server-dry-run
• --server-dry-run should have an output option
• --since-time and --since cannot be used together
• cannot combine --from with file arguments

AI-assisted analysis of argoproj/argo-workflows@35bff19146 (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fb2e606c740c7d32. Report an issue: GitHub.