clockworklabs/SpacetimeDB · error · anyhow::Error

Server already configured for host

Error message

Server already configured for host: {host}

What it means

`Config::add_server` (backing `spacetime server add`) refuses to register a server whose host string is already present in the saved CLI configuration. Each host may be configured only once; the check runs after a nickname-ambiguity check, so a duplicate host fails even with a distinct nickname.

Solutions

1. Remove the existing entry first: `spacetime server remove <existing-name-or-host>`
2. Edit the existing entry instead: `spacetime server edit <server> ...`
3. If a genuinely different server shares the host, distinguish it by port or scheme in the host string

Example fix

# before
spacetime server add http://localhost:3000 mylocal
# error: Server already configured for host: http://localhost:3000

# after
spacetime server remove mylocal
spacetime server add http://localhost:3000 mylocal

// before adding, check the host is not already configured
if config.find_server(&host).is_ok() {
    eprintln!("server for {host} already exists; edit or remove it first");
} else {
    config.add_server(nickname, host, protocol, key)?;
}

Match the anyhow error message for 'Server already configured for host' and branch to a remove-then-add or edit flow instead of failing the script.

When it happens

Trigger: Running `spacetime server add <host> ...` (or calling Config::add_server) with a host that `find_server` already resolves to an existing entry.

Common situations: Re-running provisioning scripts that add unconditionally; re-adding a server after reinstall while the CLI config file still holds it; adding the same local or maincloud host twice.

Related errors

• Host conflicts with saved configuration for server : ://
• Nickname conflicts with saved configuration for server : ://
• Server not specified and no default server configured.
• database is a required field in publish config
• Database ' ' is not in the config file. If you want to run…

AI-assisted analysis of clockworklabs/SpacetimeDB@6dee26c6ef (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e87f43269f30163c. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at crates/cli/src/config.rs:243

    ) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
        if let Some(nickname) = &nickname
            && let Ok(cfg) = self.find_server(nickname)
        {
            anyhow::bail!(
                "Server nickname {} already in use: {}://{}",
                nickname,
                cfg.protocol,
                cfg.host,
            );
        }

        if let Ok(cfg) = self.find_server(&host) {
            if let Some(nick) = &cfg.nickname
                && nick == &host
            {
                anyhow::bail!("Server host name is ambiguous with existing server nickname: {nick}");
            }
            anyhow::bail!("Server already configured for host: {host}");
        }

        self.server_configs.push(ServerConfig {
            nickname,
            host,
            protocol,
            ecdsa_public_key,
        });
        Ok(())
    }

    fn host(&self, server: &str) -> anyhow::Result<&str> {
        self.find_server(server)
            .map(|cfg| cfg.host.as_ref())
            .with_context(|| format!("Cannot find hostname for unknown server: {server}"))
    }

    fn default_host(&self) -> anyhow::Result<&str> {

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