hasura/graphql-engine · warning

action %s already exists in %s

Error message

action %s already exists in %s

What it means

Returned by Actions.Create when the requested action name already exists in the existing actions.yaml/GraphQL definitions. Create refuses to overwrite, so duplicate names are rejected before any editor or conversion step runs.

Source

Thrown at cli/internal/metadataobject/actions/actions.go:89

	if err != nil {
		return errors.E(op, err)
	}

	// Read the content of graphql file
	graphqlFileContent, err := a.GetActionsGraphQLFileContent()
	if err != nil {
		return errors.E(op, fmt.Errorf("error in reading %s file: %w", graphqlFileName, err))
	}
	// Read actions.yaml
	oldAction, err := a.GetActionsFileContent()
	if err != nil {
		return errors.E(op, fmt.Errorf("error in reading %s file: %w", a.Filename(), err))
	}
	// check if action already present
	for _, currAction := range oldAction.Actions {
		if currAction.Name == name {
			return errors.E(op, fmt.Errorf("action %s already exists in %s", name, graphqlFileName))
		}
	}

	var defaultSDL string
	if introSchema == nil {
		defaultSDL = `type Mutation {
	# Define your action as a mutation here
	` + name + ` (arg1: SampleInput!): SampleOutput
}

type SampleOutput {
	accessToken: String!
}

input SampleInput {
	username: String!
	password: String!
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 724551b9ae)

Solutions

1. Choose a different, unique action name
2. Delete or rename the existing action in actions.yaml and actions.graphql first
3. If the previous create partially completed, clean up its artifacts before retrying

existing, _ := actions.GetActionsFileContent()
for _, a := range existing.Actions {
	if a.Name == newName {
		log.Fatalf("action %s already exists", newName)
	}
}

if err := actions.Create(name, ...); err != nil {
	if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "already exists") {
		// pick a new name or remove the old action; not a transient error
	}
	return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling Create(name, ...) where an action with the same name already appears in the Actions list parsed from actions.yaml — e.g. running `hasura actions create sameName` twice.

Common situations: Re-running a create command after a partial failure, scripted scaffolding that assumes a clean state, or copy-pasted examples colliding with existing actions.

Related errors

• error in reading %s file: %w
• error in converting metadata to sdl: %w
• error in getting input from editor: %w
• error in converting sdl to metadata: %w
• action %s is not present in %s

AI-assisted analysis of hasura/graphql-engine@724551b9ae (2026-08-28). Data as JSON: /api/errors/30f2d3f85cb39803. Report an issue: GitHub.