immich-app/immich · error

Admin account does not exist

Error message

Admin account does not exist

What it means

The `resetAdminPassword` CLI command looks up the administrator account via userRepository.getAdmin() before prompting for a new password. If no admin account exists, it throws this plain Error, since resetting an admin password is meaningless without one. Typically indicates a corrupted or wiped user table.

Solutions

1. Recreate the admin account (first registered user must be admin) before resetting its password.
2. Check the database: SELECT * FROM "user" WHERE "isAdmin" = true; to confirm the admin row exists.
3. Point the CLI at the correct database via environment variables — it may be connected to an empty/wrong DB.
4. Restore the missing admin row from backup or re-run initial server setup.

Example fix

// before
$ immich-admin reset-admin-password   // throws: Admin account does not exist
// after
$ immich-admin create-user --admin    # or create admin via setup wizard first
$ immich-admin reset-admin-password

// Verify an admin exists before invoking the CLI reset
const admin = await db.query('SELECT id FROM "user" WHERE "isAdmin" = true LIMIT 1');
if (!admin.rows.length) throw new Error('Create the admin account first');

try {
  await resetAdminPassword(promptFn);
} catch (e) {
  if (e.message === 'Admin account does not exist') {
    // bootstrap admin first, then retry
  } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `immich-admin reset-admin-password` when no user row with isAdmin=true exists in the database.

Common situations: Database restored from a partial/old backup missing the admin row; admin user deleted via API or SQL; fresh database used with the admin CLI before initial setup.

Understand the failure class

Background: "User not found", "Invalid user", and "does not exist": what missing-user lookup errors mean across Rocket.Chat, LiteLLM, Phabricator, rustfs, and pnpm — this error's family across 10 libraries.

Related errors

• The first registered account must the administrator.
• User does not exist
• Album must have an owner
• await response.text()
• Column 'embedding' does not exist in table

AI-assisted analysis of immich-app/immich@e55ac299a4 (2026-09-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b8e268656fc6112b. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at server/src/services/cli.service.ts:65

      }
    }

    const drift = await this.databaseRepository.getSchemaDrift();

    return { migrations, drift };
  }

  async listUsers(): Promise<UserAdminResponseDto[]> {
    const users = await this.userRepository.getList({ withDeleted: true });
    return users.map((user) => mapUserAdmin(user));
  }

  async resetAdminPassword(
    ask: (admin: UserAdminResponseDto) => Promise<{ newPassword: string | undefined; invalidateSessions: boolean }>,
  ) {
    const admin = await this.userRepository.getAdmin();
    if (!admin) {
      throw new Error('Admin account does not exist');
    }

    const { newPassword: providedPassword, invalidateSessions } = await ask(mapUserAdmin(admin));
    const password = providedPassword || this.cryptoRepository.randomBytesAsText(24);
    const hashedPassword = await this.cryptoRepository.hashBcrypt(password, SALT_ROUNDS);

    await this.userRepository.update(admin.id, { password: hashedPassword });

    if (invalidateSessions) {
      await this.sessionRepository.invalidateAll({ userId: admin.id });
    }

    return { admin, password, provided: !!providedPassword };
  }

  async disablePasswordLogin(): Promise<void> {
    const config = await this.getConfig({ withCache: false });
    config.passwordLogin.enabled = false;

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