invoke-ai/InvokeAI · error

Default workflows cannot be deleted

Error message

Default workflows cannot be deleted

What it means

delete() checks the stored workflow's category first (via self.get) and refuses to delete Default-category workflows. This protects built-in workflows shipped with the application from being removed by user actions.

Source

Thrown at invokeai/app/services/workflow_records/workflow_records_sqlite.py:103

                    SET workflow = ?
                    WHERE workflow_id = ? AND category = 'user' AND user_id = ?;
                    """,
                    (workflow.model_dump_json(), workflow.id, user_id),
                )
            else:
                cursor.execute(
                    """--sql
                    UPDATE workflow_library
                    SET workflow = ?
                    WHERE workflow_id = ? AND category = 'user';
                    """,
                    (workflow.model_dump_json(), workflow.id),
                )
        return self.get(workflow.id)

    def delete(self, workflow_id: str, user_id: Optional[str] = None) -> None:
        if self.get(workflow_id).workflow.meta.category is WorkflowCategory.Default:
            raise ValueError("Default workflows cannot be deleted")

        with self._db.transaction() as cursor:
            if user_id is not None:
                cursor.execute(
                    """--sql
                    DELETE from workflow_library
                    WHERE workflow_id = ? AND category = 'user' AND user_id = ?;
                    """,
                    (workflow_id, user_id),
                )
            else:
                cursor.execute(
                    """--sql
                    DELETE from workflow_library
                    WHERE workflow_id = ? AND category = 'user';
                    """,
                    (workflow_id,),
                )

View on GitHub (pinned to 0b6a024f2f)

Solutions

1. Only delete Custom-category workflows; filter the id list before calling delete
2. Catch ValueError per id in batch deletes and log skips for defaults
3. If the default workflow must go away, it should be removed in the app's default-workflow definitions/sync, not via delete()

Example fix

# before
for wf_id in all_ids:
    service.delete(wf_id)
# after
for wf_id in all_ids:
    if service.get(wf_id).workflow.meta.category is not WorkflowCategory.Default:
        service.delete(wf_id)

record = service.get(workflow_id)
if record.workflow.meta.category is WorkflowCategory.Default:
    raise SkipDelete(f"{workflow_id} is a default workflow")

def deletable(record: WorkflowRecordDTO) -> bool:
    return record.workflow.meta.category is not WorkflowCategory.Default

try:
    service.delete(workflow_id)
except ValueError as e:
    if "Default workflows cannot be deleted" in str(e):
        logger.info("skipped default workflow %s", workflow_id)
    else:
        raise

When it happens

Trigger: Calling delete(workflow_id) on a workflow whose stored record has meta.category == WorkflowCategory.Default; batch-deletion scripts sweeping all ids.

Common situations: 'Delete all' UI actions or cleanup scripts; DB cleanup jobs not filtering category; attempts to remove a default workflow that appears duplicated in the library.

Related errors

• Default workflows cannot be created via this method
• Default workflows cannot be updated
• A saved workflow must be selected before executing call_save
• The selected saved workflow '${self.workflow_id}' could not
• Workflow return key must not be empty.

AI-assisted analysis of invoke-ai/InvokeAI@0b6a024f2f (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6a46d96b6bd92a56. Report an issue: GitHub.