k3s-io/k3s · error

a token with id %q already exists

Error message

a token with id %q already exists

What it means

Error "a token with id %q already exists" thrown in k3s-io/k3s.

Source

Thrown at pkg/cli/token/token.go:78

		}
	}

	bts, err := kubeadm.NewBootstrapTokenString(cfg.Token)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	bt := kubeadm.BootstrapToken{
		Token:       bts,
		Description: cfg.Description,
		TTL:         &metav1.Duration{Duration: cfg.TTL},
		Usages:      cfg.Usages.Value(),
		Groups:      cfg.Groups.Value(),
	}

	secretName := bootstraputil.BootstrapTokenSecretName(bt.Token.ID)
	if secret, err := client.CoreV1().Secrets(metav1.NamespaceSystem).Get(context.TODO(), secretName, metav1.GetOptions{}); secret != nil && err == nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("a token with id %q already exists", bt.Token.ID)
	}

	secret := kubeadm.BootstrapTokenToSecret(&bt)
	if _, err := client.CoreV1().Secrets(metav1.NamespaceSystem).Create(context.TODO(), secret, metav1.CreateOptions{}); err != nil {
		return err
	}

	token, err := clientaccess.FormatTokenBytes(bt.Token.String(), restConfig.TLSClientConfig.CAData)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	fmt.Println(token)
	return nil
}

func Delete(app *cli.Context) error {
	if err := cmds.InitLogging(); err != nil {

View on GitHub (pinned to 6ba341e396)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at pkg/cli/token/token.go:78 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of k3s-io/k3s@6ba341e396 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/52e71670d2328b42. Report an issue: GitHub.