sipeed/picoclaw · info

aborted: MCP server %q already exists

Error message

aborted: MCP server %q already exists

What it means

The target MCP server name already exists in cfg.Tools.MCP.Servers, --force was not given, and the overwrite prompt was answered with anything other than y/yes (or stdin hit EOF, which counts as 'no'). This is a deliberate user abort: the config is unchanged and nothing was written.

Source

Thrown at cmd/picoclaw/internal/mcp/add.go:52

			}

			cfg, err := loadConfig()
			if err != nil {
				return err
			}
			if cfg.Tools.MCP.Servers == nil {
				cfg.Tools.MCP.Servers = make(map[string]config.MCPServerConfig)
			}

			if _, exists := cfg.Tools.MCP.Servers[name]; exists && !opts.Force {
				var overwrite bool

				overwrite, err = confirmOverwrite(cmd.InOrStdin(), cmd.OutOrStdout(), name)
				if err != nil {
					return fmt.Errorf("failed to confirm overwrite: %w", err)
				}
				if !overwrite {
					return fmt.Errorf("aborted: MCP server %q already exists", name)
				}
			}

			server, err := buildServerConfig(target, targetArgs, opts)
			if err != nil {
				return err
			}

			cfg.Tools.MCP.Enabled = true
			cfg.Tools.MCP.Servers[name] = server

			if err := saveValidatedConfig(cfg); err != nil {
				return err
			}

			fmt.Fprintf(cmd.OutOrStdout(), "✓ MCP server %q saved.\n", name)
			return nil
		},

View on GitHub (pinned to 49183d7e8d)

Solutions

1. Re-run with `--force` (`-f`) if you intend to replace the entry
2. Pick a different <name> if you want both servers
3. Answer y at the prompt to overwrite
4. To change one field of the existing server, edit the config instead of re-adding

# check existence first so the prompt (and abort) never happens
picoclaw mcp list | grep -q "^\s*<name>\b" && echo "exists: pass --force or pick a new name"

When it happens

Trigger: `picoclaw mcp add <existing-name> ...` without -f, then answering 'n' or 'no', or feeding EOF (Ctrl-D) at the prompt.

Common situations: Retrying an add that already succeeded; wanting to edit rather than replace; wrong name chosen on purpose to back out.

Related errors

• failed to confirm overwrite: %w
• missing value for %s
• usage: picoclaw mcp add [flags] <name> <command-or-url> [arg
• unsupported transport %q
• --env can only be used with stdio transport

AI-assisted analysis of sipeed/picoclaw@49183d7e8d (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0b4e216ca6cb6d3c. Report an issue: GitHub.