siyuan-note/siyuan · warning

template already exists, use --overwrite to replace: %s

Error message

template already exists, use --overwrite to replace: %s

What it means

Thrown by the `template save-as` cobra subcommand when `model.DocSaveAsTemplate` returns code 1, meaning a template file with the given name already exists under `data/templates/` and `--overwrite` was not set. The engine returns a status code (1 = exists) rather than a Go error, so the CLI translates it into an actionable message. The error names the conflicting template name.

Source

Thrown at kernel/cli/cmd/template.go:152

		id, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("id")
		name, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("name")
		if id == "" {
			return fmt.Errorf("--id is required")
		}
		if name == "" {
			return fmt.Errorf("--name is required")
		}
		overwrite, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool("overwrite")
		if dryRun {
			fmt.Printf("[dry-run] Would save document %s as template \"%s\"\n", id, name)
			return nil
		}
		code, err := model.DocSaveAsTemplate(id, name, overwrite)
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}
		if code == 1 {
			return fmt.Errorf("template already exists, use --overwrite to replace: %s", name)
		}
		fmt.Printf("%s.md\n", name)
		return nil
	},
}

var templateCreateCmd = &cobra.Command{
	Use:   "create --name <name> [--data <markdown> | --file <path>]",
	Short: "Create a template from markdown content",
	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
		name, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("name")
		if name == "" {
			return fmt.Errorf("--name is required")
		}
		content, err := resolveData(cmd)
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}

View on GitHub (pinned to 251596fc0d)

Solutions

1. Add `--overwrite` to replace the existing template: `siyuan template save-as --id <id> --name <name> --overwrite`.
2. Choose a different `--name` to avoid clobbering.
3. Remove the old template first with `siyuan template remove --path <name>.md` if you prefer not to overwrite.

Example fix

// before
siyuan template save-as --id 20240101000000abc123 --name daily
// after
siyuan template save-as --id 20240101000000abc123 --name daily --overwrite

// Check for an existing template file before calling save-as without --overwrite.
existing := filepath.Join(util.DataDir, "templates", name+".md")
if _, err := os.Stat(existing); err == nil && !overwrite {
    return fmt.Errorf("template already exists: %s — re-run with --overwrite", name)
}

// Distinguish the exists-code-1 path from real errors.
code, err := model.DocSaveAsTemplate(id, name, overwrite)
if err != nil { return err }
if code == 1 { /* prompt user, then retry with overwrite=true */ }

When it happens

Trigger: Running `siyuan template save-as --id <id> --name <existingName>` without `--overwrite`, where `<name>.md` already exists in `data/templates/`. Re-running a save-as after a previous successful run with the same name.

Common situations: Iterating on a template and re-saving; two documents saved as templates with the same name; scripting template generation without idempotency checks.

Related errors

• --output is required for docx
• directory not found: %s
• not a valid workspace: %s
• --id is required
• --name is required

AI-assisted analysis of siyuan-note/siyuan@251596fc0d (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1b5d86741ad3c401. Report an issue: GitHub.