tauri-apps/tauri · error · Error::GenericError

Permission already exists at {}

Error message

Permission already exists at {}

What it means

`tauri permission new` computes the target permission file path; if a file already exists there, the CLI asks `overwrite?` (defaulting to No). Declining the prompt — or answering No in a non-interactive context — aborts with the path that collided.

Source

Thrown at crates/tauri-cli/src/acl/permission/new.rs:97

      let permissions_dir = dir.join("permissions");
      permissions_dir.join(format!(
        "{}.{}",
        permission.identifier,
        options.format.extension()
      ))
    }
  };

  if path.exists() {
    let msg = format!(
      "Permission already exists at {}",
      dunce::simplified(&path).display()
    );
    let overwrite = prompts::confirm(&format!("{msg}, overwrite?"), Some(false))?;
    if overwrite {
      std::fs::remove_file(&path).fs_context("failed to remove permission file", path.clone())?;
    } else {
      crate::error::bail!(msg);
    }
  }

  if let Some(parent) = path.parent() {
    std::fs::create_dir_all(parent).fs_context(
      "failed to create permission directory",
      parent.to_path_buf(),
    )?;
  }

  std::fs::write(
    &path,
    options
      .format
      .serialize(&PermissionFile {
        default: None,
        set: Vec::new(),
        permission: vec![permission],

View on GitHub (pinned to 52e4b6e71d)

Solutions

1. Choose a different, unused permission identifier when creating the new permission
2. Answer Yes to the overwrite prompt if regenerating is intended (existing file is removed and rewritten)
3. Delete or rename the existing file yourself before re-running the command

Example fix

# before
tauri permission new  # -> identifier: read-custom  (file already exists, answered No)

# after
tauri permission new  # -> identifier: read-custom-v2

// before scaffolding, check the target permission file is free
import { access } from 'node:fs/promises';
const p = 'src-tauri/permissions/my-plugin/read-custom.toml';
try { await access(p); console.error(`${p} already exists — pick a new identifier`); process.exit(1); }
catch { /* free to create */ }

When it happens

Trigger: Running `tauri permission new` with an identifier/outlet that maps to an already existing file (e.g. creating `fs:read-custom` twice, or two permissions whose identifiers slugify to the same filename) and answering No (or letting the default No apply) to the overwrite prompt.

Common situations: Regenerating a permission after editing it by hand and not wanting to lose changes; rerunning a scaffolding script that is not idempotent; permission identifiers that differ only by characters dropped during filename generation.

Understand the failure class

Background: "already exists" / EEXIST / FileAlreadyExistsException: what the 'file already exists' error means and how to fix it — this error's family across 37 libraries.

Related errors

• invalid permission {p}
• You did not select any capabilities to update
• permission file not found, please build your application onc
• Couldn't find capabilities directory at {}
• Could not find a capability to update

AI-assisted analysis of tauri-apps/tauri@52e4b6e71d (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/33f631b42ad93d26. Report an issue: GitHub.