theonedev/onedev · error · NotAcceptableException

Email address is already used by another user

Error message

Email address is already used by another user

What it means

Thrown by UserResource.createUser when the email address in the payload is already associated with another user. For ordinary users (type ORDINARY), OneDev requires unique email addresses, checked via emailAddressService.findByValue.

Source

Thrown at server-core/src/main/java/io/onedev/server/rest/resource/UserResource.java:362

			throw new UnauthenticatedException();

		var user = userService.findByName(name);
		if (user != null)
			return user.getId();
		else 
			throw new NotFoundException();
	}
	
	@Api(order=1900, description="Create new user")
    @POST
    public Long createUser(@NotNull @Valid UserCreateData data) {
		if (!SecurityUtils.isAdministrator()) 
			throw new UnauthorizedException();

		if (userService.findByName(data.getName()) != null)
			throw new NotAcceptableException("Login name is already used by another user");
		if (data.getType() == ORDINARY && emailAddressService.findByValue(data.getEmailAddress()) != null)
			throw new NotAcceptableException("Email address is already used by another user");
		
		User user = new User();
		user.setType(data.getType());
		user.setName(data.getName());
		user.setFullName(data.getFullName());
		if (data.getType() == AI) 
			user.setAiSetting(data.getAiSetting());
		
		if (data.getType() != ORDINARY) {
			userService.create(user);
		} else {
			user.setNotifyOwnEvents(data.isNotifyOwnEvents());
			user.setPassword(passwordService.encryptPassword(data.getPassword()));
			userService.create(user);
			EmailAddress emailAddress = new EmailAddress();
			emailAddress.setPrimary(true);
			emailAddress.setOwner(user);
			emailAddress.setValue(data.getEmailAddress());

View on GitHub (pinned to d44925c47c)

Solutions

1. Use an unused email address for the new account.
2. Look up which user owns the email and update that user instead.
3. If the account is a bot, set type to AI instead of ORDINARY to skip the email-uniqueness check.
4. Clean up the stale user holding the email if appropriate.

Example fix

// before
UserCreateData d = new UserCreateData("bob2", "bob@corp.com", ORDINARY); // bob@corp.com taken
// after
UserCreateData d = new UserCreateData("bob2", "bob2@corp.com", ORDINARY); // unique email
// or for bots:
UserCreateData bot = new UserCreateData("ci-bot", "bob@corp.com", AI);

if (data.getType() == ORDINARY && client.emailInUse(data.getEmailAddress()))
    throw new IllegalArgumentException("Email " + data.getEmailAddress() + " already registered");

try { return client.createUser(data); }
catch (NotAcceptableException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().contains("Email address")) throw new DuplicateEmailException(e);
    throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: POST /rest/users with UserCreateData of type ORDINARY whose emailAddress is already registered to any user (only ORDINARY users are checked, so AI/robot types bypass this).

Common situations: Reusing a shared mailbox for multiple accounts; re-running import scripts; creating a user with the email of a previously deactivated user.

Related errors

• Login name is already used by another user
• This email address is already used by another user
• Unauthenticated
• Multiple users found: ${userName}
• User not found: ${userName}

AI-assisted analysis of theonedev/onedev@d44925c47c (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a1c764d7dcbd10d2. Report an issue: GitHub.