vitessio/vitess · error

workflow %s does not exist

Error message

workflow %s does not exist

What it means

Before executing a vreplication workflow action, the code builds a VReplicationWorkflow object and checks wf.Exists(). If the workflow does not exist in the target keyspace and the requested action is anything other than 'create', the command fails. This guards actions like SwitchTraffic, Complete, or Cancel against operating on a nonexistent workflow.

Source

Thrown at go/vt/vtctl/vtctl.go:2337

		case wrangler.MoveTablesWorkflow:
			vrwp.RenameTables = *renameTables
		case wrangler.ReshardWorkflow:
		case wrangler.MigrateWorkflow:
		default:
			return fmt.Errorf("unknown workflow type passed: %v", workflowType)
		}
		vrwp.KeepData = *keepData
		vrwp.KeepRoutingRules = *keepRoutingRules
	}
	vrwp.WorkflowType = workflowType
	vrwp.ShardSubset = *shards
	wf, err := wr.NewVReplicationWorkflow(ctx, workflowType, vrwp)
	if err != nil {
		log.Warn(fmt.Sprintf("NewVReplicationWorkflow returned error %+v", wf))
		return err
	}
	if !wf.Exists() && action != vReplicationWorkflowActionCreate {
		return fmt.Errorf("workflow %s does not exist", ksWorkflow)
	}

	if len(vrwp.ShardSubset) > 0 {
		if workflowType == wrangler.MoveTablesWorkflow && action != vReplicationWorkflowActionCreate && wf.IsPartialMigration() {
			log.Info(fmt.Sprintf("Subset of shards: %s have been specified for keyspace %s, workflow %s, for action %s", vrwp.ShardSubset, target, workflowName, action))
		} else {
			return errors.New("The --shards option can only be specified for existing Partial MoveTables workflows")
		}
	}

	printCopyProgress := func() error {
		copyProgress, err := wf.GetCopyProgress()
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}
		if copyProgress != nil {
			wr.Logger().Printf("\nCopy Progress (approx):\n")
			var tables []string

View on GitHub (pinned to 01a25a7d17)

Solutions

1. List existing workflows with `vtctldclient workflow --keyspace <ks> list` to confirm the exact name and keyspace
2. Correct the <keyspace.workflow> argument spelling/case
3. If the workflow already completed, no further action is needed — skip the command
4. Use `create` action first if you intended to start the workflow

Example fix

// before
vtctldclient Reshard complete commerce.reshard01  # workflow never created
// after
vtctldclient Reshard create --targetks commerce --tablesc.customer,commerce.corder ...

workflows, err := vtctldclient workflow --keyspace commerce list
// confirm the target workflow name exists before running the action

func keyspaceWorkflowArg(ks, wf string) string {
  if ks == "" || wf == "" || strings.ContainsAny(wf, ".") { return "" }
  return ks + "." + wf
}

out, err := runVtctldclient(args...)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(out, "does not exist") {
  // verify workflow name/keyspace, or treat as already-cleaned-up
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running e.g. `vtctldclient Reshard complete ks.reshard` when no reshard workflow named `reshard` exists in keyspace `ks`; mistyping the workflow name; the workflow was already fully removed (completed and garbage-collected) in a prior invocation; targeting the wrong keyspace.

Common situations: Re-running a Complete/Cancel step after it already succeeded and cleaned up; wrong keyspace.workflow string; workflow name case mismatch; reshard was never started.

Related errors

• unknown workflow type passed: %v
• value out of range
• both atomic copy and partial mode cannot be specified for th
• invalid workflow
• multiple source keyspaces for a single workflow

AI-assisted analysis of vitessio/vitess@01a25a7d17 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/795a27271ba0f4c3. Report an issue: GitHub.