windmill-labs/windmill · error

Backend constraint violation: (${workspace.remote}, ${worksp

Error message

Backend constraint violation: (${workspace.remote}, ${workspace.workspaceId}) already exists as "${backendConflict.name}". Use --force to overwrite.

What it means

The local wmill.yaml already maps this (remote, workspaceId) pair under a different name; adding the same pair under a new name would violate the one-entry-per-workspace invariant the config file maintains, so it throws unless --force removes the old entry first.

Source

Thrown at cli/src/commands/workspace/workspace.ts:392

          return false;
        }
      }
    }
  }

  // Check 2: Same (remote, workspaceId) already exists with a different name
  const backendConflict = existingWorkspaces.find(
    (w) =>
      w.remote === workspace.remote &&
      w.workspaceId === workspace.workspaceId &&
      w.name !== workspace.name
  );
  if (backendConflict) {
    if (opts.force) {
      // Remove the conflicting workspace before adding the new one
      await removeWorkspace(backendConflict.name, true, opts);
    } else {
      throw new Error(
        `Backend constraint violation: (${workspace.remote}, ${workspace.workspaceId}) already exists as "${backendConflict.name}". Use --force to overwrite.`
      );
    }
  }

  // Remove existing workspace with same name (if updating)
  await removeWorkspace(workspace.name, true, opts);

  // Add the new workspace
  const filePath = await getWorkspaceConfigFilePath(opts.configDir);
  const fh = await fsOpen(filePath, "a");
  await fh.write(JSON.stringify(workspace) + "\n");
  await fh.close();
  return true;
}

export async function removeWorkspace(
  name: string,

View on GitHub (pinned to e474e8803c)

Solutions

1. Use the existing workspace name instead of adding a duplicate.
2. Rerun with --force to replace the old entry with the new name.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cli/src/commands/workspace/workspace.ts:392 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of windmill-labs/windmill@e474e8803c (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/416fa87a905ee3c2. Report an issue: GitHub.