windmill-labs/windmill · error

File already exists: ${filePath}

Error message

File already exists: ${filePath}

What it means

Exists-check turned error in the folder command's scaffolder: stat() on f/{name}/folder.meta.yaml succeeded, meaning a local folder metadata file already occupies the name you asked newFolder to create. The input at fault is the requested folder name; the CLI refuses to overwrite an existing folder.meta.yaml. (The odd try/catch re-throw of its own error exists so the stat ENOENT path falls through to creation.)

Source

Thrown at cli/src/commands/folder/folder.ts:58

      .padding(2)
      .border(true)
      .body(
        folders.map((x) => [
          x.name,
          x.owners?.join(",") ?? "-",
          JSON.stringify(x.extra_perms ?? {}),
        ])
      )
      .render();
  }
}

async function newFolder(opts: GlobalOptions & { summary?: string }, name: string) {
  const dirPath = `f${SEP}${name}`;
  const filePath = `${dirPath}${SEP}folder.meta.yaml`;
  try {
    await stat(filePath);
    throw new Error("File already exists: " + filePath);
  } catch (e: any) {
    if (e.message?.startsWith("File already exists")) throw e;
  }
  const template: FolderFile = {
    summary: opts.summary ?? "",
    display_name: name,
    owners: [],
    extra_perms: {},
  };
  await mkdir(dirPath, { recursive: true });
  await writeFile(filePath, yamlStringify(template as Record<string, any>), {
    flag: "wx",
    encoding: "utf-8",
  });
  log.info(colors.green(`Created ${filePath}`));
}

async function get(opts: GlobalOptions & { json?: boolean }, name: string) {

View on GitHub (pinned to e474e8803c)

Solutions

1. Pick a different folder name for the new folder
2. Edit the existing f/{name}/folder.meta.yaml directly if you meant to modify the folder
3. Delete the existing local folder (and its server-side counterpart if intended) before recreating it

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cli/src/commands/folder/folder.ts:58 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/fdc3d2302910a41d. Report an issue: GitHub.