⚠️ WARNING: Workspace creation cancelled. You can manually

Error message

⚠️  WARNING: Workspace creation cancelled. You can manually add a workspace to the 'workspaces' section in wmill.yaml or use 'wmill gitsync-settings pull' to pull configuration from an existing workspace.

What it means

Emitted by `validateBranchConfiguration` when, in an interactive session, the current branch matches no configured workspace and the user answers "No" to the `Confirm.prompt` asking to create an empty workspace configuration for the branch. The function returns without modifying `wmill.yaml`; subsequent push/pull behavior relies on the user fixing the config manually. It is a warning, not an abort of the whole CLI process at this point.

Source

Thrown at cli/src/core/conf.ts:510

            `   Example: "file.variable.yaml" → "file.${sanitizedBranchName}.variable.yaml"`
          );
        }

        // Read current config, add workspace entry, and write it back
        const currentConfig = await readConfigFile();

        if (!currentConfig.workspaces) {
          currentConfig.workspaces = {} as WorkspacesConfig;
        }
        (currentConfig.workspaces as any)[currentBranch] = {};

        await writeFile("wmill.yaml", yamlStringify(currentConfig), "utf-8");

        log.info(
          `✅ Created empty workspace configuration for '${currentBranch}'`
        );
      } else {
        log.warn(
          "⚠️  WARNING: Workspace creation cancelled. You can manually add a workspace to the 'workspaces' section in wmill.yaml or use 'wmill gitsync-settings pull' to pull configuration from an existing windmill workspace git-sync configuration."
        );
        return;
      }
    } else {
      // Warn about filesystem-unsafe characters in branch name
      if (/[\/\\:*?"<>|.]/.test(currentBranch)) {
        const sanitizedBranchName = currentBranch.replace(
          /[\/\\:*?"<>|.]/g,
          "_"
        );
        log.warn(
          `⚠️  WARNING: Branch name "${currentBranch}" contains filesystem-unsafe characters (/ \\ : * ? " < > | .).`
        );
        log.warn(
          `   Branch-specific files will use sanitized name: "${sanitizedBranchName}"`
        );
      }

View on GitHub (pinned to e474e8803c)

Solutions

Manually add a `workspaces` entry for the current branch in `wmill.yaml`.
Run `wmill gitsync-settings pull` against an existing workspace to import its git-sync configuration.
Re-run the command and answer "Yes" to the prompt to let the CLI create the entry.
Switch to a branch that already has a workspace entry.

Example fix

# before
workspaces:
  main:
    gitBranch: main

# after (current branch: develop)
workspaces:
  main:
    gitBranch: main
  develop:
    gitBranch: develop

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

const branch = $("git branch --show-current").trim();
const cfg = await Deno.readTextFile("wmill.yaml");
if (!cfg.includes(branch)) console.warn(`No workspace entry for branch "${branch}" — add one to wmill.yaml or accept the interactive prompt`);

Prevention

Accept the interactive prompt once so the entry lands in `wmill.yaml`, then commit it.
Use `wmill gitsync-settings pull` after setting up a workspace to import its mapping.
In non-interactive contexts never rely on the prompt — pre-add entries.

When it happens

Trigger: Running `wmill push`/`pull` in a git repo (TTY attached, no `--yes`, no `--workspace`, no `--skip-branch-validation`), branch unmatched by `findWorkspaceByGitBranch`, and the user declines the "Create empty workspace configuration for branch 'X'?" prompt.

Common situations: Developers who don't want the CLI to auto-edit their checked-in `wmill.yaml` during CI-adjacent work, or who realize they are on the wrong branch and prefer to fix the mapping by hand.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of windmill-labs/windmill@e474e8803c (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/02c21137ec4ed3c7. Report an issue: GitHub.