softprops/action-gh-release "Validation Failed: already_exists"

By Daniel Zoghalchali·Latchkey

GitHub rejects the release create call with 422 "already_exists" when a release for the same tag is already published. The action tries to create rather than reuse.

What this error means

A release step fails with "Validation Failed" and a field error "already_exists" on tag_name.

Error: Validation Failed: {"resource":"Release","code":"already_exists","field":"tag_name"}
##[error]Validation Failed

Common causes

Tag already has a release

A prior run or a manual release created the same tag, so creating again is a conflict.

Re-running a published tag

Re-running the job on an existing tag attempts to recreate the release instead of updating it.

How to fix it

Tie the release to a fresh tag, or allow updates

1. Trigger the release on push of a new tag (on: push: tags) so each release maps to a unique tag.
2. Or move/delete the stale tag and release before re-running.
3. Re-run; the create call now succeeds.

on:
  push:
    tags: ['v*']
jobs:
  release:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      contents: write
    steps:
      - uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
        with:
          tag_name: ${{ github.ref_name }}

How to prevent it

• Drive releases from tag pushes so the tag is unique per release.
• Avoid re-running release jobs against an already-published tag.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

References

• GitHub Actions documentation
• Workflow syntax for GitHub Actions