Solving the "A space with key XX already exists" error ?

Question

Hi Confluence lovers,

I have to delete and re-import spaces with the same key quite often in my Confluence site.

Lately, it happended quite a few times that even throught I first delete my space, when I try to import a space with the same key XX, I got the error "A space with key XX already exists".

Somehow, it seems that a very simple workaround exists ( at least it works all the time for me, but I am eager to know if it is the same for the other users !).

I simply go to the list of all spaces, go to the "Trashed" spaces and click on "Delete permanantly".

And then my import is working. Is that working for you guys as well ? ;)

Fanny Tastet · Answer

Hi @Rebekka Heilmann _viadee_ :)  and thanks for your answer !

Actually I called it "a workaround" because I have had to delete/reimport spaces for some time now and I only experienced this error since last month... Then at first I thought it was a bug and contacted support, but the only solution they gave was an action on their side ;)  and than I found out this was working.

And about my use case, we are buiding a customer documentation in an internal Confluence site but our IT department head does't want anonymous access on this site for customers ( it could lead to mistakes , and we also don't want customers to see the documentation while it is draft).

Then we decided to have 2 separated Confluence sites, one internal where we build the documentation and one external where I transfer the documentation once it is validated, usually every month. Hope this is clear ! ;)

Rebekka Heilmann (viadee) · Answer

It's not really a "workaround" however it is the correct solution if you want to "reimport" your spaces.

A space is - as you found out- moved to the trash before deleted permanently ergo still exists in your Confluence. Hence you cannot create another space with the same key.

I am wondering though, what your use case for deleting and reimporting is..?