gRPC 6 ALREADY_EXISTS vs 14 UNAVAILABLE
Both gRPC 6 (ALREADY_EXISTS) and 14 (UNAVAILABLE) belong to the gRPC Status Codes category. 6 indicates that the entity that a client attempted to create already exists. For example, a file or directory that the RPC was supposed to create already exists. Meanwhile, 14 means that the service is currently unavailable. This is most likely a transient condition, which can be corrected by retrying with a backoff.
Description
The entity that a client attempted to create already exists. For example, a file or directory that the RPC was supposed to create already exists.
When You See It
A create operation failed because a resource with the same unique identifier or name already exists in the system.
How to Fix
Use a different identifier, or switch to an upsert/update operation if overwriting is acceptable. Check for existing resources before creating.
Description
The service is currently unavailable. This is most likely a transient condition, which can be corrected by retrying with a backoff.
When You See It
The server is overloaded, shutting down, or a network partition occurred. This is the most common code to retry on, as it's explicitly transient.
How to Fix
Retry with exponential backoff. If persistent, check the server health, load balancer configuration, and network connectivity between client and server.
Key Differences
gRPC 6: The entity that a client attempted to create already exists. For example, a file or directory that the RPC was supposed to create already exists.
gRPC 14: The service is currently unavailable. This is most likely a transient condition, which can be corrected by retrying with a backoff.
You encounter 6 when a create operation failed because a resource with the same unique identifier or name already exists in the system.
You encounter 14 when the server is overloaded, shutting down, or a network partition occurred. This is the most common code to retry on, as it's explicitly transient.
When to Use Which
For 6 (ALREADY_EXISTS): Use a different identifier, or switch to an upsert/update operation if overwriting is acceptable. Check for existing resources before creating. For 14 (UNAVAILABLE): Retry with exponential backoff. If persistent, check the server health, load balancer configuration, and network connectivity between client and server.