Amplify push fails with Resource already exists

Question

I have an amplify project that I inherited from another Developer. It seems that some changes were made in the console or directly via the API and now the amplify configuration doesn't reflect the actual state of the Cognito project. I can't push the project now because it's now trying to recreate the userPoolGroups that already exist. is there any way to make the amplify project know they already exist so i can complete the push? is there any way to sync the amplify configuration with the actual cognito setup?

the error i get:

```
🛑 The following resources failed to deploy:
Resource Name: producerGroupRole (AWS::IAM::Role)
Event Type: create
Reason: Resource handler returned message: "Resource of type 'AWS::IAM::Role' with identifier 'us-east-1_oTeYIMSOf-producerGroupRole' already exists." (RequestToken: cb77cafb-e7ba-fda7-1c48-491fe2d09964, HandlerErrorCode: AlreadyExists)

Resource Name: listenerGroup (AWS::Cognito::UserPoolGroup)
Event Type: create
Reason: Resource handler returned message: "Group listener already exists in UserPool us-east-1_oTeYIMSOf." (RequestToken: b0709c60-3878-d352-eaee-fb2f12300f50, HandlerErrorCode: AlreadyExists)

Resource Name: advertiserGroup (AWS::Cognito::UserPoolGroup)
Event Type: create
Reason: Resource handler returned message: "Group advertiser already exists in UserPool us-east-1_oTeYIMSOf." (RequestToken: 1815e13b-f9f1-b576-4cdc-98714833a29c, HandlerErrorCode: AlreadyExists)

Resource Name: shopifyGroup (AWS::Cognito::UserPoolGroup)
Event Type: create
Reason: Resource handler returned message: "Group shopify already exists in UserPool us-east-1_oTeYIMSOf." (RequestToken: 70db3bcf-079e-fb64-0bdb-7fa1c41326df, HandlerErrorCode: AlreadyExists)
```

re:Post Agent · Answer

When you're encountering the "Resource already exists" error with Amplify, it's because your local Amplify configuration is trying to create resources that already exist in your AWS account. This commonly happens when resources were created outside of Amplify's workflow, such as through the AWS Console or API.

For your specific case with existing Cognito user pool groups, you have a few options:

1. Use the `referenceAuth` approach: Instead of having Amplify manage these Cognito resources, you can update your Amplify configuration to reference the existing Cognito resources. This requires configuring your project to use the existing user pool, user pool client, identity pool, and IAM roles.

2. Delete the conflicting resources in AWS: If you're certain that the local Amplify configuration is correct, you could delete the existing resources in AWS (the user pool groups and IAM roles) and then run the push again. However, this might not be desirable if these resources are being used in production.

3. Update your Amplify configuration: You could modify your local Amplify configuration to match the existing resources in AWS. This would involve examining the current state of your AWS resources and updating your local configuration accordingly.

If you're working in a team environment where different branches might need to share resources, you can also consider using Amplify's resource sharing capabilities across branches, which allows you to have feature branches point to resources deployed by a main branch.

For your immediate issue with the user pool groups, the most straightforward approach would be to use the reference method to point to your existing Cognito resources rather than trying to create new ones.  
**Sources**  
[Use existing Cognito resources - Swift - AWS Amplify Gen 2 Documentation](https://docs.amplify.aws/swift/build-a-backend/auth/use-existing-cognito-resources/)  
[Share resources across branches - AWS Amplify Gen 2 Documentation](https://docs.amplify.aws/react/deploy-and-host/fullstack-branching/share-resources/)

Amplify push fails with Resource already exists

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