TODO: Handle Error for Existing Branch on Word Submission

When a user submits a new word or edits an existing word in the dictionary, the system should check if the branch already exists before attempting to create a new branch. Currently, if a branch with the same name already exists, the submission process fails without providing a clear error message to the user.

https://github.com/babblebey/jargons.dev/blob/0eeb366b4346c28a400586082fadb331c0ee342f/src/lib/branch.js#L10

Proposed Solution:

Add a check in the submission process to verify if the branch already exists. (but this will assume that a fork has already been created before-hand)
If the branch exists, display a user-friendly error message indicating that the word already exists in the dictionary.
Provide guidance on how to proceed, such as editing the existing word instead of creating a new one.

Additional Notes:

Important to state that the proposed solution is pretty much me thinking out loud, I have some thought which really looks like it will change how/when we fork in order to address this in the way I am thinking about
Its also important to know how/when we fork too, I can shed more lights on this

feat: implement temporary existing branch error handling (relates to #52

chore: implement feedback/nits from beta testing (#66)

@babblebey

@babblebey Would like to work on this issue. Could you please assign it to me?

@FabianEilts

Hey @FabianEilts,

This issue has been temporarily addressed though in #66; which fulfils the action of removing the current reference and proceeding to recreating it. That logic is handled here

jargons.dev/src/components/islands/word-editor.jsx

Lines 157 to 184 in 7ea2fca

    
                 /** 
        
                  * Temporary workaround for handling deletion of existing reference/branch 
        
                  */ 
        
                 const data = await response.json(); 
        
                 $isWordSubmitLoading.set(false); 
        
                 if ( 
        
                   response.status === 422 && 
        
                   data.message.includes("Reference already exists") 
        
                 ) { 
        
                   if ( 
        
                     confirm( 
        
                       "It appears you have an existing reference for the current word, do you wish to clear that reference?", 
        
                     ) 
        
                   ) { 
        
                     $isWordSubmitLoading.set(true); 
        
                     const response = await fetch("/api/dictionary", { 
        
                       method: "DELETE", 
        
                       body: formData, 
        
                     }); 
        
                     if (response.status === 200) { 
        
                       $isWordSubmitLoading.set(false); 
        
                       alert( 
        
                         "Reference cleared successfully! Kindly publish your contribution again!", 
        
                       ); 
        
                     } 
        
                   } else { 
        
                     router.push("/editor"); 
        
                   }

Working on this issue would require some thoughts around the current state of the branch....

What is the current state of existing branch?
- is it a Branch for a word contribution that is still pending approval? If it's this, then we'll definitely want to resume the branch to modify pending contribution - and this means we will have to have a jargons Editor resume contribution session - a new session
- is it a Branch for a word contribution that is approved? If it's this, then we will want to delete, as this might be a branch that wasn't deleted after contribution PR got merged

...and a little more thoughts... So I'm curious, how would you approach this?

Regarding pending approval:
Is it possible to offer the user the option to edit the existing word and add a new commit to the PR?

If a branch for a word contribution is approved, then we can delete it, as you suggested.

Also found a bug at the current workaround.

jargons.dev/src/components/islands/word-editor.jsx

Lines 171 to 181 in 7ea2fca

    
           $isWordSubmitLoading.set(true); 
        
           const response = await fetch("/api/dictionary", { 
        
             method: "DELETE", 
        
             body: formData, 
        
           }); 
        
           if (response.status === 200) { 
        
             $isWordSubmitLoading.set(false); 
        
             alert( 
        
               "Reference cleared successfully! Kindly publish your contribution again!", 
        
             ); 
        
           }

The condition in Line 176 is always false because the response code of the successful DELETE request is 204. This logic, however, will be rewritten as part of the issue

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TODO: Handle Error for Existing Branch on Word Submission #52

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	/**
	* Temporary workaround for handling deletion of existing reference/branch
	*/
	const data = await response.json();
	$isWordSubmitLoading.set(false);
	if (
	response.status === 422 &&
	data.message.includes("Reference already exists")
	) {
	if (
	confirm(
	"It appears you have an existing reference for the current word, do you wish to clear that reference?",
	)
	) {
	$isWordSubmitLoading.set(true);
	const response = await fetch("/api/dictionary", {
	method: "DELETE",
	body: formData,
	});
	if (response.status === 200) {
	$isWordSubmitLoading.set(false);
	alert(
	"Reference cleared successfully! Kindly publish your contribution again!",
	);
	}
	} else {
	router.push("/editor");
	}

TODO: Handle Error for Existing Branch on Word Submission #52

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FabianEilts commented on Oct 24, 2025

babblebey commented on Oct 24, 2025

FabianEilts commented on Oct 25, 2025

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