How to fix Error: Error creating CodeBuild Project: ResourceAlreadyExistsException in Terraform

First, verify that the project actually exists in your AWS account and region using the AWS CLI:

aws codebuild batch-get-projects --names your-project-name --region us-east-1

If the project is listed in the output, it exists. If not, the issue may be a different error. Note the exact project name from the error message and use that in the command.

If the project exists and you want to manage it with Terraform, import it into your Terraform state:

terraform import aws_codebuild_project.my_project your-project-name

Replace my_project with the local resource name in your Terraform configuration and your-project-name with the actual AWS CodeBuild project name. After importing, Terraform will track this resource and won't try to recreate it.

After importing, run terraform plan to see if there are any differences:

terraform plan

If Terraform wants to modify the imported resource to match your configuration, review the changes carefully. You may need to update your .tf files to match the existing AWS configuration, or adjust the AWS resource to match your Terraform code.

If the existing CodeBuild project is orphaned or no longer needed, delete it from AWS and let Terraform recreate it:

aws codebuild delete-project --name your-project-name --region us-east-1

After deletion, run terraform apply to create the project through Terraform. Only do this if you're sure the project isn't in use by other services.

Update your Terraform configuration to use unique project names, especially if managing multiple environments or projects:

resource "aws_codebuild_project" "example" {
  name          = "${var.project_prefix}-${var.environment}-codebuild"
  service_role  = aws_iam_role.codebuild_role.arn

  artifacts {
    type = "NO_ARTIFACTS"
  }

  environment {
    compute_type                = "BUILD_GENERAL1_SMALL"
    image                      = "aws/codebuild/standard:5.0"
    type                       = "LINUX_CONTAINER"
    image_pull_credentials_type = "CODEBUILD"
  }

  source {
    type      = "GITHUB"
    location  = "https://github.com/owner/repo.git"
  }
}

Use variables for naming to avoid hardcoded conflicts across different deployments.

If you've verified the project exists but Terraform still sees it as missing, refresh your Terraform state:

terraform refresh

This reads the current state of all resources in AWS and updates your local state file. After refreshing, check terraform plan again to see if the conflict is resolved.