User not found - Impossible to delete - Impossible to recrete

I have some users in my zitadel instance that cannot be updated/deleted.
[not_found] User could not be found (COMMAND-ugjs0upun6)
[not_found] User could not be found (COMMAND-bd4ir1mblj)

The user is visible with all the data in the console.
The status is active.

But impossible to use it.

When I try to create a new user with the same email/username, I have the error : User already exists ...

So weird ...
Please help me.

Ask Inkeep•10/27/25, 3:13 PM

Hi @JayPe, I'm an AI assistant for ZITADEL. While a team member reviews this question, I'll see if I can find relevant sources for your question.

Ask Inkeep•10/27/25, 3:13 PM

Answer

I wasn't able to find a direct answer, here are some relevant sources:

Delete user (1) : This documentation covers the DELETE endpoint for removing users, which changes the user state to 'deleted' and prevents login.
questions-help-bugsunable to use management of user questions-help-bugsunable to use management of user : This Discord discussion addresses user management issues where users couldn't be created or managed, with troubleshooting around service user permissions and manager roles.

Since your issue involves users that are visible in the console but cannot be updated/deleted via API calls, this appears to be a data consistency issue that may require direct support assistance.

I recommend clicking the "Ask for help" button to tag a team member who can investigate the specific user IDs and database state in your instance.

Ask Inkeep•10/27/25, 3:13 PM

To learn more, see the sources I considered:

[1] Delete user
questions-help-bugsunable to use management of user

Ask Inkeep•10/27/25, 3:13 PM

Feel free to tag @Ask Inkeep with additional questions.

Rajat•10/27/25, 3:28 PM

hey @JayPe pls try via the API to delete the user if you can and please let me know if that helps.
what version are you on and are you self hosted?.

JayPeOP•10/27/25, 3:30 PM

v3.0.0

JayPeOP•10/27/25, 3:31 PM

{
    "code": 5,
    "message": "User could not be found (COMMAND-m9od)",
    "details": [
        {
            "@type": "type.googleapis.com/zitadel.v1.ErrorDetail",
            "id": "COMMAND-m9od",
            "message": "User could not be found"
        }
    ]
}

{
    "code": 5,
    "message": "User could not be found (COMMAND-m9od)",
    "details": [
        {
            "@type": "type.googleapis.com/zitadel.v1.ErrorDetail",
            "id": "COMMAND-m9od",
            "message": "User could not be found"
        }
    ]
}

JayPeOP•10/27/25, 3:31 PM

Same error

JayPeOP•10/27/25, 3:32 PM

Yes self hosted

Rajat•10/27/25, 3:35 PM

can you pls try to get the user by id?

JayPeOP•10/27/25, 3:45 PM

{
    "code": 5,
    "message": "Not Found"
}

{
    "code": 5,
    "message": "Not Found"
}

same thing

Rajat•10/27/25, 4:46 PM

hey @JayPe I have to take a look more, the only possible solution I could share atm is to to upgrade your cluster(v3.0.0 is quite old, we already have v4.x.x) and if you can give me steps to reproduce.

JayPeOP•10/27/25, 5:03 PM

I already had this kind of problem.
Even after an upgrade I had the error

Rajat•10/27/25, 6:26 PM

hey @JayPe this is strange, do you have steps to reproduce?. Because that os the ONLY way to me to verify in that case.

JJayPe I already had this kind of problem. Even after an upgrade I had the error

Rajat•10/27/25, 6:40 PM

zitadel v3.0.0 is STILL an older release. Several critical fixes and improvements have been made in the next versions.
Consider upgrading to the latest stable version, as many "Not Found" issues were resolved in later releases.
The issue might indicate database inconsistency(not sure but could be a possibility). One community member resolved similar issue by deleting all secrets and redeploying from scratch with a clean database

GitHub

{"code":5, "message":"Not Found"} in log-in popup · zitadel zitade...

I try to self-host Zitadel again, on a fresh install. I config the front-end with clientID of a new app from new project ang org. {"code":5, "message":"Not Found"} Act...

JayPeOP•10/27/25, 6:46 PM

After upgrading to 4.3.3 I had the exact same problem in my UAT env.
I had to restore a former backup.
But here I can't as it's in production, and don't know when the problem occured

JayPeOP•10/27/25, 6:48 PM

I don't know how to reproduce

But my feeling is that occured when I upgrade a version. Whatever the version on some users.

JayPeOP•10/27/25, 6:49 PM

It's really weird because when checking the code, the errors should pop up when the user is in a inactive state or unknown state.
But by checking database, the user is in active state

Rajat•10/27/25, 6:49 PM

the only other guess would be that if you have setup any quotas did you configure these settings?/.

Rajat•10/27/25, 6:53 PM

I also look more, and it could also be related to projections, theres a query that the user inserted that fixed their issue. The reason why i am saying this is because some users state left stale on upgrades, so that could be an issue.

GitHub

[Bug]: Zitadel version upgrade stuck · Issue #8390 · zitadel/zitadel

Preflight Checklist I could not find a solution in the documentation, the existing issues or discussions I have joined the ZITADEL chat Environment Self-hosted Version 2.54.6 Database CockroachDB D...

JayPeOP•10/29/25, 7:59 AM

@Rajat , thanks for the help, I don't have any quota, and I don't see any difference in database.
I compared a user that is working fine with the user that is not ... I don't see any difference in database.
It's sure there is one, but it's clearly not obvious

JayPeOP•10/29/25, 8:02 AM

I just removed the user from the table : users14 and users14_humans, but when trying to add a new one with the same username : user already exists.
So it should have something more to remove in the database

JayPeOP•10/29/25, 8:04 AM

the entry also exists in login_names3_users table

JayPeOP•10/29/25, 8:04 AM

still don't

JayPeOP•10/29/25, 8:07 AM

user_metadata5
user_auth_methods5

JayPeOP•10/29/25, 8:10 AM

I removed things in tables :

users14
users14_humans
login_names3_users
user_metadata5
user_auth_methods5

Still the same error when trying to change the username of my new user : user already exists ...

JayPeOP•10/29/25, 8:17 AM

auth.users3
auth.user_sessions

JayPeOP•10/29/25, 8:40 AM

FOUND : eventstore.unique_constraints.unique_field that store the username

JayPeOP•10/29/25, 8:40 AM

So I have a manual workaround, to create a new user after deleting the user manually in DB ... this is clearly not a solution ...

JJayPe So I have a manual workaround, to create a new user after deleting the user manu...

Rajat•10/29/25, 2:29 PM

hey @JayPe I agree and you are right, it would be nice if you can update the above issue(for the future users if this happens). This could have happened that some users might have stuck during upgrades, should have not happened.

{ "code": 5, "message": "User could not be found (COMMAND-m9od)", "details": [ { "@type": "type.googleapis.com/zitadel.v1.ErrorDetail", "id": "COMMAND-m9od", "message": "User could not be found" } ] }