# Unable to Update Channel Through Command-Line Interface (CLI)

**URL:** <https://community.learningequality.org/t/unable-to-update-channel-through-command-line-interface-cli/3992>\
**Category:** Kolibri\
**Tags:** import\
**Created:** [April 20, 2026, 6:27am UTC](https://community.learningequality.org/t/unable-to-update-channel-through-command-line-interface-cli/3992 "2026-04-20T06:27:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![essa](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/community.learningequality.org/essa/32/1794_2.png) [@essa](https://community.learningequality.org/u/essa)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2026, 6:27am UTC](https://community.learningequality.org/t/unable-to-update-channel-through-command-line-interface-cli/3992/1 "2026-04-20T06:27:39Z")

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## Summary

Unable to update a channel through the Kolibri CLI.

Terminal output screenshot:

 ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/uploads/learneq/original/2X/e/e828226cb2a05fb29adfbe28a542be8d17417e59.png)

Kolibri UI on browser, confirming that a new version is available:

 ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/uploads/learneq/original/2X/d/db6dc528a84c3c5194bd34a3492166fe03b93cb5.png)

## Description

I uploaded a channel through [CSV Workflow](https://github.com/learningequality/sample-channels/tree/master/channels/csv_channel) on Studio. The commands `importchannel` and `importcontent` ran perfectly fine when I first imported the channel. But after updating the channel to later versions through CSV Workflow, and running the two commands again, I get the warning on CLI and thus it doesn’t update the channel to the latest version. I can also verify on the browser that a new version is available.

Weirdly, the commands worked when updating channel from version 1 to version 2, but not working now. The commands seem to be working nondeterministic.

## Technical details

- Kolibri version: 0.19.3
- Operating system: **Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19045.6466]**
- Browser: Microsoft Edge

## Technical details pt. 2

- Kolibri version: 0.19.3
- Operating system: **Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS**
- Browser: Brave

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Alex\_Velez](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/community.learningequality.org/alex_velez/32/1838_2.png) [@Alex\_Velez](https://community.learningequality.org/u/Alex_Velez)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2026, 8:27pm UTC](https://community.learningequality.org/t/unable-to-update-channel-through-command-line-interface-cli/3992/2 "2026-04-21T20:27:33Z")

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Hi @essa,

Thanks for your report. It seems you’ve found a bug in our `importchannel` command. I’ll create a task to track this bug with the development team so we can release a fix in a future version of Kolibri.

For now, the available alternatives are:

- Import the channel directly from the browser,

- Or you can delete the file located in `$KOLIBRI_HOME/content/databases/[CHANNEL_ID].sqlite3`, replacing it with your configured `$KOLIBRI_HOME` path and the `channel_id` you are importing (e.g., `/Users/my_user/.kolibri/content/databases/abcdefghabcdefghabcdefghabcdefgh.sqlite3`), and then run the `importchannel` command again.

I hope this helps. If you have any further questions, please let us know.

Alex.