[Bug] ntnx_categories_v2 is not idempotent

[rfults]

The following task fails when the category or values exist:

- name: Create category key & value v2
  nutanix.ncp.ntnx_categories_v2:
    nutanix_host: "{{ nutanix_pc_hostname }}"
    nutanix_username: "{{ nutanix_username }}"
    nutanix_password: "{{ nutanix_password }}"
    validate_certs: false
    key: "{{ item.key }}"
    value: "{{ item.value }}"
  loop: "{{ ntnx_categories }}"

Expected behavior
Expect the module to return unchanged if the category and value combination exists.

Additional context
The full traceback is:
File "/tmp/ansible_nutanix.ncp.ntnx_categories_v2_payload_dwbpyb92/ansible_nutanix.ncp.ntnx_categories_v2_payload.zip/ansible_collections/nutanix/ncp/plugins/modules/ntnx_categories_v2.py", line 230, in create_category
resp = categories.create_category(body=spec)
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.13/site-packages/ntnx_prism_py_client/api/categories_api.py", line 134, in create_category
(data) = self.api_client._call_api(
'/api/prism/v4.2/config/categories', 'POST',
...<11 lines>...
_request_timeout=params.get('_request_timeout'),
collection_formats=collection_formats)
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.13/site-packages/ntnx_prism_py_client/api_client.py", line 843, in _call_api
return self.__call_api(resource_path, method,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
path_params, query_params, header_params,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
...<2 lines>...
_return_http_data_only, collection_formats,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
_preload_content, _request_timeout)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.13/site-packages/ntnx_prism_py_client/api_client.py", line 598, in __call_api
response_data = self.request(
method, url, query_params=query_params, headers=header_params,
post_params=post_params, body=body,
_preload_content=_preload_content,
_request_timeout=_request_timeout)
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.13/site-packages/ntnx_prism_py_client/api_client.py", line 888, in request
return self.rest_client.POST(url,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^
query_params=query_params,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
...<3 lines>...
_request_timeout=client_request_timeout,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
body=body)
^^^^^^^^^^
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.13/site-packages/ntnx_prism_py_client/rest.py", line 363, in POST
return self.request("POST", url,
~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^
headers=headers,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
...<3 lines>...
_request_timeout=_request_timeout,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
body=body)
^^^^^^^^^^
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.13/site-packages/ntnx_prism_py_client/rest.py", line 322, in request
raise ApiException(http_resp=r)
failed: [localhost] (item={'key': 'CORP-Apps', 'value': 'app1'}) => {
"ansible_loop_var": "item",
"changed": false,
"error": "BAD REQUEST",
"invocation": {
"module_args": {
"key": "CORP-Apps",
"nutanix_debug": false,
"nutanix_host": "testpc1",
"nutanix_log_file": "/tmp/nutanix_ansible_debug.log",
"nutanix_password": "VALUE_SPECIFIED_IN_NO_LOG_PARAMETER",
"nutanix_port": "9440",
"nutanix_username": "admin",
"state": "present",
"type": "USER",
"validate_certs": false,
"value": "app1",
"wait": true
}
},
"item": {
"key": "CORP-Apps",
"value": "app1"
},
"msg": "Api Exception raised while creating category",
"response": {
"$dataItemDiscriminator": "prism.v4.error.ErrorResponse",
"data": {
"$errorItemDiscriminator": "List<prism.v4.error.AppMessage>",
"$objectType": "prism.v4.error.ErrorResponse",
"error": [
{
"$objectType": "prism.v4.error.AppMessage",
"code": "CTGRS-50023",
"errorGroup": null,
"locale": "en-US",
"message": "Operation failed as a category with the provided key and value already exists with extId:295cb716-e5b2-32ef-b27e-ccbd7290c75a",
"severity": "ERROR"
}
]
}
},
"status": 400
}

[george-ghawali]

Hello @rfults

Idempotency checks are only supported for update operations, not for create operations.
This is because some modules allow creating the same entity with identical specs multiple times. For example, you can create multiple VMs with the same configuration where each call creates a new VM instance.

Thank you for your contribution!

[rfults]

@george-ghawali

That doesn't make much sense as you are guaranteed a task failure every time. Even if we were talking about other modules if you were creating new items with the same spec there is going to be some difference between them which may be as basic as different UUID as in your example each VM will have a unique identifier so Nutanix doesn't create the same VM over and over again. If the created items are truly 100% identical it should validate and move on instead of failing.

[george-ghawali]

Hi @rfults

We are not passing a UUID in the request, it is generated only after the VM is created. So, there are no differences between the two VMs at creation time.
You can verify this by running the playbook to create a VM with any specific configuration, and then running the same playbook again. A new VM will be created each time. When you fetch the VMs, the only differences you will observe are UUID-related fields such as extId (VM external ID), biosUuid, and generationUuid.

All other VM configuration fields will be identical. Since this operation allows creating multiple VMs with exactly the same specification, idempotency is not supported in this case.

[rfults]

@george-ghawali That still doesn't make sense in this case. Clearly you are detecting a match in the above example, all I am saying is this should not return a failure but should return that the combination exists and ansible should show that no change was made if you are not going to allow updates.