git submodule already exist but it doesn't?

Question

I have git repo: https://github.com/bbialek/dotfiles I want to create submodule for vim's pathogen plugin.

cd ~/dotfiles/vim
git submodule add https://github.com/tpope/vim-pathogen .vim

It says:

'vim/.vim' already exists in the index

Is it because I already have submodules in ../dotfiles/vim/.vim/bundles/* ?

My .gitmodules :

    [submodule "vim/.vim/bundle/nerdtree"]
    path = vim/.vim/bundle/nerdtree
    url = https://github.com/scrooloose/nerdtree
[submodule "vim/.vim/bundle/vim-autoformat"]
    path = vim/.vim/bundle/vim-autoformat
    url = https://github.com/Chiel92/vim-autoformat
[submodule "vim/.vim/bundle/vim-colors-solarized"]
    path = vim/.vim/bundle/vim-colors-solarized
    url = https://github.com/altercation/vim-colors-solarized
[submodule "vim/.vim/bundle/vim-sensible"]
    path = vim/.vim/bundle/vim-sensible
    url = https://github.com/tpope/vim-sensible
[submodule "vim/.vim/bundle/YouCompleteMe"]
    path = vim/.vim/bundle/YouCompleteMe
    url = https://github.com/Valloric/YouCompleteMe
[submodule "tmux/.tmux/plugins/tpm"]
    path = tmux/.tmux/plugins/tpm
    url = https://github.com/tmux-plugins/tpm

Answer 1

You cannot register a submodule within a declared submodule path (like vim/.vim/bundle/nerdtree )

Since you have multiple submodules already using .vim , you would need to use a different folder for your .vim submodule repo.