[c#] The instance of entity type cannot be tracked because another instance of this type with the same key is already being tracked

I had the same issue (EF Core) while setting up xUnit tests. What 'fixed' it for me in testing was looping through the change tracker entities after setting up the seed data.

• at the bottom of the SeedAppDbContext() method.

I set up a Test Mock Context:

/// <summary>
/// Get an In memory version of the app db context with some seeded data
/// </summary>
public static AppDbContext GetAppDbContext(string dbName)
{
    //set up the options to use for this dbcontext
    var options = new DbContextOptionsBuilder<AppDbContext>()
        .UseInMemoryDatabase(databaseName: dbName)
        //.UseQueryTrackingBehavior(QueryTrackingBehavior.NoTracking)
        .Options;

    var dbContext = new AppDbContext(options);
    dbContext.SeedAppDbContext();
    return dbContext;
}

Extension method to add some seed data:

• and detach entities in foreach loop at bottom of method.

    public static void SeedAppDbContext(this AppDbContext appDbContext)
    {
       // add companies
       var c1 = new Company() { Id = 1, CompanyName = "Fake Company One", ContactPersonName = "Contact one", eMail = "[email protected]", Phone = "0123456789", AdminUserId = "" };
       c1.Address = new Address() { Id = 1, AddressL1 = "Field Farm", AddressL2 = "Some Lane", City = "some city", PostalCode = "AB12 3CD" };
       appDbContext.CompanyRecords.Add(c1);
                        
       var nc1 = new Company() { Id = 2, CompanyName = "Test Company 2", ContactPersonName = "Contact two", eMail = "[email protected]", Phone = "0123456789", Address = new Address() { }, AdminUserId = "" };
       nc1.Address = new Address() { Id = 2, AddressL1 = "The Barn", AddressL2 = "Some Lane", City = "some city", PostalCode = "AB12 3CD" };
       appDbContext.CompanyRecords.Add(nc1);

       //....and so on....
            
       //last call to commit everything to the memory db
       appDbContext.SaveChanges();

       //and then to detach everything 
       foreach (var entity in appDbContext.ChangeTracker.Entries())
       {
           entity.State = EntityState.Detached;
       }
    }

The controller put method

The .ConvertTo<>() Method is an extension method from ServiceStack

 [HttpPut]
public async Task<IActionResult> PutUpdateCompany(CompanyFullDto company)
{
    if (0 == company.Id)
        return BadRequest();
    try
    {
        Company editEntity = company.ConvertTo<Company>();
        
        //Prior to detaching an error thrown on line below (another instance with id)
        var trackedEntity = _appDbContext.CompanyRecords.Update(editEntity);
        

        await _appDbContext.SaveChangesAsync();
    }
    catch (DbUpdateConcurrencyException dbError)
    {
        if (!CompanyExists(company.Id))
            return NotFound();
        else
            return BadRequest(dbError);
    }
    catch (Exception Error)
    {
        return BadRequest(Error);
    }
    return Ok();
}

and the test:

    [Fact]
    public async Task PassWhenEditingCompany()
    {
        var _appDbContext = AppDbContextMocker.GetAppDbContext(nameof(CompaniesController));
        var _controller = new CompaniesController(null, _appDbContext);

        //Arrange
        const string companyName = "Fake Company One";
        const string contactPerson = "Contact one";

        const string newCompanyName = "New Fake Company One";
        const string newContactPersonName = "New Contact Person";

        //Act
        var getResult = _controller.GetCompanyById(1);
        var getEntity = (getResult.Result.Result as OkObjectResult).Value;
        var entityDto = getEntity as CompanyFullDto;


        //Assert
        Assert.Equal(companyName, entityDto.CompanyName);
        Assert.Equal(contactPerson, entityDto.ContactPersonName);
        Assert.Equal(1, entityDto.Id);

        //Arrange
        Company entity = entityDto.ConvertTo<Company>();
        entity.CompanyName = newCompanyName;
        entity.ContactPersonName = newContactPersonName;
        CompanyFullDto entityDtoUpd = entity.ConvertTo<CompanyFullDto>();

        //Act
        var result = await _controller.PutUpdateCompany(entityDtoUpd) as StatusCodeResult;

        //Assert           
        Assert.True(result.StatusCode == 200);

        //Act
        getResult = _controller.GetCompanyById(1);
        getEntity = (getResult.Result.Result as OkObjectResult).Value;
        
        entityDto = getEntity as CompanyFullDto;
        
        //Assert
        Assert.Equal(1, entityDto.Id); // didn't add a new record
        Assert.Equal(newCompanyName, entityDto.CompanyName); //updated the name
        Assert.Equal(newContactPersonName, entityDto.ContactPersonName); //updated the contact

//make sure to dispose of the _appDbContext otherwise running the full test will fail.
_appDbContext.Dispose();
    }