{"record":{"id":"796c32a50015a248","repo":"hashicorp/terraform","slug":"attempted-to-encode-a-malformed-backend-state-file-796c32","errorCode":null,"errorMessage":"attempted to encode a malformed backend state file; state store type is missing","messagePattern":"attempted to encode a malformed backend state file; state store type is missing","errorType":"validation","errorClass":null,"httpStatus":null,"severity":"error","filePath":"internal/command/workdir/statestore_config_state.go","lineNumber":49,"sourceCode":"\tHash               uint64                          `json:\"hash\"`                 // Hash of the state_store block's configuration, including the nested provider block\n\tProviderSupplyMode getproviders.ProviderSupplyMode `json:\"provider_supply_mode\"` // How the provider was supplied to Terraform during the init operation that created this config state.\n}\n\n// Empty returns true if there is no active state store.\nfunc (s *StateStoreConfigState) Empty() bool {\n\treturn s == nil || s.Type == \"\"\n}\n\n// Validate returns true if there are no missing expected values, and\n// important values have been validated, e.g. FQNs. When the config is\n// invalid an error will be returned.\nfunc (s *StateStoreConfigState) Validate() error {\n\t// Are any bits of data totally missing?\n\tif s.Empty() {\n\t\treturn fmt.Errorf(\"attempted to encode a malformed backend state file; data is empty\")\n\t}\n\tif s.Type == \"\" {\n\t\treturn fmt.Errorf(\"attempted to encode a malformed backend state file; state store type is missing\")\n\t}\n\tif s.Provider == nil {\n\t\treturn fmt.Errorf(\"attempted to encode a malformed backend state file; provider data is missing\")\n\t}\n\tif s.ConfigRaw == nil {\n\t\treturn fmt.Errorf(\"attempted to encode a malformed backend state file; state_store configuration data is missing\")\n\t}\n\n\t// Validity of data that is there\n\terr := s.Provider.Source.Validate()\n\tif err != nil {\n\t\treturn fmt.Errorf(\"state store is not valid: %w\", err)\n\t}\n\n\t// Version information is required if the provider isn't builtin or unmanaged by Terraform\n\tswitch s.ProviderSupplyMode {\n\tcase getproviders.BuiltIn, getproviders.Reattached, getproviders.DevOverride:\n\t\t// These modes do not require version information","sourceCodeStart":31,"sourceCodeEnd":67,"githubUrl":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/blob/c9def3e214014c1188faabfc4a5bde5095139765/internal/command/workdir/statestore_config_state.go#L31-L67","documentation":"A defensive check at statestore_config_state.go:48 that rejects a state store whose Type is the empty string. Note: in the current code this branch is effectively unreachable because Empty() (checked just above at line 45) already returns true when Type == '', so error 767 fires first. It exists to guard against a future change to Empty() semantics.","triggerScenarios":"Validate() reaches line 48 with s.Type == '' but s.Empty() returned false — only possible if Empty()'s definition diverges from the individual field checks.","commonSituations":"Not reachable in shipped code; would indicate Empty() logic and the per-field checks drifted apart (a maintenance bug).","solutions":["Treat occurrence as a code bug and report it, since the guards are inconsistent.","Populate Type before constructing/encoding the StateStoreConfigState.","Re-run 'terraform init' to regenerate a well-formed file."],"exampleFix":"// before — dead path in current code; if Empty() ever changed:\ns := &StateStoreConfigState{ /* Type missing */ }\n// after\ns.Type = \"remote\"","handlingStrategy":"validation","validationCode":"// Direct guard mirroring the (currently redundant) check.\nif s != nil && s.Type == \"\" {\n    return errors.New(\"state store type must be set\")\n}","typeGuard":"null","tryCatchPattern":"null","preventionTips":["Keep Empty() semantics consistent with the per-field validation checks.","If this branch ever fires, treat it as a divergence bug and add a test pinning the invariant."],"tags":["terraform","state-store","validation","defensive"],"analyzedSha":"c9def3e214014c1188faabfc4a5bde5095139765","analyzedAt":"2026-08-07T15:39:49.278Z","schemaVersion":2},"datasetVersion":"2026-08-07T21:17:07.882Z"}