hashicorp/terraform · error

default workspace not supported You can create a new…

Error message

default workspace not supported
You can create a new workspace with the "workspace new" command.

What it means

A nested block type (NestedBlock) has a non-empty DeprecationMessage while Deprecated is false. DeprecationMessage is only meaningful as the human-readable explanation that accompanies Deprecated=true, so the schema is internally inconsistent. The check lives in Block.internalValidate and fires for each offending child block type.

Solutions

1. Set Deprecated: true on the offending nested block so the message takes effect.
2. Remove the DeprecationMessage string if the block is not actually deprecated.
3. Run the provider's schema unit test (calling schema.InternalValidate / InternalValidate) to confirm the error is gone.

Example fix

// before
"old_block": {
  Nesting: configschema.NestingList,
  DeprecationMessage: "use new_block instead",
},
// after
"old_block": {
  Nesting: configschema.NestingList,
  Deprecated: true,
  DeprecationMessage: "use new_block instead",
},

// Ensure a nested block's deprecation fields agree before InternalValidate.
func validateDeprecation(b *configschema.NestedBlock) error {
    if b == nil { return nil }
    if b.DeprecationMessage != "" && !b.Deprecated {
        return fmt.Errorf("DeprecationMessage set without Deprecated=true")
    }
    return nil
}

// hasConsistentDeprecation returns true when DeprecationMessage is empty OR Deprecated is set.
func hasConsistentDeprecation(deprecated bool, msg string) bool {
    return msg == "" || deprecated
}

When it happens

Trigger: Defining a NestedBlock whose embedded Block sets DeprecationMessage: "use foo_v2 instead" but omits Deprecated: true. The validator iterates b.BlockTypes and, for each entry where !blockS.Deprecated && blockS.DeprecationMessage != "", appends this error.

Common situations: Provider author copies a deprecation block from another schema and forgets the Deprecated flag; refactoring that clears Deprecated but leaves the message; hand-written schema literals where the two fields drift apart.

Related errors

• Apply discarded.
• cannot delete default state
• consul lock was lost
• Destroy discarded.
• empty state name

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/terraform@d32a084675 (2026-08-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fe1a2b7f31a7f0ba. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at internal/backend/backend.go:28

import (
	"errors"

	"github.com/zclconf/go-cty/cty"

	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/internal/configs/configschema"
	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/internal/states/statemgr"
	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/internal/tfdiags"
)

// DefaultStateName is the name of the default, initial state that every
// backend must have. This state cannot be deleted.
const DefaultStateName = "default"

var (
	// ErrDefaultWorkspaceNotSupported is returned when an operation does not
	// support using the default workspace, but requires a named workspace to
	// be selected.
	ErrDefaultWorkspaceNotSupported = errors.New("default workspace not supported\n" +
		"You can create a new workspace with the \"workspace new\" command.")

	// ErrWorkspacesNotSupported is an error returned when a caller attempts
	// to perform an operation on a workspace other than "default" for a
	// backend that doesn't support multiple workspaces.
	//
	// The caller can detect this to do special fallback behavior or produce
	// a specific, helpful error message.
	ErrWorkspacesNotSupported = errors.New("workspaces not supported")
)

// InitFn is used to initialize a new backend.
type InitFn func() Backend

// Backend is the minimal interface that must be implemented to enable Terraform.
type Backend interface {
	// ConfigSchema returns a description of the expected configuration
	// structure for the receiving backend.

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