What causes "Error asking for state migration action: %s" in hashicorp/terraform?

Re-run with `-input=false -migrate-state=true` (or `-migrate-state=false` to discard source state).

Error asking for state migration action

Error message

Error asking for state migration action: %s

What it means

Returned by the multi-state-to-multi-state migration path when the confirmation UI prompt itself fails (not when the user declines). The underlying `m.confirm(...)` returned a non-nil error, typically from a broken or unavailable input channel during `terraform init` backend migration.

Solutions

Re-run with `-input=false -migrate-state=true` (or `-migrate-state=false` to discard source state).
Run in an interactive shell so the prompt can be answered.
Ensure the backend change is intentional; if not, revert the backend block so no migration prompt is needed.

Example fix

# before
terraform init -input=false
# after
terraform init -input=false -migrate-state=true

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

# Decide migration intent BEFORE init so no prompt is needed.
# If you intend to migrate: pass the flag. If not, decline explicitly.
terraform init -input=false -migrate-state=${MIGRATE:-true}

Try / catch

# Treat the prompt-failure as a config signal, not a transient error:
if ! terraform init -input=false >/tmp/init.log 2>&1; then
  if grep -q 'Error asking for state migration action' /tmp/init.log; then
    echo "Set -migrate-state=true|false explicitly in CI" >&2; exit 2
  fi
  cat /tmp/init.log; exit 1
fi

Prevention

Always pair -input=false with an explicit -migrate-state value in CI.
Keep backend config in version control so migrations are intentional and reviewed.
Run init interactively once after a backend change to confirm the prompt behaves as expected.

When it happens

Trigger: Fires in `backendMigrateState_S_S` when `opts.force` is false and `m.confirm(&terraform.InputOpts{Id: "backend-migrate-multistate-to-multistate"})` returns an error. Common when input is disabled (`-input=false`) but no force/`-migrate-state` flag was supplied, or the UIInput adapter is nil.

Common situations: Running `terraform init -input=false` after changing the backend `workspaces` config between two multi-workspace backends without passing `-migrate-state=true`, or in CI where no TTY is attached.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/terraform@d32a084675 (2026-08-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/74db0353b833f34f. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at internal/command/meta_backend_migrate.go:185

	srcWord := backendHumanName(opts.Source)
	dstWord := backendHumanName(opts.Destination)

	migrate := opts.force
	if !migrate {
		var err error
		// Ask the user if they want to migrate their existing remote state
		migrate, err = m.confirm(&terraform.InputOpts{
			Id: "backend-migrate-multistate-to-multistate",
			Query: fmt.Sprintf(
				"Do you want to migrate all workspaces to %s %q?",
				dstWord, opts.DestinationType),
			Description: fmt.Sprintf(
				strings.TrimSpace(inputBackendMigrateMultiToMulti),
				opts.SourceType, srcWord, opts.DestinationType, dstWord),
		})
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf(
				"Error asking for state migration action: %s", err)
		}
	}
	if !migrate {
		return fmt.Errorf("Migration aborted by user.")
	}

	// Read all the states
	sourceWorkspaces, wDiags := opts.Source.Workspaces()
	if wDiags.HasErrors() {
		return fmt.Errorf(strings.TrimSpace(
			errMigrateLoadStates), opts.SourceType, srcWord, wDiags.Err())
	}
	if wDiags.HasWarnings() {
		log.Printf("[WARN] backendMigrateState_S_S: warning(s) returned when getting workspaces from source backend: %s", wDiags.ErrWithWarnings())
	}

	// Sort the states so they're always copied alphabetically

View on GitHub (pinned to d32a084675)