hashicorp/terraform · error

error in marshaling resource changes

Error message

error in marshaling resource changes: %s

What it means

Top-level propagation error from Marshal: MarshalResourceChanges failed on p.Changes.Resources (the full set of planned resource changes). The wrapped error identifies which resource change failed to decode/render.

Solutions

1. Read the wrapped error for the failing resource address and cause (often a 619-style missing schema).
2. Re-run `terraform init` and `terraform plan`.
3. Align Terraform and provider versions across environments.
4. Inspect .terraform.lock.hcl for provider version divergence.

// Verify each planned resource change has a schema before marshaling.
func changesSchemasOk(changes *plans.ChangesSrc, schemas *terraform.Schemas) error {
    for _, rc := range changes.Resources {
        s := schemas.ResourceTypeConfig(rc.ProviderAddr.Provider, rc.Addr.Resource.Resource.Mode, rc.Addr.Resource.Resource.Type)
        if s.Body == nil {
            return fmt.Errorf("resource %%s has no schema", rc.Addr)
        }
    }
    return nil
}

When it happens

Trigger: A resource instance change references a missing or incompatible provider schema, or its before/after values cannot be decoded or marshaled (type drift, marks).

Common situations: Provider upgrade/downgrade between plan and render; corrupted plan; resources of a type the current provider no longer exposes.

Related errors

• error in marshaling deferred resource changes
• error in marshaling resource drift
• error in marshaling deferred action invocations
• error in marshaling output changes
• error in marshalPlannedValues

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/terraform@d32a084675 (2026-08-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d71ca8eb8af061c4. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at internal/command/jsonplan/plan.go:305

					driftedResources = append(driftedResources, dr)
				}
			}
		}
		output.ResourceDrift, err = MarshalResourceChanges(driftedResources, schemas)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("error in marshaling resource drift: %s", err)
		}
	}

	if err := output.marshalRelevantAttrs(p); err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error marshaling relevant attributes for external changes: %s", err)
	}

	// output.ResourceChanges
	if p.Changes != nil {
		output.ResourceChanges, err = MarshalResourceChanges(p.Changes.Resources, schemas)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("error in marshaling resource changes: %s", err)
		}
	}

	if p.DeferredResources != nil {
		output.DeferredChanges, err = MarshalDeferredResourceChanges(p.DeferredResources, schemas)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("error in marshaling deferred resource changes: %s", err)
		}
	}

	if p.DeferredActionInvocations != nil {
		output.DeferredActionInvocations, err = MarshalDeferredActionInvocations(p.DeferredActionInvocations, schemas)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("error in marshaling deferred action invocations: %s", err)
		}
	}

	// output.OutputChanges

View on GitHub (pinned to d32a084675)