hashicorp/terraform · warning

execution halted

Error message

execution halted

What it means

Returned in opApply (internal/backend/local/backend_apply.go:136) when, after a successful Plan but before confirmation/auto-apply, stopCtx.Err() is non-nil. This means a stop (graceful interrupt) request was received during the final batch of resource plan calls. Terraform treats this as the operation being halted and reports OperationFailure rather than proceeding to the apply.

Source

Thrown at internal/backend/local/backend_apply.go:136

			return
		}

		trivialPlan := !plan.Applyable
		hasUI := op.UIOut != nil && op.UIIn != nil
		mustConfirm := hasUI && !op.AutoApprove && !trivialPlan
		op.View.Plan(plan, schemas)

		if testHookStopPlanApply != nil {
			testHookStopPlanApply()
		}

		// Check if we've been stopped before going through confirmation, or
		// skipping confirmation in the case of -auto-approve.
		// This can currently happen if a single stop request was received
		// during the final batch of resource plan calls, so no operations were
		// forced to abort, and no errors were returned from Plan.
		if stopCtx.Err() != nil {
			diags = diags.Append(errors.New("execution halted"))
			runningOp.Result = backendrun.OperationFailure
			op.ReportResult(runningOp, diags)
			return
		}

		if mustConfirm {
			var desc, query string
			switch op.PlanMode {
			case plans.DestroyMode:
				if op.Workspace != "default" {
					query = "Do you really want to destroy all resources in workspace \"" + op.Workspace + "\"?"
				} else {
					query = "Do you really want to destroy all resources?"
				}
				desc = "Terraform will destroy all your managed infrastructure, as shown above.\n" +
					"There is no undo. Only 'yes' will be accepted to confirm."
			case plans.RefreshOnlyMode:
				if len(plan.ActionTargetAddrs) > 0 {

View on GitHub (pinned to c9def3e214)

Solutions

1. Simply re-run the command; no state was changed because the apply never started.
2. If using automation with deadlines, increase the timeout so it does not elapse during planning.
3. Avoid sending interrupts near the end of a plan; use 'terraform stop' through the proper API and wait for graceful completion.

// This error is non-recoverable for the current run; treat as a clean stop.
if stopCtx.Err() != nil {
    runningOp.Result = backendrun.OperationFailure
    return // surface 'execution halted' to the user
}

When it happens

Trigger: The user sends an interrupt (Ctrl-C / SIGINT) or the operation's Stop function is invoked during the narrow window after plan completes and before the confirmation prompt or -auto-apply apply begins. The plan itself returned no error but the stop context is already cancelled.

Common situations: Pressing Ctrl-C exactly as a plan finishes; automation that cancels a run mid-plan; long plans where the user gives up at the last second; orchestrators that set a deadline that elapses right at the plan/apply boundary.

Related errors

• empty state name
• cannot delete default state
• Apply discarded.
• operation canceled
• execution halted

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/terraform@c9def3e214 (2026-08-07). Data as JSON: /api/errors/66d35e1060483d55. Report an issue: GitHub.