hashicorp/terraform · error

Expected a single argument: NAME.

Error message

Expected a single argument: NAME.

What it means

Returned at workspace_new.go:51 when 'terraform workspace new' is invoked with a number of positional arguments that is not exactly 1. The command requires exactly one positional argument: the workspace NAME. Unlike delete/select, this uses a strict 'len(args) != 1' check, so both zero arguments and two-or-more arguments trigger it.

Solutions

1. Provide exactly one workspace name: 'terraform workspace new <workspace-name>'.
2. Create workspaces one at a time.
3. Validate the workspace name variable is non-empty and single-valued in scripts.

Example fix

// before
terraform workspace new
// error: Expected a single argument: NAME.

// after
terraform workspace new my-new-workspace

// Validate exactly one name is provided before calling workspace new:
// if len(names) != 1 {
//     return fmt.Errorf("workspace new requires exactly one name")
// }
// exec.Command("terraform", "workspace", "new", names[0])

When it happens

Trigger: Running 'terraform workspace new' with no name, or 'terraform workspace new name1 name2'. workspace_new.go:49-50 checks 'len(args) != 1' immediately after flag parsing.

Common situations: Forgetting to specify a workspace name; trying to create multiple workspaces in one command; shell scripts passing empty or multiple values.

Related errors

• Expected a single argument: NAME.
• Expected a single argument: NAME.
• Too many command line arguments. Did you mean to use -chdir?
• A managed resource address is required. Importing into a…
• errInitCopyNotEmpty

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/terraform@d32a084675 (2026-08-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/96c2b89b560e0e41. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at internal/command/arguments/workspace_new.go:51

	var stateLock bool
	var stateLockTimeout time.Duration
	var statePath string
	cmdFlags := defaultFlagSet("workspace new")
	cmdFlags.BoolVar(&stateLock, "lock", true, "lock state")
	cmdFlags.DurationVar(&stateLockTimeout, "lock-timeout", 0, "lock timeout")
	cmdFlags.StringVar(&statePath, "state", "", "terraform state file")
	if err := cmdFlags.Parse(args); err != nil {
		diags = diags.Append(tfdiags.Sourceless(
			tfdiags.Error,
			"Failed to parse command-line flags",
			err.Error(),
		))
	}

	// `workspace new` takes only one positional argument: workspace name.
	args = cmdFlags.Args()
	if len(args) != 1 {
		diags = diags.Append(errors.New("Expected a single argument: NAME.")) // Recreating pre-existing error from command package
	}

	// Obtain and validate name argument, but only if there is the expected number of arguments.
	var name string
	if len(args) == 1 {
		name = args[0]
		if !ValidWorkspaceName(name) {
			diags = diags.Append(fmt.Errorf(EnvInvalidName, name))
		}
	}

	return &WorkspaceNew{
		Workspace:   Workspace{ViewType: ViewHuman},
		Name:        name,
		Lock:        stateLock,
		LockTimeout: stateLockTimeout,
		StatePath:   statePath,
	}, diags

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