hashicorp/terraform · error

Expected a single argument: NAME.

Error message

Expected a single argument: NAME.

What it means

Returned by ParseWorkspaceDelete (workspace_delete.go:52) when, after flag parsing, zero positional arguments remain — i.e. the user ran 'terraform workspace delete' with no NAME. The command requires exactly one workspace name to delete. ParseWorkspaceDelete still returns a WorkspaceDelete with an empty Name and the diagnostics, so the caller can choose how to surface it.

Source

Thrown at internal/command/arguments/workspace_delete.go:52

	var stateLock bool
	var stateLockTimeout time.Duration
	cmdFlags := defaultFlagSet("workspace delete")
	cmdFlags.BoolVar(&force, "force", false, "force removal of a non-empty workspace")
	cmdFlags.BoolVar(&stateLock, "lock", true, "lock state")
	cmdFlags.DurationVar(&stateLockTimeout, "lock-timeout", 0, "lock timeout")
	if err := cmdFlags.Parse(args); err != nil {
		diags = diags.Append(tfdiags.Sourceless(
			tfdiags.Error,
			"Failed to parse command-line flags",
			err.Error(),
		))
	}

	// `workspace delete` takes only one positional argument: workspace name.
	args = cmdFlags.Args()
	var name string
	if len(args) == 0 {
		diags = diags.Append(errors.New("Expected a single argument: NAME.")) // Recreating pre-existing error from command package
	} else {

		// Obtain and validate name argument
		//
		// We purposefully don't use ValidWorkspaceName here; if a user
		// creates a workspace with an invalid name they should be able to
		// delete it easily.
		name = args[0]
		if name == "" {
			diags = diags.Append(fmt.Errorf("Expected a workspace name as an argument, instead got an empty string: %q\n", args[0]))
		}

		// Checking for extra arguments here, not with a len != 1 check above, allows the name to be returned
		args = args[1:]
		if len(args) != 0 {
			diags = diags.Append(errors.New("Expected a single argument: NAME."))
		}
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to c9def3e214)

Solutions

1. Provide the workspace name: 'terraform workspace delete NAME'.
2. List workspaces first with 'terraform workspace list' to get the exact name.
3. If scripting, validate the name variable is non-empty before invoking the command.

Example fix

# before
$ terraform workspace delete
# after
$ terraform workspace delete my-old-workspace

// Validate delete args before invoking the CLI/parser.
func validateDeleteName(args []string) error {
    if len(args) == 0 {
        return errors.New("workspace delete requires a NAME argument")
    }
    return nil
}

When it happens

Trigger: Line 49-52: cmdFlags.Args() returns len(args)==0, so errors.New("Expected a single argument: NAME.") is appended to diags.

Common situations: Typing 'terraform workspace delete' without a name; a script that interpolates a variable which expands to empty; alias confusion with 'terraform delete'.

Related errors

• Expected a single argument: NAME.
• Expected a single argument: NAME.
• Too many command line arguments. Did you mean to use -chdir?
• error deleting workspace %s: %v
• Expected a workspace name as an argument, instead got an emp

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/terraform@c9def3e214 (2026-08-07). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c22d6007486dacea. Report an issue: GitHub.