hashicorp/terraform · error

Expected a single argument: NAME.

Error message

Expected a single argument: NAME.

What it means

Returned at workspace_delete.go:52 when 'terraform workspace delete' is invoked with zero positional arguments after flag parsing. The command requires exactly one positional argument: the workspace NAME. This is a CLI argument validation error appended to diagnostics.

Solutions

1. Provide the workspace name: 'terraform workspace delete <workspace-name>'.
2. Check shell scripts for unquoted or empty variables passed as the workspace name.
3. Run 'terraform workspace list' to see available workspace names.

Example fix

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

// after
terraform workspace delete my-workspace

// Before calling workspace delete, validate the name is provided:
// if name == "" {
//     return fmt.Errorf("workspace name is required")
// }
// exec.Command("terraform", "workspace", "delete", name)

When it happens

Trigger: Running 'terraform workspace delete' with no workspace name argument, or providing only flags (e.g., 'terraform workspace delete -force' with no name). workspace_delete.go:50 checks 'len(args) == 0' after cmdFlags.Args().

Common situations: Typing 'terraform workspace delete' and forgetting the name; shell scripts that pass an empty variable as the workspace name; copy-paste errors omitting the workspace argument.

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/c22d6007486dacea. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: 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 d32a084675)