hashicorp/terraform · error

Failed to set state store configuration: %w

Error message

Failed to set state store configuration: %w

What it means

In Meta.stateStore_C_s (meta_backend.go:2272), Terraform calls StateStoreConfigState.SetConfig(storeConfigVal, b.ConfigSchema()) to serialize the decoded state_store configuration value into JSON against the backend/state-store schema. Failure means the state-store config value cannot be represented as JSON, almost always a state-store provider schema defect.

Source

Thrown at internal/command/meta_backend.go:2272

	pVersion, vDiags := getStateStorageProviderVersion(c, opts.Locks) // pVersion will remain nil for builtin, dev override, and unmanaged providers.
	diags = diags.Append(vDiags)
	if vDiags.HasErrors() {
		return nil, diags
	}

	s.Backend = nil // unset this; user may be running `terraform init -reconfigure` and there's a preexisting backend state file.
	s.StateStore = &workdir.StateStoreConfigState{
		Type: c.Type,
		Hash: uint64(stateStoreHash),
		Provider: &workdir.ProviderConfigState{
			Source:  &c.ProviderAddr,
			Version: pVersion,
		},
		ProviderSupplyMode: c.ProviderSupplyMode,
	}
	err := s.StateStore.SetConfig(storeConfigVal, b.ConfigSchema())
	if err != nil {
		diags = diags.Append(fmt.Errorf("Failed to set state store configuration: %w", err))
		return nil, diags
	}

	err = s.StateStore.Provider.SetConfig(providerConfigVal, b.ProviderSchema())
	if err != nil {
		diags = diags.Append(fmt.Errorf("Failed to set state store provider configuration: %w", err))
		return nil, diags
	}

	// Verify that selected workspace exists in the state store.
	if opts.Init && b != nil {
		if err := m.selectWorkspace(b); err != nil {
			if errors.Is(err, &errBackendNoExistingWorkspaces{}) {
				ws, err := m.Workspace()
				if err != nil {
					diags = diags.Append(fmt.Errorf("Failed to check current workspace: %w", err))
					return nil, diags
				}

View on GitHub (pinned to c9def3e214)

Solutions

1. Read the wrapped `%w` to confirm it is a JSON/cty type failure, indicating a provider schema defect.
2. Pin the state-store provider to a known-good version in the lock file and re-run `terraform init`.
3. Reduce the state_store block to the minimum to isolate the failing attribute and report it to the provider maintainer.
4. If recently upgraded Terraform core, try the previous Terraform version to rule out a core regression.

// Validate the state_store config serializes against the backend schema before init writes it.
func stateStoreConfigSerializes(b backend.Backend, storeVal cty.Value) error {
    st := &workdir.StateStoreConfigState{Type: "x"}
    return st.SetConfig(storeVal, b.ConfigSchema())
}

When it happens

Trigger: A state_store provider whose schema does not match the values it accepts, so the cty.Value fails JSON round-tripping; using an incompatible provider version with this Terraform build.

Common situations: State-store provider plugin with a schema regression; exotic/sensitive attribute types the JSON marshaler cannot encode.

Related errors

• Can't serialize backend configuration as JSON: %s
• Failed to set state store provider configuration: %w
• error converting output values to json: %s
• failed to marshal outputs to json: %w
• could not marshal output %s type: %w

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/terraform@c9def3e214 (2026-08-07). Data as JSON: /api/errors/87e33a4ab755b503. Report an issue: GitHub.