hashicorp/terraform · error

registry response includes invalid version string

Error message

registry response includes invalid version string %q: %s

What it means

Thrown while parsing the 'protocols' array from the registry's package-version response. Each protocol string is parsed with ParseVersion; the first that fails aborts the request as a registry query failure.

Solutions

  1. Report the malformed protocol string to the registry operator
  2. If self-hosting the registry, emit protocol versions as full 'MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH' without a 'v' prefix
  3. Confirm the registry endpoint implements the expected provider-protocol schema
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Try / catch

meta, err := c.PackageMeta(ctx, provider, version, target)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "invalid version string") {
    return fmt.Errorf("registry returned a malformed protocol version for %s: %w", provider, err)
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: ParseVersion(versionStr) returned an error for an entry in body.Protocols (e.g. '5', 'v5.2.0', '5.x', empty string, non-semver token).

Common situations: Registry returns a protocol string without required minor/patch components or with a leading 'v'; custom/airgapped registry emitting a non-semver format; schema regression where protocols field contains a single combined string instead of an array.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/terraform@d32a084675 (2026-08-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2d151a9934bbefa2. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at internal/getproviders/registry_client.go:246

		SHA256SumsURL          string `json:"shasums_url"`
		SHA256SumsSignatureURL string `json:"shasums_signature_url"`

		SigningKeys SigningKeyList `json:"signing_keys"`
	}
	var body ResponseBody

	dec := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body)
	if err := dec.Decode(&body); err != nil {
		return PackageMeta{}, c.errQueryFailed(provider, err)
	}

	var protoVersions VersionList
	for _, versionStr := range body.Protocols {
		v, err := ParseVersion(versionStr)
		if err != nil {
			return PackageMeta{}, c.errQueryFailed(
				provider,
				fmt.Errorf("registry response includes invalid version string %q: %s", versionStr, err),
			)
		}
		protoVersions = append(protoVersions, v)
	}
	protoVersions.Sort()

	// Verify that this version of terraform supports the providers' protocol
	// version(s)
	if len(protoVersions) > 0 {
		supportedProtos := MeetingConstraints(SupportedPluginProtocols)
		protoErr := ErrProtocolNotSupported{
			Provider: provider,
			Version:  version,
		}
		match := false
		for _, version := range protoVersions {
			if supportedProtos.Has(version) {
				match = true

View on GitHub (pinned to d32a084675)