pulumi/pulumi · error

invalid value for %s: %s (expected true or false)

Error message

invalid value for %s: %s (expected true or false)

What it means

DeletionProtectedSetting.ValidateValue accepts only the literal strings "true" and "false" for the deletion-protection setting. Unlike general `env get/set`, which parse YAML and accept broader booleans (yes/no/on/off), settings commands restrict values to a well-defined, reliably parsed interface. Any other string produces this error.

Source

Thrown at pkg/cmd/esc/cli/env_setting_deletion_protected.go:41

const settingDeletionProtected settingName = "deletion-protected"

type DeletionProtectedSetting struct{}

func (s *DeletionProtectedSetting) KebabName() string {
	return "deletion-protected"
}

func (s *DeletionProtectedSetting) HelpText() string {
	return "Enable or disable deletion protection"
}

// ValidateValue accepts only "true" and "false" strings, unlike the general env {get,set} commands
// which parse YAML and accept broader boolean values like "yes", "no", "on", "off", etc.
// This restriction maintains compatibility while limiting the accepted subset to a well-defined
// interface that can be reliably parsed and validated.
func (s *DeletionProtectedSetting) ValidateValue(raw string) (bool, error) {
	if raw != "true" && raw != "false" {
		return false, fmt.Errorf("invalid value for %s: %s (expected true or false)", s.KebabName(), raw)
	}
	return raw == "true", nil
}

func (s *DeletionProtectedSetting) GetValue(settings *client.EnvironmentSettings) bool {
	return settings.DeletionProtected
}

func (s *DeletionProtectedSetting) SetValue(req *client.PatchEnvironmentSettingsRequest, value bool) {
	req.DeletionProtected = &value
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 793f7b2e16)

Solutions

1. Use exactly `true` or `false` (lowercase, no quotes needed in shell): `pulumi esc env set-settings my-env deletion-protected true`
2. Normalize the value before invoking: `value="${value,,}"` in bash to lowercase it first
3. If scripting, validate with a case statement on "true"/"false" before calling the CLI

Example fix

// before
$ pulumi esc env set-settings my-env deletion-protected yes
// after
$ pulumi esc env set-settings my-env deletion-protected true

const isValidSettingBool = (v) => v === "true" || v === "false";
if (!isValidSettingBool(rawValue)) {
  throw new Error(`deletion-protected must be exactly "true" or "false", got: ${rawValue}`);
}

const asStrictBool = (v) => (v === "true" ? true : v === "false" ? false : null);

When it happens

Trigger: Running `pulumi esc env set-settings <env> deletion-protected <value>` (or the settings get/set path that calls ValidateValue) where value is not exactly "true" or "false" — e.g. "yes", "True", "1", "enabled".

Common situations: Users habituating to YAML booleans pass "yes" or "on"; shell scripts pass "TRUE" with different casing; copying boolean syntax from other CLIs that accept 0/1.

Related errors

• stack name must not be empty
• organization name must be 'organization'
• no Pulumi.yaml project file found; either run this command f
• no environment name specified
• referring to an environment name ('env' or 'org/env') withou

AI-assisted analysis of pulumi/pulumi@793f7b2e16 (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4831ee1c1971efb8. Report an issue: GitHub.