project name (--name %s) and stack reference project name (-

Error message

project name (--name %s) and stack reference project name (--stack %s) must be the same

What it means

`pulumi new` lets you pass both `--name` for the project name and `--stack` as a fully qualified stack reference containing its own project component. The CLI requires the project portion of the stack reference to match `--name`, otherwise the generated project and stack would be inconsistent. It refuses to proceed when they differ.

Source

Thrown at pkg/cmd/pulumi/project/newcmd/new.go:896

		// No potential for conflicting project names.
		return nil
	}

	// Catch the case where the user has specified a fully qualified stack reference.
	ref, err := b.ParseStackReference(stackName)
	if err != nil {
		// If we can't parse the stack reference, we can't compare the project names.
		// We assume the project names don't conflict and that this parsing issue will be handled downstream.
		return nil
	}
	stackProjectName, hasProject := ref.Project()
	if !hasProject {
		return nil
	}
	if projectName == stackProjectName.String() {
		return nil
	}
	return fmt.Errorf("project name (--name %s) and stack reference project name (--stack %s) must be the same",
		projectName, stackProjectName)
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 793f7b2e16)

Solutions

Make the project part of `--stack` identical to `--name`, e.g. `--name myproj --stack myorg/myproj/dev`
Drop `--name` and let it default from the stack reference
Drop `--stack` and use `--name` alone, choosing the stack interactively

Example fix

// before
pulumi new typescript --name myapp --stack myorg/legacy-app/prod
// after
pulumi new typescript --name myapp --stack myorg/myapp/prod

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Validate before invoking the CLI
const stack = "myorg/myapp/dev";
const name = "myapp";
const stackProject = stack.split("/")[1];
if (name !== stackProject) {
  throw new Error(`--name (${name}) must match project in --stack (${stackProject})`);
}

Try / catch

out, err := exec.Command("pulumi", "new", tpl, "--name", name, "--stack", stack).CombinedOutput()
if err != nil && strings.Contains(string(out), "must be the same") {
    // fix args: derive name from stack reference
    parts := strings.Split(stack, "/")
    name = parts[1]
    // retry with corrected name
}

Prevention

Derive --name from the --stack project segment instead of hardcoding both
Never mix an old stack reference with a renamed project
Assert name/stack consistency in wrapper scripts before calling pulumi

When it happens

Trigger: Running e.g. `pulumi new <template> --name myproj --stack myorg/otherproj/dev` — the project segment of `--stack` (otherproj) does not equal the `--name` value (myproj).

Common situations: Copy-pasting an existing stack reference while also setting a custom project name; renaming a project but reusing an old `--stack` value; scripting `pulumi new` with independently sourced name/stack values.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of pulumi/pulumi@793f7b2e16 (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c80d9e7b61a8ebcc. Report an issue: GitHub.