pulumi/pulumi · error

resolving stack: %w

Error message

resolving stack: %w

What it means

`pulumi stack drift status` resolves the target stack with RequireStack (LoadOnly) before querying drift status from Pulumi Cloud. Any error from that resolution — stack not found, wrong project, backend/auth problems — is wrapped with 'resolving stack: %w', mirroring the drift list command.

Source

Thrown at pkg/cmd/pulumi/stack/stack_drift_status.go:110

	constrictor.AttachArguments(cmd, constrictor.NoArgs)

	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&dscmd.stack, "stack", "s", "",
		"The name of the stack to operate on. Defaults to the current stack")
	outputflag.Var(cmd.Flags(), &dscmd.output)

	return cmd
}

func defaultDriftStatusClientFactory(
	ctx context.Context, stackFlag string,
) (driftStatusClient, client.StackIdentifier, error) {
	ws := pkgWorkspace.Instance
	opts := display.Options{Color: cmdutil.GetGlobalColorization()}

	s, err := RequireStack(ctx, cmdutil.Diag(), ws, cmdBackend.DefaultLoginManager,
		stackFlag, LoadOnly, opts, "")
	if err != nil {
		return nil, client.StackIdentifier{}, fmt.Errorf("resolving stack: %w", err)
	}

	cloudStack, ok := s.(httpstate.Stack)
	if !ok {
		return nil, client.StackIdentifier{},
			errors.New("drift commands require the Pulumi Cloud backend; run `pulumi login`")
	}

	ref := cloudStack.Ref()
	project := ""
	if p, ok := ref.Project(); ok {
		project = string(p)
	}
	stackID := client.StackIdentifier{
		Owner:   cloudStack.OrgName(),
		Project: project,
		Stack:   ref.Name(),
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to 793f7b2e16)

Solutions

1. Run `pulumi stack ls` and pass the exact fully qualified stack name via --stack.
2. Run from the project directory so the stack reference resolves correctly.
3. Re-authenticate (`pulumi login`) and verify PULUMI_ACCESS_TOKEN in CI is valid.
4. Read the wrapped cause text for the specific underlying failure.

Example fix

// before
pulumi stack drift status --stack prod   # in a dir with no Pulumi.yaml
// after
cd path/to/project && pulumi stack drift status --stack my-org/my-project/prod

pulumi stack ls | grep -Fx 'my-org/my-project/dev' || exit 1

if errText contains "resolving stack:" {
    // correct --stack ref or re-login, then retry
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `pulumi stack drift status` when the --stack reference cannot be resolved to an existing loadable stack: nonexistent stack, missing Pulumi.yaml context, expired credentials, or unreachable backend.

Common situations: Typos in stack names; running the command outside the project directory; being logged into the wrong backend or organization; CI environments where PULUMI_ACCESS_TOKEN is missing or invalid.

Related errors

• load stack: %w
• loading stack %q for decryption: %w
• loading stack %q: %w
• resolving stack: %w
• could not determine current cloud: %w

AI-assisted analysis of pulumi/pulumi@793f7b2e16 (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/23dbd19483e7e610. Report an issue: GitHub.