the stack '%s' is newer than what this version of the Pulumi

Error message

the stack '%s' is newer than what this version of the Pulumi CLI understands. Please update your version of the Pulumi CLI

What it means

The deployment's schema version is newer than ErrDeploymentSchemaVersionTooNew allows: this CLI build predates the deployment format. The message advises updating the CLI.

Source

Thrown at pkg/resource/stack/deployment.go:1230

}

// FormatDeploymentDeserializationError formats deployment-related errors into user-friendly messages.
// It handles version compatibility errors and unsupported feature errors.
func FormatDeploymentDeserializationError(err error, stackName string) error {
	if unsupportedErr, ok := errors.AsType[*ErrDeploymentUnsupportedFeatures](err); ok {
		return fmt.Errorf(
			"the stack '%s' uses features that are not supported by this version of the Pulumi CLI: %s. "+
				"Please update your version of the Pulumi CLI",
			stackName, strings.Join(unsupportedErr.Features, ", "),
		)
	}

	switch {
	case errors.Is(err, ErrDeploymentSchemaVersionTooOld):
		return fmt.Errorf("the stack '%s' is too old to be used by this version of the Pulumi CLI",
			stackName)
	case errors.Is(err, ErrDeploymentSchemaVersionTooNew):
		return fmt.Errorf("the stack '%s' is newer than what this version of the Pulumi CLI understands. "+
			"Please update your version of the Pulumi CLI", stackName)
	}
	return fmt.Errorf("could not deserialize deployment: %w", err)
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 793f7b2e16)

Solutions

Upgrade the Pulumi CLI to at least the version that wrote the deployment (check 'pulumi version' vs the backend/UI's listed version)
Ensure CI/CD and local machines use the same CLI version
Pin the CLI version in infrastructure-as-code repos to prevent drift

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

if deployment.Version > maxSupportedSchemaVersion {
    return errors.New("deployment written by newer CLI; upgrade before loading")
}

Type guard

func isSchemaTooNew(err error) bool {
    return errors.Is(err, ErrDeploymentSchemaVersionTooNew)
}

Try / catch

if err := deserialize(dep); err != nil {
    if errors.Is(err, ErrDeploymentSchemaVersionTooNew) {
        return fmt.Errorf("run 'pulumi version'; upgrade CLI: %w", err)
    }
    return err
}

Prevention

Keep all environments (CI, dev, prod images) on the same CLI version
Pin the CLI version in Dockerfiles and package managers
Check 'pulumi version' before importing stacks from teammates

When it happens

Trigger: Deserializing a deployment whose schema version exceeds this CLI's DeploymentSchemaCurrent (errors.Is(err, ErrDeploymentSchemaVersionTooNew)).

Common situations: Mixing CLI versions — a teammate or CI upgraded Pulumi and wrote state, while another environment runs an older binary; stale Docker images or vendored binaries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of pulumi/pulumi@793f7b2e16 (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d1600d4b42414e06. Report an issue: GitHub.