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Terraform CLI

Terraform saved plan is stale

Saved plan is stale

Terraform refused to apply a previously saved plan because the current state changed after the plan file was created.

Saved plan is stalestate

Observed message

Saved plan is stale

Why it happens

  • The state changed after the plan file was created.
  • Another user or automation run applied infrastructure changes before the saved plan was used.
  • The plan file no longer matches the latest state snapshot.

How to fix it

  1. Generate a fresh plan from the current state before applying changes.
  2. Avoid long delays between creating a plan and applying it in shared environments.
  3. Coordinate Terraform runs so multiple actors are not changing the same state concurrently.

Official reference

Terraform: Save a generated execution plan

Related errors

Error acquiring the state lockTerraform could not acquire the state lockFailed to marshal state to json: unsupported attributeTerraform failed to marshal state to JSON with unsupported attributeSaved plan does not match the given stateTerraform saved plan does not match the current statestate snapshot was created by Terraform vX, which is newer than current vYTerraform state was created by a newer Terraform version

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Terraform Saved plan is stale: causes and fixes | Error Atlas