How to fix Error: Invalid character - This character is not used within the language in Terraform

The error message includes a line number. Open your .tf file and locate that exact line. Look closely for any unusual characters around the column position mentioned.

Run: terraform fmt -recursive .

This reformats your HCL to correct many common syntax issues. If the error persists, the problematic character wasn't auto-fixed.

Look for curly/smart quotes (“ or ”) that should be straight quotes ("). Also check for non-ASCII characters. If you find them, replace with standard ASCII equivalents. For example:

Wrong: variable "name" { }

Correct: variable "name" { }

Check if your file starts with a BOM (Byte Order Mark). On Linux/Mac, use:

file yourfile.tf

If it shows "UTF-8 BOM", remove it with:

sed -i '1s/^\xEF\xBB\xBF//' yourfile.tf

On Windows, use a text editor like VS Code and change encoding to "UTF-8 without BOM".

Resource names and variable names must contain only letters, numbers, underscores, and hyphens (though hyphens are not allowed in variable names). Examples:

Wrong: resource "aws_instance" "my-server@prod" { }

Correct: resource "aws_instance" "my_server_prod" { }

Wrong: variable "my-var-name" { }

Correct: variable "my_var_name" { }

If the above steps don't work, delete the problematic line and re-type it manually. This ensures you avoid any hidden characters that may have been copied from the source.

Run: terraform validate

This performs a more thorough syntax check. If validation passes, your HCL syntax is correct.