How to fix Error: Invalid resource type in Terraform

Verify that the resource type in your configuration exactly matches the provider documentation. Resource types follow the pattern: 'provider_resource'.

# Wrong - typo in resource type
resource "aws_instace" "example" {
  # configuration...
}

# Correct
resource "aws_instance" "example" {
  # configuration...
}

Common typos:
- 'aws_instace' instead of 'aws_instance'
- 'azurem_resource_group' instead of 'azurerm_resource_group'
- 'gcp_compute_instance' instead of 'google_compute_instance'

Check the official Terraform Registry documentation for the correct resource type name for your provider.

Add the provider to your required_providers block in the terraform configuration:

terraform {
  required_providers {
    aws = {
      source  = "hashicorp/aws"
      version = "~> 5.0"
    }
  }
}

For custom or third-party providers, use the full source path:

terraform {
  required_providers {
    custom = {
      source  = "example.com/custom/provider"
      version = "1.0.0"
    }
  }
}

Then add the provider configuration block:

provider "aws" {
  region = "us-east-1"
}

Initialize your Terraform working directory to download and install the required provider plugins:

terraform init

This command reads the required_providers block and downloads the specified provider versions. If you see 'provider not found', ensure your source URL is correct and accessible.

If using a private registry or custom provider:

terraform init -upgrade

This forces Terraform to re-evaluate and download the latest available versions of providers.

After running terraform init, check that the correct provider was downloaded:

terraform providers

This shows all installed providers. If the expected provider is missing, check:
- The source URL in required_providers is correct
- You have network access to the provider registry
- The provider version constraints allow at least one version to be downloaded

View the full provider documentation:

terraform providers show

For official HashiCorp providers, visit https://registry.terraform.io to verify the correct source path and available resource types.

Some resource types are only available in newer versions of providers. Check when the resource was added:

terraform {
  required_providers {
    aws = {
      source  = "hashicorp/aws"
      version = "~> 5.0"  # Adjust version if resource is new
    }
  }
}

If the resource type was recently added to the provider, increase the version constraint. Check the provider's CHANGELOG or documentation to see when the resource became available.

To update a provider to its latest version:

terraform init -upgrade