How to fix Error: Provider produced inconsistent final plan in Terraform

The most common fix is upgrading to a newer provider version, as many inconsistent final plan bugs are fixed regularly.

terraform {
  required_providers {
    aws = {
      source  = "hashicorp/aws"
      version = "~> 5.0"  # Use latest stable
    }
  }
}

Then run:

terraform init -upgrade
terraform plan
terraform apply

Search the provider's GitHub repository for this error and your specific resource type. For AWS provider, visit: https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform-provider-aws/issues

Search terms to use:
- "inconsistent final plan" + resource name (e.g., "aws_lambda_function")
- Your specific error from the logs

If you find a matching issue, check if:
- It's been fixed in a newer version (upgrade)
- A workaround is documented
- You should report the issue if it's not already filed

If the issue is with a specific computed attribute, you can ignore changes to that attribute. This tells Terraform to ignore any differences that appear after apply:

resource "aws_lambda_function" "example" {
  filename      = "function.zip"
  function_name = "my-function"
  role          = aws_iam_role.example.arn
  handler       = "index.handler"

  lifecycle {
    ignore_changes = [source_code_hash]
  }
}

Replace source_code_hash with whatever attribute is causing the inconsistency. You can find this in the error message or logs.

Sometimes the inconsistency is transient. Try running the same apply command again:

terraform apply

If it succeeds on the second try, the infrastructure was actually created correctly despite the error. This indicates a temporary issue like a race condition.

If it fails again with the same error, proceed to the next steps.

If apply partially succeeded and the resource was created, you can import it into Terraform state:

# Remove the resource from state
terraform state rm aws_lambda_function.example

# Import it back using its AWS ID
terraform import aws_lambda_function.example my-function

Then run plan again to see if the inconsistency persists. This refreshes the state with actual values from AWS.

If you've confirmed this is a provider bug not yet fixed:

1. Collect information:
- Terraform version: terraform version
- Provider version: terraform version -json | jq .provider_selections
- Resource configuration (sanitized)
- Full error output
- Reproduction steps

2. Open a GitHub issue on the provider's repository (e.g., terraform-provider-aws)

3. Include a minimal reproducible example (MRE) that triggers the error

This helps provider maintainers prioritize and fix the issue.

As a last resort, if you're blocked, try using an older stable provider version:

required_providers {
  aws = {
    source  = "hashicorp/aws"
    version = "4.55.0"  # Use known-stable version
  }
}

Run:

terraform init -upgrade
terraform plan

If this works, file a bug report that the issue exists in the newer version. This is temporary—upgrade once the provider is fixed.