#20501·pulumi

Improve error message when environment open fails

Author: borisschlosserCreated Sep 15, 2025Updated Sep 17, 2026

Labelskind/enhancementpulumi/pulumi

Hello!

Vote on this issue by adding a reaction
If you want to implement this feature, comment to let us know (we'll work with you on design, scheduling, etc.)

Issue details

When running pulumi up and the environment open call fails the error message is not very clear.

Example:

error: getting stack configuration: opening environment: [0] 
Diags: no matching item

environment:
  - my/environment
config:
  key: value

imports:
  - default/my-import
values:
  stackRefs:
    fn::open::pulumi-stacks:
      stacks:
        not-existing:
          stack: not-existing/my-not-existing-stack
  pulumiConfig:
    aiDomainNameV2: ${stackRefs.not-existing.something}

Expected:

error: getting stack configuration: failed to open environment 'my/environment'
the environment definition contains errors:
- line 5, column 5 → values.stackRefs: no matching item

Affected area/feature

pulumi config
pulumi service

Source: pulumi/pulumi

View original on GitHub View discussion on GitHub