Fix: Provider produced inconsistent final plan

This error means the provider broke a core Terraform contract: during apply it returned a value for some attribute that did not match the value it promised during planning. Terraform stops rather than record state it cannot trust. The wording sounds like your fault, but it is almost always a provider bug or a provider and state drift issue, and the error itself asks you to report it. Your job is to work around it safely while it gets fixed upstream.

Error: Provider produced inconsistent final plan

When expanding the plan for aws_instance.web to include new values learned
so far during apply, provider "registry.terraform.io/hashicorp/aws" produced
an invalid new value for .metadata_options[0].http_protocol_ipv6: was
cty.StringVal("disabled"), but now cty.StringVal("").

This is a bug in the provider, which should be reported in the provider's
own issue tracker.

What this error means

Terraform planning is a promise. For every attribute, the provider either commits to a concrete planned value or marks it as unknown until apply. During apply the provider must return exactly the value it planned, or a value consistent with an unknown. When the applied value differs from a value that was planned as concrete, Terraform cannot reconcile the plan with reality and aborts. That mismatch is a defect in the provider’s plan or apply logic, which is why the error points you at the provider’s issue tracker rather than your code.

Common causes

• A provider bug in how it computes or normalizes an attribute, so the applied value differs from the planned one.
• An outdated provider version with a known defect on the resource or attribute named in the error.
• State drift: the real resource changed outside Terraform, and the provider’s read logic mishandles the difference.
• An attribute the provider normalizes server side (empty string versus a default) that it fails to represent consistently.
• An unusual combination of settings on a resource that exposes a latent provider defect.

How to fix it

Stabilize

1. Read the error and note the exact resource and attribute named. In the example it is aws_instance.web and metadata_options[0].http_protocol_ipv6. That attribute is your whole focus.

2. Check the provider version you are pinned to, since an upgrade is the cleanest fix.

terraform version

Diagnose

1. Refresh state to see whether drift is feeding the inconsistency, then plan again. Sometimes a stale state entry is enough to trigger it.

terraform apply -refresh-only
terraform plan

2. If it persists, look up the provider changelog for the named attribute. These are common, tracked defects, and the fix may already be released.

Fix

The preferred fix is to upgrade the provider to a version that resolves the bug. Raise the version constraint, then upgrade and re plan.

terraform {
  required_providers {
    aws = {
      source  = "hashicorp/aws"
      version = ">= 5.60.0"
    }
  }
}

terraform init -upgrade
terraform plan

If no fixed version is available yet, tell Terraform to stop reconciling the specific attribute that churns, scoped as narrowly as possible:

resource "aws_instance" "web" {
  # ...
  lifecycle {
    ignore_changes = [metadata_options[0].http_protocol_ipv6]
  }
}

Then file the bug on the provider’s issue tracker with your Terraform and provider versions and the exact error, and remove the ignore_changes once a fixed version ships.

How to prevent it

• Pin provider versions and upgrade on a schedule, so you pick up bug fixes without surprise jumps.
• Read provider changelogs before and after upgrades, watching for entries on resources you use heavily.
• Keep state in sync with reality by avoiding out of band changes to Terraform managed resources.
• Scope any ignore_changes workaround to the exact attribute, and track it as tech debt to remove later.
• Reproduce and report these bugs upstream, since a reported and fixed defect helps everyone including your next run.

When to call a senior engineer

If upgrading does not clear it, if the inconsistency spans several resources, or if ignore_changes starts masking real configuration you need Terraform to manage, you are dealing with a deeper provider or state problem that needs careful handling. Getting it wrong means either a stuck pipeline or state that quietly diverges from your live infrastructure. Erzon engineers can pin down whether it is the provider, the state, or an interaction of both, apply a safe workaround, and drive the upstream fix so your applies stop breaking.