lifecycle.action_trigger executes actions before resource creation/update is completed #37930
Description
Terraform Version
Terraform v1.14.0
on darwin_arm64
+ provider registry.terraform.io/hashicorp/local v2.6.1Terraform Configuration Files
resource "local_file" "foo" {
content = "foo!bar"
filename = "/tmp/foo.bar"
lifecycle {
action_trigger {
events = [after_create, after_update]
actions = [action.local_command.bar]
}
}
}
action "local_command" "bar" {
config {
command = "cat"
arguments = ["/tmp/foo.bar"]
}
}Debug Output
https://gist.github.com/jeremmfr/87c348af5c77d22e5e10c8133d99e821
Expected Behavior
When using lifecycle.action_trigger with after_create or after_update events, the triggered action should execute after the resource has been fully created/updated and its side effects (like file creation) are completed.
In the example above, the local_command action should run after the file /tmp/foo.bar has been successfully written to disk, allowing the cat command to read its contents.
Actual Behavior
The action is triggered before the resource creation is completed. The local_command action fails because the file /tmp/foo.bar does not exist yet when the action attempts to read it.
This suggests that after_create and after_update events are firing before the resource's side effects are finalized, despite the "after_" prefix implying completion.
Steps to Reproduce
- Create a Terraform configuration with the above code
terraform initterraform apply- Observe that the action fails with an error indicating the file does not exist
Additional Context
This timing issue affects the reliability of action_trigger when actions depend on the actual completion of resource operations, not just the API call completion.
References
None
Generative AI / LLM assisted development?
No