Error: No configuration files: "Apply requires configuration to be present"

TL;DR

You ran Terraform in a directory that has no .tf files. Nothing is broken; you are just in the wrong folder. cd into the directory that holds your configuration and run the command again.

The error

Error: No configuration files
Apply requires configuration to be present.

Steps to fix

1. Check where you are: pwd and ls *.tf.

   • Expected: no .tf files listed, confirming the diagnosis.

2. Move to the configuration directory:

   cd terraform

   (use your actual config path)

   • Expected: ls *.tf now lists your configuration files.

3. Re-run the command (terraform plan, terraform apply, ...).

   • Expected: Terraform loads the configuration instead of erroring.

When to use this

• Any Terraform command fails instantly with No configuration files, typically after cloning a repo, in CI with a wrong working-directory, or in a monorepo where the config lives in a subfolder.

When NOT to use this

• Backend initialization required means config was found but init is missing. In CI, prefer setting the job's working directory over cd in scripts.

Compatibility

• All Terraform versions; the check is unchanged.

Root cause

Terraform only reads configuration from the current working directory (plus -chdir). An empty directory, the repo root of a monorepo, or a CI checkout at the wrong path contains no .tf files, so there is nothing to plan or apply.

Edge cases

• Hidden gotcha: .tf files that are all commented out still count as present; this error is strictly about missing files.
• terraform -chdir=path plan lets you stay put and point at the config directory.
• In CI, a stale working-directory after a repo restructure is the usual culprit; fix the workflow, not the repo.