State file gone — everything shows as new

Symptoms

• terraform plan shows everything will be created (no existing resources in state)
• Plan output shows +N to add, 0 to change, 0 to destroy for all resources
• State file deleted or never existed for existing infrastructure

If state is truly gone and no remote backend exists, you must import every resource manually. This is why remote backends with versioning are mandatory.

Evidence to grab

Collect these artifacts before you change anything — they prove (or rule out) each cause.

• Plan showing all creates

  Copy
  terraform plan 2>&1 | tail -5

• State list empty

  Copy
  terraform state list

Diagnostic flow

Run the steps in order, marking each claim confirmed or refuted. The evidence you gather feeds the ranked causes below.

Resolution runbook

Apply from top to bottom after the cause is confirmed. Review every command before running it — risk tags are shown on each.

Prevention

• Always use remote backends with versioning enabled.
• Never store state locally in production.
• Run terraform state pull weekly and verify the resource count.
• Use terraform cloud or Spacelift for state management with audit trails.