Pulumi "no resource plugin found" - Install the Provider Plugin
Pulumi needs a downloaded provider plugin that matches the SDK version your program imports, and the workspace has none. On a clean CI runner the plugin was never installed, or the auto-download failed.
What this error means
pulumi preview/up aborts with no resource plugin "<name>" found, naming the provider and a version. When the auto-download from the plugin registry timed out, re-running often succeeds - the signature of a transient fetch rather than a real version mismatch.
error: no resource plugin 'aws' found in the workspace or on your $PATH,
install the plugin using `pulumi plugin install resource aws v6.40.0`
error downloading provider: failed to download plugin: connection resetCommon causes
Plugin not installed on the runner
A fresh CI runner has no plugin cache. If the program’s SDK version is not satisfied by a pre-installed plugin, Pulumi must download it - and that step may be missing from the workflow.
Auto-download failed transiently
Pulumi tries to fetch the plugin from its registry. A network blip, reset, or registry slowness makes the download fail, which clears on retry.
How to fix it
Install the exact plugin version before previewing
Install the provider plugin matching your SDK so the program has it locally and no download races the build.
pulumi plugin install resource aws v6.40.0
pulumi preview --stack org/proj/devCache plugins and retry the fetch
- Cache
~/.pulumi/pluginskeyed on your lockfile so plugins persist between runs. - Keep the provider SDK version pinned so the required plugin version is stable.
- If a download failed mid-fetch, re-run - a transient registry error usually clears.
How to prevent it
- Pin provider SDK versions so the required plugin version is deterministic.
- Cache
~/.pulumi/pluginskeyed on the dependency lockfile. - Run
pulumi plugin installexplicitly rather than relying on lazy auto-download.