Confusing error when GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS not set #2064
Description
The error message is quite confusing when GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS is not set. For example:
$ terraformer import google --resources=networks,subnetworks --connect=true --regions=us-central1 --projects=my-project
2025/08/03 11:20:51 google importing project my-project region us-central1
2025-08-03T11:20:53.399-0700 [ERROR] plugin.terraform-provider-google_v4.85.0_x5: Response contains error diagnostic: @caller=github.com/hashicorp/[email protected]/tfprotov5/internal/diag/diagnostics.go:55 diagnostic_attribute="" diagnostic_severity=ERROR tf_provider_addr=registry.terraform.io/hashicorp/google tf_req_id=b342fe57-26da-bc92-dcba-e62bb7c88121 tf_rpc=Configure @module=sdk.proto
diagnostic_detail=
| An unexpected error was encountered trying to build a value. This is always an error in the provider. Please report the following to the provider developer:
|
| Received null value, however the target type cannot handle null values. Use the corresponding `types` package type, a pointer type or a custom type that handles null values.
|
| Path:
| Target Type: fwmodels.ProviderModel
| Suggested `types` Type: basetypes.ObjectValue
| Suggested Pointer Type: *fwmodels.ProviderModel
diagnostic_summary="Value Conversion Error" tf_proto_version=5.3 timestamp=2025-08-03T11:20:53.399-0700
The tool should validate the value and generates actionable error message.