textDocument/references always returns []

[fullykubed]

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Language Server Version

0.1.1

OpenTofu Version

OpenTofu v1.10.6 on linux_amd64

Client Version

NVIM v0.11.4 interacting with nvim.lsp.config

OpenTofu Configuration

terraform {
  required_providers {
    kubernetes = {
      source  = "hashicorp/kubernetes"
      version = "2.34.0"
    }
    helm = {
      source  = "hashicorp/helm"
      version = "2.12.1"
    }
  }
}

variable "test" {

}

locals {
  test = var.test
}

Steps to Reproduce

1. Create a module with a main.tf with the above contents.
2. Observe that go-to-definition on var.test works as expected.
3. Attempt to show the references for test.

Expected Behavior

It should return one reference, the usage in the locals block.

Actual Behavior

tofu-ls returns an empty array.

Example logs:

[ERROR][2025-10-07 20:23:11] ...p/_transport.lua:36     "rpc"   "tofu-ls"       "stderr"        '2025/10/07 20:23:11 opts.go:215: Received request batch of size 1 (qlen=0)\n2025/10/07 20:23:11 opts.go:215: Dequeued request batch of length 1 (qlen=0)\n2025/10/07 20:23:11 rpc_logger.go:34: Incoming request for "textDocument/references" (ID 44): {"textDocument":{"uri":"file:///home/jack/repos/nixos-config/test/main.tf"},"position":{"line":12,"character":11}}\n2025/10/07 20:23:11 rpc_logger.go:55: Response to "textDocument/references" (ID 44): []\n2025/10/07 20:23:11 opts.go:215: Completed 1 requests [3.02154ms elapsed]\n'
[ERROR][2025-10-07 20:23:38] ...p/_transport.lua:36     "rpc"   "tofu-ls"       "stderr"        '2025/10/07 20:23:38 opts.go:215: Received request batch of size 1 (qlen=0)\n2025/10/07 20:23:38 opts.go:215: Dequeued request batch of length 1 (qlen=0)\n2025/10/07 20:23:38 rpc_logger.go:34: Incoming request for "textDocument/references" (ID 45): {"textDocument":{"uri":"file:///home/jack/repos/nixos-config/test/main.tf"},"position":{"line":12,"character":11}}\n2025/10/07 20:23:38 rpc_logger.go:55: Response to "textDocument/references" (ID 45): []\n2025/10/07 20:23:38 opts.go:215: Completed 1 requests [2.115459ms elapsed]\n'

It appears there is some sort of silent error in building the reference index:

 OpTypeDecodeReferenceTargets ... (err = %!s(<nil>), deferredJobs: [])
  OpTypeDecodeReferenceOrigins ... (err = %!s(<nil>), deferredJobs: [])

The :LSPInfo:

- tofu_ls (id: 2)
  - Version: 0.1.1
  - Root directory: ~/repos/nixos-config/test
  - Command: { "tofu-ls", "serve" }
  - Settings: vim.empty_dict()
  - Attached buffers: 67

Gist

No response

Workarounds

No.

I also tried to use terraform-ls and ran into the same issue.

References

No response

Help Wanted

• I'm interested in contributing a fix myself

[Gogotchuri]

Hello @fullykubed!
Thanks for submitting this issue. I will try to replicate it and get back to you

[Gogotchuri]

I have tested this against a few different cases, and unfortunately, I couldn't replicate the issue.
tofu-ls in my NeoVim 0.11.4 successfully finds the references.
If you can provide the complete log, it might help. Clean the existing log, directly open the file, and trigger the references call.

[fullykubed]

Absolutely! I will put together some more logs and post my full configuration later today.

[fullykubed]

@Gogotchuri I created a repo where I reproduced the issue locally: https://github.com/fullykubed/tf-demo

Additionally, here is a gist with the full LSP logs from a fresh NVIM session on this project where I tried to retrieve the references (with log-level set to TRACE).

Finally, here is the full config that I used for the LSP server and client. Note that I also tested it without the complex on_attach handler and got the same results.

[fullykubed]

Note that references work as expected in every other installed LSP, every other piece of functionality for tofu-ls appears functional, and I have confirmed that this same issue is impacting another colleague in his NVIM setup as well.

All of that leads me to believe there is a bug here, but it is definitely odd that it is working well for you.

[Gogotchuri]

Thanks for all the details. I will give it another try later.
@fullykubed Your reproduction repository returns 404 https://github.com/fullykubed/tf-demo

[fullykubed]

@Gogotchuri Apologies. It is now public.

[diofeher]

While testing #129, I reproduced this bug with Vim 9.0.2142. "Go to Definition" works as expected, but "References" does not.

[Gogotchuri]

@diofeher What was the reproduction trigger? Is there something specific about the configuration or setup?

[diofeher]

@Gogotchuri I was using this small configuration:

  terraform {
    required_providers {
      fastly = {
        source  = "fastly/fastly"
        version = "~> 8.3.0"
      }
    }
  }

  variable "test" {
    type = string
    default = "test"
  }

  output "test" {
    value = var.test
  }

If I go to var.test, I can go back to the definition of variable "test". But the opposite is not true. This bug is probably specific to NeoVim/Vim, since I couldn't reproduce it in the other editors I have set up here.

My Vim is set up with this config: https://github.com/neoclide/coc.nvim?tab=readme-ov-file#example-vim-configuration, and the LSP configuration is the same as in the USAGE.md docs.

[j-krl]

I've got the exact same issue in neovim 0.11.4. References don't work, and go to definition doesn't work intermittently. In some modules it works and in some it doesn't.

Interestingly I don't get the same issues with terraform-ls. References and go to definition work fine there.

[fullykubed]

@Gogotchuri were you ever able to reproduce?

[Gogotchuri]

@fullykubed, I have reproduced it for resources and modules; unfortunately, I haven't been able to reproduce it for variables.
I will try to fix the side I have been able to reproduce; it might solve your issue with variables as collateral.
Otherwise, @diofeher will take a look at it, since he had success.