Hi @lemon-scooter-94063 - we're having trouble getting started - where do we send a support ticket. We've tried running this through claude code a number of times but no success. We've upgraded to teams. Here is the overview: # Pulumi CLI Authentication Issue ## Environment - Pulumi CLI Version: Latest (as of Jan 2025) - OS: macOS Darwin 24.1.0 - Account Type: Team (recently upgraded from trial) - Organization: cogzia-org - Access Token: pul-[REDACTED] ## Issue Cannot authenticate with Pulumi CLI despite having a valid access token that works with the API directly. ## Error Message

error: getting user info from <https://app.pulumi.com>: unmarshalling response object: invalid character '<' looking for beginning of value

## What Works ✅ Token validates successfully via API:

bash
curl -H "Authorization: token pul-9d0...948b" \
     <https://api.pulumi.com/api/user>
# Returns valid JSON with user info

✅ Can list organizations via API:

bash
curl -H "Authorization: token pul-9d0...948b" \
     <https://api.pulumi.com/api/user> | jq '.organizations'
# Shows gregk-org and cogzia-org

## What Fails ❌ Method 1: Direct login with token

bash
pulumi login --access-token pul-9d0...948b
_# Initially shows: "Logged in to <http://pulumi.com|pulumi.com> as gregk"_
_# But then: pulumi whoami_
_# Error: getting user info from <https://app.pulumi.com>: unmarshalling response object: invalid character '<'_

❌ Method 2: Environment variable

bash
export PULUMI_ACCESS_TOKEN="pul-9d0...948b"
pulumi login
_# Same error as above_

❌ Method 3: Interactive login

bash
pulumi login
_# Opens browser, completes auth successfully_
_# But subsequent commands fail with same error_

❌ Method 4: Direct stack operations

bash
export PULUMI_ACCESS_TOKEN="pul-9d0...948b"
pulumi stack init prod
_# Error: Logging in using access token from PULUMI_ACCESS_TOKEN_
_# error: getting user info from <https://app.pulumi.com>: unmarshalling response object: invalid character '<'_

## Attempted Mitigations 1. Cleared all state

bash
   pulumi logout
   rm -rf ~/.pulumi
   rm -rf .pulumi

Result: No change 2. Tried different API endpoints - CLI uses

<https://app.pulumi.com>

for user info (fails) - Direct API calls to

<https://api.pulumi.com>

work fine - Appears to be endpoint mismatch or response format issue 3. Attempted local backend

bash
   pulumi login file://~/.pulumi-local

Result: Works, but cannot use organization features 4. Direct API stack creation - Attempted to create stack via REST API - Various endpoints return 404 despite valid token ## Root Cause Analysis The CLI appears to be: 1. Successfully authenticating with the token 2. Then calling

<https://app.pulumi.com>

for user info (instead of api.pulumi.com) 3. Receiving HTML (likely a redirect or error page) instead of JSON 4. Failing to parse with "invalid character '<'" error ## Business Impact We need Infrastructure as Code for our GCP Cloud Run services. Without working Pulumi CLI: - Cannot manage infrastructure declaratively - Cannot use team collaboration features - Cannot integrate with CI/CD ## Expected Resolution The Pulumi CLI should work with the access token as documented. Specifically: -

pulumi login --access-token <token>

should fully authenticate -

pulumi whoami

should return user info -

pulumi stack init cogzia-org/cogzia-infrastructure/prod

should create stack ## Request Please investigate why the CLI is: 1. Using

<http://app.pulumi.com|app.pulumi.com>

instead of

<http://api.pulumi.com|api.pulumi.com>

for API calls 2. Receiving HTML responses instead of JSON 3. Unable to complete authentication despite valid token We'd like to get started with pulumi but this is a big blocker to adoption.

Few things to check. Do you have the environment variable "PULUMI_BACKEND_URL" set? Does your Pulumi.yaml have a "backend" value set? What URL is in your ~/.pulumi/credentails.json file?

Thanks @echoing-dinner-19531 - that resolved the issue 🙏 tldr; # Pulumi Issue RESOLVED ✅ ## Root Cause The issue was in the

Pulumi.yaml

file having:

yaml
backend:
  url: <https://app.pulumi.com>

This caused the CLI to use the wrong endpoint for API calls. ## Solution 1. Removed the backend section from Pulumi.yaml (let it use defaults) 2. Changed project name 3. Re-authenticated with token ## Working Commands

bash
# 1. Logout and clean state
pulumi logout

# 2. Set token and login
export PULUMI_ACCESS_TOKEN="pul-9d0...948b"
pulumi login

# 3. Create stack
pulumi stack init ...

# 4. Configure
..

## Current Status ✅ Authenticated successfully ✅ Stack created ✅ Configuration set ✅ Ready to deploy infrastructure ## View in Console https://app.pulumi.com/cogzia-org/cogzia-infrastructure/prod ## Next Steps 1. Import existing resources:

uv run python pulumi_import.py

2. Preview changes:

pulumi preview

3. Deploy:

pulumi up

## Lesson Learned Don't explicitly set

backend.url

in Pulumi.yaml unless using a custom backend. The default works correctly for Pulumi Cloud Service.