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Lightning · LWC

Lightning component cannot be created: c:myComponent

The framework couldn't instantiate a Lightning component at runtime — usually a missing dependency, a permission gap, or a static-resource load failure. The browser console has the actual cause; this user-facing message is generic.

Also seen asLightning component cannot be created·Component cannot be created·Failed to create component

This message fires when the Lightning runtime tries to construct a component instance and fails. It's bundled — multiple distinct causes show the same user-facing string.

Diagnose in the browser console

Open DevTools → Console before the page reload. The actual error appears as one or more red lines:

Console messageCause
Failed to load chunk c.myComponentThe component bundle didn't deploy or is server-side-only
Cannot read properties of undefined ...Apex callback returned null/undefined where the component expected data
Refused to load script ...CSP blocked a static-resource script (see the CSP error)
Insufficient privilegesThe running user can't access an underlying SObject the component queries
Component definition not foundThe component isn't in the org or hasn't deployed yet

Each maps to a different fix. The user-facing "Lightning component cannot be created" message tells you the symptom; the console tells you the cause.

When the component existed before but stopped working

A component that was working and now isn't usually means:

  1. A dependent Apex class was deleted without updating the component
  2. A static resource was removed (or its permissions changed)
  3. An LWC dependency was renamed but not all references were updated
  4. A namespace prefix conflict after installing a managed package

Roll back the most recent deploy to confirm; if it goes back to working, the deploy introduced the issue.

When it's intermittent

Some users see it, others don't. Likely a permission gap:

  • The component does getRecord({fields: ['Account.Industry__c']}) but the user can't read Industry__c. The wire fails; the component's render path errors.
  • The component imports an @AuraEnabled Apex method that's @AuraEnabled(cacheable=true), but the user lacks Read on the underlying object the method queries. Apex throws; the component receives an error, doesn't handle it, fails.

Fix: handle errors in the component:

@wire(getRecord, { recordId: '$recordId', fields: FIELDS })
record({ data, error }) {
  if (error) { this.errorMessage = 'Could not load this record'; return; }
  if (data) { this.process(data); }
}

Don't just assume the wire succeeds. The error case is part of the contract.

When the component is custom and brand-new

Newly-deployed components sometimes can't be instantiated because:

  • The deploy succeeded but the component metadata wasn't activated
  • A required dependency (LDS module, Apex class, custom label) isn't available
  • The org's API version doesn't support an LWC syntax used in the component

For new component issues, rebuild the deploy pipeline locally with sf project deploy start --source-dir force-app/main/default/lwc/myComponent. Check the deploy logs for warnings — those often precede the runtime failure.

In Aura, the message is slightly different

Aura's flavour: Component cannot be created: markup://c:myAuraComp. The triage is the same — open DevTools, find the JS error inside the bracket, fix the cause.

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