Terraform

Terraform

Intent Router

Quick Start

# 1. Initialize working directory (downloads providers)
terraform init

# 2. Preview changes (always run before apply)
terraform plan

# 3. Apply changes (requires confirmation)
terraform apply

# 4. Destroy infrastructure (DANGEROUS — requires confirmation)
terraform destroy

Core Command Tracks

• Initialize: terraform init — downloads providers, sets up backend
• Validate & format: terraform validate, terraform fmt -recursive
• Preview: terraform plan [-out=tfplan] — no changes made
• Apply: terraform apply [tfplan] — creates/updates resources
• Inspect state: terraform state list, terraform state show <resource>
• Workspaces: terraform workspace list, terraform workspace select <name>

Safety Guardrails

• Always run terraform plan before terraform apply — review the diff carefully.
• terraform destroy is irreversible — confirm resource list before proceeding.
• Never commit terraform.tfstate or .tfvars files containing secrets to version control.
• Use -target sparingly; it can leave state inconsistent.
• Enable state locking on remote backends to prevent concurrent modifications.

# Inspect managed resources in state before making changes
terraform state list
terraform state show aws_instance.web

Workflow

1. Write or edit .tf configuration files.
2. Run terraform fmt to normalize formatting.
3. Run terraform validate to catch syntax errors.
4. Run terraform plan and review the proposed changes.
5. Run terraform apply only after reviewing the plan.
6. Commit updated terraform.lock.hcl but never terraform.tfstate.

Related Skills

• pulumi — IaC using general-purpose languages (TypeScript, Python, Go, C#)
• ansible — configuration management and agentless automation

References

• resources/install-and-setup.md
• resources/configuration.md
• resources/command-cookbook.md
• resources/state-and-backends.md
• Official docs: https://developer.hashicorp.com/terraform/docs
• Provider registry: https://registry.terraform.io
• Best practices: https://www.terraform-best-practices.com
• Tutorials: https://developer.hashicorp.com/terraform/tutorials