Terraform

Modern Terraform (v1.11+) best practices

• Use try() for fail-safe defaults; prefer over element(concat()) for robust error handling.
• Set nullable = false in variables to prevent null assignments and reduce misconfiguration.
• Use moved blocks to refactor resources/modules efficiently, avoiding destroy/recreate cycles.
• Apply optional() with defaults for flexible object field handling.
• Use Terraform's native test framework to improve module reliability.
• Run unit tests with mock providers to avoid impacting real infrastructure.
• Apply provider-defined functions for resource configuration as needed.
• Validate relationships between variables for input correctness.
• Use write-only arguments for secrets, when supported, to avoid persisting them in state files.

Naming conventions

Resources

# Use descriptive, contextual names:
resource "aws_instance" "web_server" {}
resource "aws_s3_bucket" "application_logs" {}

# Avoid generic names:
resource "aws_instance" "main" {}
resource "aws_s3_bucket" "bucket" {}

# Use "this" only for primary resources inside reusable modules (singletons):
resource "aws_vpc" "this" {}
resource "aws_security_group" "this" {}

Variables

# Prefer context-rich, specific names:
var.vpc_cidr_block
var.database_instance_class

File structure

• main.tf: Core resources.
• variables.tf: Input variables.
• outputs.tf: Output values.
• versions.tf: Provider versions.
• data.tf: (Optional) Data sources.

Directory structure

• Separate environment configs from modules.
• Use examples/ for usage docs and test fixtures.

envs/            # Environment configs
├── prod/
├── staging/
└── dev/
modules/         # Reusable modules
├── networking/
├── compute/
└── data/
examples/        # Usage/test examples
├── complete/
└── minimal/

Module hierarchy

Resource → Resource Module → Infrastructure Module → Composition

Patterns

Follow these for conditionals and stable resource addressing:

Boolean condition:

# Boolean condition using for_each (stable addressing, no [0] index):
resource "aws_nat_gateway" "this" {
  for_each = var.create_nat_gateway ? { this = true } : {}

  # example fields:
  allocation_id = aws_eip.nat[each.key].id
  subnet_id     = aws_subnet.public[each.key].id
}

Stable referencing with for_each:

# Safer when removing AZs:
resource "aws_subnet" "private" {
  for_each = toset(var.availability_zones)
  availability_zone = each.key
}

# count risks larger changes (don't do this):
resource "aws_subnet" "private" {
  count = length(var.availability_zones)
  availability_zone = var.availability_zones[count.index]
}

Security guidelines

• Do not hardcode secrets in .tf or .tfvars; avoid committing secrets to version control.
• Mark secret variables as sensitive = true for UI redaction.
• Enable encryption for supported resources.
• Avoid wide-open rules in security groups (e.g., 0.0.0.0/0).
• Enforce least privilege for security group rules.

AWS-specific

• Store secrets in AWS Secrets Manager or Parameter Store.
• Avoid deploying resources in the default VPC; create dedicated VPCs.

Azure-specific

• Use dedicated VNets and segmented subnets; control egress explicitly.
• Avoid public access on Storage Accounts, Key Vault, SQL, etc., unless required.
• Prefer Private Endpoints (Private Link) and service endpoints.
• Store secrets in Azure Key Vault.

Source: bkircher/skills — distributed by TomeVault.