terraform-style-guide

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Translated

Generate Terraform HCL code following HashiCorp's official style conventions and best practices. Use when writing, reviewing, or generating Terraform configurations.

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terraform-hclinfrastructure-as-codedevops-best-practicesterraform-stylecloud-infrastructure

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Terraform Style Guide

Generate and maintain Terraform code following HashiCorp's official style conventions and best practices.
Reference: HashiCorp Terraform Style Guide

Code Generation Strategy

When generating Terraform code:
  1. Start with provider configuration and version constraints
  2. Create data sources before dependent resources
  3. Build resources in dependency order
  4. Add outputs for key resource attributes
  5. Use variables for all configurable values

File Organization

FilePurpose
terraform.tf
Terraform and provider version requirements
providers.tf
Provider configurations
main.tf
Primary resources and data sources
variables.tf
Input variable declarations (alphabetical)
outputs.tf
Output value declarations (alphabetical)
locals.tf
Local value declarations

Example Structure

hcl
# terraform.tf
terraform {
  required_version = ">= 1.7"

  required_providers {
    aws = {
      source  = "hashicorp/aws"
      version = "~> 5.0"
    }
  }
}

# variables.tf
variable "environment" {
  description = "Target deployment environment"
  type        = string

  validation {
    condition     = contains(["dev", "staging", "prod"], var.environment)
    error_message = "Environment must be dev, staging, or prod."
  }
}

# locals.tf
locals {
  common_tags = {
    Environment = var.environment
    ManagedBy   = "Terraform"
  }
}

# main.tf
resource "aws_vpc" "main" {
  cidr_block           = var.vpc_cidr
  enable_dns_hostnames = true

  tags = merge(local.common_tags, {
    Name = "${var.project_name}-${var.environment}-vpc"
  })
}

# outputs.tf
output "vpc_id" {
  description = "ID of the created VPC"
  value       = aws_vpc.main.id
}

Code Formatting

Indentation and Alignment

  • Use two spaces per nesting level (no tabs)
  • Align equals signs for consecutive arguments
hcl
resource "aws_instance" "web" {
  ami           = "ami-0c55b159cbfafe1f0"
  instance_type = "t2.micro"
  subnet_id     = "subnet-12345678"

  tags = {
    Name        = "web-server"
    Environment = "production"
  }
}

Block Organization

Arguments precede blocks, with meta-arguments first:
hcl
resource "aws_instance" "example" {
  # Meta-arguments
  count = 3

  # Arguments
  ami           = "ami-0c55b159cbfafe1f0"
  instance_type = "t2.micro"

  # Blocks
  root_block_device {
    volume_size = 20
  }

  # Lifecycle last
  lifecycle {
    create_before_destroy = true
  }
}

Naming Conventions

  • Use lowercase with underscores for all names
  • Use descriptive nouns excluding the resource type
  • Be specific and meaningful
hcl
# Bad
resource "aws_instance" "webAPI-aws-instance" {}
variable "name" {}

# Good
resource "aws_instance" "web_api" {}
variable "application_name" {}

Variables

Every variable must include 
type
and 
description
:
hcl
variable "instance_type" {
  description = "EC2 instance type for the web server"
  type        = string
  default     = "t2.micro"

  validation {
    condition     = contains(["t2.micro", "t2.small", "t2.medium"], var.instance_type)
    error_message = "Instance type must be t2.micro, t2.small, or t2.medium."
  }
}

variable "database_password" {
  description = "Password for the database admin user"
  type        = string
  sensitive   = true
}

Outputs

Every output must include 
description
:
hcl
output "instance_id" {
  description = "ID of the EC2 instance"
  value       = aws_instance.web.id
}

output "database_password" {
  description = "Database administrator password"
  value       = aws_db_instance.main.password
  sensitive   = true
}

Dynamic Resource Creation

Prefer for_each over count

hcl
# Bad - count for multiple resources
resource "aws_instance" "web" {
  count = var.instance_count
  tags  = { Name = "web-${count.index}" }
}

# Good - for_each with named instances
variable "instance_names" {
  type    = set(string)
  default = ["web-1", "web-2", "web-3"]
}

resource "aws_instance" "web" {
  for_each = var.instance_names
  tags     = { Name = each.key }
}

count for Conditional Creation

hcl
resource "aws_cloudwatch_metric_alarm" "cpu" {
  count = var.enable_monitoring ? 1 : 0

  alarm_name = "high-cpu-usage"
  threshold  = 80
}

Security Best Practices

When generating code, apply security hardening:
  • Enable encryption at rest by default
  • Configure private networking where applicable
  • Apply principle of least privilege for security groups
  • Enable logging and monitoring
  • Never hardcode credentials or secrets
  • Mark sensitive outputs with 
    sensitive = true

Example: Secure S3 Bucket

hcl
resource "aws_s3_bucket" "data" {
  bucket = "${var.project}-${var.environment}-data"
  tags   = local.common_tags
}

resource "aws_s3_bucket_versioning" "data" {
  bucket = aws_s3_bucket.data.id

  versioning_configuration {
    status = "Enabled"
  }
}

resource "aws_s3_bucket_server_side_encryption_configuration" "data" {
  bucket = aws_s3_bucket.data.id

  rule {
    apply_server_side_encryption_by_default {
      sse_algorithm     = "aws:kms"
      kms_master_key_id = aws_kms_key.s3.arn
    }
  }
}

resource "aws_s3_bucket_public_access_block" "data" {
  bucket = aws_s3_bucket.data.id

  block_public_acls       = true
  block_public_policy     = true
  ignore_public_acls      = true
  restrict_public_buckets = true
}

Version Pinning

hcl
terraform {
  required_version = ">= 1.7"

  required_providers {
    aws = {
      source  = "hashicorp/aws"
      version = "~> 5.0"  # Allow minor updates
    }
  }
}
Version constraint operators:
  • = 1.0.0
    - Exact version
  • >= 1.0.0
    - Greater than or equal
  • ~> 1.0
    - Allow rightmost component to increment
  • >= 1.0, < 2.0
    - Version range

Provider Configuration

hcl
provider "aws" {
  region = "us-west-2"

  default_tags {
    tags = {
      ManagedBy = "Terraform"
      Project   = var.project_name
    }
  }
}

# Aliased provider for multi-region
provider "aws" {
  alias  = "east"
  region = "us-east-1"
}

Version Control

Never commit:
  • terraform.tfstate
    , 
    terraform.tfstate.backup
  • .terraform/
    directory
  • *.tfplan
  • .tfvars
    files with sensitive data
Always commit:
  • All 
    .tf
    configuration files
  • .terraform.lock.hcl
    (dependency lock file)

Validation Tools

Run before committing:
bash
terraform fmt -recursive
terraform validate
Additional tools:
  • tflint
    - Linting and best practices
  • checkov
    / 
    tfsec
    - Security scanning

Code Review Checklist

  • Code formatted with 
    terraform fmt
  • Configuration validated with 
    terraform validate
  • Files organized according to standard structure
  • All variables have type and description
  • All outputs have descriptions
  • Resource names use descriptive nouns with underscores
  • Version constraints pinned explicitly
  • Sensitive values marked with 
    sensitive = true
  • No hardcoded credentials or secrets
  • Security best practices applied
Based on: HashiCorp Terraform Style Guide