| name | terraform |
| description | Use when writing Terraform — AWS modules, resources, variables, outputs, remote state — even when the user just says 'provision this infra' or 'add an S3 bucket' without naming Terraform. |
| metadata | {"author":"event4u-app"} |
terraform
When to use
Use this skill when writing or modifying Terraform configurations (.tf files), creating new infrastructure modules, or understanding AWS resource definitions.
Procedure: Write Terraform config
- Read the infrastructure repo structure (check
agents/overrides/skills/terraform.md for the repo location).
- Check existing modules in
modules/ for patterns and conventions.
- Read
variables.tf of the target module to understand required inputs.
- Check
versions.tf for provider version constraints.
Project structure (typical)
{infrastructure-repo}/
├── environments/
│ ├── pro/ # Production environment
│ │ ├── root.hcl # Terragrunt root config
│ │ ├── core/ # Core infrastructure (VPC, DNS zones)
│ │ └── {service}/ # Per-service resources
│ └── sta/ # Stage environment
│ └── ...
├── modules/
│ ├── core/ # VPC, DNS, shared resources
│ └── {service}/ # Per-service module (ECS, ALB, ECR, etc.)
└── Taskfile.yml # Task runner commands (or Makefile)
Read agents/overrides/skills/terraform.md for the actual repository layout and service names.
Conventions
Provider versions
- Always pin provider versions in
versions.tf.
- Check
versions.tf in the existing modules for the project's version constraints.
Module sources
Prefer community or organization-specific Terraform modules from the Terraform Registry:
module "alb" {
source = "{org}/application-load-balancer/aws"
version = ">= 1.0.0, < 2.0.0"
}
Check existing modules in the project for which registry modules are used.
Naming
- Resource prefix:
var.global_prefix (e.g., {project}-{env})
- All resources must include
tags = var.tags
- Security groups:
${var.global_prefix}-<purpose> (e.g., -ecs, -mysql, -redis)
- Log groups:
/aws/ecs/${cluster}/${service}
State management
- Remote state in S3 with DynamoDB locking.
- State is encrypted.
- Key pattern:
${path_relative_to_include()}/terraform.tfstate
Variables
- Use typed
variable blocks with description.
- Use
object() types for complex inputs (not any unless unavoidable).
- Use
optional() with defaults where appropriate.
- Group variables by domain (naming, network, ECS, Redis, database, etc.).
Lifecycle rules
- Use
ignore_changes = [task_definition] on ECS services — task definitions are managed by CI/CD, not Terraform.
- Use
deletion_protection = true on databases.
Security
- OIDC authentication for GitHub Actions (no long-lived credentials).
- Secrets stored in AWS Secrets Manager.
- Security groups follow least-privilege: only allow traffic between known services.
- IAM policies use specific resource ARNs, not wildcards (except where unavoidable).
Common patterns
ECS service with CodeDeploy (Blue/Green)
Used for web services with zero-downtime deployments:
- ALB → Target Group → ECS Service
- CodeDeploy handles traffic shifting
- Auto-rollback on CloudWatch alarms (5xx error rate)
ECS service without CodeDeploy
Used for workers and schedulers:
- Direct ECS service update
deployment_controller { type = "ECS" }
lifecycle { ignore_changes = [task_definition] }
GitHub OIDC IAM role
Each environment has a GitHub IAM role with:
- OIDC trust policy (scoped to repo + environment)
- Policies for ECR push/pull, ECS deployment, Secrets Manager read, CloudWatch logs
Output format
- Terraform configuration files (.tf) with proper module structure
- Variables, outputs, and state management config
Auto-trigger keywords
- Terraform
- AWS infrastructure
- modules
- resources
- state management
Gotcha
terraform apply without -auto-approve requires interactive confirmation — don't use in CI without the flag.
- The model forgets to run
terraform plan before apply — always plan first, review changes.
- State files contain sensitive data — never commit them to Git. Use remote state (S3 + DynamoDB).
Do NOT
- Do NOT use
* in IAM resource ARNs unless absolutely necessary.
- Do NOT remove
deletion_protection from databases.
- Do NOT change provider versions without testing in Stage first.
- Do NOT hardcode AWS account IDs — use
data.aws_caller_identity.current.
Source: event4u-app/agent-config — distributed by TomeVault.