Agent skill
terraform-iac-expert
Terraform and OpenTofu infrastructure as code — module design, state management, multi-environment setups, remote backends, secrets management, CI/CD integration. NOT for Pulumi, CDK, Ansible, or Kubernetes manifests.
Install this agent skill to your Project
npx add-skill https://github.com/curiositech/some_claude_skills/tree/main/.claude/skills/terraform-iac-expert
Metadata
Additional technical details for this skill
- tags
-
terraform iac infrastructure aws gcp azure opentofu
- category
- devops
- pairs with
-
[ { "skill": "devops-automator", "reason": "Terraform plans and applies run through CI/CD automation pipelines" }, { "skill": "docker-containerization", "reason": "Terraform provisions the infrastructure that Docker containers deploy onto" }, { "skill": "github-actions-pipeline-builder", "reason": "Terraform plan/apply stages are common GitHub Actions workflow steps" }, { "skill": "security-auditor", "reason": "Infrastructure security scanning (tfsec, checkov) is part of Terraform CI validation" } ]
SKILL.md
Terraform IaC Expert
Overview
Expert in Infrastructure as Code using Terraform and OpenTofu. Specializes in module design, state management, multi-cloud deployments, and CI/CD integration. Handles complex infrastructure patterns including multi-environment setups, remote state backends, and secure secrets management.
When to Use
- Setting up new Terraform projects and workspaces
- Designing reusable Terraform modules
- Managing state files and remote backends
- Implementing multi-environment (dev/staging/prod) infrastructure
- Migrating existing infrastructure to Terraform
- Troubleshooting state drift and plan failures
- Integrating Terraform with CI/CD pipelines
- Implementing security best practices (secrets, IAM, policies)
Capabilities
Project Structure
- Module-based architecture design
- Workspace vs directory structure strategies
- Variable and output organization
- Provider configuration and version constraints
- Backend configuration for remote state
Module Development
- Reusable module patterns
- Input validation and type constraints
- Output design for module composition
- Local modules vs registry modules
- Module versioning and publishing
State Management
- Remote state backends (S3, GCS, Azure Blob, Terraform Cloud)
- State locking mechanisms
- State migration and manipulation
- Import existing resources
- Handling state drift
Multi-Environment Patterns
- Workspace-based environments
- Directory-based environments
- Terragrunt for DRY infrastructure
- Environment-specific variables
- Promotion workflows
Security
- Sensitive variable handling
- IAM role design for Terraform
- Policy as Code (Sentinel, OPA)
- Secrets management integration (Vault, AWS Secrets Manager)
- Least privilege principles
CI/CD Integration
- GitHub Actions for Terraform
- Atlantis for PR-based workflows
- Terraform Cloud/Enterprise
- Plan/Apply automation
- Cost estimation integration
Dependencies
Works well with:
aws-solutions-architect- AWS resource patternskubernetes-orchestrator- K8s infrastructuregithub-actions-pipeline-builder- CI/CD automationsite-reliability-engineer- Production infrastructure
Examples
Project Structure
terraform/
├── modules/
│ ├── vpc/
│ │ ├── main.tf
│ │ ├── variables.tf
│ │ └── outputs.tf
│ ├── eks/
│ └── rds/
├── environments/
│ ├── dev/
│ │ ├── main.tf
│ │ ├── variables.tf
│ │ ├── terraform.tfvars
│ │ └── backend.tf
│ ├── staging/
│ └── prod/
└── shared/
└── provider.tf
Root Module with Locals
# environments/prod/main.tf
terraform {
required_version = ">= 1.5.0"
required_providers {
aws = {
source = "hashicorp/aws"
version = "~> 5.0"
}
}
backend "s3" {
bucket = "mycompany-terraform-state"
key = "prod/terraform.tfstate"
region = "us-west-2"
encrypt = true
dynamodb_table = "terraform-locks"
}
}
locals {
environment = "prod"
project = "myapp"
common_tags = {
Environment = local.environment
Project = local.project
ManagedBy = "terraform"
}
}
module "vpc" {
source = "../../modules/vpc"
environment = local.environment
cidr_block = "10.0.0.0/16"
tags = local.common_tags
}
module "eks" {
source = "../../modules/eks"
environment = local.environment
vpc_id = module.vpc.vpc_id
private_subnet_ids = module.vpc.private_subnet_ids
cluster_version = "1.29"
tags = local.common_tags
}
Reusable Module with Validation
# modules/vpc/variables.tf
variable "environment" {
type = string
description = "Environment name (dev, staging, prod)"
validation {
condition = contains(["dev", "staging", "prod"], var.environment)
error_message = "Environment must be dev, staging, or prod."
}
}
variable "cidr_block" {
type = string
description = "VPC CIDR block"
validation {
condition = can(cidrhost(var.cidr_block, 0))
error_message = "Must be a valid CIDR block."
}
}
variable "availability_zones" {
type = list(string)
description = "List of AZs to use"
default = ["us-west-2a", "us-west-2b", "us-west-2c"]
}
variable "enable_nat_gateway" {
type = bool
description = "Enable NAT Gateway for private subnets"
default = true
}
variable "tags" {
type = map(string)
description = "Tags to apply to all resources"
default = {}
}
Module with Dynamic Blocks
# modules/security-group/main.tf
resource "aws_security_group" "this" {
name = var.name
description = var.description
vpc_id = var.vpc_id
dynamic "ingress" {
for_each = var.ingress_rules
content {
from_port = ingress.value.from_port
to_port = ingress.value.to_port
protocol = ingress.value.protocol
cidr_blocks = ingress.value.cidr_blocks
description = ingress.value.description
}
}
egress {
from_port = 0
to_port = 0
protocol = "-1"
cidr_blocks = ["0.0.0.0/0"]
}
tags = merge(var.tags, {
Name = var.name
})
}
Remote State Data Source
# Reference another environment's state
data "terraform_remote_state" "shared" {
backend = "s3"
config = {
bucket = "mycompany-terraform-state"
key = "shared/terraform.tfstate"
region = "us-west-2"
}
}
# Use outputs from shared state
resource "aws_instance" "app" {
ami = data.terraform_remote_state.shared.outputs.base_ami_id
instance_type = "t3.medium"
subnet_id = data.terraform_remote_state.shared.outputs.private_subnet_id
}
GitHub Actions CI/CD
# .github/workflows/terraform.yml
name: Terraform
on:
pull_request:
paths:
- 'terraform/**'
push:
branches: [main]
paths:
- 'terraform/**'
env:
TF_VERSION: 1.6.0
AWS_REGION: us-west-2
jobs:
plan:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
permissions:
contents: read
pull-requests: write
id-token: write # For OIDC
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Configure AWS credentials
uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v4
with:
role-to-assume: arn:aws:iam::123456789:role/terraform-github-actions
aws-region: ${{ env.AWS_REGION }}
- uses: hashicorp/setup-terraform@v3
with:
terraform_version: ${{ env.TF_VERSION }}
- name: Terraform Init
working-directory: terraform/environments/prod
run: terraform init
- name: Terraform Plan
working-directory: terraform/environments/prod
run: terraform plan -out=tfplan
- name: Upload Plan
uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
with:
name: tfplan
path: terraform/environments/prod/tfplan
apply:
needs: plan
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' && github.event_name == 'push'
environment: production
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Configure AWS credentials
uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v4
with:
role-to-assume: arn:aws:iam::123456789:role/terraform-github-actions
aws-region: ${{ env.AWS_REGION }}
- uses: hashicorp/setup-terraform@v3
with:
terraform_version: ${{ env.TF_VERSION }}
- name: Download Plan
uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
with:
name: tfplan
path: terraform/environments/prod
- name: Terraform Apply
working-directory: terraform/environments/prod
run: terraform apply -auto-approve tfplan
Import Existing Resources
# Import existing AWS resource into state
terraform import aws_s3_bucket.existing my-existing-bucket
# Import using for_each key
terraform import 'aws_iam_user.users["alice"]' alice
# Generate configuration from import (Terraform 1.5+)
terraform plan -generate-config-out=generated.tf
Handling Sensitive Values
# Reference secrets from AWS Secrets Manager
data "aws_secretsmanager_secret_version" "db_password" {
secret_id = "prod/db/password"
}
resource "aws_db_instance" "main" {
# ... other config ...
password = data.aws_secretsmanager_secret_version.db_password.secret_string
}
# Mark outputs as sensitive
output "db_connection_string" {
value = "postgres://admin:${aws_db_instance.main.password}@${aws_db_instance.main.endpoint}"
sensitive = true
}
Best Practices
- Use remote state - Never store state locally for team projects
- Enable state locking - Prevent concurrent modifications
- Version pin providers - Use
~>constraints, not>= - Separate environments - Use directories or workspaces, not branches
- Module everything reusable - But don't over-abstract
- Validate inputs - Use variable validation blocks
- Use data sources - Reference existing resources instead of hardcoding
- Tag all resources - Apply consistent tags for cost tracking
- Review plans carefully - Especially for destroy operations
Common Pitfalls
- State file conflicts - Multiple people running terraform simultaneously
- Hardcoded values - Not using variables for environment differences
- Circular dependencies - Resources depending on each other
- Missing dependencies - Not using
depends_onwhen implicit deps aren't enough - Large state files - Not breaking up large infrastructure
- Secrets in state - State contains sensitive values, encrypt at rest
- Provider version drift - Different team members using different versions
- Not using -target carefully - Can cause drift, use sparingly
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