/cheatsheets /terraform/terraform-cheat-sheet

Terraform cheat sheet: init, plan, apply, state and workspaces

updated 2026-10-20

tool: Terraform
versions: Terraform 1.5+, OpenTofu 1.6+
os: any

The Terraform commands and language constructs used most, grouped by task. Every command also works with tofu (OpenTofu) in place of terraform.

Workflow

Command	Does
terraform init	download providers and modules, configure the backend
terraform init -upgrade	pick the newest provider versions allowed by the constraints
terraform fmt -recursive	format all .tf files
terraform validate	check syntax and references (no API calls)
terraform plan	show what would change
terraform plan -out=tfplan	save the plan for a later apply
terraform apply [tfplan]	make the changes
terraform destroy	delete everything in the state
terraform output [-json] [NAME]	print outputs

State

Command	Does
terraform state list	resources in the state
terraform state show ADDRESS	attributes of one resource
terraform state mv OLD NEW	rename an address (prefer a moved block)
terraform state rm ADDRESS	forget a resource without deleting it (prefer a removed block)
terraform import ADDRESS ID	adopt an existing object (prefer an import block)
terraform plan -refresh-only	see drift between state and reality
terraform force-unlock LOCK_ID	release a stuck state lock

Workspaces

terraform workspace list, terraform workspace new staging, terraform workspace select staging; terraform.workspace holds the current name inside the configuration.

Language snippets

hcl

variable "names" {
  type    = list(string)
  default = ["web", "api"]
}

locals {
  tags = { project = "demo", env = terraform.workspace }
}

resource "terraform_data" "svc" {
  for_each = toset(var.names)
  input    = "${each.key}-${local.tags.env}"
}

output "ids" {
  value = { for k, r in terraform_data.svc : k => r.id }
}

Try it offline

bash

cat > main.tf <<'EOF'
variable "names" {
  type    = list(string)
  default = ["web", "api"]
}
resource "terraform_data" "svc" {
  for_each = toset(var.names)
  input    = each.key
}
EOF
terraform init -input=false -no-color >/dev/null
terraform fmt -check && terraform validate -no-color
terraform plan -no-color -input=false | grep -E 'will be created|^Plan:'

Output

Success! The configuration is valid.

  # terraform_data.svc["api"] will be created
  # terraform_data.svc["web"] will be created
Plan: 2 to add, 0 to change, 0 to destroy.

terraform_data is built into Terraform, so this needs no provider and no cloud account.

Sources

commands · terraformterraform fmt -check and -recursive: format HCL filesterraform fmt rewrites .tf files in canonical style; -check only reports unformatted files with a non-zero exit, -diff shows changes, -recursive adds modules.flags · terraformterraform plan -out: save a plan and apply exactly that planterraform plan -out=tfplan saves the plan to a file; terraform apply tfplan then applies exactly those changes without a prompt. Inspect it with terraform show.glossary · terraformWhat is Terraform state?Terraform state is the JSON record that maps each resource address in your code to the real object it manages and its last known attributes: terraform.tfstate.