Terraform · DevOpsadvanced

Terraform Configuration (JSON syntax)

A Terraform config in the native JSON syntax (.tf.json) — provider, variable, resource and output — for tooling that generates Terraform programmatically.

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Preview

{
  "terraform": {
    "required_providers": {
      "aws": {
        "source": "hashicorp/aws",
        "version": "~> 5.0"
      }
    }
  },
  "provider": {
    "aws": {
      "region": "${var.region}"
    }
  },
  "variable": {
    "region": {
      "type": "string",
      "default": "us-east-1"
    }
  },
  "resource": {
    "aws_instance": {
      "web": {
        "ami": "ami-0c55b159cbfafe1f0",
        "instance_type": "t3.micro",
        "tags": {
          "Name": "web"
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "output": {
    "public_ip": {
      "value": "${aws_instance.web.public_ip}"
    }
  }
}

AI actions

Documentation

Purpose

Describe infrastructure declaratively in Terraform’s JSON syntax, equivalent to HCL but machine-generatable.

When to use

When a tool emits or consumes Terraform config as JSON (.tf.json) rather than hand-written HCL.

Required fields

resource — the infrastructure to manage
provider — the target platform and its config

Optional fields

variable — typed inputs with optional defaults
output — values exposed after apply
terraform.required_providers — provider version pins

Best practices

Pin provider versions under required_providers.
Keep state in a remote backend, never local for teams.
Use variables and outputs instead of hardcoding values.

Security considerations

Never commit .tfstate — it can contain secrets in plaintext.
Pass credentials via environment or a secrets manager, not the config.
Review `terraform plan` before every apply.