What is a .tf file?
text/x-terraform
A .tf file is a Terraform configuration written in HCL. It declares infrastructure as blocks — terraform, provider, resource, data, variable, output, module, locals — whose bodies hold arguments and nested blocks, with values drawn from expressions, interpolation, and functions. Terraform reads every .tf file in a directory as one merged configuration, so ordering across files carries no meaning.
How to use a .tf file
Use an example .tf file to test HCL parsers, infrastructure linters and policy engines, and configuration migrators, checking block-and-label parsing, heredoc strings, expression references between resources, and that a deprecated-syntax file is flagged rather than silently accepted.
Download example .tf files
- Terraform Required Providers and BackendThe terraform settings block: a version constraint range, two pinned providers, a local backend, default tags, and a second aliased provider configuration. The fictional examplecloud provider means nothing resolves to a real service.
- Terraform Variables with Validation BlocksSeven Terraform variables covering string, number, map and a map(object) with an optional attribute and a default, plus two validation blocks with error messages. The sensitive variable's default is explicitly a SAMPLE note, not a credential.
- Terraform Resources with count and for_eachThe resource graph: a network, a for_each subnet set, a counted instance resource, a data source, and a bucket on an aliased provider. Both repetition meta-arguments appear, plus lifecycle and an explicit depends_on edge.
- Terraform Locals, for Expressions, and dynamic BlocksThe expression-heavy half of the stack: for expressions producing both a map and a filtered list, conditional expressions selecting whole objects, and a dynamic block that generates two firewall rules from a local list.
- Terraform Module Calls with Meta-ArgumentsThree module calls covering the shapes a dependency grapher has to handle: a local path with explicit provider passing, a versioned registry source under for_each, and a count-gated conditional module.
- Terraform Outputs and Splat ExpressionsFive Terraform outputs exercising a splat expression over a counted resource, a for expression over a for_each module, and a sensitive output that must stay redacted when propagated from a sensitive input.
- Terraform Configuration, Intentionally InvalidAn intentionally invalid Terraform configuration: an unclosed resource block, a colon where HCL needs an equals sign, a reference to an undeclared resource, and a resource block missing its second label. Four documented faults for a parser to report.