Terraform Tasks Skill

🚨 CRITICAL GUIDELINES

Windows File Path Requirements

MANDATORY: Always Use Backslashes on Windows for File Paths

When using Edit or Write tools on Windows, you MUST use backslashes (\) in file paths, NOT forward slashes (/).

Examples:

• ❌ WRONG: D:/repos/project/file.tsx
• ✅ CORRECT: D:\repos\project\file.tsx

This applies to:

• Edit tool file_path parameter
• Write tool file_path parameter
• All file operations on Windows systems

Documentation Guidelines

NEVER create new documentation files unless explicitly requested by the user.

• Priority: Update existing README.md files rather than creating new documentation
• Repository cleanliness: Keep repository root clean - only README.md unless user requests otherwise
• Style: Documentation should be concise, direct, and professional - avoid AI-generated tone
• User preference: Only create additional .md files when user specifically asks for documentation

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This skill enables autonomous execution of complex Terraform tasks with comprehensive provider knowledge and platform awareness.

Capabilities

1. Infrastructure Code Generation

Generate complete, production-ready Terraform code for any cloud provider:

Process:

1. Determine provider and version from user context
2. Research latest provider documentation if needed
3. Generate complete configurations with:
   • Provider version constraints
   • Resource configurations
   • Variables with validation
   • Outputs
   • Security best practices
   • Platform-specific considerations

Example Tasks:

• "Create Azure Storage Account with private endpoints and customer-managed keys"
• "Generate AWS VPC with 3-tier architecture and NAT gateways"
• "Build GCP GKE cluster with Workload Identity and node pools"

2. Version Management

Handle Terraform and provider version upgrades:

Process:

1. Check current versions
2. Research changelogs and breaking changes
3. Propose upgrade path
4. Generate migration code
5. Provide testing strategy

Example Tasks:

• "Upgrade from AzureRM provider 2.x to 3.x"
• "Migrate Terraform 0.12 code to 1.x"
• "Update all providers to latest compatible versions"

3. Debugging and Troubleshooting

Diagnose and fix Terraform issues:

Process:

1. Gather diagnostic information
2. Analyze error messages and logs
3. Identify root cause
4. Provide platform-specific solution
5. Suggest preventive measures

Example Tasks:

• "Debug state lock timeout on Windows"
• "Fix provider authentication failure in Azure DevOps pipeline"
• "Resolve circular dependency in module structure"

4. Security Scanning and Remediation

Scan and fix security issues:

Process:

1. Run security scanners (tfsec, Checkov)
2. Analyze findings
3. Prioritize issues
4. Generate fixes
5. Explain security implications

Example Tasks:

• "Run tfsec and fix all HIGH severity issues"
• "Ensure all S3 buckets have encryption enabled"
• "Implement Azure storage account with all security best practices"

5. Architecture Review

Review and improve Terraform architecture:

Process:

1. Analyze current structure
2. Identify anti-patterns
3. Propose improvements
4. Generate refactoring plan
5. Document decisions (ADRs)

Example Tasks:

• "Review state management strategy for 500+ resources"
• "Design multi-region architecture for high availability"
• "Refactor monolithic state into layered approach"

6. CI/CD Pipeline Generation

Create complete CI/CD pipelines:

Process:

1. Determine CI/CD platform
2. Understand environment strategy
3. Generate pipeline configuration
4. Include security scanning
5. Add approval gates
6. Implement drift detection

Example Tasks:

• "Create Azure DevOps pipeline with multi-stage deployment"
• "Generate GitHub Actions workflow with OIDC authentication"
• "Build GitLab CI pipeline with Terraform Cloud backend"

7. Module Development

Create reusable Terraform modules:

Process:

1. Design module interface
2. Implement with best practices
3. Add variable validation
4. Generate documentation
5. Create examples
6. Set up testing

Example Tasks:

• "Create Azure networking module with hub-spoke pattern"
• "Build AWS ECS module with auto-scaling and ALB"
• "Develop GCP Cloud Run module with custom domains"

8. Migration Tasks

Migrate infrastructure to Terraform:

Process:

1. Inventory existing resources
2. Generate import commands
3. Create matching Terraform code
4. Validate configurations
5. Test import process
6. Plan cutover strategy

Example Tasks:

• "Import existing Azure resources into Terraform"
• "Migrate from CloudFormation to Terraform"
• "Convert ARM templates to Terraform HCL"

Autonomous Behavior

This skill operates autonomously with minimal user intervention:

Information Gathering

• Automatically detect Terraform and provider versions
• Identify platform (Windows/Linux/macOS)
• Detect CI/CD environment
• Check for existing configurations

Research

• Use WebSearch to find current documentation
• Check provider changelogs for breaking changes
• Research best practices
• Find platform-specific solutions

Code Generation

• Generate complete, working code
• Include all necessary files (main.tf, variables.tf, outputs.tf, etc.)
• Add comprehensive comments
• Follow naming conventions
• Apply security best practices

Validation

• Run terraform fmt on generated code
• Validate syntax
• Check for security issues
• Test configurations when possible

Documentation

• Explain architectural decisions
• Document usage examples
• Note version compatibility
• Include troubleshooting tips

Error Handling

When encountering issues:

1. Gather Context: Collect all relevant information
2. Research: Look up error messages and solutions
3. Platform Awareness: Consider OS-specific issues
4. Multiple Solutions: Provide alternatives when available
5. Prevention: Suggest how to avoid similar issues

Platform-Specific Considerations

Windows

• PowerShell syntax for commands
• Path handling (backslashes)
• Line ending considerations
• Execution policy issues
• Credential management

Linux/macOS

• Bash syntax for commands
• File permissions
• Package managers
• Environment variables

CI/CD Environments

• Pipeline-specific syntax
• Agent capabilities
• Authentication methods
• Artifact handling

Quality Standards

All generated Terraform code must:

• Be properly formatted (terraform fmt)
• Pass validation (terraform validate)
• Include security best practices
• Have comprehensive variable validation
• Include meaningful descriptions
• Follow naming conventions
• Be version-compatible
• Include usage examples
• Have proper output definitions

Provider Expertise

Azure (AzureRM)

• All resource types
• AzAPI for preview features
• Service endpoints and private endpoints
• Managed identities
• RBAC and policies

AWS

• All services
• IAM roles and policies
• VPC networking
• S3 backend configuration
• Cross-account deployments

Google Cloud

• All GCP services
• IAM and service accounts
• VPC and networking
• GCS backend configuration
• Organization and folder policies

Community Providers

• Kubernetes and Helm
• Datadog, PagerDuty
• GitHub, GitLab
• HashiCorp Vault
• And more...

Examples

Example 1: Generate Azure Storage Account

User Request: "Create an Azure Storage Account with all security best practices"

Skill Actions:

1. Detect/ask for AzureRM provider version
2. Research latest security requirements
3. Generate complete configuration:
   • Storage account with secure settings
   • Private endpoint
   • Diagnostic settings
   • Customer-managed encryption keys
   • Network rules
   • Variables with validation
   • Outputs
4. Include usage examples
5. Add security scanner ignore comments where appropriate with explanations

Example 2: Debug Plan Failure

User Request: "My terraform plan is failing with authentication error on Windows"

Skill Actions:

1. Ask for error details
2. Identify it's Azure CLI authentication
3. Provide Windows-specific solution:
   • PowerShell commands to check authentication
   • How to refresh credentials
   • Environment variable configuration
   • Alternative authentication methods
4. Explain root cause
5. Suggest prevention

Example 3: Architecture Review

User Request: "Review my Terraform structure, I have 1000+ resources in one state file"

Skill Actions:

1. Analyze current structure
2. Identify issues:
   • Large state file
   • Slow operations
   • Large blast radius
3. Propose layered architecture:
   • Split into foundation/platform/apps
   • Separate state files
   • Remote state data sources
4. Generate migration plan
5. Create ADR documenting decision
6. Provide implementation steps

Integration with terraform-expert Agent

This skill works in tandem with the terraform-expert agent:

• Agent provides strategic guidance
• Skill executes tactical tasks
• Agent validates skill outputs
• Skill reports back to agent

Use this skill when you need to autonomously execute Terraform tasks with comprehensive provider knowledge and platform awareness.