Pulumi Has a Free API: Infrastructure as Code with Real Programming Languages

#devops #cloud #typescript #tutorial

What is Pulumi?

Pulumi lets you define cloud infrastructure using real programming languages — TypeScript, Python, Go, C#, Java — instead of YAML or HCL. You get loops, conditionals, functions, type checking, and IDE autocomplete for your infrastructure.

The open-source engine is completely free.

Quick Start

curl -fsSL https://get.pulumi.com | sh
pulumi new aws-typescript
pulumi up

Define Infrastructure in TypeScript

import * as pulumi from "@pulumi/pulumi";
import * as aws from "@pulumi/aws";

// S3 bucket with website hosting
const bucket = new aws.s3.Bucket("my-site", {
  website: {
    indexDocument: "index.html",
    errorDocument: "error.html",
  },
});

// Upload files
new aws.s3.BucketObject("index", {
  bucket: bucket.id,
  key: "index.html",
  content: "<h1>Hello Pulumi!</h1>",
  contentType: "text/html",
});

// CloudFront CDN
const cdn = new aws.cloudfront.Distribution("cdn", {
  origins: [{
    domainName: bucket.websiteEndpoint,
    originId: bucket.arn,
    customOriginConfig: {
      httpPort: 80,
      httpsPort: 443,
      originProtocolPolicy: "http-only",
      originSslProtocols: ["TLSv1.2"],
    },
  }],
  enabled: true,
  defaultCacheBehavior: {
    targetOriginId: bucket.arn,
    viewerProtocolPolicy: "redirect-to-https",
    allowedMethods: ["GET", "HEAD"],
    cachedMethods: ["GET", "HEAD"],
    forwardedValues: { queryString: false, cookies: { forward: "none" } },
  },
  restrictions: { geoRestriction: { restrictionType: "none" } },
  viewerCertificate: { cloudfrontDefaultCertificate: true },
});

export const url = pulumi.interpolate`https://${cdn.domainName}`;

Automation API (Programmatic Control)

Pulumi's Automation API lets you manage stacks from your own code:

import { LocalWorkspace } from "@pulumi/pulumi/automation";

async function deploy() {
  const stack = await LocalWorkspace.createOrSelectStack({
    stackName: "production",
    projectName: "my-infra",
    program: async () => {
      const bucket = new aws.s3.Bucket("my-bucket");
      return { bucketName: bucket.id };
    },
  });

  await stack.setConfig("aws:region", { value: "us-east-1" });

  const result = await stack.up({ onOutput: console.log });
  console.log(`Bucket: ${result.outputs.bucketName.value}`);
}

async function destroy() {
  const stack = await LocalWorkspace.selectStack({
    stackName: "production",
    projectName: "my-infra",
    program: async () => {},
  });
  await stack.destroy({ onOutput: console.log });
}

Build internal developer platforms, self-service portals, or CI/CD pipelines with full infrastructure control.

Component Resources (Reusable Modules)

class StaticSite extends pulumi.ComponentResource {
  public readonly url: pulumi.Output<string>;

  constructor(name: string, args: { path: string; domain?: string }, opts?: pulumi.ComponentResourceOptions) {
    super("custom:StaticSite", name, {}, opts);

    const bucket = new aws.s3.Bucket(`${name}-bucket`, {
      website: { indexDocument: "index.html" },
    }, { parent: this });

    // Upload all files from path
    // ... (sync logic)

    this.url = bucket.websiteEndpoint;
    this.registerOutputs({ url: this.url });
  }
}

// Use it like any other resource
const site = new StaticSite("docs", { path: "./dist" });
export const siteUrl = site.url;

Multi-Cloud

import * as gcp from "@pulumi/gcp";
import * as azure from "@pulumi/azure-native";

// Same language, any cloud
const gcpBucket = new gcp.storage.Bucket("gcp-bucket");
const azureBlob = new azure.storage.StorageAccount("azure-storage", {
  resourceGroupName: "my-rg",
  sku: { name: "Standard_LRS" },
  kind: "StorageV2",
});

Pulumi vs Terraform

Feature	Pulumi	Terraform
Language	TypeScript/Python/Go	HCL
IDE Support	Full (autocomplete, types)	Limited
Testing	Standard test frameworks	Terratest
Loops/Conditions	Native language	count/for_each
State	Free (Pulumi Cloud)	Terraform Cloud ($)
Reuse	npm/pip packages	Modules (HCL)