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Sreya Sharma
Sreya Sharma

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Day 06: Understanding a Clean Terraform Project Structure

On Day 06 of my Terraform learning journey, I focused on something that is easy to ignore early on but becomes extremely important as projects grow: project structure.

Writing Terraform code is not just about making it work—it’s about making it easy to read, maintain, and scale. A clean project structure helps avoid confusion, reduces mistakes, and makes collaboration much smoother.

Why Project Structure Matters in Terraform

As Terraform projects grow, putting everything into a single file quickly becomes messy. Separating configuration into logical files improves:

  • Readability
  • Debugging
  • Collaboration
  • Long-term maintainability

Terraform automatically loads all .tf files in a directory, so splitting files does not affect execution.

  • A common and clean Terraform project structure looks like this:

`

terraform-project/
│
├── main.tf
├── provider.tf
├── backend.tf
├── variables.tf
├── outputs.tf
├── terraform.tfvars
├── .gitignore
`

Each file has a clear responsibility.

Purpose of Each File

  1. main.tf: Contains the core resource definitions such as EC2, S3, VPC, etc.
  2. provider.tf: Defines the provider configuration.
  3. backend.tf: Used to configure remote state storage.
  4. variables.tf: Declares all input variables.
  5. terraform.tfvars: Stores actual variable values.
  6. outputs.tf: Defines output values after apply.

Using .gitignore in Terraform Projects

Some Terraform files should never be pushed to GitHub because they contain sensitive or generated data.


.terraform/
*.tfstate
*.tfstate.backup
terraform.tfvars
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Why This Matters?

  • State files may contain secrets
  • Provider binaries are auto-generated
  • Variable files may store sensitive values Ignoring these files protects your infrastructure and credentials.

Key Learnings from Day 06

  • Terraform automatically reads all .tf files in a directory
  • Splitting configuration improves clarity
  • Clean structure prevents mistakes in large projects
  • Git ignore rules protect sensitive data
  • Good structure reflects professional Terraform practices

Conclusion

A good Terraform project is not just about resources—it’s about organization. Structuring files properly makes Terraform code easier to understand, safer to manage, and ready for real-world use.

Day 06 reinforced that clean Infrastructure as Code starts with a clean structure.

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