Making the Most of the Terraform CLI

Now that you know the core Terraform CLI commands, this guide shows how to help yourself when you get stuck. Terraform ships several helpful, built-in features you can use directly from the terminal: shell autocomplete, contextual CLI help, and automatic code formatting. These improve productivity, reduce errors, and make collaborating across teams easier.

Autocomplete

Shell autocomplete lets your terminal predict and complete Terraform commands, subcommands, and flags as you type. This reduces typos and speeds up workflows. Install autocomplete for your current shell with the installer:

# create or ensure your shell config file exists (example for bash)
$ touch ~/.bashrc

# install Terraform autocomplete for your current shell
$ terraform -install-autocomplete

After running the installer, restart your terminal or reload your shell configuration (for example source ~/.bashrc or source ~/.zshrc) so the completion scripts take effect.

If you use Zsh, make sure you create or update ~/.zshrc instead of ~/.bashrc. Restart or reload your shell after installing autocomplete to enable completions.

Once enabled, type part of a command and press Tab to view suggestions:

$ terraform s
# now press `Tab` to complete

Your shell will show available matches:

show    state

Built-in CLI help

Terraform’s CLI provides contextual, on-demand help for every command and flag. When you need quick guidance, use the global help or target a specific subcommand. General help:

# general help
$ terraform --help

Example (truncated) output for global help:

Usage: terraform [global options] <subcommand> [args]

The available commands for execution are listed below.
The primary workflow commands are given first, followed by
less common or more advanced commands.

Main commands:
    init           Prepare your working directory for other commands
    validate       Check whether the configuration is valid
    plan           Show changes required by the current configuration
    apply          Create or update infrastructure
    destroy        Destroy previously-created infrastructure
...

Help for any specific command:

$ terraform plan --help

This prints a description of what terraform plan does and lists all its available flags and options:

Usage: terraform [global options] plan [options]

    Generates a speculative execution plan, showing what actions Terraform
would take to apply the current configuration. This command will not
actually perform the planned actions.

    You can optionally save the plan to a file, which you can then pass to
the "apply" command to perform exactly the actions described in the plan.

Plan Customization Options:
    -destroy                                  Select the "destroy" planning mode, which creates a plan
                                              to destroy all objects currently managed by this
                                              configuration.
    ...

Start with terraform --help or terraform <subcommand> --help for fast, accurate guidance in the terminal. For deeper examples, tutorials, and full reference material, consult the official documentation at developer.hashicorp.com/terraform.

Formatting code with terraform fmt

Terraform includes terraform fmt to reformat configuration files to a canonical, consistent style across your repository. Use it locally or in CI to enforce a shared style and make diffs easier to review. Example resource before formatting:

resource "aws_instance" "example" {
  ami = "ami-12345678"
  instance_type = "t2.micro"
  tags = {
    Name = "example"
  }
}

Run terraform fmt in a directory to rewrite .tf files with Terraform’s canonical formatting:

# format .tf files in the current directory
$ terraform fmt

# format .tf files in the current directory and all subdirectories
$ terraform fmt -recursive

Use terraform fmt -check in CI pipelines to fail the build when files are not formatted, ensuring contributors run the formatter before opening pull requests.

When adding terraform fmt -check to CI, ensure contributors run terraform fmt locally (or integrate it into pre-commit hooks) to avoid blocking pull requests with formatting-only changes.

Quick reference table

Feature	Command / Usage	Notes
Install autocomplete	`terraform -install-autocomplete`	Restart or reload shell after running.
General help	`terraform --help`	Lists global options and primary subcommands.
Subcommand help	`terraform <subcommand> --help`	Shows command-specific flags and descriptions.
Format files (current dir)	`terraform fmt`	Rewrites `.tf` files to canonical style.
Format recursively	`terraform fmt -recursive`	Traverses subdirectories to format all `.tf` files.
CI format check	`terraform fmt -check`	Use in pipelines to enforce formatting.

Summary

Enable shell autocomplete with terraform -install-autocomplete and reload your shell to speed up command entry and reduce errors.
Use terraform --help and terraform <subcommand> --help for fast, contextual, terminal-native documentation.
Use terraform fmt and terraform fmt -recursive to automatically format Terraform configuration files; add terraform fmt -check to CI to enforce formatting standards.

Links and references

Official Terraform documentation: https://developer.hashicorp.com/terraform
Terraform CLI reference: https://developer.hashicorp.com/terraform/cli
Pre-commit hooks for Terraform formatting: https://pre-commit.com/

Course Introduction

Preparing Your Environment

Terraform Foundations

The Core Terraform Workflow

Terraform CLI

Terraform File Structure and Organization

Terraform Configuration - Fundamentals

Understading and Managing Terraform State

Marking Code Reusable

Refactoring Terraform State

Terraform Modules

Managing Resource Behavior and Dependencies

Securing Terraform Configurations

Terraform Troubleshooting

HCP Terraform

Making the Most of the Terraform CLI

Autocomplete

Built-in CLI help

Formatting code with terraform fmt

Quick reference table

Summary

Links and references

Watch Video

​Autocomplete

​Built-in CLI help

​Formatting code with terraform fmt

​Quick reference table

​Summary

​Links and references

Watch Video

Autocomplete

Built-in CLI help

Formatting code with terraform fmt

Quick reference table

Summary

Links and references