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We’ve added the AWS credentials as environment variables and marked both values as secret. With these secrets configured, you can start a Spacelift run to initialize the workspace, generate a Terraform plan, and apply changes.
A screenshot of the Spacelift web UI on the "Environment" tab showing a list of environment variables (e.g., AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY, SPACELIFT_API_TOKEN) with a secret value entered and the "SECRET" toggle selected. The left sidebar shows navigation items like Stacks, Blueprints, Modules, Runs, and Settings.
You can trigger a run in two ways:
  • Push changes to your connected Git repository — the recommended approach for CI-driven, reproducible workflows.
  • Use the Trigger button in the Spacelift UI — useful for ad-hoc re-runs when you want to reapply the same configuration without committing code.
Use the Trigger button for one-off or investigative runs. For routine changes, push commits to your repository so your runs remain versioned and reproducible.
What happens after you trigger a run
  • Spacelift creates a run and performs the standard initialization sequence.
  • The run pulls source code from your repository, sets up files and permissions, pulls the runner image, downloads the Terraform binary, creates and starts the container, verifies prerequisites, then runs Terraform plan.
  • The run uploads plan data and a workspace snapshot to the Spacelift backend for review and policy checks (if any are configured).
Run lifecycle at a glance Representative run logs (initialization → plan → workspace upload)
After the plan is generated the run moves into a waiting (unconfirmed) state. From the UI you can:
  • Inspect the full plan and generated JSON representation.
  • Discard the run if you do not want to proceed.
  • Confirm the run to trigger the Terraform apply.
If you confirm, Spacelift executes the apply step. When the apply completes successfully, the run status transitions to “finished” and outputs (for example, instance IDs and public IPs) will be available in the run logs and outputs section. Useful references
Confirming an apply will change real infrastructure. Always review the plan carefully and ensure credentials and IAM permissions follow least-privilege best practices before confirming.

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