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Command: fmt

The terraform fmt command is used to rewrite Terraform configuration files to a canonical format and style. This command applies a subset of the Terraform language style conventions, along with other minor adjustments for readability.

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Usage

terraform fmt [options] [target...]
By default, fmt scans the current directory for configuration files. If you provide a directory for the target argument, then fmt will scan that directory instead. If you provide a file, then fmt will process just that file. If you provide a single dash (-), then fmt will read from standard input (STDIN). The command formats all configuration files (.tf), variables files (.tfvars), and testing files (.tftest.hcl) in the target directory. JSON files (.tf.json, .tfvars.json, or .tftest.json) are not modified.

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Options

  • -list=false - Don’t list the files containing formatting inconsistencies. This flag is always disabled when using STDIN.
  • -write=false - Don’t overwrite the input files. This flag is implied when using STDIN or when using the -check flag.
  • -diff - Display diffs of formatting changes.
  • -check - Check if the input is formatted. Exit status will be 0 if all input is properly formatted and non-zero otherwise.
  • -recursive - Also process files in subdirectories. By default, only the given directory (or current directory) is processed.
  • -no-color - If specified, output won’t contain any color.

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Example

Format the configuration files in the current directory: 
terraform fmt
Format a specific file: 
terraform fmt main.tf
Check if files are formatted without modifying them: 
terraform fmt -check
Recursively format all files in the current directory and subdirectories: 
terraform fmt -recursive

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Exit Codes

The terraform fmt command returns the following exit codes:
  • 0 - Success: Files were already formatted or were successfully formatted.
  • 1 - Error: An error occurred (for example, invalid syntax).
  • 2 - Parse error: At least one file had a syntax error.
  • 3 - Format check failed: When using -check, at least one file was not properly formatted.

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