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The terraform state show command displays the attributes of a single resource in the Terraform state.

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Synopsis

Show a resource in the state.

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Usage

terraform state show [options] ADDRESS
This command shows the attributes of a single resource in the Terraform state. The address argument must be used to specify a single resource. You can view the list of available resources with terraform state list.

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Options

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-state
string
Path to a Terraform state file to use to look up Terraform-managed resources. By default it will use the state “terraform.tfstate” if it exists.

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Arguments

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ADDRESS
string
required
The address of the resource instance to show. Must be a complete resource instance address.

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Examples

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Show a single resource instance

Display the attributes of a specific resource: 
terraform state show aws_instance.web
Example output: 
# aws_instance.web:
resource "aws_instance" "web" {
    ami                          = "ami-0c55b159cbfafe1f0"
    arn                          = "arn:aws:ec2:us-west-2:123456789012:instance/i-1234567890abcdef0"
    associate_public_ip_address  = true
    availability_zone            = "us-west-2a"
    instance_type                = "t2.micro"
    id                           = "i-1234567890abcdef0"
    private_ip                   = "10.0.1.5"
    public_ip                    = "54.123.45.67"
    subnet_id                    = "subnet-12345678"
    tags                         = {
        "Name" = "web-server"
    }
    vpc_security_group_ids       = [
        "sg-12345678",
    ]
}

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Show a resource with count

Display a specific instance from a resource with count: 
terraform state show 'aws_instance.db[0]'

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Show a module resource

Display a resource within a module: 
terraform state show module.vpc.aws_vpc.main

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Use custom state file

Show a resource from a specific state file: 
terraform state show -state=path/to/terraform.tfstate aws_instance.web

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Common Use Cases

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Inspect resource attributes

Use state show to inspect the current attributes of a resource, including computed values that were set during the last apply.

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Verify resource configuration

Compare the actual state values with your expected configuration to identify drift or verify that changes were applied correctly.

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Debug issues

When troubleshooting issues, use state show to examine the exact state of resources as Terraform sees them.

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Extract resource IDs

Get resource IDs and other attributes for use in scripts or documentation: 
terraform state show aws_instance.web | grep 'id ='

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Review module outputs

Inspect resources created by modules to understand their configuration and attributes.

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