Skill

tfctl

Name: tfctl
Author: HashiCorp

manage Terraform infrastructure via tfctl

Published by HashiCorp Updated Jul 18

Covers CLI Deployment Terraform Infrastructure as Code

Description

Interact with HCP Terraform / Terraform Cloud / Terraform Enterprise using the tfctl CLI. Full API coverage. Use for ANY HCP Terraform or Terraform Cloud or Terraform Enterprise question or action — listing workspaces, starting/diagnosing runs, reading vars, modifying resources, calling API operations.

SKILL.md

tfctl — HCP Terraform CLI

Single binary, full v2 API coverage. Already authenticated.

Hard rules

Never pipe tfctl JSON to an external jq. Use the built-in --jq '<expr>' flag — it implies --json and runs gojq on the response envelope.
Resolve names with -p, not separate lookup calls. Paths with {workspace}/{team}/{project}/{varset} accept -p workspace=NAME etc. — tfctl resolves name→ID for you. Don't fetch the ID first.
Trust the first answer. data: [], data: null, relationships.X.data: null, or stderr "no current run"/"not found" ARE the answer. Don't re-query in another format. Don't walk relationships "to verify".
When a named resource is not found, stop completely. Exit code 2 or absence from a listing IS the full answer. Never:
- Try a different resource ID "to verify the endpoint works"
- Pivot to another org/workspace that appeared in the available list
- Explore related resources to find "similar" information
- Use Rule 3 to justify switching to a different resource: if you listed orgs and 'platform' isn't there, the first answer is "platform doesn't exist" — stop, don't use whatever org IS listed instead.
Examples: run-POLICY returns exit 2 → stop, don't query other run IDs. Listing orgs shows no 'platform' → stop, don't use the org that IS listed.
Never run tfctl harness exec yourself to self-authorize. The --allow-delete grant is a human's opt-in for your session. If a delete is refused, relay the printed harness exec --allow-delete=<class> command back to the human — do not run it (or set TFCTL_EXEC_SESSION) to grant yourself permission. See Deleting resources.

Deleting resources

Deletes are destructive, so tfctl itself gates them — you don't need to police this with a blanket refusal. A noninteractive tfctl ... -X DELETE only goes through when a human has opted in for this session by launching you via tfctl harness exec --allow-delete=<class> -- <command> (which sets TFCTL_EXEC_SESSION). Otherwise tfctl refuses on its own and tells you what to do.

So when you're asked to delete something, just run the normal command and let tfctl be the gate:

tfctl api PATH -X DELETE

If the session authorizes that resource's class, it succeeds — that's the human's intent, not a violation; proceed and report the result.
If it doesn't, tfctl refuses with a self-documenting message and prints the exact command to hand back (including the harness exec --allow-delete=<class> a human can use to authorize you). Relay that rather than forcing it; don't run harness exec yourself to self-authorize.
You can't tell in advance whether the session grants a class — so don't guess. Attempt the delete and let the refusal tell you. The refusal is a plain exit 1 with a message naming the class and the --allow-delete=<class> command; that is your cue to relay. This is a grant gap, NOT an auth failure: never report it as an expired token, an exit code 3, or tell the human to re-login unless tfctl actually says the token is expired/invalid.
Apply ordinary caution to irreversible deletes (organizations, projects): they are never covered by the reversible/all wildcards and must be granted by name. For a high-stakes target, confirm intent with the human first even when the session would allow it.

URL shape: per-workspace subpaths live at `/workspaces/{workspace}/...`

Most "things attached to a workspace" (vars, runs, varsets, remote-state-consumers, configuration-versions, notification-configurations, state-versions) are under /workspaces/{workspace}/..., NOT /organizations/{org}/workspaces/{name}/.... The org-nested form only exists for the workspace resource itself (/organizations/{org}/workspaces/{name}). For everything else, use /workspaces/{workspace}/X -p workspace=NAME.

Exception: Policy checks and run-specific data live under /runs/{run-id}/..., not under workspace paths. For example: /runs/{run-id}/policy-checks.

Anti-patterns to avoid

These paths do not exist; don't try them:

❌ /organizations/{org}/workspaces/{name}/vars — use /workspaces/{workspace}/vars -p workspace=NAME instead
❌ /organizations/{org}/workspaces/{name}/state-versions — use /workspaces/{workspace}/state-versions -p workspace=NAME
❌ /organizations/{org}/workspaces/{name}/configuration-versions — use /workspaces/{workspace}/configuration-versions -p workspace=NAME
❌ /workspaces/{workspace}/policy-checks — use /runs/{run-id}/policy-checks instead
❌ /organizations/{org}/varsets (partially wrong path) — use /organizations/{organization}/varsets with correct org placeholder
❌ External jq pipes like tfctl ... | jq '...' — always use tfctl api ... --jq '...' with built-in flag

Cookbook — one-line answers for common tasks

# Count workspaces in an org
tfctl api /organizations/{organization}/workspaces --page-size 1 --jq '.meta.pagination.["total-count"]'

# Find workspace by partial name (server-side search) — also returns current run state in one call
tfctl api /organizations/{organization}/workspaces -f 'search[name]=TERM' --jq '.data[] | {id, name: .attributes.name, current_run: .relationships.["current-run"].data}'

# Filter workspaces by attribute
tfctl api /organizations/{organization}/workspaces --all --jq '.data[] | select(.attributes.["terraform-version"] | startswith("1.8")) | .attributes.name'

# List variables on a workspace — path is /workspaces/{workspace}/vars (NOT /organizations/{org}/workspaces/{name}/vars; that endpoint does not exist)
tfctl api /workspaces/{workspace}/vars -p workspace=NAME --jq '.data[] | {key: .attributes.key, category: .attributes.category, sensitive: .attributes.sensitive}'

# Get current run status
tfctl run status NAME_OR_ID            # If it prints "no current run" or exits non-zero with that message, that IS the answer.

# Get current run ID for a workspace
tfctl api /organizations/{organization}/workspaces/NAME --jq '.data.relationships.["current-run"].data.id'

# List runs in a workspace with status filtering
tfctl api /workspaces/{workspace}/runs -p workspace=NAME --jq '.data[] | select(.attributes.status == "planned") | {id, status: .attributes.status}'

# Find workspace by VCS repo identifier (single call; no results = not connected to that repo)
tfctl api /organizations/{organization}/workspaces --all \
  --jq '.data[] | select(.attributes.["vcs-repo"] != null and .attributes.["vcs-repo"].identifier == "org/repo") | {id: .id, name: .attributes.name}'

# List workspaces accessible to a team (two-step: resolve team name → query team-workspaces)
# Note: /organizations/{org}/teams/{id}/workspaces does NOT exist — use /team-workspaces instead
tfctl api /organizations/{organization}/teams -f 'filter[names]=TEAM_NAME' --jq '.data[0].id'
tfctl api /team-workspaces -f 'filter[team][id]=TEAM_ID' --jq '.data[] | {workspace_id: .relationships.workspace.data.id, access: .attributes.access}'

# Get organization details and settings
tfctl api /organizations/{organization} --jq '.data | {id, name: .attributes.name, created_at: .attributes."created-at", terraform_version_default: .attributes."terraform-version"}'

# Get the current state version for a workspace
# (operationId: getCurrentStateVersion — single resource, not a list)
tfctl api /workspaces/{workspace}/current-state-version -p workspace=NAME --jq '.data | {serial: .attributes.serial, created_at: .attributes.["created-at"], status: .attributes.status}'

# List all variable sets in an org and their variable counts
tfctl api /organizations/{organization}/varsets --all --jq '.data[] | {name: .attributes.name, id: .id, var_count: (.relationships.vars.data | length)}'

# Get configuration version details
tfctl api /workspaces/{workspace}/configuration-versions -p workspace=NAME --jq '.data[] | {id, source: .attributes.source, created_at: .attributes.created-at}'

# List notification configurations
tfctl api /workspaces/{workspace}/notification-configurations -p workspace=NAME --jq '.data[] | {id, type: .attributes.destination-type, trigger: .attributes.triggers}'

# Filter workspaces by terraform version (1.7+)
tfctl api /organizations/{organization}/workspaces --all --jq '.data[] | select(.attributes.["terraform-version"] | ltrimstr("v") | split(".") | [.[0], .[1]] | join(".") | tonumber >= 1.7) | {name: .attributes.name, tf_version: .attributes.["terraform-version"]}'

# Filter workspaces excluding certain names
tfctl api /organizations/{organization}/workspaces --all --jq '.data[] | select(.attributes.name | test("^temp-|^old-") | not) | .attributes.name'

# Count resources by status (e.g., runs by status)
tfctl api /workspaces/{workspace}/runs -p workspace=NAME --all --jq '[.data[] | .attributes.status] | group_by(.) | map({status: .[0], count: length})'

# Get log URL for a completed run
# Note: run.log-read-url is null on completed runs — the URL lives on plan/apply.
tfctl api /runs/RUN_ID --jq '.data.relationships | {plan: .plan.data.id, apply: .apply.data.id}'
tfctl api /plans/PLAN_ID --jq '.data.attributes.["log-read-url"]'

# Start a run
tfctl run start NAME_OR_ID

# Add a remote state consumer to a workspace
# (operationId: addWorkspaceRemoteStateConsumers — POST returns 204)
tfctl api /workspaces/{workspace}/relationships/remote-state-consumers -p workspace=NAME \
  -i '{"data":[{"type":"workspaces","id":"ws-CONSUMER_ID"}]}'

# Apply a variable set to a workspace
# (operationId: updateWorkspaceRelationship for varsets)
tfctl api /workspaces/{workspace}/relationships/varsets -p workspace=NAME \
  -X POST -i '{"data":[{"type":"varsets","id":"varset-VARSET_ID"}]}'

# Get policy check results for a run
tfctl api /runs/{run-id}/policy-checks --jq '.data[] | {id: .id, status: .attributes.status, enforced: .attributes.enforcement-level}'

# Discover an API operation when you don't know it
tfctl api schema search "KEYWORD" --json     # returns operationIds
tfctl api schema get OPERATION_ID            # full OpenAPI schema (large response — only call when needed)

Output flags

Need	Flag
Filter / extract	`--jq '<expr>'`
Full JSON	`--json`
Render for human	`--markdown`
Audit a mutation	`--dry-run`

--jq implies --json. Don't pass both. Always pass one explicitly — don't rely on auto-detect.

JSON:API conventions

Responses are JSON:API envelopes: {data: {id, type, attributes, relationships}} (or data: [...] for lists). To follow a link, read data.relationships.<name>.data which gives {id, type} or null. A null is final — there is no related resource.

Pagination: default page 1. Add --all for all pages (cap 2000), or --page-size N / --page-number N for explicit control. For counts, use --page-size 1 --jq '.meta.pagination.["total-count"]'.

Mutations & batch updates

# Create or update a single variable
tfctl api /workspaces/{workspace}/vars -p workspace=NAME -a key=VARKEY -a value=VALUE -a category=env

# Batch updates: use separate calls (HCP TFC doesn't support bulk POST for vars)
# Instead of trying /workspaces/{ws}/vars with multiple items, do:
tfctl api /workspaces/{workspace}/vars -p workspace=NAME -a key=VAR1 -a value=VAL1 -a category=env
tfctl api /workspaces/{workspace}/vars -p workspace=NAME -a key=VAR2 -a value=VAL2 -a category=env
# (Multiple calls cost more, but it's the supported pattern)

# PATCH with a raw body
tfctl api /workspaces/{workspace}/X -X PATCH -p workspace=NAME -i '{"data":{"type":"X","attributes":{…}}}'

Add --dry-run to preview without sending.

Exit codes (quick map)

Code	Meaning	Action
0	Success	Done
1	Informational message or usage error	Read stderr; if it says "no current run" or similar, that IS the answer — stop
2	Not found (workspace/run doesn't exist) OR invalid auth	Verify the ID/name is correct, then check token if still failing
3	Auth token expired or invalid	Re-authenticate
4	Network error	Retry after brief delay
5	Rate limited (429) or server error (5xx)	Retry with backoff
6	Resource has an error state	The error is already diagnosed in output (e.g., plan failed); read it

Important: When an API returns data: [] (empty list) or data: null, that IS the answer. Don't retry with different flags or endpoints.

Common troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	Fix
`exit 2` when listing workspaces	Organization doesn't exist or auth token has no access	Verify org name and re-authenticate
`exit 1` with "no current run"	Workspace simply has no active run (informational)	This is the answer — stop, don't verify
`exit 3` when making any API call	Auth token expired	Re-authenticate with `tfctl login`
`exit 5` (429 rate limit)	Too many requests	Wait and retry; tfctl will backoff automatically
`exit 6` with "plan is errored"	Terraform plan had syntax errors (not CLI error)	Read the plan output for details
Empty list (`data: []`) when filtering	No resources match criteria	Verify criteria is correct; empty list is valid answer

Smart defaults

{organization} resolves from active profile if set.
{workspace} resolves from a local cloud {} block in CWD.
Already-formed IDs (ws-…, team-…, prj-…, varset-…) are passed through as-is.

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