Core Terraform Workflow

Write, then Plan, then Apply. You author configuration, preview the proposed changes, then execute them.

Authoring Terraform configuration in HCL that describes the desired infrastructure state.

A preview of the actions Terraform will take (create, update, destroy, replace) to reach the desired state, without making changes.

Executes the planned actions to converge real infrastructure to the desired state, then updates state.

You edit config, plan to preview, apply to converge, and repeat the loop as requirements change.

Apply makes only the changes needed to reach desired state; re-applying an unchanged config produces no further changes.