1# Terraform Recipe
2 
3Terraform workflow for Azure deployments.
4 
5> **⚠️ IMPORTANT: Consider azd+Terraform First**
6>
7> If you're deploying to Azure, you should **default to [azd with Terraform](../azd/terraform.md)** instead of pure Terraform. azd+Terraform gives you:
8> - Terraform's IaC capabilities
9> - Simple `azd up` deployment workflow
10> - Built-in environment management
11> - Automatic CI/CD pipeline generation
12> - Service orchestration from azure.yaml
13>
14> → **See [azd+Terraform documentation](../azd/terraform.md)** ←
15 
16## When to Use Pure Terraform (Without azd)
17 
18Only use pure Terraform workflow when you have specific requirements that prevent using azd:
19 
20- **Multi-cloud deployments** where Azure is not the primary target
21- **Complex Terraform modules/workspaces** that are incompatible with azd conventions
22- **Existing Terraform CI/CD** pipelines that are hard to migrate
23- **Organization mandate** for pure Terraform workflow without any wrapper tools
24- **Explicitly requested** by the user to use Terraform without azd
25 
26## When to Use azd+Terraform Instead
27 
28Use azd+Terraform (the default) when:
29 
30- **Azure-first deployment** (even if you want multi-cloud IaC)
31- Want **`azd up` simplicity** with Terraform IaC
32- **Multi-service apps** needing orchestration
33- Team wants to learn Terraform with a simpler workflow
34 
35→ See [azd+Terraform documentation](../azd/terraform.md)
36 
37## Before Generation
38 
39**REQUIRED: Research best practices before generating any files.**
40 
41| Artifact | Research Action |
42|----------|-----------------|
43| Terraform patterns | Call `mcp_azure_mcp_azureterraformbestpractices` |
44| Azure best practices | Call `mcp_azure_mcp_get_azure_bestpractices` |
45 
46## Generation Steps
47 
48### 1. Generate Infrastructure
49 
50Create Terraform files in `./infra/`.
51 
52→ [patterns.md](patterns.md)
53 
54**Structure:**
55```
56infra/
57├── main.tf
58├── variables.tf
59├── outputs.tf
60├── terraform.tfvars
61├── backend.tf
62└── modules/
63    └── ...
64```
65 
66### 2. Set Up State Backend
67 
68Azure Storage for remote state.
69 
70### 3. Generate Dockerfiles (if containerized)
71 
72Manual Dockerfile creation required.
73 
74## Output Checklist
75 
76| Artifact | Path |
77|----------|------|
78| Main config | `./infra/main.tf` |
79| Variables | `./infra/variables.tf` |
80| Outputs | `./infra/outputs.tf` |
81| Values | `./infra/terraform.tfvars` |
82| Backend | `./infra/backend.tf` |
83| Modules | `./infra/modules/` |
84| Dockerfiles | `src/<service>/Dockerfile` |
85 
86## References
87 
88- [Terraform Patterns](patterns.md)
89 
90## Next
91 
92→ Update `.azure/deployment-plan.md` → **azure-validate**
93