How to Organize Terraform Files: Project Structure Best Practices

Starting a new Terraform project is straightforward, but without a clear layout it can get messy fast. In this video, we guide you through a clean, scalable Terraform project structure, helping you avoid painful refactoring later and keep your infrastructure as code easy to navigate, scale, and collaborate on. Additional resources: https://spacelift.io/blog/terraform-f... https://spacelift.io/blog/terraform-b... If you want to see Spacelift in action and how it can help your organization, book a personalized demo here: https://spacelift.io/schedule-demo In this video, you’ll learn Terraform file structure and folder or directory structure best practices using common conventions like main.tf, variables.tf, outputs.tf, and providers.tf. You’ll also learn how terraform.tfvars and auto.tfvars work for environment specific values, how to organize Terraform modules from local code, Git, or the registry, and how to separate dev, staging, and prod safely. A good Terraform project layout is not about strict rules. It is about making IaC predictable. Whether you choose a monorepo or polyrepo approach, the goal is the same. Clear boundaries between environments, reusable modules, and a repo structure your team can understand instantly. You will also see what files you should not commit to Git, including Terraform state and backups. Chapters: 00:00-00:31 Intro 00:31-00:53 What are Terraform configuration files? 00:53-02:04 Core Terraform files (main.tf, variables.tf, outputs.tf) 02:04-02:17 providers.tf 02:17-02:51 terraform.tfvars and auto.tfvars (environment values) 02:51-03:06 Why naming conventions matter 03:06-03:37 Terraform modules 03:37-03:54 Spacelift private module registry 03:54-04:33 Folder layout best practices (modules, environments) 04:33-04:55 Monorepo vs polyrepo repo structure 04:55-05:16 Separating environments 05:16-05:28 What not to commit (state files, backups) 05:28-05:52 Recap More information on Spacelift: Website: https://spacelift.io/ How it works: https://spacelift.io/how-it-works Linkedin:   / spacelift-io   #Terraform #DevOps #InfrastructureAsCode #Spacelift