We have a new concise diff renderer, released today in Terraform 0.14.0.
This post explains why we’ve taken this approach, how the rendering algorithm works, and asks for your feedback.
Background
Terraform 0.12 introduced a new plan file format and structural diff renderer, which was a significant change from 0.11. Most notably, for updated resources, Terraform moved from showing only the changed attribute path/values, to showing the entire resource with changed values prefixed with ~
.
For plans which slightly change existing resources, this can result in very large diffs which make it difficult to find the actual changes.
Diff Renderer Design
The diff renderer used by terraform plan
, terraform apply
, and terraform show <planfile>
will be updated to hide unchanged and irrelevant fields. This means:
- Always show all identifying fields, initially defined as
id
,name
, andtags
, even if unchanged - Only show changed, added, or removed primitive values:
string
,number
, orbool
- Only show added or removed elements in unordered collections and structural types:
map
,set
, andobject
- Show added or removed elements with up to two contextual unchanged elements for sequence types:
list
andtuple
- Only show added or removed nested blocks, or blocks with changed attributes
If any attributes, collection elements, or blocks are hidden, a count will be kept and displayed at the end of the parent scope. This ensures that the diff is clearly only displaying a subset of the resource.
Diff Rendering Details
Changed primitive values will render as before: prefixed with a ~
, and showing the old and new value. Any hidden attributes will be counted, and the total displayed at the end of the resource:
~ attribute_name = "old value" -> "new value"
# (12 unchanged attributes hidden)
Unordered collections (sets or maps) with added or removed elements will use the same approach:
~ regions = [
- "us-east-1",
- "us-west-2",
+ "eu-west-1",
+ "eu-west-2",
# (1 unchanged element hidden)
]
Sequences (lists or tuples) will display context around changes:
~ words = [
# (3 unchanged elements hidden)
- "delta",
+ "data",
"echo",
# (5 unchanged elements hidden)
"kilo",
- "Lima",
+ "London",
"Mike",
" (13 unchanged elements hidden)
]
Any nested blocks for a resource which are unchanged will also be counted and the total displayed:
# (3 unchanged blocks hidden)
When color is enabled, these hidden value counts will be displayed in a lower-contrast color.
Diff Examples
Changes to attributes
# test_resource.foo will be updated in-place
~ resource "test_resource" "foo" {
id = "foo_123"
~ checksum = 28987129 -> (known after apply)
- mode = "test" -> null
name = "Foo Test"
tags = []
~ totals = {
- "bar" = 5 -> null
+ "baz" = 5
# (2 unchanged elements hidden)
}
~ values = [
- "alpha",
- "gamma",
+ "alpaca",
+ "goblin",
+ "zephyr",
# (23 unchanged elements hidden)
]
# (5 unchanged attributes hidden)
# (3 unchanged blocks hidden)
}
Adding a new block
# test_resource.foo will be updated in-place
~ resource "test_resource" "foo" {
id = "foo_123"
~ checksum = 28987129 -> (known after apply)
name = "Foo Test"
tags = []
# (8 unchanged attributes hidden)
+ sub_item {
+ identifier = "bar"
+ size = 4
+ type = "whatever"
}
# (3 unchanged blocks hidden)
}
Example from issue 23402
# google_container_cluster.nonprod will be updated in-place
~ resource "google_container_cluster" "nonprod" {
~ additional_zones = [
- "us-central1-a",
- "us-central1-b",
- "us-central1-c",
]
id = "nonprod"
name = "nonprod"
- region = "us-central1" -> null
# (24 unchanged attributes hidden)
# (13 unchanged blocks hidden)
}
Prototype Screenshots
Changed attributes:
Changed set elements:
Changed list elements:
Block attributes changed:
New block added: