The terraform test command loads and executes Terraform testing files.
The terraform test command and the test file syntax help module authors validate and test their shared modules. You can also use the terraform test command to validate root modules.
Usage: terraform test [options]
This command searches the current directory and the specified testing directory for Terraform testing files and executes the specified tests. By default, the directory containing test files is named tests. Refer to Tests for more details on test files.
Terraform then executes a series of Terraform plan or apply commands according to the test files' specifications, and also validates the relevant plan and state files according to the test files' specifications.
Warning: The Terraform test command can create real infrastructure than can cost you money. Refer to the Terraform Test Cleanup section for best practices on ensuring created infrastructure is destroyed.
The following options apply to the Terraform terraform test command:
-cloud-run=<module source> - This test run executes remotely on HCP Terraform within the specified Terraform private registry module.
-filter=testfile - Limits the terraform test operation to the specified test files.
-json - Displays machine-readable JSON output for your testing results.
-junit-xml=<output file path> - Saves a test report in JUnit XML format to the specified file. This is currently incompatible with remote test execution using the the -cloud-run option. The file path must be relative or absolute.
-test-directory=<relative directory> - Overrides the directory that Terraform looks into for test files. Note that Terraform always loads testing files within the main configuration directory. The default testing directory is tests.
-verbose - Prints out the plan or state for each run block within a test file, based on the command attribute of each run block.
-parallelism=<n> - Specifies the number of plan/apply operations to execute in parallel within a single test run. The default is 10.
Each Terraform test file will maintain all Terraform state it requires within memory as it executes, starting empty. This state is entirely separate from any existing state for the configuration under test, so you can safely execute Terraform test commands without affecting any live infrastructure.
Terraform Test CleanupThe Terraform terraform test command creates real infrastructure. Once Terraform fully executes each test file, Terraform attempts to destroy any remaining infrastructure. If it cannot do this, Terraform reports a list of resources it created but could not destroy.
You should monitor the output of the test command closely to ensure Terraform removes the infrastructure it created or perform manual cleanup if not. We recommend creating dedicated testing accounts within the target providers that you can routinely and safely purge to ensure any accidental and costly resources aren't left behind.
Terraform also provides diagnostics explaining why it could not automatically clean up. You should review these diagnostics to ensure that future clean-up operations are successful.
You can execute tests remotely on HCP Terraform using the -cloud-run option.
The -cloud-run option accepts a private registry module source. This option associates the test run with your specified private module within the HCP Terraform user interface.
You must provide a module from a private registry, not the public Terraform registry.
You must execute terraform login before using this option, and ensure that your hostname argument matches the private registry hostname of your target module.
The following directory structure represents an example directory tree for a Terraform module with tests and a setup module.
project/
|-- main.tf
|-- outputs.tf
|-- terraform.tf
|-- variables.tf
|-- tests/
| |-- validations.tftest.hcl
| |-- outputs.tftest.hcl
|-- testing/
|-- setup/
|-- main.tf
|-- outputs.tf
|-- terraform.tf
|-- variables.tf
At the root directory of the project, there are some typical Terraform configuration files: main.tf, outputs.tf, terraform.tf, and variables.tf. The test files, validations.tftest.hcl and outputs.tftest.hcl, are within the default tests directory: tests.
In addition, a setup module for the tests exists within the testing directory.
In order to execute the tests you should run terraform test from the root configuration directory as if running terraform plan or terraform apply. Despite the actual test files being in the nested tests directory, Terraform executes from the main configuration directory.
Specific test files can be executed using the -filter option.
Linux, Mac OS, and UNIX:
terraform test -filter=tests/validations.tftest.hcl
PowerShell:
terraform test -filter='tests\validations.tftest.hcl'
Windows cmd.exe:
terraform test -filter=tests\validations.tftest.hcl
In the above example the tests are in the default testing directory of tests. Test files can also be included directly within the main configuration directory:
project/
|-- main.tf
|-- outputs.tf
|-- terraform.tf
|-- variables.tf
|-- validations.tftest.hcl
|-- outputs.tftest.hcl
|-- testing/
|-- setup/
|-- main.tf
|-- outputs.tf
|-- terraform.tf
|-- variables.tf
The location of the testing files does not affect the operation of terraform test. All references to, and absolute file paths within, the testing files should be relative to the main configuration directory.
You can also use the -test-directory argument to change the location of the testing files. For example, terraform test -test-directory=testing would instruct Terraform to load tests from the directory testing instead of tests.
The testing directory must be beneath the main configuration directory, but it can be nested many times.
Note: Test files within the root configuration directory are always loaded, regardless of the
-test-directoryvalue.
We do not recommend changing the default test directory. The option for customization is included for configuration authors who may have included a tests submodule in their configuration before the terraform test command was released. In general, the default test directory of tests should always be used.
Below is a contrived example of Terraform testing that makes assertions about the values of local variables true and false. There are two test files: one contains a passing test, and one contains a failing test.
# main.tf
locals {
true = "true"
false = "true" # incorrect, should be "false"!
}
The assertion that local.true == "true" in example_1.tftest.hcl will pass:
# example_1.tftest.hcl
run "true_is_true" {
assert {
condition = local.true == "true"
error_message = "local.true did not match expected value"
}
}
The assertion that local.false == "false" in example_2.tftest.hcl will fail:
# example_2.tftest.hcl
run "false_is_false" {
assert {
condition = local.false == "false"
error_message = "local.false did not match expected value"
}
}
Below is the output of the terraform test -junit-xml=./output.xml command using the example files above. The test output is:
Below is the contents of the resulting output.xml file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><testsuites>
<testsuite name="example_1.tftest.hcl" tests="1" skipped="0" failures="0" errors="0">
<testcase name="true_is_true" classname="example_1.tftest.hcl" time="0.002295" timestamp="2025-01-13T19:23:16Z"></testcase>
</testsuite>
<testsuite name="example_2.tftest.hcl" tests="1" skipped="0" failures="1" errors="0">
<testcase name="false_is_false" classname="example_2.tftest.hcl" time="0.001468" timestamp="2025-01-13T19:23:16Z">
<failure message="local.false did not match expected value"><![CDATA[
Error: Test assertion failed
on example_2.tftest.hcl line 3, in run "false_is_false":
3: condition = local.false == "false"
├────────────────
│ local.false is "true"
local.false did not match expected value
]]></failure>
</testcase>
</testsuite>
</testsuites>
If a run block contains a failing assertion, the <testcase> element will contain a <failure> element that includes the error message and further details.
A <testcase> element could contain a <skipped> element that includes details about why a test was skipped. This could either be due to an error causing remaining run blocks to be skipped, or due to the command being interrupted.
The test report generated when using -junit-xml maps Terraform test command concepts to JUnit XML format according to the table below:
<testsuites> Test file <testsuite> Run block <testcase> Run block assertion None; details are included only on failure Test failure <failure> Test was skipped <skipped> Test stopped due to error <error> Any unhandled warnings or errors <system-err>
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