Terraform Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

What it does

Terraform Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is a Cursor skill: a SKILL.md playbook that AgenticKit installs at .cursor/skills/terraform-iac. Cursor's agent loads it when the task matches the skill description, instead of stuffing the same rules into every chat.

Terraform standards for provisioning cloud infrastructure, maintaining remote state locks, and structuring modular multi-environment setups.

AWS/GCP infrastructure, S3 buckets, RDS PostgreSQL, and DNS records. The file is domain knowledge, not a slash macro. You do not type it. The agent reads it when the job is terraform iac.

Why it exists

Default Cursor has no memory of how your team ships code, schema, and tests. Founders paste the same conventions into chat, then watch the model drift on the next turn. This skill exists so those conventions live on disk and load only when relevant.

It ships in the Engineering Kit. It is wired to the Cloud Infrastructure Architect (cloud-architect) and DevOps & Deployment Pro (devops-engineer) agents. It is wired to the /cloud-infra: Cloud Infrastructure as Code (Terraform / IaC) and /dockerize: Docker & Containerization Configurator commands. That graph is the point: the skill is the standard, the agent is the role, the command is the trigger.

When to use it

• Use Terraform Infrastructure as Code (IaC) when the work is specifically about aws/gcp infrastructure, s3 buckets, rds postgresql, and dns records.
• Load it before a long session that will touch this surface more than once. A one-line edit does not need the full playbook.
• Use it on production SaaS work (multi-tenant apps, paid features, anything that will be reviewed) rather than a throwaway prototype.

When not to use it

• Do not treat the skill as a replacement for a slash command. Skills teach. Commands run a pipeline.
• Do not paste the whole SKILL.md into chat. If Cursor is not loading it, fix the description or invoke the matching command.
• Do not use it as a generic 'write better code' rule. Scope is this domain only.

Example workflow

1. Install the Engineering Kit so .cursor/skills/terraform-iac lands in the repo.
2. Open a new Cursor agent chat pointed at the files this skill governs.
3. Ask the Cloud Infrastructure Architect (cloud-architect) to read the skill, or run /cloud-infra: Cloud Infrastructure as Code (Terraform / IaC).
4. Review the first artifact against the practices below. If it violates one, stop and correct the file. Do not prompt 'just finish it'.
5. Commit the skill-guided files with the rest of the slice so the next session inherits the same standard.

Example usage

Example prompt: "Read .cursor/skills/terraform-iac and apply it to this change. Do not invent extra conventions."

Or trigger the pipeline: /cloud-infra: Cloud Infrastructure as Code (Terraform / IaC). That command is written to load this skill.

Check the output against: Store Terraform state in encrypted remote S3 buckets with DynamoDB state locking

Example output

• The skill itself does not write a single output file. It changes what the agent is allowed to produce in code, schema, and tests.
• When you run /cloud-infra: Cloud Infrastructure as Code (Terraform / IaC), expect repo files plus notes under docs/, not a chat-only answer.

Best practices

• Store Terraform state in encrypted remote S3 buckets with DynamoDB state locking
• Modularize infrastructure components (VPC, database, storage, DNS)
• Use variables and tfvars for clean environment separation (dev, staging, prod)
• Enforce least-privilege IAM policies for all compute services

Common mistakes

• Ignoring "Store Terraform state in encrypted remote S3 buckets with DynamoDB state locking" and hoping a later prompt will clean it up.
• Copying the skill into .cursor/rules as always-on. That burns context and fights Cursor's load-on-match design.
• Running two overlapping skills that contradict each other in the same turn.
• Letting the agent skip tests or types because 'the skill is about architecture'.