tfdocs

A Visual Studio Code extension that helps you quickly look up Terraform resource definitions and module documentation directly from your code.

Features

Resource Documentation:
- Quickly access official Terraform documentation for resources and data sources
- Version-specific documentation based on your .terraform.lock.hcl file
- Configurable version constraint strategy to control which version is used from constraint ranges
Version Constraint Strategy:
- high (default): Uses the exact version specified in the lock file
- low: Uses the lowest version from the constraint range (e.g., from ">= 1.6.0, >= 1.7.0" uses 1.6.0)
- middle: Uses the middle version from the constraint range
- Automatically parses constraint strings and applies your preferred strategy
Module Navigation:
- For local modules: Jump directly to the module's main configuration file
- For registry modules: Open the module's documentation in the Terraform Registry
- For private modules: Navigate to the module in your private registry (supports Terraform Cloud)
Smart Diagnostics:
- Visual indicators (yellow squiggly underlines) on resource and module blocks when .terraform.lock.hcl file is missing
- Quick Fix actions to run terraform/tofu init directly from the diagnostic warnings
- Real-time feedback as you work with Terraform files
Automatic Initialization:
- Detects missing .terraform.lock.hcl file and offers to run initialization
- Initialization output displayed in VS Code Output panel for better visibility
- Configurable to use either Terraform or OpenTofu
- Optional color output support with smart ANSI code conversion for enhanced readability

Usage

Looking up Resources and Modules

Place your cursor on a Terraform resource, data source, or module declaration
Either:
- Press Ctrl+Shift+P (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Shift+P (Mac) and run the "Look up Terraform resource" command
- Use the "Go to Definition" feature (F12 or Ctrl+click)

Handling Missing Lock Files

When working with Terraform files that don't have a .terraform.lock.hcl file, you'll see:

Yellow squiggly underlines on resource and module declarations
Quick Fix options (lightbulb icon or Ctrl+.) to run terraform init or tofu init
VS Code Output panel showing real-time initialization progress
Enhanced output readability when colorizer is enabled - ANSI color codes are converted to readable text labels like [ERROR], [SUCCESS], [WARNING]

Example:

resource "aws_instance" "web" {  # <- Place cursor here and trigger the command
  ami           = "ami-123456"
  instance_type = "t2.micro"
}

Requirements

Visual Studio Code version 1.98.0 or higher
Terraform files in your workspace

Extension Settings

This extension activates automatically for Terraform files. While no configuration is required, the following settings are available:

Setting	Description	Default
`tfdocs.initTool`	Specify which tool to use for initialization when `.terraform.lock.hcl` is missing (`terraform` or `tofu`)	`terraform`
`tfdocs.enableColorizer`	Enable color output in Terraform/OpenTofu commands (removes -no-color flag and converts ANSI codes to readable text)	`false`
`tfdocs.useConstraint`	Strategy for selecting which version to use from Terraform lock file constraints (`low`, `middle`, or `high`)	`uses lock file version directly`

You can add these to your settings.json:

{
    "tfdocs.initTool": "tofu",
    "tfdocs.enableColorizer": true,
    "tfdocs.useConstraint": "middle"
}

Known Issues

None at this time. Please report any issues on our GitHub repository.

Credits: This extension is forked from the terraform-docs-navigator by Jeremy Overman.