Features

🏗️ Three Output Modes

Raw HCL key = value assignments
Wrapped in a locals block
Individual variable blocks
Automatic mode switching

📐 Aligned Formatting

Optional = sign alignment
Consistent indentation
Proper HCL block syntax
Nested object support

⚡ Type Handling

Strings double-quoted
Numbers and booleans raw
Arrays of primitives inline
Nested objects as HCL blocks

Terraform HCL Guide

HCL Syntax Basics

HCL (HashiCorp Configuration Language) uses unquoted keys and = for assignments. Objects become blocks with braces, and primitive arrays use square bracket syntax.

resource_group = "myapp-prod"
location       = "eastus"
vm_size        = "Standard_D2s_v3"

tags = {
  env  = "production"
  team = "platform"
}

Using the Three Output Modes

Raw assignments — paste directly into a .tf file at the top level or inside a resource block.

locals block — wraps output in locals { ... } so values are referenceable as local.key.

locals {
  resource_group = "myapp-prod"
  location       = "eastus"
}

variable blocks — generates a separate variable "key" { default = value } block per top-level key, ready for var.key references.

variable "resource_group" {
  default = "myapp-prod"
}

variable "location" {
  default = "eastus"
}

Common Use Cases

Azure / AWS config migration: Convert ARM/CloudFormation JSON parameters to Terraform variables
Application config: Turn a JSON config file into Terraform locals for a module
CI/CD pipelines: Generate .tfvars-compatible HCL from JSON environment configs
Infrastructure templating: Scaffold Terraform variable definitions from API responses
Team onboarding: Quickly seed Terraform files from existing JSON documentation

FAQ

Q: Can I use the output directly in a .tf file?

A: Raw and locals modes produce valid HCL that you can paste directly. Variable blocks mode produces complete variable declarations ready for a variables.tf file.

Q: What happens to nested JSON objects?

A: Nested objects are rendered as HCL map/object blocks with curly braces and indented key-value pairs. Deep nesting is fully supported recursively.

Q: Are arrays of objects supported?

A: Arrays of objects are rendered as a list of HCL object literals. Arrays of primitives use the compact ["a", "b"] inline syntax.

Bringing JSON data into Terraform

Converting JSON to HCL is handy when moving settings from another tool into Terraform, or turning an exported configuration into variables. It helps to know when HCL conversion is the right move and when Terraform can read the JSON directly.

Tips and common pitfalls

Terraform can read JSON natively with jsondecode(file("config.json")), which avoids a conversion step for data that changes often.
Terraform also accepts whole configuration files written as .tf.json, useful when the files are generated by another program.
Put environment-specific values in .tfvars files and keep resources generic.
Run terraform fmt after pasting generated HCL to match the standard formatting.

JSON to Terraform HCL