Stack-Level Helpers
Stack-Level helpers are only locally available to the specific stack they are defined in.
Example
To define custom helpers, you create a Ruby module the config/helpers folder within the stack definition folder. For example, app/stacks/demo/config/helpers. The helper should be within the Terraspace::Stack namespace. By convention, the file name should be in underscore casing and the module name is camelized. Example:
app/stacks/demo/config/helpers/custom_helpers.rb
module Terraspace::Stack::Demo::CustomHelpers
def env_name
case Terraspace.env
when "dev"
"development"
when "prod"
"production"
else
Terraspace.env
end
end
end
Notice that app/stacks/demo is in the module namespace Terraspace::Stack::Demo::CustomHelpers. The custom helper methods will be available to use in the .tf files. Example:
Tip: You can also use terraspace new helper to generate a starter helper file.
app/stacks/demo/main.tf
resource "random_pet" "this" {
length = 2
}
resource "aws_s3_bucket" "this" {
bucket = "bucket-${random_pet.this.id}"
tags = {
Name = "bucket-<%= Terraspace.env %>"
Env = "<%= env_name %>" # use of custom helper
}
}
Running:
$ terraspace build demo
Building .terraspace-cache/us-west-2/dev/stacks/demo
Built in .terraspace-cache/us-west-2/dev/stacks/demo
$ terraspace info demo --path
.terraspace-cache/us-west-2/dev/stacks/demo
$ ls .terraspace-cache/us-west-2/dev/stacks/demo/main.tf
.terraspace-cache/us-west-2/dev/stacks/demo/main.tf
Produces:
.terraspace-cache/us-west-2/dev/stacks/demo/main.tf
resource "random_pet" "this" {
length = 2
}
resource "aws_s3_bucket" "this" {
bucket = "bucket-${random_pet.this.id}"
tags = {
Name = "bucket-dev"
Env = "development" # use of custom helper
}
}
Considerations
Helper methods are a Terraspace concept. Generally, you should strive to use pure Terraform, so the the code can be used outside of Terraspace. Sometimes though, using helper methods can make your code simpler and more managable. So try to use helper methods wisely.
Generator
To help you get started quickly, you can generate starter helper code. Check out the examples in the Helper Generator Docs.
