Alibaba Cloud Terraform Code Generation#

Turn natural-language Alibaba Cloud infrastructure requirements into validated Terraform for the current aliyun/alicloud provider. Resource knowledge is pulled from the provider's own docs at generation time — no local gold examples are maintained.

Hard rules (never violate)#

1. Credentials — never leak, never require#

NEVER read, print, ask for, or write AK/SK values anywhere — HCL, comments, env declarations, shell output, logs. The alicloud provider resolves credentials through seven mechanisms (env AK/SK, shared config.json, ECS instance RAM role, Assume Role, OIDC/RRSA, sidecar URI, static HCL) — see references/auth-and-network.md for the full chain. All read by the provider itself, never by this skill. Do NOT recommend the deprecated ALICLOUD_* / ALIBABACLOUD_* (no-underscore) env-var names — the current names are ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID / _ACCESS_KEY_SECRET / _SECURITY_TOKEN.

2. Honest reporting — never claim a step you didn't run#

Never report fmt: ok / validate: ok / plan: ok unless the corresponding command actually executed AND returned that status. When a step is skipped (tool missing, user opt-out), state "SKIPPED" (or "FAILED") with a reason. Paraphrasing real output is fine; fabricating it is not.

3. terraform apply is off-limits#

This skill NEVER runs terraform apply. plan is opt-in (Step 8); apply is strictly the user's action.

Environment (soft recommendations)#

• Terraform ≥ 1.5 recommended. Do not install or download Terraform automatically; Step 6 checks whether terraform is on PATH and reports the actual validation status.
• Network is required — Step 4.2 WebFetches each resource's provider doc.

Workflow#

Step 1. Parse requirement#

Extract:

• region — default cn-hangzhou.
• resources[] — { alicloud_type, quantity, attributes }.
• Non-functional: multi-AZ, encryption, backup, HA, IOPS.

If ambiguous (e.g. "搭个数据库"), ask at most one clarifying question.

Step 2. Resolve target directory#

Extract <target-dir> from the user's request (explicit path like myshop-infra/ or current working directory if unspecified). All subsequent fmt / init / validate commands run in this directory.

Before writing any .tf file, MUST create the directory:

bash

mkdir -p <target-dir>

All file writes MUST prefix paths with <target-dir>/ — never write to the current working directory directly, never write to a generic outputs/ parent. After generation completes, verify the structure:

bash

ls -R <target-dir>

Step 3. Sketch architecture#

Before any HCL, sketch a dependency table — one row per resource:

resourcedepends onAZ / placement

• Expand resources[] with implied infra (VPC → VSwitch → SecurityGroup → workload); user parse often skips these.
• The expanded list is the input to Step 4's gate.

Step 4. Pre-HCL gate (MANDATORY)#

For every distinct alicloud_* type from Step 3 (resources and data sources), execute 4.1 → 4.2 → 4.3. The calls per type are independent — issue them in parallel across types.

4.1 Pre-doc lookup (catalog + patterns, in parallel)

Two local lookups; run them concurrently before going to WebFetch:

(a) Catalog lookup — confirm the resource exists and check deprecation. The catalog ( references/alicloud-providers.md) is ~2600 lines; do NOT Read it whole — use grep, which returns just the row(s) you need:

bash

grep "alicloud_<name>" references/alicloud-providers.md

Three outcomes:

• Row found, status column empty → note the [doc](<url>) from the row; proceed to 4.2.
• **Row found, status ⚠️ 弃用 → <new_name> ** → switch the plan to <new_name> and re-lookup. NEVER emit the deprecated name. Common catch: alicloud_fc_function → alicloud_fcv3_function`.
• Row not found → stop. Ask the user whether the name was a typo; don't invent an alicloud_<guess>.

(b) Pattern lookup (conditional) — if the user's requirement matches a product-specific idiom listed in references/resource-patterns.md (e.g. RDS cross-AZ HA, OSS lifecycle noncurrent, VPC peering), read the relevant section. These idioms are NOT in the provider doc's Required list but are what the user actually wants (e.g. zone_id_slave_a for RDS HA is optional per the doc but required for real cross-AZ placement). Missing them produces "validates but silently wrong" output.

When a matching pattern section is found, ALL attributes listed in that section's "Required attributes" table MUST appear in the generated HCL — treat them as mandatory even if the provider doc marks them Optional.

bash

# Quick check whether a relevant pattern exists, then Read only the section:
grep -in "<keyword>" references/resource-patterns.md

4.2 Fetch provider doc (WebFetch)

WebFetch the doc URL from 4.1. If it fails or returns no useful content, construct the raw URL directly from the catalog row's doc URL. Preserve the catalog kind: resources use website/docs/r/, data sources use website/docs/d/.

text

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aliyun/terraform-provider-alicloud/master/website/docs/{r|d}/<doc_name>.html.markdown

If both fail, fall back to the local catalog row in references/alicloud-providers.md. Prefix the recitation header with doc unreachable: used local catalog. Do NOT fetch any other URL — only the two URLs above or the local catalog are trusted sources.

4.3 Recite (proof-of-read)

Before writing any HCL, emit and verify a complete per-resource brief:

• Required params (verbatim list from the doc, or from the local catalog if the 4.2 fallback was taken)
• 2–5 key Optional params relevant to the user's requirement
• A minimal HCL snippet from the doc's "Example Usage" (omit with the note no example available only when the fallback was taken)

If Required or Optional params are missing, return to 4.2. Skipping or using a partial recitation is a hard failure; WebFetch failure uses the 4.2 fallback, not memory.

Step 5. Generate#

5.1 Write HCL from the recitations, not memory

Use ONLY the params established in 4.3. If you need a param that wasn't in the recited brief, re-fetch 4.2 with a deeper read; do not guess.

Before writing a field, look up the resource in references/deprecated-fields.md (see §5.6 for the four row-kinds and their handling rules):

bash

grep '`alicloud_<resource>`' references/deprecated-fields.md

If the user's requirement touches a product with a specific usage pattern (e.g. RDS cross-AZ HA, VPC peering, OSS lifecycle), also consult references/resource-patterns.md for the non-obvious attributes.

5.2 Data-source enforcement (MANDATORY — no hardcoded IDs)

Resolve via data blocks, never literals. These also pass Step 4's gate:

• zone_id → data "alicloud_zones" (filter by available_resource_creation).
• image_id → data "alicloud_images" (filter by name_regex, owners = "system", most_recent = true).
• instance_type → data "alicloud_instance_types" (filter by cpu_core_count, memory_size, AZ).

5.4 Provider block (content contract)

Two Terraform blocks must appear somewhere in the project's *.tf files. Terraform merges all *.tf in a directory, so file organization is a style choice, not a contract — see "File organization" below.

Block 1 — terraform { required_providers {} }:

hcl

terraform {
  required_version = ">= 1.5"
  required_providers {
    alicloud = {
      source  = "aliyun/alicloud"
      version = "~> 1.274"
    }
  }
}

• Provider version: resolve the latest published stable aliyun/alicloud 1.x version, then write a pessimistic minor constraint ( 1.278.0 -> ~> 1.278). Lookup sources, in order:

  1. https://registry.terraform.io/v1/providers/aliyun/alicloud/versions
  2. https://registry.terraform.io/providers/aliyun/alicloud/latest
  3. https://github.com/aliyun/terraform-provider-alicloud/releases or https://github.com/aliyun/terraform-provider-alicloud/tags

• If lookup fails, fall back to ~> 1.274. Accepted form is ~> 1.<minor> from a confirmed published 1.x release. Do NOT write open-ended constraints ( >= 1.x, >= 1.239.0) or bare version strings.

Block 2 — provider "alicloud" {} with BOTH region = var.region and configuration_source:

hcl

provider "alicloud" {
  region               = var.region
  configuration_source = "AlibabaCloud-Agent-Skills/alibabacloud-terraform-code-generation"
}

• configuration_source is the attribution signature — required.
• region MUST reference var.region, not a hardcoded literal.

File organization (recommended, not required): conventional split is terraform.tf (Block 1) + providers.tf (Block 2). Also acceptable: a single versions.tf containing both blocks, or either block at the top of main.tf. Pick what fits the project — Terraform merges all *.tf equivalently. Do NOT add a filename check; run the content check below instead.

Post-generation verification (cross-file content grep):

bash

# 1. required_providers has aliyun/alicloud with a ~> 1.<minor> version
awk '
  /required_providers[[:space:]]*{/ { in_req=1 }
  in_req && /alicloud[[:space:]]*=[[:space:]]*{/ { in_ali=1 }
  in_ali && /source[[:space:]]*=[[:space:]]*"aliyun\/alicloud"/ { source=1 }
  in_ali && /version[[:space:]]*=[[:space:]]*"~>[[:space:]]*1\.[0-9]+"/ { version=1 }
  in_ali && /^[[:space:]]*}/ { in_ali=0 }
  END { exit(source && version ? 0 : 1) }
' <target-dir>/*.tf \
  && echo OK_VERSION || echo BAD_OR_MISSING_VERSION

# 2. configuration_source attribution present somewhere
grep -Rq 'configuration_source = "AlibabaCloud-Agent-Skills/alibabacloud-terraform-code-generation"' \
  <target-dir>/*.tf \
  && echo OK_CFG_SOURCE || echo MISSING_CFG_SOURCE

# 3. region uses variable, not hardcoded
grep -Rq 'region\s*=\s*var\.region' <target-dir>/*.tf \
  && echo OK_REGION_VAR || echo HARDCODED_REGION

All three must return OK. If any fails, fix the offending content and re-run — do NOT proceed to Step 6 with failures.

5.5 Style baseline

• 2-space indent; = aligned within a block; snake_case semantic resource labels ( alicloud_vswitch.app_a, not vsw1).
• Every tag-supporting resource should carry a non-empty tags block for ops hygiene — pick reasonable keys for the scenario (common choices: ManagedBy, Project, Environment, CreatedBy). Skill does not prescribe specific tag keys or values.

5.6 Deprecated-field audit — static grep pass (MANDATORY)

Run before terraform is needed — this is a pure-grep pass on the HCL you just wrote. For every resource in this generation, grep the project against references/deprecated-fields.md and handle each row-kind:

• rename row → if the old field name appears in HCL you just wrote, replace it with the new field name. Examples that show up most often:

  • alicloud_ram_role: name → role_name, document → assume_role_policy_document
  • alicloud_security_group: name → security_group_name
  • alicloud_db_database: name → data_base_name

• split / soft-split row → do NOT write the inline field on the parent. Declare the replacement sub-resource only when the user's requirement needs that capability, or when references/resource-patterns.md says the sub-resource has an explicit safe default. Example: for OSS buckets, alicloud_oss_bucket_acl defaults to private, but logging/CORS/website sub-resources are omitted unless the user asks for those features.

• deprecated-no-replacement row → stop using the field, no substitute.

Applies only to files written in this generation — do NOT refactor pre-existing user files you weren't asked to touch.

Post-audit verification (bash grep — must return all OK):

bash

# Walk deprecated-fields.md row by row and check whether any deprecated
# field that applies to a generated resource is still in use.
# Uses awk to extract individual resource blocks before field matching,
# so that short field names (name, document) don't falsely match
# substrings in compound field names (role_name, policy_document).
grep '| `alicloud_' references/deprecated-fields.md | while IFS='|' read _ resource field kind _; do
  resource=$(echo "$resource" | tr -d ' `')
  field=$(echo "$field" | tr -d ' ')
  kind=$(echo "$kind" | tr -d ' ')
  # Only check if this resource exists in the generated HCL
  if grep -Rq "resource \"$resource\"" <target-dir>/*.tf; then
    case "$kind" in
      rename|deprecated-no-replacement)
        awk -v res="$resource" -v fld="$field" '
          $0 ~ "resource \"" res "\"" { in_block=1; next }
          in_block && /^}/ { in_block=0 }
          in_block && $0 ~ "(^|[^_[:alnum:]])" fld "([^_[:alnum:]]|$)" { found=1; exit }
          END { exit found ? 0 : 1 }
        ' <target-dir>/*.tf \
          && echo "DEPRECATED: $resource.$field" || echo "OK: $resource.$field"
        ;;
      split|soft-split)
        grep -q "\b$field\b\s*=" <target-dir>/*.tf \
          && echo "DEPRECATED: $resource.$field (inline — use standalone sub-resource)" \
          || echo "OK: $resource.$field (not inline)"
        ;;
    esac
  fi
done

HARD GATE: must pass before Step 6 — If the script above produces any DEPRECATED: line:

1. Read each DEPRECATED: line — it names the resource and field.
2. Look up that resource+field in references/deprecated-fields.md to get the Action column (rename target, split sub-resource, etc.).
3. Apply the fix in the HCL.
4. Re-run the verification script.
5. Repeat until every line returns OK:. This is a blocking gate — do NOT proceed to Step 6 with any DEPRECATED: output. Do NOT claim "verified" unless the script produces all OK:.

Step 6. Validate + provider deprecation detection#

If terraform is on PATH:

bash

(cd <target-dir> \
  && terraform fmt -recursive \
  && terraform init -backend=false \
  && terraform validate -json)

Loop until both conditions are met (max 3 fix attempts total):

1. Parse validate -json. If there are errors → fix the offending file, then go to step 3.
2. Scan validate -json diagnostics[].summary for [DEPRECATED] strings. The provider emits authoritative deprecation annotations (e.g. "document": "[DEPRECATED] … New field 'assume_role_policy_document' instead."). If found → fix the matching field, then go to step 3.
3. Re-run cd <target-dir> && terraform validate -json and go back to step 1.

Exit the loop only when validate reports no errors AND no [DEPRECATED] diagnostics. After 3 attempts without reaching this state: proceed to Step 7 with Validation: FAILED (<diagnostic excerpt>) and include the failing HCL verbatim in the optional notes.

If init fails with a network error (cannot reach registry.terraform.io): not a config bug. Point the user at the mirror-source configuration in references/auth-and-network.md, then proceed to Step 7 — the Summary MUST use Validation: SKIPPED (init failed — network/unreachable). Do not retry blindly, do not write ~/.terraformrc yourself.

If terraform is absent: SKIP this step and surface that fact in Step 7's summary (Hard rule §2) with Validation: SKIPPED (terraform binary not on PATH).

Step 7. Coverage check + summarize#

MANDATORY — runs regardless of generation outcome. Even if earlier steps were interrupted (init network failure, validate loop exhausted, terraform not on PATH), this step MUST execute. The Files written: and Validation: lines are the final contract with downstream evaluators — skipping them is a hard failure.

Coverage check. Enumerate resource blocks in the generated HCL and compare with Step 3's sketch. If any sketch row is missing, return to Step 5 and add it — do not skip a row because "the user didn't explicitly name it".

Summary template — print in the user's language, using exactly this structure (fill <bracketed> placeholders, keep the two line labels Files written: and Validation: verbatim):

text

Files written:
<path/to/file1>
<path/to/file2>
...

Validation: <one-of-four-exact-strings-below>

Deprecation routing: <If re-routed: `<original_name>` → `<new_name>`; else: None>

<optional: architecture notes, design decisions, deploy hints — free-form
here is fine, but NOT inside the lines above>

The Validation: line must be one of these exact strings, chosen from what actually happened in Step 6. Do NOT paraphrase or fold it into prose:

• Validation: terraform fmt+validate: ok
• Validation: SKIPPED (terraform binary not on PATH)
• Validation: SKIPPED (<reason>)
• Validation: FAILED (<diagnostic excerpt>) — after 3 retries hit the cap

Edge cases:

• Init timeout → Validation: FAILED (init timed out — provider installation exceeded time limit)
• Init network-unreachable → Validation: SKIPPED (init failed — network/unreachable)
• Init failed after fmt succeeded → use the root-cause string above, not a hybrid status.

Step 8 (optional). terraform plan#

Only when the user asks. Pre-flight probes all seven credential paths from references/auth-and-network.md without reading any value:

bash

(
  [[ -n "${ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID:-}" ]] && [[ -n "${ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET:-}" ]] && echo "ready:env-ak-sk"
  [[ -f "$HOME/.aliyun/config.json" ]]                                                           && echo "ready:shared-config"
  { [[ -n "${ALIBABA_CLOUD_CREDENTIALS_FILE:-}" ]] && [[ -f "${ALIBABA_CLOUD_CREDENTIALS_FILE}" ]]; } && echo "ready:custom-credentials-file"
  [[ -n "${ALIBABA_CLOUD_ECS_METADATA:-}" ]]                                                      && echo "ready:ecs-ram-role"
  [[ -n "${ALIBABA_CLOUD_ROLE_ARN:-}" ]]                                                          && echo "ready:assume-role"
  [[ -n "${ALIBABA_CLOUD_CREDENTIALS_URI:-}" ]]                                                   && echo "ready:sidecar"
) | head -1

• Any line of output → a credential path is available: (cd <target-dir> && terraform init && terraform plan -out=tfplan); surface the output.
• Empty output → NO_CREDENTIALS. Tell the user about all viable paths (env AK/SK, shared ~/.aliyun/config.json + ALIBABA_CLOUD_PROFILE, ECS instance RAM role, Assume Role chain, OIDC/RRSA, sidecar URI) — do NOT just push env AK/SK. Point them at references/auth-and-network.md for the full setup. Then stop. Never read or print secret values.

References#

SourceWhen to readreferences/alicloud-providers.md (local)Step 4.1 — resource existence, deprecation mark, doc URLProvider doc (WebFetch of the URL from 4.1)Step 4.2 — authoritative Required / Optional per resourcereferences/deprecated-fields.md (local)Step 5.1 — known field-level renames not flagged by terraform validate``references/resource-patterns.md (local)Step 5.1 — product-specific idioms not emphasized by the provider doc (RDS HA, …)references/auth-and-network.md (local)Step 6 failure branch — mirror-source config; Step 8 pre-flight — full credential chain

The local catalog is one markdown table row per alicloud_* resource and data source, with a [doc](<url>) cell and, for deprecated entries, a ⚠️ 弃用 → <new_name>`` marker. It is generated from the upstream provider repo by scripts/build_alicloud_providers.py; re-run that script when a new aliyun/alicloud release introduces or shifts deprecations.