How to configure alignment and indentation of terraform code inside VS Code?

Question

I use VS Code to develop terraform code. My current plugin for terraform is:

Name: Terraform
Id: hashicorp.terraform
Description: Syntax highlighting, linting, formatting, and validation for Hashicorp's Terraform
Version: 1.4.0
Publisher: HashiCorp
VS Marketplace Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=HashiCorp.terraform

Consider the following code:

output "sql_server" {
  description = "A dictionary of objects containing various Azure Sql Server properties per respective location."
  value = {
    for k, instance in azurerm_sql_server.instance : k =>
    {
      resource_group_name = instance.resource_group_name
      fully_qualified_domain_name = instance.fully_qualified_domain_name 
      name = instance.name
      location = instance.location
      is_primary = instance.location == var.primary_location
      admin_login = instance.administrator_login
    }
  }
}

I would like it to be reformatted like this when saving the file:

output "sql_server" {
    description = "A dictionary of objects containing various Azure Sql Server properties per respective location."
    value = {
        for k, instance in azurerm_sql_server.instance : k =>
        {
            resource_group_name         = instance.resource_group_name
            fully_qualified_domain_name = instance.fully_qualified_domain_name 
            name                        = instance.name
            location                    = instance.location
            is_primary                  = instance.location == var.primary_location
            admin_login                 = instance.administrator_login
        }
    }
}

Two things happen here:

• Indentation of 4 spaces was applied
• All the assignments within the same block were aligned

There is a lot of information on the web on how to do it, but I am must be especially stupid for being unable to make it work, so I would like to get a very concrete answer containing the following details:

• What terraform plugin to use
• What exactly to write in my settings.json

My current user settings.json file is:

{
    "workbench.startupEditor": "welcomePage",
    "editor.minimap.enabled": false,
    "terminal.integrated.scrollback": 1000,
    "git.enableSmartCommit": true,
    "editor.detectIndentation": false,
    "window.zoomLevel": -1,
    "diffEditor.renderSideBySide": false,
    "extensions.ignoreRecommendations": false,
    "workbench.colorTheme": "PowerShell ISE",
    "powershell.codeFormatting.whitespaceBeforeOpenBrace": false,
    "git.autofetch": true,
    "terminal.integrated.rendererType": "dom",
    "terraform.path": "C:\\Users\\mkharitonov\\.terraform\\terraform.exe"
}

My local workspace settings.json file is:

{
    "git.ignoreLimitWarning": true,
    "powershell.codeFormatting.openBraceOnSameLine": false,
    "powershell.codeFormatting.whitespaceBeforeOpenBrace": false,
    "editor.formatOnPaste": true,
    "editor.formatOnSave": true
}

Answer 1

It is recommended to use 2 spaces for terraform code instead of tabs or 4 spaces. You might see it in the Style Conventions

To configure the VS Code:

1. the terraform should be installed on your Mac
2. edit the settings.json and add the following:

"[terraform]": {
    "editor.formatOnSave": true
}

After this all your *.tf files will be automatically formatted on save.

Answer 2

Solution for macOS + VSCode

If you have problems with auto-formatting you may try doing so:

• Install HashiCorp Terraform plugin

• Install Terraform version manager:

  brew install tfenv
  

• Ask tfenv to use the specific version used by your project, for instance:

  tfenv use 0.12.20
  

• Add the following in your settings.json:

  "[terraform]": {
      "editor.formatOnSave": true
  }
  

Answer 3

The other answers are fine and work. However, it is really annoying to have a 4 character indent and have the auto-save process snap it back to 2 characters.

For whatever reason, VSCODE and the Terraform plugin default to 4 spaces. This can be changed by adding these blocks to your settings.json:

    "[terraform]": {
        "editor.tabSize": 2
    },
    "[terraform-vars]": {
        "editor.tabSize": 2
    },

These will keep your indents to the recommended 2 spaces when you are editing and avoid the violent snap from 4 to 2 spaces when the auto-save process saves your file.

Answer 4

Easy, install both the Prettier and the extension made by HashiCorp Terraform.

If you need to you can go into your vscode settings.json and add a section for terraform.

"[terraform]": {
    "editor.formatOnSave": true,
    "editor.defaultFormatter": "hashicorp.terraform",
    "editor.tabSize": 2, // optionally
  },
  "[terraform-vars]": {
    "editor.tabSize": 2 // optionally
  },