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Tutorial 1: Create a Workspace and Run

Create an Nx workspace with Terraform support and run your first plan and apply. This is the foundation for the rest of the tutorials.

What You'll Do​

  • Create a workspace with create-nx-terraform-app
  • Apply the backend (state storage)
  • Run plan and apply on the default infrastructure project

Prerequisites​

  • Node.js v18+
  • npm, yarn, or pnpm

Step 1: Create the Workspace​

npx create-nx-terraform-app my-terraform-workspace
cd my-terraform-workspace

When prompted:

  • Project name: Accept default or choose another.
  • Backend type: Choose local for this tutorial (no cloud setup).
  • Package manager: Your preference (npm, yarn, pnpm).
  • Nx Cloud: Skip for now (choose No).

You get two Terraform projects: terraform-setup (backend) and terraform-infra (infrastructure). The Project Types guide explains backend vs stateful projects.

Step 2: Apply the Backend​

The backend project provides where Terraform state is stored. Apply it first:

nx run terraform-setup:terraform-apply

For a local backend this is quick (local state file). For AWS S3 it would create the bucket and generate backend.config. See Backend Types for options.

Step 3: Run Infrastructure​

The preset already created terraform-infra and wired it to the backend. Initialize, plan, and apply:

nx run terraform-infra:terraform-init
nx run terraform-infra:terraform-plan
nx run terraform-infra:terraform-apply

Init uses the backend from terraform-setup (Nx runs the backend’s apply first when needed). Plan shows what would change; apply creates the resources.

Step 4: Verify​

nx show projects
# terraform-setup, terraform-infra

nx graph
# Shows terraform-infra → terraform-setup

Summary​

You created a workspace, applied the backend, and ran plan/apply on the default infrastructure project. Next: Tutorial 2: Add a reusable module.