agentreadme

Report · marked 25 Aug 2026

hashicorp/terraform

An agent will struggle here, mostly for fixable reasons.

Go · 49,546 stars · 5,459 files · branch main

Fix these first

01
Agent instruction file
Add an AGENTS.md at the root: what the project is, how to install, how to run, how to test, and the two or three conventions a newcomer always gets wrong.
02
Instruction quality
Instructions earn their keep by naming exact commands. 'Run the tests with `pnpm test`' beats three paragraphs of philosophy.
03
File sizes fit in context
A single file that fills the context window forces an agent to work from fragments, and it will confidently edit code it never saw. Splitting the worst offenders pays for itself immediately.

The full marking

Every deduction below names the file or setting it came from.

Instructions 3/27 F

Whether the repo tells an agent how to behave before it starts guessing.

Agent instruction file 0/12
None found. Every agent that opens this repo starts from zero.
Add an AGENTS.md at the root: what the project is, how to install, how to run, how to test, and the two or three conventions a newcomer always gets wrong.
Looked for AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, .github/copilot-instructions.md, .cursorrules
Instruction quality 0/12
Nothing to judge, since there are no instructions.
Instructions earn their keep by naming exact commands. 'Run the tests with `pnpm test`' beats three paragraphs of philosophy.
README as an entry point 3/3
README has a clear getting-started section.
Setup 16/20 A-

Whether an agent can install the project and get it running without a human.

Deterministic install 6/6
go.sum pins the dependency tree.
Found go.sum
Discoverable commands 6/6
Commands are declared where an agent will look for them.
Makefile
scripts/ directory
Environment config 0/4
Nothing documents the environment this needs. An agent will get a runtime error it can't diagnose.
Add a .env.example listing every variable with a safe placeholder value. It's the cheapest possible fix and it unblocks the whole first run.
Pinned runtime version 2/2
The language runtime version is pinned.
go.mod declares a Go version
Reproducible environment 2/2
dockerfile gives a known-good environment.
Verification loop 19/22 A

Whether an agent can check its own work. This is the category that most decides whether agent output is trustworthy.

Tests exist 8/8
1466 test files against 1990 source files.
e.g. .github/scripts/equivalence-test.sh, docs/images/vscode-debugging-test.png, internal/addrs/action_test.go
Test command is discoverable 7/7
An agent can find and run `go test ./...`.
Continuous integration 4/4
11 GitHub Actions workflows define what "passing" means.
Lint and format rules 0/3
No linter or formatter config. Style is tribal knowledge, so agent output will drift from yours.
A formatter config is the cheapest way to stop reviewing whitespace in agent diffs. It moves style from opinion to a command.
Static type checking n/a
Not applicable — the Go compiler type checks every build.
Context economy 8/20 C

Whether the repo fits in a context window, or fights it.

No committed build output 3/6
Generated output is committed: .terraform/.
Add these to .gitignore and `git rm -r --cached` them. Generated files pollute search results, so an agent grepping for a function finds the compiled copy and edits the wrong file.
.gitignore hygiene 3/3
.gitignore covers 22 patterns.
File sizes fit in context 0/6
17 source files are over 100KB.
A single file that fills the context window forces an agent to work from fragments, and it will confidently edit code it never saw. Splitting the worst offenders pays for itself immediately.
internal/terraform/context_apply_test.go — 363KB
internal/command/init_test.go — 297KB
internal/command/jsonformat/plan_test.go — 293KB
Repository weight 2/5
About 358MB checked out. Large enough that cloning and searching are both slow.
Large binaries and vendored trees slow every operation an agent performs. Git LFS or a separate assets repo keeps the working tree navigable.

Here is your AGENTS.md

Drafted from what is actually in this repository: the install command from your lockfile, the commands you already declare, your real directory layout. Anything marked TODO needs a person. Save it at the root as AGENTS.md.

AGENTS.md — drafted for hashicorp/terraform
# AGENTS.md

Terraform enables you to safely and predictably create, change, and improve infrastructure. It is a source-available tool that codifies APIs into declarative configuration files that can be shared amongst team members, treated as code, edited, reviewed, and versioned.

## Setup

```
go mod download
```

## Commands

```
make generate
make protobuf
make defect-detector
make fmtcheck
make importscheck
make vetcheck
```

## Layout

- `internal/` 1951 source files
- `scripts/`  12 source files
- `tools/`    8 source files
- `version/`  3 source files

## Conventions

- Tests live alongside the code they cover, following `.github/scripts/equivalence-test.sh`.
- CI defines what passing means. See `.github/workflows/backport.yml`, and keep it green.
- TODO: add the two or three conventions a newcomer always gets wrong here.

## Gotchas

- `internal/terraform/context_apply_test.go` is 363KB. It will not fit comfortably in context, so read it in parts.

---

Drafted by agentreadme.com from what is in this repository. Everything marked TODO
needs a human. Check it in as AGENTS.md at the root.

Open the raw markdown  or  curl -o AGENTS.md agentreadme.com/draft/hashicorp/terraform.md

Show the mark

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agent ready 54 out of 100

[![agent ready](https://agentreadme.com/badge/hashicorp/terraform.svg)](https://agentreadme.com/hashicorp/terraform)

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All Go repositories

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