---
page_title: 'Command: apply'
description: >-
  The terraform apply command executes the actions proposed in a Terraform plan
  to create, update, or destroy infrastructure.
---

# Command: apply

> **Hands-on:** Try the [Terraform: Get Started](https://learn.hashicorp.com/collections/terraform/aws-get-started?utm_source=WEBSITE&utm_medium=WEB_IO&utm_offer=ARTICLE_PAGE&utm_content=DOCS) collection on HashiCorp Learn.

The `terraform apply` command executes the actions proposed in a Terraform
plan.

The most straightforward way to use `terraform apply` is to run it without
any arguments at all, in which case it will automatically create a new
execution plan (as if you had run `terraform plan`) and then prompt you to
approve that plan, before taking the indicated actions.

Another way to use `terraform apply` is to pass it the filename of a saved
plan file you created earlier with `terraform plan -out=...`, in which case
Terraform will apply the changes in the plan without any confirmation prompt.
This two-step workflow is primarily intended for when
[running Terraform in automation](https://learn.hashicorp.com/tutorials/terraform/automate-terraform?in=terraform/automation&utm_source=WEBSITE&utm_medium=WEB_IO&utm_offer=ARTICLE_PAGE&utm_content=DOCS).

## Usage

Usage: `terraform apply [options] [plan file]`

The behavior of `terraform apply` differs significantly depending on whether
you pass it the filename of a previously-saved plan file.

### Automatic Plan Mode

In the default case, with no saved plan file, `terraform apply` creates its own
plan of action, in the same way that [`terraform plan`](/cli/commands/plan) would.

Terraform will propose the plan to you and prompt you to approve it before
taking the described actions, unless you waive that prompt by using the
`-auto-approve` option.

-> **Tip:** When you run `terraform apply` without a saved plan file, you can use all of the [planning modes](/cli/commands/plan#planning-modes) and
[planning options](/cli/commands/plan#planning-options) available for `terraform plan`. This lets you customize how Terraform will create the plan.

### Saved Plan Mode

If you pass the filename of a previously-saved plan file, `terraform apply`
performs exactly the steps specified by that plan file. It does not prompt for
approval; if you want to inspect a plan file before applying it, you can use
[`terraform show`](/cli/commands/show).

When using a saved plan, none of the planning modes or planning options linked
above are supported; these options only affect Terraform's decisions about which
actions to take, and the plan file contains the final results of those
decisions.

### Plan Options

When run without a saved plan file, `terraform apply` supports all of `terraform
plan`'s planning modes and planning options. For details, see:

* [Planning Modes](/cli/commands/plan#planning-modes)
* [Planning Options](/cli/commands/plan#planning-options)

### Apply Options

The following options allow you to change various details about how the
apply command executes and reports on the apply operation.

* `-auto-approve` - Skips interactive approval of plan before applying. This
  option is ignored when you pass a previously-saved plan file, because
  Terraform considers you passing the plan file as the approval and so
  will never prompt in that case.

* `-compact-warnings` - Shows any warning messages in a compact form which
  includes only the summary messages, unless the warnings are accompanied by
  at least one error and thus the warning text might be useful context for
  the errors.

* `-input=false` - Disables all of Terraform's interactive prompts. Note that
  this also prevents Terraform from prompting for interactive approval of a
  plan, so Terraform will conservatively assume that you do not wish to
  apply the plan, causing the operation to fail. If you wish to run Terraform
  in a non-interactive context, see
  [Running Terraform in Automation](https://learn.hashicorp.com/tutorials/terraform/automate-terraform?in=terraform/automation&utm_source=WEBSITE&utm_medium=WEB_IO&utm_offer=ARTICLE_PAGE&utm_content=DOCS) for some
  different approaches.

* `-json` - Enables the [machine readable JSON UI][machine-readable-ui] output.
  This implies `-input=false`, so the configuration must have no unassigned
  variable values to continue. To enable this flag, you must also either enable
  the `-auto-approve` flag or specify a previously-saved plan.

  [machine-readable-ui]: /internals/machine-readable-ui

* `-lock=false` - Don't hold a state lock during the operation. This is
  dangerous if others might concurrently run commands against the same
  workspace.

* `-lock-timeout=DURATION` - Unless locking is disabled with `-lock=false`,
  instructs Terraform to retry acquiring a lock for a period of time before
  returning an error. The duration syntax is a number followed by a time
  unit letter, such as "3s" for three seconds.

* `-no-color` - Disables terminal formatting sequences in the output. Use this
  if you are running Terraform in a context where its output will be
  rendered by a system that cannot interpret terminal formatting.

* `-parallelism=n` - Limit the number of concurrent operation as Terraform
  [walks the graph](/internals/graph#walking-the-graph). Defaults to
  10\.

- All [planning modes](/cli/commands/plan#planning-modes) and
[planning options](/cli/commands/plan#planning-options) for
`terraform plan` - Customize how Terraform will create the plan. Only available when you run `terraform apply` without a saved plan file.

For configurations using
[the `local` backend](/language/settings/backends/local) only,
`terraform apply` also accepts the legacy options
[`-state`, `-state-out`, and `-backup`](/language/settings/backends/local#command-line-arguments).

## Passing a Different Configuration Directory

Terraform v0.13 and earlier also accepted a directory path in place of the
plan file argument to `terraform apply`, in which case Terraform would use
that directory as the root module instead of the current working directory.

That usage was deprecated in Terraform v0.14 and removed in Terraform v0.15.
If your workflow relies on overriding the root module directory, use
[the `-chdir` global option](/cli/commands/#switching-working-directory-with-chdir)
instead, which works across all commands and makes Terraform consistently look
in the given directory for all files it would normally read or write in the
current working directory.

If your previous use of this legacy pattern was also relying on Terraform
writing the `.terraform` subdirectory into the current working directory even
though the root module directory was overridden, use
[the `TF_DATA_DIR` environment variable](/cli/config/environment-variables#tf_data_dir)
to direct Terraform to write the `.terraform` directory to a location other
than the current working directory.
