History

Martin Atkins e1af10b554 docs: README for the plugin-protocol directory This is an initial partial description of the plugin protocol focused mainly on explaining the purpose of the .proto files. In subsequent updates we will also document the negotiation protocol, etc. For this first pass the goal was just to publish some information that was already available in an internal design document so that it's visible to SDK implementers. It is focused on the .proto versioning strategy because that was the main topic of the internal design documentation this was based on.		2019-06-11 14:29:35 -07:00
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images	docs: Import some existing docs to bootstrap the codebase docs section	2019-03-25 08:01:44 -07:00
plugin-protocol	docs: README for the plugin-protocol directory	2019-06-11 14:29:35 -07:00
README.md	docs: README for the plugin-protocol directory	2019-06-11 14:29:35 -07:00
architecture.md	docs: Some updates to the architecture summary	2019-03-25 08:01:44 -07:00
maintainer-etiquette.md	docs: Import some existing docs to bootstrap the codebase docs section	2019-03-25 08:01:44 -07:00
resource-instance-change-lifecycle.md	docs: Import some existing docs to bootstrap the codebase docs section	2019-03-25 08:01:44 -07:00

Terraform Core Codebase Documentation

This directory contains some documentation about the Terraform Core codebase, aimed at readers who are interested in making code contributions.

If you're looking for information on using Terraform, please instead refer to the main Terraform CLI documentation.

Terraform Core Architecture Documents

Terraform Core Architecture Summary: an overview of the main components of Terraform Core and how they interact. This is the best starting point if you are diving in to this codebase for the first time.
Resource Instance Change Lifecycle: a description of the steps in validating, planning, and applying a change to a resource instance, from the perspective of the provider plugin RPC operations. This may be useful for understanding the various expectations Terraform enforces about provider behavior, either if you intend to make changes to those behaviors or if you are implementing a new Terraform plugin SDK and so wish to conform to them.

(If you are planning to write a new provider using the official SDK then please refer to the Extend documentation instead; it presents similar information from the perspective of the SDK API, rather than the plugin wire protocol.)
Plugin Protocol: gRPC/protobuf definitions for the plugin wire protocol and information about its versioning strategy.

This documentation is for SDK developers, and is not necessary reading for those implementing a provider using the official SDK.

Maintainer Etiquette: guidelines and expectations for those who serve as Pull Request reviewers, issue triagers, etc.