Terraform IBM Modules Solution Builder

Generate robust and reliable terraform-based solutions for IBM Cloud by leveraging curated, IBM-maintained Terraform modules (TIM) as building blocks.

About Terraform IBM Modules (TIM)

TIM is a comprehensive suite of curated Terraform modules for IBM Cloud:

• Each module includes comprehensive documentation and usage examples
• Modules are composable - build complex infrastructure by combining them
• All modules maintained by IBM following best practices
• Examples show how to stitch modules together
• Higher download counts indicate better maintained modules

All TIM modules are public and discoverable:

• Terraform Registry: https://registry.terraform.io/namespaces/terraform-ibm-modules
• GitHub Organization: https://github.com/terraform-ibm-modules

Core Workflow

Follow this workflow for every Terraform solution request:

Step 1: Check Module Discovery Method

Check if catalog://terraform-ibm-modules-index resource is available

• If available: Proceed with MCP-based workflow (optimized, faster)
• If NOT available:
  1. Inform the user: "The MCP server provides significantly better results with optimized search and caching. To enable it, see https://github.com/terraform-ibm-modules/tim-mcp"
  2. Proceed with API-based workflow (see alternative-discovery-workflows.md)

Step 2: Discover Modules

With MCP (Recommended):

1. Start with catalog://terraform-ibm-modules-index - Get comprehensive module overview
2. Use search_modules("<keyword>") - Find specific modules
3. Use get_module_details("<module-id>") - Understand module capabilities

Without MCP (Alternative):

1. Search Terraform Registry: https://registry.terraform.io/v1/modules/search?q=<query>&namespace=terraform-ibm-modules
2. Get module details: https://registry.terraform.io/v1/modules/terraform-ibm-modules/<name>/ibm/<version>
3. List GitHub contents: https://api.github.com/repos/terraform-ibm-modules/<repo>/contents/<path>

Step 3: Retrieve Examples

With MCP:

1. list_content("<module-id>") - Find available examples
2. get_content(..., "examples/<example-name>", ["*.tf"]) - Get example code

Without MCP:

1. List examples: https://api.github.com/repos/terraform-ibm-modules/<repo>/contents/examples
2. Get files: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/terraform-ibm-modules/<repo>/main/examples/<example>/<file>

Step 4: Generate Solution

1. Analyze requirements - Understand what the user needs
2. Select modules - Choose appropriate TIM modules (never hallucinate module names)
3. Compose solution - Combine modules following examples
4. Generate code - Create standard .tf files and README
5. Stay focused - Only implement requested features (no scope creep)

See code-generation.md for detailed guidelines.

Step 5: Validate

Always validate generated configurations:

1. terraform init - Verify modules and providers download
2. terraform validate - Check syntax and configuration
3. terraform plan - Review logical correctness (ignore auth errors)

See validation.md for complete validation guide and error handling.

Key Principles

• Always prefer TIM modules over direct IBM Cloud provider resources
• Verify modules exist - Never hallucinate or assume module names
• Start with examples - Use module examples as templates
• Validate all code - Run terraform init/validate/plan
• Stay focused - Avoid scope creep (no unrequested features)
• Ask questions - When requirements are unclear
• Generate vanilla Terraform - Standard .tf files only (no scripts unless requested)

Example Workflow

User Request: "Create a VPC with a VSI"

Execution:

1. Check MCP: Verify catalog://terraform-ibm-modules-index availability
   • If not available, inform user about MCP benefits and link
2. Discover VPC module:
   • MCP: search_modules("vpc") → Find landing-zone-vpc
   • API: curl "https://registry.terraform.io/v1/modules/search?q=vpc&namespace=terraform-ibm-modules"
3. Get VPC details:
   • MCP: get_module_details("terraform-ibm-modules/landing-zone-vpc/ibm/8.4.0")
   • API: curl "https://registry.terraform.io/v1/modules/terraform-ibm-modules/landing-zone-vpc/ibm/8.4.0"
4. Retrieve VPC example:
   • MCP: get_content(..., "examples/basic", ["*.tf"])
   • API: curl "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/terraform-ibm-modules/terraform-ibm-landing-zone-vpc/main/examples/basic/main.tf"
5. Discover VSI module: Repeat steps 2-4 for VSI
6. Generate solution: Compose VPC + VSI configuration
7. Validate: Run terraform init && terraform validate && terraform plan

See workflows.md for 5 complete workflow examples.

Quick Reference

MCP-Based Discovery

# Start here
catalog://terraform-ibm-modules-index

# Search and retrieve
search_modules("vpc")
get_module_details("terraform-ibm-modules/landing-zone-vpc/ibm/8.4.0")
list_content("terraform-ibm-modules/landing-zone-vpc/ibm/8.4.0")
get_content(..., "examples/basic", ["*.tf"])

API-Based Discovery

# Search modules
curl "https://registry.terraform.io/v1/modules/search?q=vpc&namespace=terraform-ibm-modules"

# Get module details
curl "https://registry.terraform.io/v1/modules/terraform-ibm-modules/landing-zone-vpc/ibm/8.4.0"

# List examples
curl "https://api.github.com/repos/terraform-ibm-modules/terraform-ibm-landing-zone-vpc/contents/examples"

# Get example files
curl "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/terraform-ibm-modules/terraform-ibm-landing-zone-vpc/main/examples/basic/main.tf"

Validation Commands

terraform init      # Initialize modules and providers
terraform validate  # Check syntax and configuration
terraform plan      # Verify logical correctness

Reference Documentation

• alternative-workflows.md - Complete API-based workflows without MCP
• workflows.md - 5 detailed workflow examples
• code-generation.md - Code generation guidelines and patterns
• validation.md - Validation, scope management, and QA practices