Spacelift

Spacelift orchestrates Terraform via GitOps: GitHub pushes trigger runs, policies govern behavior, contexts inject config, workers execute runs.

• API: https://<account>.app.spacelift.io/graphql
• Terraform provider: spacelift-io/spacelift
• spacectl: brew install spacelift-io/spacelift/spacectl

Core Concepts

Concept	Description
Stack	Terraform project unit: repo + branch + settings + state
Run	Execution of terraform plan (proposed) or plan+apply (tracked)
Policy	OPA Rego rule set governing stack behavior (9 types)
Context	Reusable bundle of env vars + mounted files + hooks
Worker Pool	Set of runners executing runs (public Spacelift-hosted or private)
Space	Organizational boundary for access control and resource scoping

---

GitOps Workflow

feature branch push
  → push policy → propose
  → proposed run: terraform plan
  → commit status reported to PR

PR merged to tracked branch (e.g., main)
  → push policy → track
  → tracked run: terraform plan
  → if autodeploy: auto-apply
  → else: unconfirmed state → human confirms → apply

Run States

State	Meaning
QUEUED	Waiting for worker; approval policies evaluated here
INITIALIZING	Worker starting, downloading source
PLANNING	terraform plan running
UNCONFIRMED	Plan done, awaiting human confirm (or autodeploy blocked)
CONFIRMED	Human confirmed, apply will start
APPLYING	terraform apply running
FINISHED	Completed successfully
FAILED	Run failed at some phase
DISCARDED	Manually abandoned

---

spacectl Quick Reference

Auth (CI/Agent — non-interactive)

export SPACELIFT_API_KEY_ENDPOINT=https://myorg.app.spacelift.io
export SPACELIFT_API_KEY_ID=$SECRET_KEY_ID
export SPACELIFT_API_KEY_SECRET=$SECRET_KEY_SECRET

GitHub Actions

- uses: spacelift-io/setup-spacectl@main
- run: spacectl stack deploy --id my-stack --auto-confirm --tail
  env:
    SPACELIFT_API_KEY_ENDPOINT: https://myorg.app.spacelift.io
    SPACELIFT_API_KEY_ID: ${{ secrets.SPACELIFT_API_KEY_ID }}
    SPACELIFT_API_KEY_SECRET: ${{ secrets.SPACELIFT_API_KEY_SECRET }}

Key Commands

spacectl stack list
spacectl stack deploy --id <stack> --auto-confirm --tail
spacectl stack task --id <stack> --tail 'terraform output -json'
spacectl run list --stack <stack>
spacectl run logs --stack <stack> --run <run-id>
spacectl run confirm --stack <stack> --run <run-id>
spacectl workerpool list
spacectl profile export-token          # get bearer token for API calls

---

Stack Settings Quick Reference

Field	Key Values
Branch	Tracked branch — pushes here trigger tracked runs
Project root	Subdirectory for Terraform root (monorepo)
Project globs	Sparse checkout paths (requires git checkout mode)
Autodeploy	true = auto-apply on clean plan
Autoretry	true = retry proposed runs when state changes (private worker only)
Worker pool	Assign private pool; required for drift detection
Runner image	Custom Docker image (default: public.ecr.aws/spacelift/runner-terraform:latest)
Labels	Used by policies for auto-attach and filtering
Deletion protection	Prevent accidental stack deletion

---

Policy Types Quick Reference

Type	Fires when	Key outputs
Push	Git push or PR event	track, propose, ignore, cancel
Plan	After terraform plan	deny (fail), warn (require review)
Trigger	Tracked run reaches terminal state	trigger (stack IDs to cascade)
Approval	Run enters queued/unconfirmed	approve, reject
Login	User login attempt	allow, deny, admin
Stack Access	Stack access check	read, write, admin, deny
Notification	Any run state change	notification targets
Task	Before task runs	allow, deny
Run Init	Before run starts (deprecated)	allow, deny

All policies use Rego v1 (package spacelift). Auto-attach via label autoattach:<label>.

Most Common Patterns

# Push: standard GitOps
track if input.push.branch == input.stack.branch
propose if not is_null(input.pull_request)
ignore if { not track; not propose }

# Plan: block deletions
deny contains sprintf("Deletion not allowed: %s", [c.entity.address]) if {
  some c in input.spacelift.run.changes; c.action == "deleted"
}

# Plan: manual review for drift
warn contains "Drift reconciliation requires manual approval" if {
  input.spacelift.run.drift_detection
}

# Approval: require 1 reviewer
approve if count(input.reviews.current.approvals) >= 1

---

Reference Files

File	Read when
references/github-terraform-workflow.md	Setting up GitHub App, branch tracking, PR status checks, push policy patterns, monorepo sparse checkout
references/stack-configuration.md	Stack creation fields, VCS settings, Terraform settings, hooks, scheduling, stack dependencies
references/policies.md	All 9 policy types with full input schemas, Rego v1 examples, workbench testing
references/spacectl.md	CLI installation, auth methods, stack/run/worker commands, CI agent patterns, GraphQL API
references/contexts-and-config.md	Context creation, auto-attach labels, priority/conflict resolution, .spacelift/config.yml, env var precedence
references/worker-pools.md	Private worker setup (CSR → pool → launch), config vars, network requirements, sizing
references/drift-detection.md	Scheduling, reconciliation, plan/trigger policy integration, drift run limits
references/gcp-integration.md	Setting up GCP OIDC (WIF), native GCP integration, credential config JSON, Terraform provider auth, hierarchical space access, direct resource access
references/terraform-provider.md	Terraform provider config, resource+data source inventory, HCL schemas for all core resources, AWS integration setup, import IDs