What does it do?
Terraform is a hugely popular tool that lets engineers describe infrastructure, such as three servers, a database, and a load balancer, in a text file, then builds exactly that in the cloud with one command. This library is a thin wrapper that lets Python code run Terraform commands and read their results programmatically, instead of a human typing them into a terminal. It’s a Python-shaped handle bolted onto an existing power tool so it can be operated by other automated systems.
See it in action
This runs the infrastructure tool Terraform from Python, preparing a project folder and then building whatever servers or resources are described in it.
from python_terraform import Terraform
tf = Terraform(working_dir="path/to/terraform/config")
return_code, stdout, stderr = tf.init()
return_code, stdout, stderr = tf.apply(skip_plan=True)
print(stdout)Why would a non-developer care?
Infrastructure as code, describing servers in text instead of clicking through cloud consoles by hand, is how modern companies avoid the classic disaster of nobody remembering exactly how production is configured. This library lets that process be triggered and monitored from within larger Python automation systems, like custom deployment pipelines.
Real-world examples
Terraform itself, made by HashiCorp, is used by a huge share of companies running cloud infrastructure precisely because it lets teams version-control their server setups the way they version-control code. This particular Python wrapper is a smaller, community-maintained convenience layer for teams that want to trigger Terraform from Python rather than shell scripts, rather than parsing its raw command-line output by hand.
Who uses it
Python developers building custom infrastructure automation or internal tools who need to trigger Terraform runs programmatically.
How it compares to alternatives
Terraform itself competes with tools like AWS CloudFormation and Pulumi; this library specifically exists to bridge Terraform, a standalone command-line tool, into Python workflows, a narrower job than Terraform does on its own.