What is Terraform Workspaces?

Question

Accepted Answer

**Workspaces** — manage multiple state files in one configuration.

```bash
# Workspace commands
terraform workspace list
terraform workspace new dev
terraform workspace new staging
terraform workspace new prod
terraform workspace select dev
terraform workspace show
terraform workspace delete dev
terraform workspace rename old new

# Current workspace in code
terraform.workspace
```

```hcl
# Usage in configuration
locals {
  env = terraform.workspace
  instance_type = terraform.workspace == "prod" ? "m5.xlarge" : "t3.micro"
  min_replicas  = terraform.workspace == "prod" ? 3 : 1
  max_replicas  = terraform.workspace == "prod" ? 10 : 3
}

resource "aws_instance" "web" {
  instance_type = local.instance_type

tags = {
    Environment = local.env
    Name        = "web-${local.env}"
  }
}

# Remote state per workspace
terraform {
  backend "s3" {
    bucket = "tf-state"
    key    = "${terraform.workspace}/terraform.tfstate"
    region = "us-west-2"
  }
}
```

**Best Practices:**
- Use workspaces for same-code environments.
- Use directories/modules for different architectures.
- Avoid workspace proliferation.
- State isolation via key prefix.

DevOps: What is Terraform Workspaces?