generate-terraform-provider

Generate a Terraform provider from an OpenAPI specification using the Speakeasy CLI. This skill covers the full lifecycle: annotating your spec with entity metadata, mapping CRUD operations, generating the provider, configuring workflows, and publishing to the Terraform Registry.

When to Use

• Generating a new Terraform provider from an OpenAPI spec
• Annotating an OpenAPI spec with x-speakeasy-entity and x-speakeasy-entity-operation
• Mapping API operations to Terraform CRUD methods
• Understanding Terraform type inference from OpenAPI schemas
• Configuring workflow.yaml for Terraform provider generation
• Publishing a provider to the Terraform Registry
• User says: “terraform provider”, “generate terraform”, “create terraform provider”, “CRUD mapping”, “x-speakeasy-entity”, “terraform resource”, “terraform registry”

Inputs

Outputs

Prerequisites

1. Speakeasy CLI installed and authenticated
2. OpenAPI 3.0 or 3.1 specification with entity annotations
3. Go installed (Terraform providers are written in Go)
4. Authentication: Set SPEAKEASY_API_KEY env var or run speakeasy auth login

export SPEAKEASY_API_KEY="<your-api-key>"

Run speakeasy auth login to authenticate interactively, or set the SPEAKEASY_API_KEY environment variable.

Command

First-time generation (quickstart)

speakeasy quickstart --skip-interactive --output console \
  -s <spec-path> \
  -t terraform \
  -n <ProviderName> \
  -p <package-name>

Regenerate after changes

speakeasy run --output console

Regenerate a specific target

speakeasy run -t <target-name> --output console

Entity Annotations

Before generating, annotate your OpenAPI spec with two extensions:

1. Mark schemas as entities

Add x-speakeasy-entity to component schemas that should become Terraform resources:

components:
  schemas:
    Pet:
      x-speakeasy-entity: Pet
      type: object
      properties:
        id:
          type: string
          readOnly: true
        name:
          type: string
        price:
          type: number
      required:
        - name
        - price

2. Map operations to CRUD methods

Add x-speakeasy-entity-operation to each API operation:

paths:
  /pets:
    post:
      x-speakeasy-entity-operation: Pet#create
      requestBody:
        required: true
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              $ref: "#/components/schemas/Pet"
      responses:
        "200":
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: "#/components/schemas/Pet"
  /pets/{id}:
    parameters:
      - name: id
        in: path
        required: true
        schema:
          type: string
    get:
      x-speakeasy-entity-operation: Pet#read
      responses:
        "200":
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: "#/components/schemas/Pet"
    put:
      x-speakeasy-entity-operation: Pet#update
      requestBody:
        required: true
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              $ref: "#/components/schemas/Pet"
      responses:
        "200":
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: "#/components/schemas/Pet"
    delete:
      x-speakeasy-entity-operation: Pet#delete
      responses:
        "204":
          description: Deleted

CRUD Mapping Summary

Data sources (list): For list endpoints (GET /resources), use a separate plural entity name with #read (e.g., Pets#read). Do NOT use #list — it is not a valid operation type.

Terraform Type Inference

Speakeasy infers Terraform schema types from the OpenAPI spec automatically:

Every parameter needed for READ, UPDATE, or DELETE must either appear in the CREATE response or be required in the CREATE request.

Example

Full workflow: Petstore provider

# 1. Ensure your spec has entity annotations (see above)

# 2. Generate the provider
speakeasy quickstart --skip-interactive --output console \
  -s ./openapi.yaml \
  -t terraform \
  -n Petstore \
  -p petstore

# 3. Build and test
cd terraform-provider-petstore
go build ./...
go test ./...

# 4. After spec changes, regenerate
speakeasy run --output console

This produces a Terraform resource usable as:

resource "petstore_pet" "my_pet" {
  name  = "Buddy"
  price = 1500
}

Workflow Configuration

Local spec

# .speakeasy/workflow.yaml
workflowVersion: 1.0.0
speakeasyVersion: latest
sources:
  my-api:
    inputs:
      - location: ./openapi.yaml
targets:
  my-provider:
    target: terraform
    source: my-api

Remote spec with overlays

For providers built against third-party APIs, fetch the spec remotely and apply local overlays:

# .speakeasy/workflow.yaml
workflowVersion: 1.0.0
speakeasyVersion: latest
sources:
  vendor-api:
    inputs:
      - location: https://api.vendor.com/openapi.yaml
    overlays:
      - location: terraform_overlay.yaml
    output: openapi.yaml
targets:
  vendor-provider:
    target: terraform
    source: vendor-api

Use speakeasy overlay compare to track upstream API changes:

speakeasy overlay compare \
  --before https://api.vendor.com/openapi.yaml \
  --after terraform_overlay.yaml \
  --out overlay-diff.yaml

Repository and Naming Conventions

Repository naming

Name the repository terraform-provider-XXX, where XXX is the provider type name. The provider type name should be lowercase alphanumeric ([a-z][a-z0-9]), though hyphens and underscores are permitted.

Entity naming

Use PascalCase for entity names so they translate correctly to Terraform’s underscore naming:

For list data sources, use the plural PascalCase form (e.g., Pets).

Resource Importing

Generated providers support importing existing resources into Terraform state.

Simple keys

For resources with a single ID field:

terraform import petstore_pet.my_pet my_pet_id

Composite keys

For resources with multiple ID fields, pass a JSON-encoded object:

terraform import my_test_resource.my_example \
  '{ "primary_key_one": "9cedad30-...", "primary_key_two": "e20c40a0-..." }'

Or use an import block:

import {
  id = jsonencode({
    primary_key_one: "9cedad30-..."
    primary_key_two: "e20c40a0-..."
  })
  to = my_test_resource.my_example
}

Then generate configuration:

terraform plan -generate-config-out=generated.tf

Publishing to the Terraform Registry

Publishing requires:

1. A public GitHub repository named terraform-provider-{name}
2. A GPG signing key for release signing
3. A GoReleaser configuration and GitHub Actions workflow
4. Registration with the Terraform Registry at registry.terraform.io

The Speakeasy Generation GitHub Action automates versioning and release. After initial registration, subsequent updates publish automatically when PRs are merged.

For detailed publishing steps, set up GPG signing keys, configure a GitHub Actions workflow with speakeasy-api/sdk-generation-action, and use GoReleaser to build and publish the provider binary.

Beta Provider Pattern

For large APIs, maintain separate stable and beta providers:

• Stable: terraform-provider-{name} with semver (x.y.z)
• Beta: terraform-provider-{name}-beta with 0.x versioning

Users can install both simultaneously. When beta features mature, graduate them to the stable provider. To set up a beta provider, create a separate terraform-provider-{name}-beta repository with its own gen.yaml using 0.x versioning, and publish it alongside the stable provider.

What NOT to Do

• Do NOT use #list as an operation type — only create, read, update, delete are valid
• Do NOT modify generated Go code directly — changes are overwritten on regeneration. Use overlays or hooks instead
• Do NOT omit the CREATE response body — Terraform needs the response to populate computed fields (e.g., id)
• Do NOT skip x-speakeasy-entity on schemas — without it, Speakeasy cannot identify Terraform resources
• Do NOT use camelCase or snake_case for entity names — use PascalCase so Terraform underscore naming works
• Do NOT generate Terraform providers in monorepo mode — HashiCorp requires a dedicated repository

Troubleshooting