terraform-show

terraform show [options] [file]

terraform show reads and displays Terraform state or plan files in a human-readable format. When called without a file argument, it renders the latest state snapshot, showing all managed resources and their current attribute values. When given a plan file (created by terraform plan -out), it displays the proposed changes including resources to be created, modified, or destroyed.The -json flag produces structured JSON output suitable for processing by external tools, CI/CD pipelines, or policy engines. The JSON format includes the full resource state, planned changes, and provider configuration.

-json

Output the state or plan in machine-readable JSON format. Sensitive values are shown in plain text.

Disable terminal color codes in the output.

The -json flag exposes sensitive values in plain text, including passwords, tokens, and keys stored in state. State files should be treated as sensitive data. The JSON output format requires Terraform 0.12 or later, and the schema may change between major versions. When using -json with a plan file, the plan must have been created without -refresh=false.

The show subcommand has been available since early Terraform releases by HashiCorp. JSON output support was added in Terraform 0.12 (May 2019) as part of a broader effort to provide machine-readable output across all commands. The JSON output schema has been incrementally extended to cover additional resource metadata and planned change details.

terraform(1), terraform-plan(1), terraform-apply(1), terraform-output(1)