Engineering Standards¶
Standing rules for every contribution to this module. Deviations need a spec entry justifying why.
1. Tagging — non-negotiable¶
Every taggable resource accepts and propagates var.tags. Two-layer
pattern:
- Provider-level
default_tags(set by the caller) — cross-cutting tags likeProject,ManagedBy,Repository. - Module-level
var.tags— exposed by every module, threaded through every taggable resource viamerge(var.tags, { … })for any per-resource additions. Module-supplied tags win on key conflict.
When adding a new taggable resource: it MUST take
tags = merge(var.tags, { Component = "<sub-module>" }) and the module's
variables.tf MUST expose a tags input. No exceptions.
Standard tag set we expect callers to define¶
| Tag | Source | Required? |
|---|---|---|
Project |
provider default_tags |
Yes |
Environment |
provider default_tags |
Yes |
Stack |
provider default_tags |
Yes |
ManagedBy (always opentofu) |
provider default_tags |
Yes |
Repository |
provider default_tags |
Yes |
Component |
per-resource via merge() |
Per-module |
Owner |
provider default_tags (when CODEOWNERS isn't enough) |
Recommended |
CostCenter |
provider default_tags |
Recommended once billing is wired up |
Multi-cloud anticipation¶
The sibling GCP module exposes var.labels (lower-case keys, alphanumeric
+ -_, max 63 chars on key and value). The sibling Azure module exposes
var.tags with Azure's stricter value validation (no <>%&\?/). Each
cloud's module is responsible for its own constraints.
2. Security defaults¶
- No public-facing IAM trust by default. OIDC trust policies pin
aws:RequestedRegion(where applicable), thesubclaim to the caller's repo + ref, and the audience tosts.amazonaws.com. - CMKs over AWS-managed keys. State-bucket encryption uses a customer
CMK with rotation, not
aws/s3. Same for any KMS we provision. - TLS-only bucket policies. State bucket and any other S3 we create refuses non-TLS access at the policy level.
prevent_destroyon irreversible resources. State bucket, primarily.
3. Module input/output discipline¶
- Every
variablehastypeanddescription. Sensitive inputs aresensitive = true. - Every
outputhasdescription. Sensitive outputs aresensitive = true. - No provider configuration inside modules. The caller configures providers.
- No backend configuration inside modules. Modules don't manage their own state.
- Module sources for external dependencies are pinned (commit SHA or
semver tag).
terraform_module_pinned_sourceis enforced via tflint.
4. Naming¶
- Terraform locals:
snake_case, singular. - AWS resource
nameattributes:kebab-case, prefixed with the project tag (pbs-<purpose>). Caller can override via inputs. - Variables:
snake_case. Boolean variables start withenable_/is_/has_. - Outputs:
snake_case, describe the shape (tfstate_bucket_arn, notarn).
5. File organisation within a module¶
main.tf— resource definitions.variables.tf— typed, described inputs.outputs.tf— described outputs.versions.tf—required_version+required_providers.locals.tf— shared locals (optional).data.tf— data sources (optional).README.md— usage example + auto-generated inputs/outputs table from terraform-docs.
Larger modules may split main.tf by concern (main.policy.tf, etc.).
6. Versioning¶
- Pre-1.0: minor bumps may break the input/output surface; document in the
CHANGELOG with explicit
BREAKING CHANGE:notes. - Post-1.0: semver strictly.
- Tag releases as
v0.1.0,v0.1.1,v1.0.0, etc.
7. Commit style¶
Conventional Commits. Scope is the sub-module short name:
feat(state-backend):, fix(automation-iam):, chore(nuke-config):. For
repo-wide changes use module. For CI/workflows use ci.
No AI attribution in commit messages.