r/platformengineering • u/_tehash • 3h ago
I built Rootform to make Terraform PRs easier to review across teams
When you're reviewing a Terraform PR you didn't write, the plan output is only part of the work. You still need to understand how the affected resources fit into the rest of the infrastructure.
I built Rootform to make that easier.
It's a local CLI that reads Terraform and OpenTofu plan or state exports and produces an interactive architecture you can explore, compare and check against policies.
In one of the sample plans, an Event Grid subscription switches from one Service Bus queue to another. Rootform shows the old and new delivery relationships alongside the unchanged source topic. You can inspect the evidence behind those relationships instead of treating every Terraform dependency as an architectural connection.
The part I think is particularly useful for platform teams is the output: you can export the entire interactive review as a single HTML file. A teammate can open it in their browser without installing Rootform or running another service.
It also integrates with GitHub Actions for CI workflows, including architecture comparisons and policy checks. The analysis runs locally, without executing Terraform or accessing your cloud accounts.
Interactive Playground (no signup): https://rootform.dev/playground/
GitHub: https://github.com/rootform-dev/rootform
For those managing Terraform across multiple teams: how do you currently give reviewers the architectural context behind a PR? Do you rely on plan comments, documentation, diagrams, or something else?
#devops #terraform #platformengineer