Ignoring a Directory

In some cases, you may want to prevent Terrateam from running plans or applies within certain directories or files in your repository.

Why ignore directories or files?
This is especially useful for:

• Directories with Terraform modules that are not meant to be deployed directly (for example, shared modules or templates).
• Supporting files or folders that match Terraform file patterns (like .tf), but should not trigger infrastructure changes.

Tip

The file_patterns configuration supports glob patterns (see Dirs reference). You can use this to precisely match or exclude files and directories.

How to Ignore a Directory

To ignore a directory in Terrateam, add it to the dirs section in your .terrateam/config.yml file and set when_modified.file_patterns to an empty list.

Example: Ignore the docs directory

dirs:
  docs:
    when_modified:
      file_patterns: []

Changes to files in the docs directory will not trigger any plans or applies.

Ignoring Module Directories

If you have a directory containing Terraform modules (for example, modules/), and you do not want changes in these modules to trigger runs directly, you can ignore the entire directory:

dirs:
  modules:
    when_modified:
      file_patterns: []

Ignoring Specific Files

You can also ignore specific files by using their path as a key in the dirs section and setting file_patterns to an empty list:

Example: Ignore a specific file

dirs:
  foobar.tf:
    when_modified:
      file_patterns: []

Tip

You can use glob patterns to ignore groups of files, such as all dev.*.tfvars files:

dirs:
  "dev.*.tfvars":
    when_modified:
      file_patterns: []

Advanced: Ignoring by Pattern

You can use glob patterns to ignore files or directories matching a pattern. For example, to ignore all files in a test/ directory:

dirs:
  test/**:
    when_modified:
      file_patterns: []

Or to ignore all files ending in .example.tf:

dirs:
  "**/*.example.tf":
    when_modified:
      file_patterns: []

Tip

The ${DIR} variable can be used in file_patterns to refer to the current directory. See Dirs reference for more details.

Best Practices

• Use precise patterns to avoid unintentionally ignoring important infrastructure code.
• Review the Dirs configuration reference for more on glob patterns and advanced matching.
• Remember that ignoring a directory or file means no plans or applies will be triggered for changes within it.

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If you need to ignore more complex patterns or have questions about matching behavior, see the Globs section in the configuration reference.