---
layout: docs
page_title: HCP Terraform secrets engine
description: >-
    Dynamically generate HCP Terraform API tokens with the HCP Terraform secrets engine plugin.
---

# HCP Terraform secrets engine

The HCP Terraform secrets engine for Vault generates
[HCP Terraform](https://cloud.hashicorp.com/products/terraform)
API tokens dynamically for Organizations, Teams, and Users.

This page will show a quick start for this backend. For detailed documentation
on every path, use `vault path-help` after mounting the backend.

~> **Terraform Enterprise Support:** this secret engine supports both Terraform
Cloud ([app.terraform.io](https://app.terraform.io/session)) as well as on-prem
Terraform Enterprise. Any version requirements will be documented alongside the
features that require them, if any.

## Quick start

Most secrets engines must be configured in advance before they can perform their
functions. These steps are usually completed by an operator or configuration
management tool.

1.  Enable the HCP Terraform secrets engine:

    ```shell-session
    $ vault secrets enable terraform
    Success! Enabled the terraform secrets engine at: terraform/
    ```

    By default, the secrets engine will mount at the name of the engine. To
    enable the secrets engine at a different path, use the `-path` argument.

2.  Configure Vault to connect and authenticate to HCP Terraform:

    ```shell-session
    $ vault write terraform/config \
        token=Vhz7652ba4c-0f6e-8e75-5724-5e083d72cfe4
    Success! Data written to: terraform/config
    ```

    See [HCP Terraform's documentation on API
    tokens](/terraform/cloud-docs/users-teams-organizations/api-tokens)
    to determine the appropriate API token for use with the secret engine. In
    order to perform all operations, a User API token is recommended.

3.  Configure a role that maps a name in Vault to a HCP Terraform user. At
    this time the HCP Terraform API does not allow dynamic user generation. As
    a result this secret engine creates dynamic API tokens for an existing user,
    and manages the lifecycle of that API token. You will need to know the User
    ID in order to generate User API tokens for that user. You can use the
    HCP Terraform [Account
    API](/terraform/cloud-docs/api-docs/account) to find the
    desired User ID.

    ```shell-session
    $ vault write terraform/role/my-role user_id=user-12345abcde
    Success! Data written to: terraform/role/my-role
    ```

## Usage

After the secrets engine is configured and a user/machine has a Vault token with
the proper permission, it can generate credentials.

Generate a new credential by reading from the `/creds` endpoint with the name
of the role:

```shell-session
$ vault read terraform/creds/my-role
Key                Value
---                -----
lease_id           terraform/creds/my-user/A_LEASE_ID_PdvmJjACTtKrY2I
lease_duration     180s
lease_renewable    true
token              TJFDSIFDSKFEKZX.FKFKA.akjlfdiouajlkdakadfiowe
token_id           at-123acbdfask
```

## Organization, team, and user roles

HCP Terraform supports three distinct types of API tokens; Organizations,
Teams, and Users. Each token type has distinct access levels and generation
workflows. A given Vault role can manage any one of the three types at a time,
however there are important differences to be aware of.

### Organization and team roles

The HCP Terraform API limits both Organization and Team roles to **one active
token at any given time**. Generating a new Organization or Team API token by
reading the credentials in Vault or otherwise generating them on
[app.terraform.io](https://app.terraform.io/session) will effectively revoke **any**
existing API token for that Organization or Team.

Due to this behavior, Organization and Team API tokens created by Vault will be
stored and returned on future requests, until the credentials get rotated. This
is to prevent unintentional revocation of tokens that are currently in-use.

Below is an example of creating a Vault role to manage an Organization
API token and rotating the token:

```shell-session
$ vault write terraform/role/testing organization="${TF_ORGANIZATION}"
Success! Data written to: terraform/role/testing

$ vault write -f terraform/rotate-role/testing
Success! Data written to: terraform/rotate-role/testing
```

The API token is retrieved by reading the credentials for the role:

```
$ vault read terraform/creds/testing

Key             Value
---             -----
organization    hashicorp-vault-testing
role            testing
token           <example token>
token_id        at-fqvtdTQ5kQWcjUfG
```

### User roles

Traditionally, Vault secret engines create dynamic users and dynamic credentials
along with them. At the time of writing, the HCP Terraform API does not allow
for creating dynamic users. Instead, the HCP Terraform secret engine creates
dynamic User API tokens by configuring a Vault role to manage an existing
HCP Terraform user. The lifecycle of these tokens is managed by Vault and
will auto expire according to the configured TTL and max TTL of the Vault
role.

Below is an example of creating a Vault role to manage manage User API tokens:

```shell-session
$ vault write terraform/role/user-testing user_id="${TF_USER_ID}"
Success! Data written to: terraform/role/user-testing
```

The API token is retrieved by reading the credentials for the role:

```
$ vault read terraform/creds/user-testing

Key             Value
---             -----
role            user-testing
token           <example token>
token_id        at-fqvtdTQ5kQWcjUfG
```

Please see the [HCP Terraform API
Token documentation for more
information](/terraform/cloud-docs/users-teams-organizations/api-tokens).

## Tutorial

Refer to [HCP Terraform Secrets
Engine](/vault/tutorials/secrets-management/terraform-secrets-engine)
for a step-by-step tutorial.

## API

The HCP Terraform secrets engine has a full HTTP API. Please see the
[HCP Terraform secrets engine API](/vault/api-docs/secret/terraform) for more
details.
