Use when detecting infrastructure drift between Terraform state and actual AWS resources. Identifies out-of-band changes.
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skills/terraform-drift-detection/SKILL.md
January 23, 2026
Select agents to install to:
npx add-skill https://github.com/lgbarn/devops-skills/blob/main/skills/terraform-drift-detection/SKILL.md -a claude-code --skill terraform-drift-detectionInstallation paths:
.claude/skills/terraform-drift-detection/# Terraform Drift Detection ## Overview Detect and categorize drift between Terraform-managed state and actual infrastructure. Drift indicates out-of-band changes that can cause problems during the next apply. **Announce at start:** "I'm using the terraform-drift-detection skill to check for infrastructure drift." ## The Process ### Step 1: Verify Environment ```bash # Verify AWS credentials and account aws sts get-caller-identity # Confirm we're in the right directory/environment pwd ls -la *.tf 2>/dev/null | head -5 ``` ### Step 2: Refresh State ```bash # Initialize if needed terraform init # Refresh state to detect drift terraform plan -refresh-only -out=drift.out # Convert to JSON for analysis terraform show -json drift.out > drift.json ``` ### Step 3: Analyze Drift Parse drift.json and categorize changes: #### Drift Categories | Category | Severity | Examples | |----------|----------|----------| | **Security Drift** | CRITICAL | Security groups, IAM, encryption | | **Configuration Drift** | HIGH | Instance settings, networking | | **Tag Drift** | LOW | Tags modified outside Terraform | | **Metadata Drift** | INFO | AWS-managed fields that change | ### Step 4: Dispatch Analysis Agent ``` Task(drift-detector) → Categorize and assess drift impact ``` **Agent should:** - Categorize each drifted resource - Assess impact of accepting vs rejecting drift - Identify potential causes (manual changes, AWS updates, etc.) ### Step 5: Present Findings ```markdown ## Drift Detection Report ### Summary - Total drifted resources: X - Critical drift: Y - High drift: Z - Low/Info drift: W ### Critical Drift (Requires Immediate Attention) | Resource | Attribute | State Value | Actual Value | |----------|-----------|-------------|--------------| | ... | ... | ... | ... | ### Potential Causes - Manual console changes: [list if detected] - AWS service updates: [list if detected] - Unknown origin: [list if detected] ### Recommended Actions 1. [Action for each d