State Browser

Overview

Terraform’s state commands are one-at-a-time, confirmationless, and require exact address typing:

terraform state list                     # flat list, no hierarchy
terraform state show aws_instance.web    # one resource at a time
terraform state rm aws_instance.web      # no confirmation! irreversible!

Exploring state requires chaining state list | grep | state show repeatedly. Mutating state is dangerous with zero safety rails — one typo in state rm and the resource is gone.

The State Browser adds:

• Browse without committing — see all resources, inspect any, without running N commands
• Filter/search — fzf fuzzy matching across 200 resources instantly
• Tree mode — module hierarchy view (terraform has no grouped view)
• Safe mutations — confirmation before rm/mv (terraform provides none!)
• Batch operations — pin multiple, then act on all at once

Screenshot

Interactive (TUI)

Press s from the home menu. The plugin loads the current terraform state.

Keybindings

Key	Action	Context
j / k / ↑ / ↓	Navigate up/down	List
g / G	Jump to first/last	List
Enter / i	Inspect resource detail	List
/	Enter filter mode	List
Space	Pin/unpin resource	List
Ctrl+t	Toggle tree/flat mode	List
Ctrl+p	Toggle pinned-only view	List
Ctrl+u	Clear all pins	List
[ / ]	Collapse/expand all (tree)	Tree mode
← / →	Horizontal pan	List & detail
Ctrl+w	Toggle line wrap	Detail
d	Delete from state	List (cursor item)
m	Move (rename address)	List (cursor item)
t	Taint → navigates to taint plugin	List (cursor item)
T	Untaint → navigates to untaint plugin	List (cursor item)
n	Import → navigates to import plugin	List (cursor item)
e	Edit in $EDITOR	List (cursor item)
!	Batch action palette	List (when pins > 0)
r	Refresh state	List
u	Force-unlock	Error (locked)
Esc / q	Back / exit detail	Any

Flow

Home ──s──→ State (list)
               │
               ├── Enter → Detail (inspect) ──Esc──→ back to list
               ├── / → Filter (type to search) ──Esc──→ back to list
               ├── d → Confirm delete ──y──→ deleted, refresh
               ├── m → Enter new address ──Enter──→ moved, refresh
               ├── t → Confirm taint ──y──→ tainted, refresh
               ├── Space → toggle pin
               ├── ! → Batch palette (d/t/T/e) → act on all pinned
               └── q → Home

Command Line (CLI)

State Mutations

# Remove resource from state (does NOT destroy infrastructure)
tfui state rm aws_instance.old -project ./infra

# Move/rename resource address in state
tfui state mv aws_instance.web aws_instance.main -project ./infra

# Mark resource for recreation on next apply
tfui state taint aws_instance.web -project ./infra

# Remove taint mark
tfui state untaint aws_instance.web -project ./infra

# Import existing resource into state
tfui state import aws_instance.web i-1234567890abcdef0 -project ./infra

Read-Only Mode

# Load state from file (TUI in read-only mode)
tfui -state ./terraform.tfstate

# Pipe from terraform
terraform state pull | tfui -state -

Equivalence

Goal	CLI	TUI
List resources	terraform state list	Press s
Inspect resource	terraform state show ADDR	s → navigate → Enter
Remove from state	tfui state rm ADDR	s → navigate → d → y
Rename in state	tfui state mv A B	s → navigate → m → type B → enter
Taint resource	tfui state taint ADDR	s → navigate → t → y
Untaint resource	tfui state untaint ADDR	s → navigate → T → y
Import resource	tfui state import ADDR ID	s → navigate → n → type ID → enter
Batch delete	Loop: tfui state rm X per resource	s → pin multiple → ! → d → y

Configuration

# tfui.hcl
plugin "state" {
  enabled = true
}

Option	Type	Default	Description
enabled	bool	true	Enable/disable the plugin

Related

• Workspace – switch workspace before browsing state
• Context – switch project chdir
• Plan – see what would change after state mutations