Attributes

Attributes are value storing fields in resource, data source, or provider schemas. Every attribute has an associated value type, which describes the kind of data the attribute can hold. Attributes also can describe value plan modifiers (resources only) and value validators in addition to those defined by the value type.

Available Attribute Types

Schemas support the following attribute types:

Primitive: Attribute that contains a single value, such as a boolean, number, or string.
Collection: Attribute that contains multiple values of a single element type, such as a list, map, or set.
Nested: Attribute that defines a structure of explicit attibute names to attribute definitions, potentially with a wrapping collection type, such as a single structure of attributes or a list of structures of attributes.
Object: Attribute that defines a structure of explicit attribute names to type-only definitions.
Dynamic: Attribute that accepts any value type.

Primitive Attribute Types

Attribute types that contain a single data value, such as a boolean, number, or string.

Attribute Type	Use Case
Bool	Boolean true or false
Float32	32-bit floating point number
Float64	64-bit floating point number
Int32	32-bit integer number
Int64	64-bit integer number
Number	Arbitrary precision (generally over 64-bit, up to 512-bit) number
String	Collection of UTF-8 encoded characters

Collection Attribute Types

Attribute types that contain multiple values of a single element type, such as a list, map, or set.

Attribute Type	Use Case
List	Ordered collection of single element type
Map	Mapping of arbitrary string keys to values of single element type
Set	Unordered, unique collection of single element type

Nested Attribute Types

Tip

Only supported when using protocol version 6.

Attribute types that define a structure of explicit attibute names to attribute definitions, potentially with a wrapping collection type, such as a single structure of attributes or a list of structures of attributes.

Attribute Type	Use Case
List Nested	Ordered collection of structures of attributes
Map Nested	Mapping of arbitrary string keys to structures of attributes
Set Nested	Unordered, unique collection of structures of attributes
Single Nested	Single structure of attributes

Object Attribute Type

Tip

Use nested attribute types where possible. Objects have limited capabilities.

Attribute type that defines a structure of explicit attribute names to type-only definitions.

Attribute Type	Use Case
Object	Single structure mapping explicit attribute names to type definitions

Dynamic Attribute Type

Tip

Static attribute types should always be preferred over dynamic attribute types, when possible.

Developers dealing with dynamic attribute data will need to have extensive knowledge of the Terraform type system to properly handle all potential practitioner configuration scenarios.

Refer to Dynamic Data - Considerations for more information.

Attribute type that can be any value type, determined by Terraform or the provider at runtime.

Attribute Type	Use Case
Dynamic	Any value type of data, determined at runtime.