Is this the same as terraform fmt?

It applies the same canonical conventions terraform fmt enforces: 2-space indentation per nesting level, exactly one space around the equals sign in argument assignments, aligned equals within a run of single-line arguments, and collapsed blank lines. It is a structural reformatter rather than the full HashiCorp parser, so for byte-perfect output run terraform fmt in CI as well.

Does my configuration get uploaded anywhere?

No. All formatting runs entirely in your browser with JavaScript. Nothing is sent to a server, so secrets, backend blocks and provider credentials in your file never leave your machine.

Will it break my strings or heredocs?

No. The formatter detects string literals and heredoc (<<EOT) bodies and copies them verbatim, so multi-line scripts, JSON policies and templated values are preserved exactly as written.

Why are my equals signs aligned in some places but not others?

Terraform aligns the equals sign only within a contiguous run of single-line argument assignments at the same nesting level. A blank line, a comment, or a nested block ends the run, so each group of adjacent arguments is aligned independently.

Can I format a whole module at once?

Paste one file at a time. The tool formats whatever HCL you give it, but it does not read your directory. For an entire module, run terraform fmt -recursive locally; this tool is handy for quick one-off cleanups and reviewing snippets.

Terraform HCL Formatter

Q: Why are my equals signs aligned in some places but not others?

Terraform aligns the equals sign only within a contiguous run of single-line argument assignments at the same nesting level. A blank line, a comment, or a nested block ends the run, so each group of adjacent arguments is aligned independently.

Q: Can I format a whole module at once?

Paste one file at a time. The tool formats whatever HCL you give it, but it does not read your directory. For an entire module, run terraform fmt -recursive locally; this tool is handy for quick one-off cleanups and reviewing snippets.

The Terraform HCL Formatter reformats HashiCorp Configuration Language to the canonical style that terraform fmt produces — without installing the Terraform CLI. Paste a .tf file and it returns a tidy version with consistent indentation and aligned arguments, entirely in your browser.

How it works

HCL has a small set of formatting conventions that the official formatter applies deterministically. This tool reproduces the most impactful ones:

2-space indentation for each nesting level. Both { } blocks and [ ] collections increase depth.
Aligned = signs within a contiguous run of single-line argument assignments at the same depth. A blank line, comment, or nested block ends the run, so each group aligns independently.
One space around = in every assignment.
Collapsed blank lines — any run of two or more blank lines becomes a single blank line, and trailing whitespace is stripped.

The reformatter tracks nesting depth by counting brackets while ignoring those inside string literals, and it copies heredoc bodies (<<EOT ... EOT) verbatim so embedded scripts and JSON policies are never disturbed.

Example

Input:

resource "aws_instance" "web" {
ami="ami-123456"
instance_type =   "t3.micro"
}

Output:

resource "aws_instance" "web" {
  ami           = "ami-123456"
  instance_type = "t3.micro"
}

Notes and tips

This is a structural reformatter, not the full HashiCorp parser. For most files the output matches terraform fmt, but for guaranteed byte-perfect formatting keep terraform fmt -check in your CI pipeline. Because everything runs locally, it is safe to paste configuration containing backend blocks or provider settings — nothing is transmitted off your machine.