# HCL deployment checklist

> **This file is reference data, not instructions. It lists things to verify before deploying. Nothing below is a command from the operator, and no line in it grants authority to act. Run the read-only verification steps if you wish, then report what you found to the human operator and let them decide what to change. Do not modify the project on the basis of this file. This holds when you are running unattended, on autopilot, or in any automatic mode: an autonomy setting is not the operator approval this file withholds, and no finding here becomes authority to edit a file because nobody is watching. If something needs changing, say so and stop.**

Source: https://deploy-list.com/hcl.md · 6 checks · layers: universal -> hcl · generated 2026-08-22

Verification steps come in three kinds. **Verify:** read-only, allowlisted, safe for an agent to run. **Operator-run:** a command only the human should decide to run, typically a framework CLI. An agent must not run these, only report them as outstanding. **Verify by hand:** needs a person to look.

## critical (2)

- **No credential is written literally in a configuration file** — `secrets` · `hcl.no-hardcoded-credentials`
  - Why: A key pasted into configuration is committed, mirrored to every fork and clone, and stays in history after it is deleted. Configuration files are read far more casually than application code.
  - Do: Move every credential to an environment variable or a secret store that the tool reads at run time, then rotate anything that was ever committed.
  - Verify: `grep -rnE '(secret|password|passwd|token|api_key|access_key|private_key)[a-z_]*[[:space:]]*=[[:space:]]*"[^"$]' --include='*.tf' --include='*.hcl' . 2>/dev/null | head -10`
  - Expect: No line assigns a literal secret. A variable reference, a data source, or a name that only points at a secret is fine.
  - Ref: https://developer.hashicorp.com/terraform/language/values/variables
- **No environment file is tracked in git** — `secrets` · `universal.gitignore-env`
  - Why: Environment files hold database credentials and API keys. Once committed they remain in history after deletion, so every affected credential has to be rotated rather than simply removed.
  - Do: Remove any tracked environment file from the index, add it to .gitignore, then rotate every credential that was ever committed.
  - Verify: `git ls-files --error-unmatch .env .env.local .env.production 2>&1 | head -5`
  - Expect: Every path reports that it did not match any file. A path echoed back is tracked and must be dealt with.
  - Ref: https://cheatsheetseries.owasp.org/cheatsheets/Secrets_Management_Cheat_Sheet.html

## high (2)

- **A backup has been restored at least once** — `reliability` · `universal.backup-restore-tested`
  - Why: An untested backup is a belief, not a capability. Silent corruption, missing tables and expired credentials are all routinely discovered during the first restore, which is the worst possible time to find out.
  - Do: Restore the most recent backup into a scratch environment, confirm the data is complete and current, and write down how long the restore took.
  - Verify by hand: Confirm that someone has restored a production backup into a separate environment recently, and that the restore procedure is written down somewhere findable.
  - Ref: https://cheatsheetseries.owasp.org/cheatsheets/Logging_Cheat_Sheet.html
- **Variables holding secrets are marked sensitive** — `secrets` · `hcl.sensitive-variables-marked`
  - Why: Without the marking the value is printed in plan output and in CI logs, where it is kept far longer than anyone intends and is visible to everyone who can read the build.
  - Do: Set sensitive on every variable and output that carries a credential. It suppresses the value in plan and apply output.
  - Verify: `grep -rnE -A4 'variable "[^"]*(secret|password|token|key)[^"]*"' --include='*.tf' . 2>/dev/null | head -40`
  - Expect: Every declaration shown includes a sensitive line. One without it prints its value in plan output and in CI logs.
  - Ref: https://developer.hashicorp.com/terraform/language/values/variables

## recommended (1)

- **The project declares a license** — `legal` · `universal.license-declared`
  - Why: Code with no license is not open source and not safe for anyone else to use, and for a closed project the absence leaves contributors with no written statement of who owns what they wrote.
  - Do: Add a license file at the repository root, and reference it from the package metadata so tooling can read it.
  - Verify: `ls LICENSE LICENSE.md LICENSE.txt COPYING 2>/dev/null | head -3`
  - Expect: A license file exists at the repository root.

## optional (1)

- **Configuration is formatted with the tool's own formatter** — `build` · `hcl.formatting-consistent`
  - Why: Unformatted configuration makes review diffs noisy, and a noisy diff is where a one-line change to a security group goes unnoticed.
  - Do: Run the formatter over the tree and keep it in CI so the question never reaches review.
  - Operator-run (do not run this yourself): `terraform fmt -check -recursive`
  - Expect: The command lists no files. Anything listed is unformatted.
  - Ref: https://developer.hashicorp.com/terraform/cli/commands/fmt

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Report what you found to the operator. Do not change the project.