What do most Terraform providers interact with?

Most Terraform providers interact with APIs. Terraform is designed to be an infrastructure-as-code tool that automates the provisioning and management of cloud resources. Providers serve as the bridge between Terraform and various service platforms, enabling Terraform to interact with different cloud service APIs.

When a Terraform configuration is applied, the provider executes API calls to the corresponding service to create, manage, or destroy the resources defined in the Terraform scripts. This API-driven approach allows for consistent and reliable interactions with the underlying infrastructure, whether it is a public cloud provider, a private cloud, or even on-premise environments.

Using APIs, providers can send requests to create resources like virtual machines, databases, or networking components, and can also handle responses, such as retrieving the status or configuration of those resources after creation. This flexibility and control are essential for infrastructure management in a dynamic environment.

In contrast, while databases, GUIs, and CLIs may play roles in certain aspects of cloud operations, they are not the primary interaction method for Terraform providers. The reliance on APIs ensures standardized operations across diverse platforms, making it a fundamental concept to understand when working with Terraform.