Creating and switching workspaces in Terraform - Visual Walkthrough

Process Flow - Creating and switching workspaces

Start Terraform CLI

↓

Check current workspace

↓

Create new workspace?

No→Use current workspace

Yes↓

Run 'terraform workspace new <name>'

↓

Workspace active

↓

Apply Terraform changes in workspace

↓

End

This flow shows how Terraform starts, checks or creates a workspace, switches to it, and applies changes there.

Execution Sample

Terraform

terraform workspace new dev
terraform workspace select dev
terraform apply

Create a new workspace named 'dev', switch to it, then apply infrastructure changes in that workspace.

Process Table

Step	Command	Action	Workspace Before	Workspace After	Result
1	terraform workspace new dev	Create new workspace 'dev'	default	dev	Workspace 'dev' created and switched to
2	terraform workspace select dev	Select workspace 'dev'	dev	dev	Workspace remains 'dev'
3	terraform apply	Apply changes in current workspace	dev	dev	Infrastructure applied in 'dev' workspace
4	terraform workspace select default	Switch back to 'default'	dev	default	Workspace switched to 'default'
5	terraform apply	Apply changes in 'default'	default	default	Infrastructure applied in 'default' workspace
6	terraform workspace select nonexist	Try to select non-existent workspace	default	default	Error: workspace 'nonexist' does not exist
7	terraform workspace list	List all workspaces	default	default	Shows: default, dev
8	Exit	-	default	default	End of workspace operations

💡 Execution stops after workspace operations complete or error occurs.

Status Tracker

Variable	Start	After Step 1	After Step 2	After Step 4	After Step 6	Final
Current Workspace	default	dev	dev	default	default	default

Key Moments - 3 Insights

Why does 'terraform workspace select dev' not change the workspace after creating it?

Because 'terraform workspace new dev' already switches to the new workspace 'dev' as shown in step 1 of the execution_table.

What happens if you try to select a workspace that does not exist?

Terraform returns an error and keeps the current workspace unchanged, as shown in step 6 of the execution_table.

How do you know which workspace is active?

The current workspace is shown before and after each command in the execution_table and can be listed with 'terraform workspace list' (step 7).

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution_table, what is the workspace after step 1?

A dev

B default

C nonexist

D None

💡 Hint

Check the 'Workspace After' column for step 1 in the execution_table.

At which step does Terraform return an error due to a non-existent workspace?

A Step 4

B Step 6

C Step 5

D Step 7

💡 Hint

Look for the 'Result' column mentioning an error in the execution_table.

If you skip 'terraform workspace new dev' and run 'terraform workspace select dev' first, what happens?

A Workspace switches to 'dev' successfully

B Creates 'dev' workspace automatically

C Error because 'dev' workspace does not exist

D Switches to 'default' workspace

💡 Hint

Refer to step 6 where selecting a non-existent workspace causes an error.

Concept Snapshot

Terraform Workspaces:
- Use 'terraform workspace new <name>' to create and switch to a workspace.
- Use 'terraform workspace select <name>' to switch to an existing workspace.
- Workspaces isolate infrastructure states.
- Errors occur if selecting non-existent workspace.
- List workspaces with 'terraform workspace list'.

Full Transcript

This visual execution shows how Terraform manages workspaces. It starts with the default workspace. Creating a new workspace with 'terraform workspace new dev' creates and switches to 'dev'. Selecting the same workspace again keeps it active. Applying changes affects the current workspace only. Switching back to 'default' workspace is done with 'terraform workspace select default'. Trying to select a workspace that does not exist causes an error and keeps the current workspace unchanged. Listing workspaces shows all available workspaces. This helps isolate infrastructure states for different environments.