Experimental Features
Experimental features in Atmos are new capabilities on the path to becoming stable. They are under active development and being refined based on community feedback. While APIs may change, experimental features are intended to graduate to stable—removal would only occur in extreme circumstances.
What "Experimental" Means
Features marked as experimental:
- May not be fully functional - Some documented functionality may not yet be implemented
- Are under active development - Features are being refined and validated through community feedback
- May have breaking changes - APIs or behavior might change without following semantic versioning guarantees
- May not have undergone extensive QA - Testing coverage may be limited, and edge cases may not be fully addressed
- Are not recommended for critical production workflows - Use at your own risk until they graduate to stable
When the experimental annotation is removed, all documented functionality will be fully implemented and the feature will be considered stable.
Current Experimental Features
The following features are currently marked as experimental. This list is automatically generated from our roadmap.
- Dev Container SupportDocsAnnouncementPRD
Native Dev Container support with automatic container lifecycle management. Start, stop, attach, and exec into containers directly from Atmos.
- Toolchain ManagementDocsAnnouncement
Automatically install and manage the correct versions of Terraform, OpenTofu, Helmfile, and other tools based on component requirements.
- Source ProvisioningDocsAnnouncementPRD
Automatically fetch component sources on first use—no separate vendor step needed. Just reference and deploy.
- Zero-config AWS SSO identity managementAnnouncement
Automatic SSO identity provisioning without manual configuration—Atmos detects and configures SSO settings.
- Native Dev ContainersDocsAnnouncement
Native Dev Container support with automatic container lifecycle management—start, stop, attach, and exec.
- Automated Terraform backend provisioningDocsAnnouncement
Automatic backend.tf generation from stack configuration. Backends are defined once and inherited.
- Automatic toolchain installation and version management
Install and manage tool versions (Terraform, OpenTofu, Helmfile) based on component requirements.
- `atmos list affected` to identify changes for targeted CI/CDDocsAnnouncement
Identify which stacks and components are affected by changes, enabling targeted CI/CD pipelines.
- Just-in-time vendoringDocsAnnouncement
Automatically vendor components on first use—no separate vendor step needed.
- Component workdir provisioningAnnouncement
Isolated working directories for each component instance with `atmos terraform workdir` commands to manage them—eliminating conflicts when multiple instances share the same component source.
- File-scoped localsDocsAnnouncement
Define local variables at the file level for DRY configuration—familiar to Terragrunt users.
- Imperative stack namesDocsAnnouncement
Simple stack naming with a direct name field instead of complex name templates.
- File generation (`generate` blocks)DocsAnnouncement
Generate files like backend.tf and provider.tf from stack configuration with inheritance support.
- Automatic backend provisioningDocs
Provision the backend itself (S3 bucket with native state locking) for cold-start scenarios and one-shot Terraform deployments.
- Automatic source provisioningDocsAnnouncement
Automatically fetch component sources without explicit vendoring—just reference and deploy.
- Automatic provider cachingDocsAnnouncement
Cache Terraform providers across components to speed up init and reduce bandwidth.
We Need Your Help
Experimental features rely on community feedback to mature into stable, production-ready capabilities. Your real-world testing and input are invaluable—you help us identify edge cases, improve usability, and prioritize what matters most.
Ways to contribute:
- Try experimental features - Use them in non-critical workflows and share what works and what doesn't
- Report issues - File bugs or unexpected behavior via GitHub Issues
- Share feedback - Discuss your experiences in GitHub Discussions
- Join the conversation - Connect with us on Slack for real-time discussions
Graduation Criteria
Experimental features graduate to stable when:
- All documented functionality is fully implemented
- The API has been validated through real-world usage
- Community feedback has been incorporated
- Breaking changes are no longer expected
Controlling Experimental Features
When you run an experimental command, Atmos displays a notification:
🧪 `toolchain` is an experimental feature. Learn more https://atmos.tools/experimental
You can control this behavior with the settings.experimental configuration in atmos.yaml:
settings:
# Control experimental feature handling
# Values: "silence", "disable", "warn" (default), "error"
experimental: warn
| Mode | Behavior |
|---|---|
silence | Run without any notification |
warn | Show notification, then continue (default) |
error | Show notification and exit with error |
disable | Block experimental commands entirely |
Or use the environment variable:
export ATMOS_EXPERIMENTAL=silence
For detailed configuration options, see Experimental Settings.
Help Us Prioritize
Is an experimental feature working really well for you? Let us know! Your feedback helps us prioritize which features to promote to stable.
