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If you've been using Terraform for a while, you've probably noticed something: what started as a few simple configurations has grown into something much harder to manage. Environments multiply. Copy-paste becomes the norm. Changes feel risky. This is the natural evolution of infrastructure as code—and Atmos is designed to help.
You're not alone. Every team using Terraform goes through this progression. It's normal, expected, and part of the learning process.
The good news? You don't have to figure it out on your own. Atmos gives you proven patterns from day one, so you can skip the painful parts and get straight to managing infrastructure with confidence.
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Why Atmos?
What is Atmos?
Atmos is a framework for Terraform that separates your configuration from your code. You write your Terraform once, then configure it for any environment using simple YAML files.
Components are your Terraform root modules—reusable building blocks that you write once.
Stacks are YAML configuration files that tell Atmos how to deploy those components for each environment.
Deployments are the result: your infrastructure running in dev, staging, prod, or anywhere else you need it.
This separation means you can manage dozens of environments without duplicating code. Add a new region? Create a new stack file. Need different settings for production? Override just what's different.
Core Concepts
Atmos is built around a few key ideas that make scaling Terraform manageable:
Write Your Terraform Once
Instead of copying Terraform code for each environment, you create reusable components. A component is just a Terraform root module designed to be configured through variables.
Configure Without Code
Stacks let you configure your components using YAML instead of HCL. No code generation, no templates—just clean configuration files that are easy to read, review, and version control.
Inherit and Override
Stacks support imports and inheritance, so you can define common settings once and override only what's different. Your production stack might inherit 90% of its configuration from a base, with just a few environment-specific values changed.
Keep State Separate
Each component maintains its own Terraform state. This means smaller blast radius, faster plans, and the ability for different teams to own different parts of your infrastructure.
What Atmos is Not
You might be wondering what Atmos replaces—or doesn't. Here's the short version:
Atmos is not a Terraform replacement. It's a companion. Under the hood, Atmos still runs terraform plan and terraform apply. You're writing real Terraform, and you keep all of Terraform's power and ecosystem.
Atmos is not a wrapper that hides Terraform. You'll see exactly what Terraform commands are being run. There's no magic—just better organization.
Atmos is not opinionated about your cloud architecture. Bring your own patterns, or use our design patterns. Atmos helps you manage configuration, not dictate how your infrastructure should look.
Atmos is not a CI/CD replacement. It complements your existing pipelines. We provide GitHub Actions and support for other CI/CD integrations.
Where Are You on Your Terraform Journey?
Recognizing your current stage helps you understand how Atmos can help. Where do you fit?
Just Getting Started
New to Terraform, or managing a single environment? Start with best practices from day one.
Growing Pains
Copy-paste getting out of hand? Multiple environments causing drift? You're ready for a framework.
Enterprise Scale
Multi-account, multi-region, multiple teams? Atmos was built for exactly this complexity.
Not sure where you are? Take the full Terraform Maturity Journey →
Get Started
Ready to try Atmos? Our Quick Start tutorial will have you up and running in about 30 minutes.
Ready to learn this topic?
Start with a working example project. You'll learn the basics of components, stacks, and deployments hands-on. Try Quick Start
Or explore at your own pace:
- Atmos Mindset — Understand how to think about infrastructure the Atmos way
- Why Atmos? — See the natural evolution of Terraform complexity and how Atmos helps
- Core Concepts — Dive deeper into the syntax and concepts
Atmos is 100% open source (Apache 2.0) with an active community and thousands of GitHub stars.
Built and maintained by Cloud Posse, Atmos comes from real-world experience helping funded startups and Fortune 100 enterprises manage their AWS infrastructure. If your team needs help adopting Atmos or building your cloud architecture, commercial support is available.
