> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.infraglide.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.infraglide.com/terraform-iac-engine/state-management.md).

# State File & Backend Management

InfraGlide tracks Terraform state **per pipeline version** and stores generated artifacts in an object store. Understanding this layout prevents accidental cross-version state corruption.

***

### Overview

![alt text](/files/sIo9leuFWVDQAq4o4lkH)

***

### State Management for Canvas Pipelines

For standard canvas generation and execution:

* Terraform uses state tracking dedicated to each pipeline version.
* State files are maintained in isolated execution environments per pipeline.
* State locking prevents concurrent modifications during plan, deploy, or destroy actions.

> **Remote Backends:** Remote backends (such as S3, GCS, or Azure Blob with state locking) are supported via landing-zone templates and backend configuration blocks.

***

### One State File per Version

Working directories and execution environments are isolated per version segment.

**Never** share one state file across two pipeline versions. Saving a new version creates an isolated environment; when appropriate, InfraGlide copies the prior live state into the new version so Terraform can continue managing existing resources seamlessly.

***

### Artifact Store vs State

| Artifact                    | Purpose                                                            |
| --------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Generated Configuration** | Persisted for execution and state tracking                         |
| **Provider Lockfile**       | Preserved to guarantee reproducible provider plugin builds         |
| **Terraform State**         | Version-specific state file managing live infrastructure resources |

S3 (or org-scoped artifact storage) is therefore an **artifact** store for canvas pipelines, not necessarily the Terraform remote state backend.

***

### Execution Concurrency

InfraGlide adds application-level locks on top of Terraform's file lock:

* **Per-pipeline:** a second deployment on the same pipeline returns **409** while one is active.
* **Per-lineage:** another version in the same family cannot run concurrently (409).
* Destroy has extra guards for archived vs live versions.

These prevent two applies from fighting over the same version directory.

***

### Inspecting State

The **State Inspector** is available via the pipeline menu:

**Pipeline menu (⋯) → Inspect state** (visible only when permitted for deployed pipelines)

![alt text](/files/ilkeUSoAvatuhw3a4XN9)

The panel provides:

* **Resource list** — all Terraform-tracked resources with their type, name, and provider.
* **State operations** — perform state moves, removals, and imports directly through the state management panel.
* **Raw state viewer** — inspect the raw JSON structure of `terraform.tfstate`.

> **Caution:** Manual state surgery can desync InfraGlide's resource tracking. Prefer normal Deploy/Destroy flows when possible. Always make a backup of state before manual operations.

***

### Credentials and State

Cloud credentials are injected as process environment variables at execute time only. They are not written into state as plaintext provider blocks for AWS/Azure (and GCP credentials are not persisted into generated JSON for disk).

Terraform output persisted to the DB is redacted before storage.

***

### See also

* [Real-Time Terraform Code Generation](/terraform-iac-engine/code-generation.md)
* [Pipeline Versioning](/visual-canvas-and-pipeline-designer/versioning.md)
* [Plan, Deploy & Destroy Actions](/deployments-and-execution-history/execution-actions.md)


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