Terraform-driven
- - Reflects real infrastructure code
- - Faster updates after each change
- - Better for ongoing architecture documentation
- - Easier to review drift and dependency changes
Comparison
Terraform Vs Manual Diagrams
Manual tools are great for brainstorming. Terraform-driven diagrams are better for staying current as infrastructure changes.
Manual diagramming
- - Flexible for workshops and early ideation
- - High effort to keep updated
- - Often drifts from deployed reality
- - Harder to scale across many environments
Recommendation
Use manual diagrams for discovery sessions, then shift to Terraform-based generated diagrams as the system stabilizes. This keeps architecture communication accurate without repetitive manual rework.