python-hcl2
A Python parser and toolkit for HCL2 configuration files, enabling conversion, querying, and programmatic manipulation.
What is python-hcl2?
Python HCL2 is a Python library and toolkit for parsing, generating, and querying HashiCorp Configuration Language version 2 (HCL2) files. It solves the problem of programmatically working with HCL2-based configuration—common in tools like Terraform—by providing a native Python interface for conversion, manipulation, and analysis.
Developers and DevOps engineers who work with Terraform or other HCL2-based infrastructure-as-code tools and need to automate or analyze configuration files using Python.
It offers a pure-Python implementation with a comprehensive API and CLI tools, enabling seamless integration into Python-based automation pipelines without relying on external binaries or complex workarounds.
Overview
Python HCL2 is a parser for HashiCorp Configuration Language version 2 (HCL2) written in Python using the Lark parsing toolkit. It allows developers to read, write, query, and manipulate HCL2 configuration files—such as those used by Terraform—directly from Python code or via command-line tools.
Key Features
- HCL2 Parsing — Converts HCL2 configuration files into Python dictionaries and vice versa.
- CLI Tool Suite — Includes
hcl2tojsonandjsontohcl2for format conversion, plushqfor jq-like querying of HCL files. - Programmatic Building — Provides a
BuilderAPI to construct HCL2 documents from scratch within Python. - Document Querying — Offers
DocumentViewandBlockViewfor structured traversal and inspection of parsed HCL trees. - Pipeline Architecture — Supports advanced parsing pipelines with customizable stages for preprocessing and transformation.
Philosophy
The project focuses on providing a robust, Python-native interface to HCL2 that prioritizes correctness, usability, and extensibility for infrastructure-as-code workflows.
Related Projects
Found a gem we're missing?
Open-Awesome is built by the community, for the community. Submit a project, suggest an awesome list, or help improve the catalog on GitHub.
