Question 1

How to install tree-sitter-hcl for syntax highlighting in my editor?

Accepted Answer

For editors supporting Tree-sitter, like Neovim with nvim-treesitter, add 'hcl' to the grammar list. For others, check if there's a plugin or manually integrate using Tree-sitter's APIs, though setup may vary.

Question 2

Does tree-sitter-hcl work with HCL 2.0 or just older versions?

Accepted Answer

It's based on the HCL specification linked in the README, which likely covers common syntax. However, for specific HCL 2.0 features, verify via the project's tests or issues, as updates might lag behind HashiCorp's releases.

Question 3

tree-sitter-hcl vs built-in HCL highlighters in IDEs like VSCode?

Accepted Answer

Tree-sitter-hcl offers more accurate parsing by building a syntax tree, enabling advanced tooling like refactoring and linting, whereas built-in highlighters often use simpler regex and may miss complex HCL structures.

Question 4

How can I test if tree-sitter-hcl parses my Terraform files correctly?

Accepted Answer

Use the command `tree-sitter parse` on your files or run the provided test suite with `nix-shell --run 'tree-sitter test'` to check parsing success against the grammar's compliance corpus.

Question 5

Can I use tree-sitter-hcl to build custom analysis tools for HCL?

Accepted Answer

Yes, it serves as a reliable parsing backend for building linters, formatters, or static analyzers, allowing you to traverse the syntax tree for insights or errors in infrastructure code.

Question 6

Is tree-sitter-hcl suitable for real-time parsing in CI/CD pipelines?

Accepted Answer

While accurate, Tree-sitter can be resource-intensive; for lightweight, high-speed parsing in pipelines, consider if the overhead is acceptable or if simpler tools suffice for basic validation.

tree-sitter-hcl

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