TFLint is an open source linter for Terraform. It checks configuration for errors that terraform validate misses, such as invalid instance types for a cloud provider, deprecated syntax, unused declarations and naming convention violations. Provider-specific rule sets extend it for AWS, Azure and Google Cloud.
Linting is the first layer of Terraform quality. Teams usually run terraform fmt, terraform validate and TFLint together in pre-commit hooks and CI/CD.
Linting vs policy enforcement. A linter checks whether code is well-formed and follows conventions. Policy enforcement checks whether code meets organizational rules, such as approved providers, required encryption or compliance controls, and blocks it if not. Most teams need both. Steampunk Spotter adds governance for Terraform plans: compatibility, breaking changes and custom policies.
