Install terraform-docs with Homebrew, chocolatey, MacPorts, Nix, scoop, winget

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• terraform-docs

Project history

The terraform-docs/terraform-docs repository was created on GitHub in June 2016, during the period when Terraform modules were becoming a common unit of infrastructure reuse. Its own README describes the project as a utility to generate documentation from Terraform modules in various output formats, and the dedicated terraform-docs.io documentation site grew into the primary user guide.

The project published v0.0.1 in June 2016 and continued as a Go CLI distributed through GitHub releases, Homebrew, Scoop, Chocolatey, Docker images, and `go install`. Later releases added a formal YAML configuration file, recursive module support, output injection, and richer formatter behavior, turning the tool from a README helper into a standard module-maintenance step.

Adoption history

terraform-docs became widely adopted because Terraform modules need documentation that stays synchronized with code. The official README documents direct binary use, Docker use, a GitHub Action, and a pre-commit hook, which reflects its common adoption path in teams that gate infrastructure pull requests on generated README changes.

The package-manager footprint is broad for a Terraform adjunct CLI: the input package facts list Homebrew, Chocolatey, MacPorts, Nix, Scoop, and winget packaging. That breadth is consistent with a tool used by both local developers and CI systems rather than only by one language ecosystem.

How it is used

The usual workflow is to run `terraform-docs` against a module directory and write or inject generated documentation into README.md. The README example uses `terraform-docs markdown table --output-file README.md --output-mode inject /path/to/module`, while the configuration guide documents `.terraform-docs.yml` discovery from the module root, `.config` subdirectories, the current directory, and `$HOME/.tfdocs.d/`.

In package-manager culture, terraform-docs is often installed as a single binary and pinned in pre-commit or CI. Its value is not only the rendered docs, but the reproducibility: maintainers can regenerate module docs from source and detect drift during review.

Why package nerds care

terraform-docs is significant because it sits at the boundary between infrastructure-as-code and documentation-as-build-artifact. It gives Terraform module authors the kind of generated reference material that language package maintainers expect from API-doc tools, but in a standalone CLI that system package managers can distribute.

For Homebrew and other package-manager users, it is a classic small Go tool with high leverage: one executable, no service dependency, and obvious CI/pre-commit use. That makes it a common companion to Terraform, tflint, checkov, and other infrastructure review tools.

Timeline

• 2016: GitHub repository created.
• 2016: v0.0.1 released.
• 2017: v0.1.0 and v0.3.0 released.
• 2020: Configuration options documented as available since v0.10.0.
• 2021: `.config` lookup paths documented as available since v0.15.0.
• 2026: v0.24.0 listed as the latest GitHub release during research.

Related projects

• The official README documents a companion terraform-docs GitHub Action and pre-commit hook integration. It also fits into the wider Terraform module ecosystem, where generated README sections are commonly checked alongside Terraform source.

Sources

• https://api.github.com/repos/terraform-docs/terraform-docs
• https://github.com/terraform-docs/terraform-docs#readme
• https://github.com/terraform-docs/terraform-docs/releases
• https://terraform-docs.io/
• https://terraform-docs.io/user-guide/configuration/
• source_facts.package-manager