Preview an Infrastructure-as-Code change WITHOUT applying it. Runs `bin/iac-plan.sh`, which detects the repo's IaC tool (terraform, opentofu, aws-cdk, pulumi, helm, kubernetes, kustomize, ansible), shells out to the user's already-authenticated CLI, and renders a normalized add/change/destroy summary. READ-ONLY — it never mutates infrastructure. TRIGGER when the user says "terraform plan", "preview my infra change", "what will this deploy", "cdk diff", "pulumi preview", "show me the terraform...
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---
name: iac-plan
description: >
Preview an Infrastructure-as-Code change WITHOUT applying it. Runs
`bin/iac-plan.sh`, which detects the repo's IaC tool (terraform,
opentofu, aws-cdk, pulumi, helm, kubernetes, kustomize, ansible),
shells out to the user's already-authenticated CLI, and renders a
normalized add/change/destroy summary. READ-ONLY — it never mutates
infrastructure. TRIGGER when the user says "terraform plan",
"preview my infra change", "what will this deploy", "cdk diff",
"pulumi preview", "show me the terraform diff", "dry-run the infra
change", "what would terraform/tofu/cdk/pulumi do", "plan the
infrastructure", "kubectl diff", "helm diff", "what does this
deploy change", "/nyann:plan".
DISAMBIGUATION — fire ONLY for IaC plan intent on a detected infra
repo. Do NOT trigger on the bare word "plan": this is NOT project
planning, NOT sprint/roadmap planning, NOT `sc:*` task planning, NOT
Claude's ExitPlanMode / "make a plan" for code work. "plan a feature",
"plan my week", "let's plan the refactor" → ignore. Require an
infra signal (a tool name like terraform/tofu/cdk/pulumi/helm/kubectl,
OR the word "infra"/"infrastructure"/"deploy", OR a detected
`iac.tool` in the stack descriptor). With no infra signal, do NOT
trigger. To apply the change after previewing, that's `/nyann:apply`
(the iac-apply skill) — iac-plan never applies.
---
# iac-plan
Wraps `bin/iac-plan.sh`. It detects the repo's `iac.tool`, dispatches
to the per-tool adapter (`bin/iac-plan/<tool>.sh`), captures whatever
machine-readable plan the tool offers, and emits a normalized **IacPlan**
JSON on stdout (schema: `schemas/iac-plan.schema.json`). This skill is
READ-ONLY: it previews, it never applies. To apply, hand off to
`/nyann:apply`.
## 1. Confirm this is an IaC repo before running
iac-plan is only meaningful on an infrastructure repo. Before invoking,
satisfy yourself there's an infra signal — a tool name in the request
(terraform / tofu / cdk / pulumi / helm / kubectl / kustomize /
ansible), an explicit "infra"/"deploy" intent, OR a detected `iac.tool`
in the stack descriptor (`bin/detect-stack.sh --path <cwd>` →
`.iac.tool`). If there's no infra signal, this is the wrong skill — see
DISAMBIGUATION in the frontmatter and do not run.
## 2. Scope: whole target or a single unit
By default iac-plan previews the whole target root (`unit:"."`). When
the user names a specific module/stack/chart/overlay/playbook (or the
repo is a monorepo with multiple units), scope it with `--unit`:
```
bin/iac-plan.sh --target <cwd> [--unit <repo-rel-path>]
```
`--unit` is a **repo-relative** path resolved under the target with a
traversal guard — a path that escapes the target is refused (see step
4). Omit it to plan the root.
## 3. Invoke
```
bin/iac-plan.sh --target <cwd> [--unit <repo-rel-path>]
```
The script emits one IacPlan JSON object on stdout. It runs the cloud
CLI only inside the adapter (which the operator invoked by asking for a
plan) — detection itself is pure filesystem work and never auto-runs a
cloud CLI behind the user's back. nyann handles no credentials: the
adapter inherits whatever auth the user's CLI already has.
## 4. Branch on `status` — this drives everything
| `status` | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| `planned` | A plan ran and produced a summary. | Render the summary (step 5). Only this status leads to an apply offer. |
| `skipped` | The CLI, backend, or credentials were absent — **no plan ran** (exit 0). | Surface `.message` verbatim (e.g. "terraform CLI not installed", "no backend configured"). Do NOT offer apply — there's nothing to apply. Tell the user what's missing. |
| `refused` | A precondition failed (exit 1) — unknown tool, or `--unit` escaped the target. | Surface `.message`. This is bad input, not a missing tool. Fix the input (correct the unit path, confirm the repo's tool) and retry. |
`skipped` is a *success* outcome of "I couldn't run a plan here", not an
error — never present it as a failure, and never offer apply after it.
## 5. Render the summary (status: planned)
Read these fields off the IacPlan and show them back plainly:
- `.tool` — which tool produced the plan.
- `.unit` — the unit that was planned (`.` = root).
- `.summary.add` / `.summary.change` / `.summary.destroy` — the resource
action counts. Show them as e.g. **"+3 add, ~1 change, -2 destroy"**.
- `.destructive` — whether this plan would destroy/replace a resource.
- `.destructive_known` — confidence in that verdict (see below).
- `.message` — a one-line summary; relay it.
- `.raw_path` — absolute path to the raw tool output, written **outside
the repo** (never committed). Offer it if the user wants the full
diff; do not paste raw plan contents into chat unprompted (it may
contain resource addresses / config values).
### Structured vs advisory tools — say which you're looking at
- **Structured** (terraform, opentofu, aws-cdk, pulumi):
`destructive_known:true`. The add/change/destroy counts are real, and
`destructive` = (`summary.destroy > 0`). Trust the numbers.
- **Advisory** (helm, kubernetes, kustomize, ansible):
`destructive_known:false`, all summary counts `0`, and `destructive`
is conservatively **true**. These tools only emit a text diff in
v1.13.0 — nyann cannot count destruction from it, so it treats the
change as **potentially destructive** (fail-safe). Tell the user the
counts are 0 because they're *unknown*, not because the change is
safe, and point them at `.raw_path` to read the actual diff.
## 6. Destructive plan → ask before offering apply
When `.destructive` is `true` (a structured plan with `destroy > 0`, OR
any advisory plan), do NOT casually suggest applying. **You MUST call
the `AskUserQuestion` tool** (not plain text) to surface the stakes
before any apply path is even offered:
```json
{
"questions": [
{
"question": "This plan is destructive — it would destroy or replace real infrastructure. What next?",
"header": "Destructive plan",
"multiSelect": false,
"options": [
{ "label": "Stop here (Recommended)", "description": "Just show the preview. Nothing is applied. Review the diff and decide later." },
{ "label": "Proceed to apply", "description": "Hand off to /nyann:apply, which will require an explicit destroy confirmation before mutating." }
]
}
]
}
```
For an **advisory** destructive plan, add that the destroy count is
unknown (`destructive_known:false`) — the tool gave only a text diff, so
"destructive" here means "could not be proven safe." Recommend reading
`.raw_path` before proceeding.
If the user picks "Proceed to apply", hand off to `/nyann:apply` (step
7) — never apply from this skill.
## 7. Non-destructive plan → offer apply, don't auto-run it
When `.destructive` is `false` (only possible for a structured tool with
`destroy == 0`), it's safe to offer the apply step. State the
add/change counts and ask if they want to apply via `/nyann:apply`.
Still don't run apply from here — iac-plan is preview-only by contract.
## When to hand off
- "Now apply it" / "go ahead and deploy" / "run the apply" →
`/nyann:apply` (iac-apply skill). It re-runs this plan, requires an
explicit `--apply`, and gates destructive changes behind an extra
confirmation. Never apply from iac-plan.
- "plan a feature" / "plan my sprint" / "make a plan for the refactor"
→ NOT this skill. This is code/project planning, not IaC. See
DISAMBIGUATION.
- "scan for infra drift" / "are my modules pinned" → `/nyann:doctor`
(it runs `iac-drift-scan.sh`, a filesystem-only IaC audit — no cloud
CLI, no plan).