Unleash the Power of IaC on Heroku’s Next Generation: Terraform for Fir is Here!

We are thrilled to announce that the Heroku Terraform Provider is now fully optimized for Fir. This significant milestone allows developers to manage our next-generation platform using Infrastructure as Code (IaC).

Fir is built on a modern foundation of cloud-native, open-source standards (Kubernetes) while maintaining the legendary Heroku developer experience. By combining the declarative power of Terraform with the advanced capabilities of Fir, you can now manage your applications with unprecedented control, consistency, and scalability.

Did you know? 💡

Heroku’s Terraform Provider is extremely popular. First released eleven years ago, to date it has:

• 9.6 million total downloads
• 1.7M downloads this year
• 130,000+ downloads this month
• 50,000+ downloads this week

Needless to say, Terraform is an essential tool for us here at Heroku and our ability to build, test, and release our platform features efficiently.

IaC for the future: Why Terraform is essential for the Fir Generation

The move to Fir is a generational leap forward, addressing the increasing demand for flexibility, openness, and scalability from enterprise organizations. Using Terraform alongside this new architecture is crucial for realizing its full potential:

• Industry Standard IaC: With a market share estimated to be over 70% in the Infrastructure as Code (IaC) space, Terraform is the language of modern cloud infrastructure. The Heroku provider allows you to define every resource, from apps to spaces, using a simple, version-controlled configuration.
• Kubernetes Benefits, Heroku Simplicity: Fir is built on Kubernetes (K8s) under the hood, abstracting away the complexity of K8s while giving you its benefits: enhanced scaling limits, better resource allocation, and a foundation for future features. Terraform ensures that even as the platform leverages Kubernetes, your provisioning remains simple—defining the Heroku resources without needing to touch a single line of YAML.
• Unified Tooling: If you manage infrastructure across multiple cloud providers (like AWS, GCP, or Azure) using Terraform, you can now seamlessly integrate your Heroku Fir environments into that single, unified IaC strategy.

Fir highlights: Cloud-native features managed by Terraform IaC

Fir elevates the Heroku experience by embracing key cloud-native technologies. Using Terraform helps you provision and manage the resources that power these new features:

Terraform resource management: Automate your Fir application workflow

The Heroku Terraform Provider allows you to manage the crucial resources that define your application lifecycle on Fir:

• heroku_app and heroku_space: Provision your applications within the new, enhanced Fir Private Spaces.
• heroku_addon: Automatically provision and configure all necessary databases, caching, and logging add-ons in tandem with your app.
• heroku_pipeline: Define your promotion pathways as code, setting the stage for controlled, automated deployments.
• heroku_config_var: Manage critical environment variables securely and consistently across all your Fir environments.

You can learn more about the full set of options available and see examples on the Heroku Dev Center.

If you have ideas or suggestions to continue enhancing our Terraform Provider, do not hesitate to let us know by reaching out to heroku-feedback@salesforce.com.

Get started today!

This is a major step in Heroku’s platform evolution. We encourage all users to explore how Terraform can simplify the management of your new Fir-based applications.
You can find the updated documentation and examples on the Terraform Registry page for the Heroku Provider. Embrace the future of Heroku development with the combined power of Terraform and Fir!