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Lifecycle operations

Lifecycle operations

Validate 

ainfra validate path/to/document.yaml
ainfra validate path/to/document.json --format json

Validation reads a document but does not resolve secret references or run an infrastructure engine.

Check readiness 

ainfra doctor
ainfra doctor --format json
ainfra doctor --input .ainfra/hetzner.input.yaml
ainfra doctor --environment development

The input-aware form also checks backend readiness for the intended environment.

Plan 

ainfra plan TEMPLATE --input INPUT

For an initialized project, use the declared environment:

ainfra plan --environment development

Treat the plan as sensitive. Review resource ownership, addresses, firewall rules, image selection, and estimated cost. Apply only the returned plan ID:

ainfra apply TEMPLATE --input INPUT --approve PLAN_ID

The corresponding project-mode apply is:

ainfra apply --environment development --approve PLAN_ID

For the complete project workflow, retain the same review boundary and pass that exact ID to up:

ainfra plan --environment development
# Review the saved plan, then:
ainfra up --environment development --approve PLAN_ID \
  --known-hosts ./known_hosts

up never plans or chooses an approval implicitly. It composes the exact apply, validated output collection, configuration, and a separate Ansible check-mode verification stage. If a stage was interrupted after its started event or ended in failure, up stops and routes the operator to manual recovery.

The Rust implementation embeds the built-in template and materializes a new workspace beneath .ainfra/runs/<PLAN_ID>/workspace/; it does not execute OpenTofu in a source checkout. Initialization uses the committed lock file in read-only mode. The generated variables, plan bytes, and versioned plan record remain together in the isolated run directory.

Before apply, ainfra revalidates the input and verifies the operation, template identity and version, environment, canonical input path and bytes, retained workspace contents, remote backend configuration path and bytes, plan location, and plan bytes. Project mode additionally binds the canonical project root plus the exact ainfra.yaml and ainfra.lock bytes. Any mismatch fails before OpenTofu initialization or apply begins.

Each completed plan has an immutable run.json and append-only events beneath .ainfra/runs/<PLAN_ID>/events/. Mutating and configuration phases record a started event before execution and then a succeeded or sanitized failed event. A missing terminal event means the process may have been interrupted; do not infer success or retry automatically.

Inspect local state without contacting a provider:

ainfra status --environment development
ainfra status --environment development --format json

Status validates event ordering and bindings, ignores untrusted run entries, and emits deterministic next steps. A partial, stale, corrupt, or legacy state routes to manual recovery instead of an apply or destroy command.

Teardown uses the same two-step review:

ainfra plan --environment development --destroy
# Review the dedicated destroy plan, then:
ainfra down --environment development --approve-destroy DESTROY_PLAN_ID

An apply-plan ID can never authorize down, and down never runs a direct unreviewed destroy. A successful destroy process first records destroy-applied; only a subsequent empty tofu state list for the reviewed backend records the environment as destroyed.

Read standardized outputs 

ainfra outputs TEMPLATE --run PLAN_ID --format yaml
ainfra outputs TEMPLATE --run PLAN_ID --format json
ainfra outputs --environment development --run PLAN_ID

The standardized output is designed for downstream automation. It must not be confused with raw provider outputs or state. Output collection requires a successful apply marker for the same exact run and writes .ainfra/runs/PLAN_ID/output.json.

Configure hosts 

ainfra configure TEMPLATE \
  --run PLAN_ID \
  --known-hosts .ainfra/known_hosts
ainfra configure --environment development \
  --run PLAN_ID \
  --known-hosts .ainfra/known_hosts

The command generates a run-local inventory using private management addresses, then runs the retained Ansible playbook. Verify SSH fingerprints through an independent channel and populate the protected known_hosts file before running it. Use --check for an explicit Ansible check-mode pass.

Destroy

Create the destroy plan first:

ainfra plan TEMPLATE --input INPUT --destroy
ainfra plan --environment development --destroy

Then approve the returned ownership scope:

ainfra destroy TEMPLATE \
  --input INPUT \
  --approve-destroy PLAN_ID
ainfra destroy --environment development \
  --approve-destroy PLAN_ID

Destroy applies the exact reviewed destroy plan through tofu apply; it never uses an unreviewed direct tofu destroy operation. An apply plan cannot authorize destroy, and a destroy plan cannot authorize apply.

After a disposable test, confirm zero owned resources in both Hetzner and OpenTofu state. A successful command without this independent check is not complete teardown evidence.

Direct-tool escape hatch

ainfra remains a thin wrapper. If diagnosis requires direct OpenTofu or Ansible commands, use the template working directories and preserve the same input, state, and ownership scope. Never bypass the reviewed-plan or teardown controls merely for convenience.

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Local validation