Terraform Associate 004 objectives: a study checklist

The fastest way to avoid gaps is to study against the official objectives, not a random course order. Here are the eight 004 domains turned into a working checklist. If you can explain each line out loud, tick it; if you can only recognise it, keep studying.

1. Infrastructure as code (IaC) concepts

• What IaC is and its benefits (versioning, repeatability, idempotence)
• Declarative vs imperative approaches

2. Terraform fundamentals

• Terraform's purpose and multi-cloud value
• Providers: what they are and how they are installed
• Provider and Terraform version constraints

3. Core Terraform workflow

• The write, plan, apply loop (plus init and destroy)
• What each command does and its typical output

4. Interact with Terraform configuration

• Variables, outputs, locals and data sources
• Expressions, built-in functions and dependencies (implicit vs depends_on)
• Resource meta-arguments: count, for_each, lifecycle
• 004-era features: input validation, sensitive and ephemeral/write-only values

5. Use and create modules

• Module inputs and outputs
• Calling modules by source (local, Git, registry) and pinning versions

6. Manage Terraform state

• Local vs remote backends and why remote matters
• State locking; the terraform state subcommands; never hand-edit state

7. Maintain infrastructure

• import, replace (-replace), and workspaces
• apply -refresh-only for reconciliation

8. HCP Terraform capabilities

• Remote runs and VCS-driven workflows
• Projects, workspaces and the private module registry
• Policy as code (Sentinel) and variable sets

Use it as a plan

Work top to bottom, doing hands-on labs as you go, and finish with practice exams. Pair this with the study plan and set your exam date.