---
title: "Get started with Terraform for Knowledge Graph | Grafana Cloud documentation"
description: "Learn how to configure Terraform to manage Knowledge Graph resources"
---

# Get started with Terraform for Knowledge Graph

Learn how to configure Terraform to manage Grafana Cloud Knowledge Graph resources. This guide walks you through setting up the Grafana Terraform provider and preparing your environment.

## Before you begin

Before you begin, ensure you have the following:

- A Grafana Cloud account, as shown in [Get started](/docs/grafana-cloud/get-started/)
- [Terraform](https://www.terraform.io/downloads) installed on your machine
- Administrator permissions in your Grafana instance
- [Knowledge Graph enabled](/docs/grafana-cloud/knowledge-graph/get-started/) in your Grafana Cloud stack

> Note
> 
> All Terraform configuration files should be saved in the same directory.

## Configure the Grafana provider

This Terraform configuration sets up the [Grafana provider](https://registry.terraform.io/providers/grafana/grafana/latest/docs) to provide necessary authentication when managing knowledge graph resources.

You can reuse a similar setup to the one described in [Creating and managing a Grafana Cloud stack using Terraform](/docs/grafana-cloud/as-code/infrastructure-as-code/terraform/terraform-cloud-stack/) to set up a service account and a token.

### Steps

1. Create a Service account and token in Grafana.
   
   To create a new one, refer to [Service account tokens](/docs/grafana/latest/administration/service-accounts/#service-account-tokens).
2. Create a file named `main.tf` and add the following:
   
   terraform ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy
   
   ```terraform
   terraform {
     required_providers {
       grafana = {
         source  = "grafana/grafana"
         version = ">= 2.9.0"
       }
     }
   }
   
   provider "grafana" {
     alias = "asserts"
   
     url      = "<Stack-URL>"
     auth     = "<Service-account-token>"
     stack_id = "<Stack-ID>"
   }
   ```
3. Replace the following field values:
   
   - `<Stack-URL>` with the URL of your Grafana stack (for example, `https://my-stack.grafana.net/`)
   - `<Service-account-token>` with the service account token that you created
   - `<Stack-ID>` with your Grafana Cloud stack ID

> Note
> 
> The `stack_id` parameter is required for Knowledge Graph resources to identify the stack where the resources belong.

## Apply Terraform configurations

After creating your Terraform configuration files, apply them using the following commands:

1. Initialize a working directory containing Terraform configuration files:
   
   shell ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy
   
   ```shell
   terraform init
   ```
2. Preview the changes that Terraform makes:
   
   shell ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy
   
   ```shell
   terraform plan
   ```
3. Apply the configuration files:
   
   shell ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy
   
   ```shell
   terraform apply
   ```

## Verify your setup

After applying the configuration, verify your setup by checking that:

- Terraform can authenticate with your Grafana Cloud stack
- The provider is properly configured with the correct stack ID
- No errors appear in the Terraform output

## Best practices

When managing Knowledge Graph resources with Terraform, consider the following best practices.

### Name conventions

- Use descriptive names that clearly indicate the purpose of each resource
- Follow a consistent naming pattern across your organization
- Include environment or team identifiers in names when appropriate

### Version control

- Store your Terraform configurations in version control (Git)
- Use separate directories or workspaces for different environments
- Document changes in commit messages

### State management

- Use remote state backends for team collaboration
- Enable state locking to prevent concurrent modifications
- Regularly back up your Terraform state files

### Security

- Never commit service account tokens or sensitive data to version control
- Use environment variables or secret management tools for credentials
- Rotate service account tokens regularly

## Next steps

Now that you have configured the Terraform provider, you can start managing knowledge graph resources:

- [Configure notification alerts](/docs/grafana-cloud/as-code/infrastructure-as-code/terraform/terraform-knowledge-graph/notification-alerts)
- [Define suppressed assertions](/docs/grafana-cloud/as-code/infrastructure-as-code/terraform/terraform-knowledge-graph/suppressed-assertions)
- [Create custom model rules](/docs/grafana-cloud/as-code/infrastructure-as-code/terraform/terraform-knowledge-graph/custom-model-rules)
- [Set up log configurations](/docs/grafana-cloud/as-code/infrastructure-as-code/terraform/terraform-knowledge-graph/log-configurations)
- [Configure thresholds](/docs/grafana-cloud/as-code/infrastructure-as-code/terraform/terraform-knowledge-graph/thresholds)
- [Configure the Knowledge Graph stack](/docs/grafana-cloud/as-code/infrastructure-as-code/terraform/terraform-knowledge-graph/knowledge-graph-stack)
- [Define Prometheus rules](/docs/grafana-cloud/as-code/infrastructure-as-code/terraform/terraform-knowledge-graph/prometheus-rules)