Policies API reference

Policies are rules that HCP Terraform enforces on Terraform runs. You can use policies to validate that the Terraform plan complies with security rules and best practices. HCP Terraform policy enforcement lets you use the policy-as-code frameworks Sentinel and Open Policy Agent (OPA) to apply policy checks to HCP Terraform workspaces. Refer to Policy Enforcement for more details.

Policy sets are collections of policies that you can apply globally or to specific projects and workspaces, in your organization. For each run in the selected workspaces, HCP Terraform checks the Terraform plan against the policy set and displays the results in the UI.

Note: HCP Terraform Free Edition includes one policy set of up to five policies. In HCP Terraform Plus Edition, you can connect a policy set to a version control repository or create policy set versions via the API. Refer to HCP Terraform pricing for details.

This page documents the API endpoints to create, read, update, and delete policies in an organization. To manage policy sets, use the Policy Sets API. To manage the policy results, use the Runs API.

Create a Policy

POST /organizations/:organization_name/policies

Parameter	Description
`:organization_name`	The organization to create the policy in. The organization must already exist in the system, and the token authenticating the API request must have permission to manage policies. ((More about permissions.)

[permissions-citation]: #intentionally-unused---keep-for-maintainers)

This creates a new policy object for the organization, but does not upload the actual policy code. After creation, you must use the Upload a Policy endpoint (below) with the new policy's upload path. (This endpoint's response body includes the upload path in its links.upload property.)

Status	Response	Reason
200	JSON API document (`type: "policies"`)	Successfully created a policy
404	JSON API error object	Organization not found, or user unauthorized to perform action
422	JSON API error object	Malformed request body (missing attributes, wrong types, etc.)

Request Body

This POST endpoint requires a JSON object with the following properties as a request payload.

Properties without a default value are required.

Key path	Type	Default	Description
`data.type`	string		Must be `"policies"`.
`data.attributes.name`	string		The name of the policy, which can include letters, numbers, `-`, and `_`. You cannot modify this name after creation.
`data.attributes.description`	string	`null`	Text describing the policy's purpose. This field supports Markdown and appears in the HCP Terraform UI.
`data.attributes.kind`	string	`sentinel`	The policy-as-code framework for the policy. Valid values are `"sentinel"` and `"opa"`.
`data.attributes.query`	string		The OPA query to run. Only valid for OPA policies.
`data.attributes.enforcement-level`	string		The enforcement level of the policy. For Sentinel, valid values are `"hard-mandatory"`, `"soft-mandatory"`, and `"advisory"`. For OPA, Valid values are `"mandatory"`and `"advisory"`. Refer to Managing Policies for details.
`data.attributes.enforce`	array[object]		DEPRECATED Use `enforcement-level` instead. An array of enforcement configurations that map policy file paths to their enforcement modes. Policies support a single file, so this array should consist of a single element. For Sentinel, if the path in the enforcement map does not match the Sentinel policy (`<NAME>.sentinel`), then HCP Terraform uses the default `hard-mandatory` enforcement level. For OPA, the default enforcement level is `advisory`.
`data.attributes.enforce[].path`	string		DEPRECATED For Sentinel, must be `<NAME>.sentinel`, where `<NAME>` has the same value as `data.attributes.name`. For OPA, must be `<NAME>.rego`.
`data.attributes.enforce[].mode`	string		DEPRECATED Use `enforcement-level` instead. The enforcement level of the policy. For Sentinel, valid values are `"hard-mandatory"`, `"soft-mandatory"`, and `"advisory"`. For OPA, Valid values are `"mandatory"`and `"advisory"`. Refer to Managing Policies for details.
`data.relationships.policy-sets.data[]`	array[object]	`[]`	A list of resource identifier objects to define which policy sets include the new policy. These objects must contain `id` and `type` properties, and the `type` property must be `policy-sets`. For example,`{ "id": "polset-3yVQZvHzf5j3WRJ1","type": "policy-sets" }`.

Sample Payload (Sentinel)

{
  "data": {
    "attributes": {
      "enforcement-level": "hard-mandatory",
      "name": "my-example-policy",
      "description": "An example policy.",
      "kind": "sentinel"
    },
    "relationships": {
      "policy-sets": {
        "data": [
          { "id": "polset-3yVQZvHzf5j3WRJ1", "type": "policy-sets" }
        ]
      }
    },
    "type": "policies"
  }
}

Sample Payload (OPA)

Note: We have deprecated the enforce property in requests and responses but continue to provide it for backward compatibility. The below sample uses the deprecated enforce property.

{
  "data": {
    "attributes": {
      "enforce": [
        {
          "path": "my-example-policy.rego",
          "mode": "advisory"
        }
      ],
      "name": "my-example-policy",
      "description": "An example policy.",
      "kind": "opa",
      "query": "terraform.main"
    },
    "relationships": {
      "policy-sets": {
        "data": [
          { "id": "polset-3yVQZvHzf5j3WRJ1", "type": "policy-sets" }
        ]
      }
    },
    "type": "policies"
  }
}

Sample Request

curl \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/vnd.api+json" \
  --request POST \
  --data @payload.json \
  https://app.terraform.io/api/v2/organizations/my-organization/policies

Sample Response (Sentinel)

{
  "data": {
    "id":"pol-u3S5p2Uwk21keu1s",
    "type":"policies",
    "attributes": {
      "name":"my-example-policy",
      "description":"An example policy.",
      "enforcement-level":"advisory",
      "enforce": [
        {
          "path":"my-example-policy.sentinel",
          "mode":"advisory"
        }
      ],
      "policy-set-count": 1,
      "updated-at": null
    },
    "relationships": {
      "organization": {
        "data": { "id": "my-organization", "type": "organizations" }
      },
      "policy-sets": {
        "data": [
          { "id": "polset-3yVQZvHzf5j3WRJ1", "type": "policy-sets" }
        ]
      }
    },
    "links": {
      "self":"/api/v2/policies/pol-u3S5p2Uwk21keu1s",
      "upload":"/api/v2/policies/pol-u3S5p2Uwk21keu1s/upload"
    }
  }
}

Sample Response (OPA)

{
  "data": {
    "id":"pol-u3S5p2Uwk21keu1s",
    "type":"policies",
    "attributes": {
      "name":"my-example-policy",
      "description":"An example policy.",
      "kind": "opa",
      "query": "terraform.main",
      "enforcement-level": "advisory",
      "enforce": [
        {
          "path":"my-example-policy.rego",
          "mode":"advisory"
        }
      ],
      "policy-set-count": 1,
      "updated-at": null
    },
    "relationships": {
      "organization": {
        "data": { "id": "my-organization", "type": "organizations" }
      },
      "policy-sets": {
        "data": [
          { "id": "polset-3yVQZvHzf5j3WRJ1", "type": "policy-sets" }
        ]
      }
    },
    "links": {
      "self":"/api/v2/policies/pol-u3S5p2Uwk21keu1s",
      "upload":"/api/v2/policies/pol-u3S5p2Uwk21keu1s/upload"
    }
  }
}

Show a Policy

GET /policies/:policy_id

Parameter	Description
`:policy_id`	The ID of the policy to show. Refer to List Policies for reference information about finding IDs.

Status	Response	Reason
200	JSON API document (`type: "policies"`)	The request was successful
404	JSON API error object	Policy not found or user unauthorized to perform action

Sample Request

curl --request GET \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/vnd.api+json" \
  https://app.terraform.io/api/v2/policies/pol-oXUppaX2ximkqp8w

Sample Response

{
  "data": {
    "id": "pol-oXUppaX2ximkqp8w",
    "type": "policies",
    "attributes": {
      "name": "my-example-policy",
      "description":"An example policy.",
      "kind": "sentinel",
      "enforcement-level": "soft-mandatory",
      "enforce": [
        {
          "path": "my-example-policy.sentinel",
          "mode": "soft-mandatory"
        }
      ],
      "policy-set-count": 1,
      "updated-at": "2018-09-11T18:21:21.784Z"
    },
    "relationships": {
      "organization": {
        "data": { "id": "my-organization", "type": "organizations" }
      },
      "policy-sets": {
        "data": [
          { "id": "polset-3yVQZvHzf5j3WRJ1", "type": "policy-sets" }
        ]
      }
    },
    "links": {
      "self": "/api/v2/policies/pol-oXUppaX2ximkqp8w",
      "upload": "/api/v2/policies/pol-oXUppaX2ximkqp8w/upload",
      "download": "/api/v2/policies/pol-oXUppaX2ximkqp8w/download"
    }
  }
}

Upload a Policy

PUT /policies/:policy_id/upload

Parameter	Description
`:policy_id`	The ID of the policy to upload code to. Refer to List Policies for reference information about finding the policy ID. The ID also appears in the response when you create a policy.

This endpoint uploads code to an existing Sentinel or OPA policy.

Note: This endpoint does not use JSON-API's conventions for HTTP headers and body serialization.

Note: This endpoint limits the size of uploaded policies to 10MB. If a larger payload is uploaded, an HTTP 413 error will be returned, and the policy will not be saved. Consider refactoring policies into multiple smaller, more concise documents if you reach this limit.

Request Body

This PUT endpoint requires the text of a valid Sentinel or OPA policy with a Content-Type of application/octet-stream.

Refer to Defining Sentinel Policies for details about writing Sentinel code.
Refer to Defining OPA Policies for details about writing OPA code.

Sample Payload

main = rule { true }

Sample Request

curl \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/octet-stream" \
  --request PUT \
  --data-binary @payload.file \
  https://app.terraform.io/api/v2/policies/pol-u3S5p2Uwk21keu1s/upload

Update a Policy

PATCH /policies/:policy_id

Parameter	Description
`:policy_id`	The ID of the policy to update. Refer to List Policies for reference information about finding IDs.

This endpoint can update the enforcement mode of an existing policy. To update the policy code itself, use the upload endpoint.

Status	Response	Reason
200	JSON API document (`type: "policies"`)	Successfully updated the policy
404	JSON API error object	Policy not found, or user unauthorized to perform action
422	JSON API error object	Malformed request body (missing attributes, wrong types, etc.)

Request Body

This PATCH endpoint requires a JSON object with the following properties as a request payload.

Properties without a default value are required.

Key path	Type	Default	Description
`data.type`	string		Must be `"policies"`.
`data.attributes.description`	string	`null`	Text describing the policy's purpose. This field supports Markdown and appears in the HCP Terraform UI.
`data.attributes.query`	string		The OPA query to run. This is only valid for OPA policies.
`data.attributes.enforcement-level`	string		The enforcement level of the policy. For Sentinel, valid values are `"hard-mandatory"`, `"soft-mandatory"`, and `"advisory"`. For OPA, Valid values are `"mandatory"`and `"advisory"`. Refer to Managing Policies for details.
`data.attributes.enforce`	array[object]		DEPRECATED Use `enforcement-level` instead. An array of enforcement configurations that map policy file paths to their enforcement modes. Policies support a single file, so this array should consist of a single element. For Sentinel, if the path in the enforcement map does not match the Sentinel policy (`<NAME>.sentinel`), then HCP Terraform uses the default `hard-mandatory` enforcement level. For OPA, the default enforcement level is `advisory`.
`data.attributes.enforce[].path`	string		DEPRECATED For Sentinel, must be `<NAME>.sentinel`, where `<NAME>` has the same value as `data.attributes.name`. For OPA, must be `<NAME>.rego`.
`data.attributes.enforce[].mode`	string		DEPRECATED Use `enforcement-level` instead. The enforcement level of the policy. For Sentinel, valid values are `"hard-mandatory"`, `"soft-mandatory"`, and `"advisory"`. For OPA, Valid values are `"mandatory"`and `"advisory"`. Refer to Managing Policies for details.

Sample Payload

{
  "data": {
    "attributes": {
      "enforcement-level": "soft-mandatory"
    },
    "type":"policies"
  }
}

Sample Request

curl \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/vnd.api+json" \
  --request PATCH \
  --data @payload.json \
  https://app.terraform.io/api/v2/policies/pol-u3S5p2Uwk21keu1s

Sample Response

{
  "data": {
    "id":"pol-u3S5p2Uwk21keu1s",
    "type":"policies",
    "attributes": {
      "name":"my-example-policy",
      "description":"An example policy.",
      "kind": "sentinel",
      "enforcement-level": "soft-mandatory",
      "enforce": [
        {
          "path":"my-example-policy.sentinel",
          "mode":"soft-mandatory"
        }
      ],
      "policy-set-count": 0,
      "updated-at":"2017-10-10T20:58:04.621Z"
    },
    "relationships": {
      "organization": {
        "data": { "id": "my-organization", "type": "organizations" }
      },
    },
    "links": {
      "self":"/api/v2/policies/pol-u3S5p2Uwk21keu1s",
      "upload":"/api/v2/policies/pol-u3S5p2Uwk21keu1s/upload",
      "download":"/api/v2/policies/pol-u3S5p2Uwk21keu1s/download"
    }
  }
}

List Policies

GET /organizations/:organization_name/policies

Parameter	Description
`:organization_name`	The organization to list policies for.

Status	Response	Reason
200	Array of JSON API documents (`type: "policies"`)	Success
404	JSON API error object	Organization not found, or user unauthorized to perform action

Query Parameters

This endpoint supports pagination with standard URL query parameters; remember to percent-encode [ as %5B and ] as %5D if your tooling doesn't automatically encode URLs.

Parameter	Description
`page[number]`	Optional. If omitted, the endpoint will return the first page.
`page[size]`	Optional. If omitted, the endpoint will return 20 policies per page.
`search[name]`	Optional. Allows searching the organization's policies by name.
`filter[kind]`	Optional. If specified, restricts results to those with the matching policy kind value. Valid values are `sentinel` and `opa`

Sample Request

curl \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  https://app.terraform.io/api/v2/organizations/my-organization/policies

Sample Response

{
  "data": [
    {
      "attributes": {
        "enforcement-level": "advisory",
        "enforce": [
          {
            "mode": "advisory",
            "path": "my-example-policy.sentinel"
          }
        ],
        "name": "my-example-policy",
        "description": "An example policy.",
        "policy-set-count": 0,
        "updated-at": "2017-10-10T20:52:13.898Z",
        "kind": "sentinel"
      },
      "id": "pol-u3S5p2Uwk21keu1s",
      "relationships": {
        "organization": {
          "data": { "id": "my-organization", "type": "organizations" }
        },
      },
      "links": {
        "download": "/api/v2/policies/pol-u3S5p2Uwk21keu1s/download",
        "self": "/api/v2/policies/pol-u3S5p2Uwk21keu1s",
        "upload": "/api/v2/policies/pol-u3S5p2Uwk21keu1s/upload"
      },
      "type": "policies"
    },
    {
      "id":"pol-vM2rBfj7V2Faq8By",
      "type":"policies",
      "attributes":{
      "name":"policy1",
      "description":null,
      "enforcement-level": "advisory",
      "enforce":[
        {
          "path":"policy1.rego",
          "mode":"advisory"
        }
      ],
      "policy-set-count":1,
      "updated-at":"2022-09-13T04:57:43.516Z",
      "kind":"opa",
      "query":"data.terraform.rules.policy1.rule"
      },
      "relationships":{
        "organization":{
          "data":{
            "id":"hashicorp",
            "type":"organizations"
          }
        },
        "policy-sets":{
          "data":[
            {
              "id":"polset-FYu3k5WY5eecwwdt",
              "type":"policy-sets"
            }
          ]
        }
      },
      "links":{
        "self":"/api/v2/policies/pol-vM2rBfj7V2Faq8By",
        "upload":"/api/v2/policies/pol-vM2rBfj7V2Faq8By/upload",
        "download":"/api/v2/policies/pol-vM2rBfj7V2Faq8By/download"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Delete a Policy

DELETE /policies/:policy_id

Parameter	Description
`:policy_id`	The ID of the policy to delete. Refer to List Policies for reference information about finding IDs.

Status	Response	Reason
204	No Content	Successfully deleted the policy
404	JSON API error object	Policy not found, or user unauthorized to perform action

Sample Request

curl \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/vnd.api+json" \
  --request DELETE \
  https://app.terraform.io/api/v2/policies/pl-u3S5p2Uwk21keu1s

The GET endpoints above can optionally return related resources, if requested with the include query parameter. The following resource types are available:

Resource Name	Description
`policy_sets`	Policy sets that any returned policies are members of.

Policies API reference

Create a Policy

Request Body

Sample Payload (Sentinel)

Sample Payload (OPA)

Sample Request

Sample Response (Sentinel)

Sample Response (OPA)

Show a Policy

Sample Request

Sample Response

Upload a Policy

Request Body

Sample Payload

Sample Request

Update a Policy

Request Body

Sample Payload

Sample Request

Sample Response

List Policies

Query Parameters

Sample Request

Sample Response

Delete a Policy

Sample Request

Available Related Resources