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Pulumi

Infrastructure as code using real programming languages

Homepage Repository
Cloud & Services Development linuxmacoswindows Go Apache-2.0

Description

Pulumi is an open-source infrastructure as code tool that lets you define cloud resources using general-purpose programming languages like TypeScript, Python, Go, C#, and Java instead of domain-specific languages. It supports all major cloud providers and enables building, deploying, and managing infrastructure with familiar tools and workflows.

Install

homebrewbrew install pulumi
scriptcurl -fsSL https://get.pulumi.com | sh

AI Summary

Infrastructure as code platform that uses real programming languages (TypeScript, Python, Go, C#, Java) to define, deploy, and manage cloud infrastructure across all major providers.

Capabilities

  • + Define cloud infrastructure using TypeScript, Python, Go, C#, or Java
  • + Deploy and manage resources across AWS, Azure, GCP, and 100+ providers
  • + Preview infrastructure changes before applying them
  • + Manage secrets and configuration per environment
  • + Track state and show diffs for infrastructure changes
  • + Import existing cloud resources into Pulumi management

Use When

  • → Building cloud infrastructure and want to use a real programming language instead of YAML/HCL
  • → Managing multi-cloud deployments across AWS, Azure, and GCP
  • → Need infrastructure as code with testing, IDE support, and package management
  • → Automating cloud resource provisioning in CI/CD pipelines

Avoid When

  • x Already invested heavily in Terraform/HCL and team is comfortable with it
  • x Managing simple, single-resource deployments where a script suffices
  • x Working in air-gapped environments without access to the Pulumi service backend

Usage Patterns

Create a new project

pulumi new aws-typescript

Scaffolds a new Pulumi project using the AWS TypeScript template

Preview changes before deploying

pulumi preview

Shows what resources would be created, updated, or deleted

Deploy infrastructure

pulumi up --yes

Applies infrastructure changes, skipping the confirmation prompt

Set a secret configuration value

pulumi config set --secret dbPassword hunter2

Stores an encrypted configuration value for the current stack

Input / Output

stdin: Can accept confirmation input during interactive deployments
stdout: Deployment progress, resource diffs, and stack outputs
stderr: Error messages and warnings during deployment

Typical Pipelines

pulumi preview | grep -E '\+|\-|~' to see only changed resources
pulumi stack output apiUrl to extract outputs for use in scripts
pulumi up --yes && kubectl apply -f app.yaml to provision infra then deploy apps

Related Tools

kubectl complementary

Pulumi can provision Kubernetes clusters, kubectl manages workloads on them
docker complementary

Pulumi can build and push Docker images as part of infrastructure deployments
helm complementary

Pulumi has a Helm provider for deploying Helm charts programmatically
View AGENTS.md for Pulumi