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Getting Started

Sign in, create a token, install the CLI, and upload your first Terraform state in under five minutes.

This guide walks you through every step to get your first Terraform state into Cora. By the end you will have an interactive infrastructure diagram.

Step 1: Sign in

Go to thecora.app/login and sign in with your GitHub account. Cora uses your GitHub organization to scope your infrastructure data.

Organization scoping

Your Terraform state is associated with the GitHub organization you sign in with. Team members who belong to the same GitHub org will share access to the same workspaces.

After signing in you land on the dashboard. If you have no workspaces yet the page will prompt you to upload state.

Step 2: Create an API token

The CLI authenticates with an API token. Tokens are scoped to your organization and can be rotated at any time.

  1. Open Settings → Tokens.
  2. Click Create Token.
  3. Enter a label (for example, local-dev or ci-production).
  4. Choose an expiration or leave it set to never expire.
  5. Click Create and copy the token. You will not see this value again.
Keep your token safe

Treat the token like a password. Store it in your CI secrets manager or a local environment variable. Never commit it to source control.

Export the token in your terminal so the CLI can use it:

bash
export CORA_TOKEN="cora_..."

Step 3: Install the CLI

The Cora CLI is a single static binary that works on macOS, Linux, and Windows.

Download the latest release for your platform from the Cora CLI releases page. Extract the binary and move it to a directory in your PATH.

bash
# Verify installation
cora version

For detailed installation instructions, see the CLI repository README.

Step 4: Upload Terraform state

Navigate to a directory with initialized Terraform state. Then run:

bash
terraform state pull | cora upload --workspace my-app

Replace my-app with a name that describes the environment or project. Cora uses the workspace name to group related uploads.

Workspace naming tips

Pick a short, stable name like production, staging, or networking. If you manage multiple AWS accounts, include the account alias: prod/networking.

When the upload succeeds you will see a confirmation message with a link to view the diagram.

Step 5: View your diagram

Open thecora.app/home. Select your workspace from the list and explore the interactive graph. Click any resource to see attributes and relationships.

What you get

  • Interactive diagrams - VPCs, subnets, security groups, and resources rendered automatically.
  • State history - Every upload creates a snapshot you can compare or roll back.
  • Relationship mapping - Dependencies between resources are inferred and displayed.
  • Workspace organization - Filter environments by workspace name.

Next steps

Need help?

Email [email protected] with questions. We typically respond within a few hours.