Lightning Talk: Locals Only: Patterns and Anti-Patterns in OpenTofu Local Variables
summary
Locals are named values defined in locals blocks that reduce repetition but also create hidden complexity when misused; advice includes consolidating into a single locals.tf file to avoid runtime name collisions, avoiding inline string or loop logic by pulling transformations into locals, not implementing type safety or defaults via multiple competing variables, and never using excessively nested logic that requires refactoring to understand. Use locals inside modules to shrink the input surface and export locals via outputs for easy troubleshooting.
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