How to Generate Terraform Providers

HashiCorp and Speakeasy have introduced tools for generating Terraform providers from OpenAPI documents, each with distinct approaches and benefits. Speakeasy's tool offers a more comprehensive solution by utilizing OpenAPI Specification extensions to define Terraform provider resources, supporting advanced OAS schemas and enabling end-to-end workflow automation, making it easier to automate provider generation. In contrast, HashiCorp's tool requires a custom configuration and only creates Terraform schema and data handling types, lacking code generation for API logic and security. Speakeasy's tool is actively maintained and includes a GitHub Action for CI/CD integration, whereas HashiCorp's workflow involves an intermediate format and manual scripting for full automation. The article provides a detailed comparison and walkthroughs for both tools, highlighting Speakeasy's readiness for production use and HashiCorp's potential for future community-driven development.