How to Import an AWS Step Functions State Machine into Terraform

Import AWS Step Functions State Machine with Terraback (recommended)

Terraback reverse-engineers your live infrastructure: it reads the AWS Step Functions resource with read-only credentials, generates the HCL, and produces the exact import block. Two commands take you from a live AWS Step Functions State Machine to managed Terraform.

terraback scan all aws --region us-east-1

terraback aws import --method bulk

The Terraform import block

Terraback emits a Terraform 1.5+ import block like the one below. Because the block lives in your configuration, the import is reviewable in a pull request and repeatable across environments.

import {
  to = aws_sfn_state_machine.orders
  id = "arn:aws:states:us-east-1:123456789012:stateMachine:order-workflow"
}

Example aws_sfn_state_machine configuration

Here is a realistic AWS Step Functions State Machine block. Terraback generates a fuller version from your actual resource attributes; this is a minimal, valid starting point.

resource "aws_sfn_state_machine" "orders" {
  name     = "order-workflow"
  role_arn = "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/StepFunctionsRole"
  type     = "STANDARD"

  definition = jsonencode({
    Comment = "Order processing"
    StartAt = "Validate"
    States  = { Validate = { Type = "Pass", End = true } }
  })
}

Gotchas when importing a AWS Step Functions State Machine

• Import by the state machine ARN, not by name.
• The definition is Amazon States Language JSON that AWS normalizes; expect to align whitespace and key order to avoid a perpetual diff.
• The execution IAM role (role_arn) and any Lambda functions, log groups, or tasks the workflow invokes are separate resources.
• type (STANDARD or EXPRESS) is immutable; switching it forces replacement.

Doing it manually with terraform import

The native approach is to write the aws_sfn_state_machine block by hand, then run terraform import aws_sfn_state_machine.example <import-id> for every resource, one at a time. That works for a handful of resources, but it does not scale: you author all the HCL yourself and repeat the command for each item. Terraback generates the HCL and the import blocks for your whole account in one pass.

Import other AWS resources