How to Import an Azure azapi_resource into Terraform

Import Azure azapi_resource with Terraback (recommended)

Terraback reverse-engineers your live infrastructure: it reads the Azure Resource Manager (azapi) resource with read-only credentials, generates the HCL, and produces the exact import block. Two commands take you from a live Azure azapi_resource to managed Terraform.

terraback scan all azure --subscription-id YOUR_ID

terraback azure 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 = azapi_resource.main
  id = "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/prod-rg/providers/Microsoft.HybridCompute/machines/prod-arc-machine?api-version=2023-10-03-preview"
}

Example azapi_resource configuration

Here is a realistic Azure azapi_resource block. Terraback generates a fuller version from your actual resource attributes; this is a minimal, valid starting point.

resource "azapi_resource" "main" {
  type      = "Microsoft.HybridCompute/machines@2023-10-03-preview"
  name      = "prod-arc-machine"
  parent_id = "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/prod-rg"
  location  = "eastus"

  body = {
    properties = {}
  }

  schema_validation_enabled = false
}

Gotchas when importing a Azure azapi_resource

• Unlike every other azurerm resource, the azapi import ID must append the API version as a query string: <arm-id>?api-version=2023-10-03-preview. Omitting it makes the import fail.
• type combines the ARM resource type and API version with an @, for example Microsoft.HybridCompute/machines@2023-10-03-preview; it must match the api-version used in the import ID.
• parent_id is the containing scope (the resource group, subscription, or parent resource ID), not the resource's own ID.
• Terraback emits lifecycle { ignore_changes = [body] } and schema_validation_enabled = false because azapi round-trips the raw ARM body, which can otherwise produce noisy diffs.

Doing it manually with terraform import

The native approach is to write the azapi_resource block by hand, then run terraform import azapi_resource.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 Azure resources