Quick definitions for the terms used throughout env zero documentation.Documentation Index
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Core objects
Template
A reusable configuration that links a VCS repository folder to an IaC type (Terraform, OpenTofu, Pulumi, etc.), along with variables, deployment settings, and project assignments. Multiple teams and environments can deploy from the same template. Templates are the unit of governance: approval policies, custom flows, and variable defaults are all applied at the template level.Environment
A live deployment of a template with its own state, variables, and deployment history. Each environment corresponds to a single Terraform state file. Equivalent to a workspace in Terraform Cloud.Project
A container for related environments. Scopes credentials, template access, and user permissions. A user with access to a project can deploy any template assigned to it. env zero creates a Default Organization Project when you first sign up.Deployment
Agent
The compute that executes deployments. env zero provides cloud-hosted agents by default. Teams with private network requirements, self-hosted VCS, or strict data residency policies use a self-hosted Kubernetes agent that runs inside their own infrastructure.Plan
A dry run that shows what infrastructure changes would be made without applying them. Plans are run automatically on pull requests (Plan on PR) and before every apply.Apply
Execution of the infrastructure changes shown in a plan. An apply modifies real cloud resources.Remote Backend
env zero’s built-in Terraform and OpenTofu state storage. State is stored per environment, versioned, and encrypted at rest. env zero serves as a drop-in replacement for Terraform Cloud’s remote backend. Nobackend block changes are required during migration.
Drift
A difference between live infrastructure and the IaC code. Detected by running a plan without an apply. env zero can run drift detection on a schedule and alert your team when drift is found.Variables and configuration
Variable
A key-value pair injected into deployments. Variables are scoped at the organization, project, template, or environment level; lower scopes override higher ones. env zero separates Terraform variables (passed as-var) from environment variables (set in the shell).
Configuration Set
A named collection of variables that can be attached to multiple projects or environments at once. Equivalent to variable sets in Terraform Cloud. Useful for sharing credentials, region settings, or tagging standards across many environments.Governance and automation
Approval Policy
A rule requiring one or more reviewers to approve the plan output before apply runs. Applied at the template or project level. The deployment pauses after the plan step and resumes only after all required approvals are given.Custom Flow
Pre- and post-deploy steps (shell scripts or container commands) that run at specific lifecycle hooks in the deployment pipeline. Used for policy checks, secret fetching, configuration management tools (Ansible, Chef), notifications, and testing. See Custom Flows.Workflow Trigger
A rule that automatically deploys one environment after another environment’s deployment succeeds. Used to chain environment promotions, such as deploying staging automatically after dev succeeds.Related
- Managing IaC Binaries Versions - Pin or manage Terraform, OpenTofu, and Pulumi versions.
- Variables - Full variable scoping, types, and sensitive variable handling.
- Custom Flows - Build deployment pipelines with custom pre- and post-deploy steps.
- Self-Hosted Agent - Run deployments inside your own Kubernetes cluster.