query: add -query flag to validate command

.changes/v1.14/ENHANCEMENTS-20250925-151237.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+kind: ENHANCEMENTS
+body: "query: support offline validation of query files via -query flag in the validate command"
+time: 2025-09-25T15:12:37.198573+02:00
+custom:
+  Issue: "37671"

internal/command/arguments/validate.go

@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ type Validate struct {
 
 	// ViewType specifies which output format to use: human, JSON, or "raw".
 	ViewType ViewType
+
+	// Query indicates that Terraform should also validate .tfquery files.
+	Query bool
 }
 
 // ParseValidate processes CLI arguments, returning a Validate value and errors.
@@ -40,6 +43,7 @@ func ParseValidate(args []string) (*Validate, tfdiags.Diagnostics) {
 	cmdFlags.BoolVar(&jsonOutput, "json", false, "json")
 	cmdFlags.StringVar(&validate.TestDirectory, "test-directory", "tests", "test-directory")
 	cmdFlags.BoolVar(&validate.NoTests, "no-tests", false, "no-tests")
+	cmdFlags.BoolVar(&validate.Query, "query", false, "query")
 
 	if err := cmdFlags.Parse(args); err != nil {
 		diags = diags.Append(tfdiags.Sourceless(

internal/command/testdata/query/invalid-traversal/main.tf

@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+terraform {
+  required_providers {
+    test = {
+      source = "hashicorp/test"
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+provider "test" {}

internal/command/testdata/query/invalid-traversal/main.tfquery.hcl

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+variable "input" {
+	type = string
+	default = "foo"
+}
+
+list "test_instance" "test" {
+	provider = test
+
+	config {
+		ami = var.input
+	}
+}
+
+list "test_instance" "test2" {
+	provider = test
+
+	config {
+  	// this traversal is invalid for a list resource
+  	ami = list.test_instance.test.state.instance_type
+	}
+}

internal/command/validate.go

@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ import (
 // ValidateCommand is a Command implementation that validates the terraform files
 type ValidateCommand struct {
 	Meta
+
+	ParsedArgs *arguments.Validate
 }
 
 func (c *ValidateCommand) Run(rawArgs []string) int {
@@ -34,6 +36,7 @@ func (c *ValidateCommand) Run(rawArgs []string) int {
 		return 1
 	}
 
+	c.ParsedArgs = args
 	view := views.NewValidate(args.ViewType, c.View)
 
 	// After this point, we must only produce JSON output if JSON mode is
@@ -54,7 +57,7 @@ func (c *ValidateCommand) Run(rawArgs []string) int {
 		return view.Results(diags)
 	}
 
-	validateDiags := c.validate(dir, args.TestDirectory, args.NoTests)
+	validateDiags := c.validate(dir)
 	diags = diags.Append(validateDiags)
 
 	// Validating with dev overrides in effect means that the result might
@@ -66,47 +69,54 @@ func (c *ValidateCommand) Run(rawArgs []string) int {
 	return view.Results(diags)
 }
 
-func (c *ValidateCommand) validate(dir, testDir string, noTests bool) tfdiags.Diagnostics {
+func (c *ValidateCommand) validate(dir string) tfdiags.Diagnostics {
 	var diags tfdiags.Diagnostics
 	var cfg *configs.Config
 
-	if noTests {
+	// If the query flag is set, include query files in the validation.
+	c.includeQueryFiles = c.ParsedArgs.Query
+
+	if c.ParsedArgs.NoTests {
 		cfg, diags = c.loadConfig(dir)
 	} else {
-		cfg, diags = c.loadConfigWithTests(dir, testDir)
+		cfg, diags = c.loadConfigWithTests(dir, c.ParsedArgs.TestDirectory)
 	}
 	if diags.HasErrors() {
 		return diags
 	}
 
-	validate := func(cfg *configs.Config) tfdiags.Diagnostics {
-		var diags tfdiags.Diagnostics
+	diags = diags.Append(c.validateConfig(cfg))
 
-		opts, err := c.contextOpts()
-		if err != nil {
-			diags = diags.Append(err)
-			return diags
-		}
+	// Unless excluded, we'll also do a quick validation of the Terraform test files. These live
+	// outside the Terraform graph so we have to do this separately.
+	if !c.ParsedArgs.NoTests {
+		diags = diags.Append(c.validateTestFiles(cfg))
+	}
 
-		tfCtx, ctxDiags := terraform.NewContext(opts)
-		diags = diags.Append(ctxDiags)
-		if ctxDiags.HasErrors() {
-			return diags
-		}
+	return diags
+}
 
-		return diags.Append(tfCtx.Validate(cfg, nil))
-	}
+func (c *ValidateCommand) validateConfig(cfg *configs.Config) tfdiags.Diagnostics {
+	var diags tfdiags.Diagnostics
 
-	diags = diags.Append(validate(cfg))
+	opts, err := c.contextOpts()
+	if err != nil {
+		diags = diags.Append(err)
+		return diags
+	}
 
-	if noTests {
+	tfCtx, ctxDiags := terraform.NewContext(opts)
+	diags = diags.Append(ctxDiags)
+	if ctxDiags.HasErrors() {
 		return diags
 	}
 
-	validatedModules := make(map[string]bool)
+	return diags.Append(tfCtx.Validate(cfg, nil))
+}
 
-	// We'll also do a quick validation of the Terraform test files. These live
-	// outside the Terraform graph so we have to do this separately.
+func (c *ValidateCommand) validateTestFiles(cfg *configs.Config) tfdiags.Diagnostics {
+	diags := tfdiags.Diagnostics{}
+	validatedModules := make(map[string]bool)
 	for _, file := range cfg.Module.Tests {
 
 		// The file validation only returns warnings so we'll just add them
@@ -131,7 +141,7 @@ func (c *ValidateCommand) validate(dir, testDir string, noTests bool) tfdiags.Di
 						// not validate the same thing multiple times.
 
 						validatedModules[run.Module.Source.String()] = true
-						diags = diags.Append(validate(run.ConfigUnderTest))
+						diags = diags.Append(c.validateConfig(run.ConfigUnderTest))
 					}
 
 				}
@@ -188,6 +198,8 @@ Options:
   -no-tests             If specified, Terraform will not validate test files.
 
   -test-directory=path	Set the Terraform test directory, defaults to "tests".
+
+  -query                If specified, the command will also validate .tfquery files.
 `
 	return strings.TrimSpace(helpText)
 }

internal/command/validate_test.go

@@ -449,3 +449,85 @@ func TestValidate_json(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestValidateWithInvalidListResource(t *testing.T) {
+	td := t.TempDir()
+	cases := []struct {
+		name      string
+		path      string
+		wantError string
+		args      []string
+		code      int
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "invalid-traversal with validate -query command",
+			path: "query/invalid-traversal",
+			wantError: `
+Error: Invalid list resource traversal
+
+  on main.tfquery.hcl line 19, in list "test_instance" "test2":
+  19:   	ami = list.test_instance.test.state.instance_type
+
+The first step in the traversal for a list resource must be an attribute
+"data".
+`,
+			args: []string{"-query"},
+			code: 1,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "invalid-traversal with no -query",
+			path: "query/invalid-traversal",
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range cases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			testCopyDir(t, testFixturePath(tc.path), td)
+			t.Chdir(td)
+
+			streams, done := terminal.StreamsForTesting(t)
+			view := views.NewView(streams)
+			ui := new(cli.MockUi)
+
+			provider := queryFixtureProvider()
+			providerSource, close := newMockProviderSource(t, map[string][]string{
+				"test": {"1.0.0"},
+			})
+			defer close()
+
+			meta := Meta{
+				testingOverrides: metaOverridesForProvider(provider),
+				Ui:               ui,
+				View:             view,
+				Streams:          streams,
+				ProviderSource:   providerSource,
+			}
+
+			init := &InitCommand{
+				Meta: meta,
+			}
+
+			if code := init.Run(nil); code != 0 {
+				t.Fatalf("expected status code 0 but got %d: %s", code, ui.ErrorWriter)
+			}
+
+			c := &ValidateCommand{
+				Meta: meta,
+			}
+
+			var args []string
+			args = append(args, "-no-color")
+			args = append(args, tc.args...)
+
+			code := c.Run(args)
+			output := done(t)
+
+			if code != tc.code {
+				t.Fatalf("Expected status code %d but got %d: %s", tc.code, code, output.Stderr())
+			}
+
+			if diff := cmp.Diff(tc.wantError, output.Stderr()); diff != "" {
+				t.Fatalf("Expected error string %q but got %q\n\ndiff: \n%s", tc.wantError, output.Stderr(), diff)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}