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title: How the Provider Works
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product: MuleSoft Terraform Provider
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# How the Provider Works

> For the full documentation index, see: https://docs.mulesoft.com/llms.txt

The MuleSoft Terraform provider manages MuleSoft Platform resources using a declarative
Infrastructure as Code (IaC) model.

The following concepts explain how the provider provisions and manages resources across the MuleSoft
Platform.

## Declarative Configuration

With Terraform, you define the desired state of your MuleSoft Platform resources in Terraform
configuration files.

Terraform compares the desired state with the current platform configuration and applies the
required changes to reconcile both states.

This approach helps maintain consistency across environments and supports version-controlled
infrastructure management.

## Control Plane and Runtime Plane

The provider manages resources across both the control plane and the runtime plane.

The control plane includes resources such as:

- API Manager

- Access Management

- Secrets Manager

- MCP server and AI agent resources

- Policies and governance configuration

The runtime plane includes deployment and infrastructure resources such as:

- CloudHub 2.0 private spaces

- Managed Omni Gateway resources

- Network configuration

- VPN connections

- TLS contexts

This separation enables you to manage APIs, gateways, policies, and infrastructure resources
independently from application implementations.

## Resource Management

The provider manages resources declaratively through Terraform configuration files.

When you apply a Terraform configuration:

- Resources defined in the configuration are created or updated.

- Resources removed from the configuration can be removed from the platform during reconciliation.

- Changes made outside Terraform can be overwritten during future Terraform runs, depending on the
  resource behavior.

## API, MCP, and AI Agent Resources

The provider supports multiple resource types across the MuleSoft Platform.

Supported resources include:

- API Manager resources

- MCP server resources

- AI agent resources

- API, MCP, and A2A policies

- CloudHub 2.0 infrastructure resources

- Access Management resources

- Secrets Manager resources

These resources can be managed together as part of a unified Terraform workflow.

## Multi-Environment Configuration

Terraform enables consistent configuration across environments such as development, staging, and
production.

You can reuse Terraform configurations across environments while reducing manual configuration drift
and maintaining consistent platform configuration.

## See Also

- [MuleSoft Terraform Provider](https://docs.mulesoft.com/mulesoft-terraform-provider/)

- [Install and Configure the Terraform Provider](https://docs.mulesoft.com/mulesoft-terraform-provider/install-configure)

- [Resources](https://docs.mulesoft.com/mulesoft-terraform-provider/resources)