Coming from the AWS console or Terraform

If you manage infrastructure today through a cloud provider's console or with Terraform, emma will feel familiar fast — it keeps the parts that work and changes how you author. This page maps the concepts across so you can get oriented.

Whichever you're coming from, the same things are still true: you work with real cloud resources, you review changes before they happen, and you end up with infrastructure-as-code you own.

If you use the AWS console (or another provider console)

The provider console is click-through and single-cloud. emma keeps the live, visual view — the diagram is the counterpart to the console's resource map — but you drive changes by describing them instead of navigating menus, and one view spans every cloud you've connected.

• Navigating menus becomes asking the copilot
• One console per provider becomes one conversation across providers
• Clicking "Launch instance" becomes a plan you preview and confirm

If you use Terraform

Terraform is declarative and reviewable — and emma doesn't take that away. You author by prompt instead of writing HCL, but emma still produces a plan you review before it applies (like terraform plan), and you can export any result back to Terraform. The prompt is a faster front end; the code is still yours.

• Writing HCL becomes describing intent; emma generates the config
• terraform plan becomes the plan preview you confirm
• terraform apply becomes Confirm — changes are always gated
• Your .tf files are still available any time via export

At a glance

How you'd do a familiar task

You describe the outcome; emma picks the provider-specific details, shows the plan, and waits for your confirm — then you can export the result to Terraform if you want it in your repo.

FAQ

Do I have to stop using Terraform? No. emma exports standard Terraform (and Pulumi/YAML/JSON), so you can keep a code workflow and use emma to author faster.

Is my infrastructure locked into emma? No. Everything is real cloud infrastructure in your own accounts, and anything emma builds can be exported as code.

Does emma manage state like Terraform? emma reads live state from your providers rather than asking you to manage a state file. Import existing resources with Import existing infrastructure.

What about changes I make outside emma? emma reflects live state, so resources changed elsewhere show up when emma next reads the account.

What's next

• Quickstart — try it in about five minutes
• Infrastructure-as-Prompt — the model behind the workflow
• Export to infrastructure-as-code — get your code back out