spacelift intent
Infrastructure at the Speed of Thought
Infrastructure at the Speed of Thought
Developers describe it. DevOps controls it. AI provisions it. Fast.
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Instant Deployment
Visibility & Control
No code to maintain
It’s time to move beyond just IaC & GitOps
For mission-critical workloads, IaC paired with GitOps is unbeatable. But not every workload needs that same level of rigor.It’s time to move beyond just IaC & GitOps
The Current Reality
Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is the de facto standard for deploying cloud infrastructure. For mission-critical workloads, IaC paired with GitOps delivers unmatched rigor and repeatability.
But prototypes, tests, and non-critical apps don’t need the ceremony of production pipelines. Unfortunately, there’s no other viable option, so all infrastructure is forced through the same process.
Slow DeploymentsEvery infrastructure request is forced to go through IaC and GitOps, regardless of criticality
Frustrated TeamsDevelopers and DevOps teams struggle with rigid processes, even for simple requests
Process WorkaroundsFed up, teams find ways around process, creating shadow IT and security risks
What's Needed?
Developers need a faster, lightweight way to spin up infrastructure for experiments and POCs, without removing controls or creating shadow resources. DevOps needs visibility and control over everything deployed, without being buried in tickets for non-critical requests.
Introducing Spacelift Intent
A new deployment model that uses AI to bring natural language to infrastructure provisioning. Purpose-built for non-critical infrastructure workflows without sacrificing oversight.
For DevelopersProvision infrastructure by simply having a conversation with their LLM. No Terraform or OpenTofu required!
For DevOpsGet the visibility and control behind the scenes. Full oversight without all the process headaches.
For BusinessRapid prototyping and innovation with a stable production environment for mission-critical applications.
Not an IaC Replacement
Intent sits side-by-side with IaC and GitOps, it's not a replacement. Choose the deployment model that best fits your workload.Not an IaC Replacement
IaC/GitOpsfor rigor & production workloads
Intentfor agility & rapid prototyping
How Spacelift Intent Works
Four simple steps to transform how you handle infrastructure deployment1
Connect Spacelift to your Cloud or multiple clouds
Give Spacelift secure access to the cloud(s) where you want to deploy infrastructure.
2
Connect your LLM to the Spacelift MCP server
Meet developers where they are by plugging into the AI tools they already use.
3
Describe your infrastructure in natural language
Tell your LLM what you need. Spacelift Intent enforces your policies and deploys directly in your cloud, no Terraform needed.
4
See all the things with full visibility
All provisioned resources are visible in one central view with comprehensive audit logs and policy enforcement.
Choose Your Own AdventureSpacelift Intent is available as an Open Source or Commercial offering.
Early AccessSign up to join early adopters shaping the future of infrastructure deployment.
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Open SourceExplore the community-driven project and contribute to the future of infrastructure deployment.
Learn More on GitHubFrequently Asked Questions
What is Intent?
Intent lets you describe the cloud infrastructure you need in plain English, and then provisions it for you automatically. Instead of writing OpenTofu/Terraform code, Spacelift’s Intent interprets your request and directly creates the resources via cloud provider APIs. Everything runs inside Spacelift’s control plane, so your existing policies, guardrails, and audit trails still apply. In short: you describe the goal, and Intent builds the infrastructure.
How can I use Intent?
Intent is perfect for rapid prototyping and testing: Spin up short-lived environments for QA, demos, or experiments in seconds. For example, say “Create a QA setup with two app servers, a database, and an S3 bucket.” Intent provisions it instantly. Developer self-service: Developers can request resources without writing OpenTofu/Terraform or waiting for manual reviews. Approvals and policies remain intact, but Intent eliminates the coding bottleneck, turning infrastructure requests into immediate results.
Does Intent generate OpenTofu/Terraform code in the background?
No. Intent doesn’t generate or execute OpenTofu/Terraform configuration files behind the scenes. Instead, it calls the provider APIs directly through Terraform providers. That means no .tf files, no plan-apply cycles, just direct, governed infrastructure provisioning. We call it “skipping the Terraform ceremony.”
Why should I use Intent instead of writing OpenTofu or Terraform with Claude or ChatGPT?
AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude can help write code, but you’re still responsible for managing, validating, and applying it. Intent goes further. It handles the full provisioning lifecycle with a very different approach: Intent doesn't stop at code generation, it provisions real infrastructure with built-in governance that follows Spacelift's policies, guardrails, and approval workflows. It also offers seamless state management, no manual state files or imports required.
What is the difference between the open-source and commercial versions of Intent?
The Open-Source version is a lightweight, self-hosted version for experimentation and small-scale use. It includes the MCP server and executor in a single binary, capable of interpreting natural language requests and calling cloud provider APIs directly. It stores state locally and can run on your laptop or in a container. The Commercial Version of Spacelift Intent is the full enterprise version integrated into the Spacelift platform including: A managed remote MCP server hosted by Spacelift, Centralized state management in the Spacelift cloud, Policy-as-code integration with OPA for approvals and guardrails, A dedicated web UI with project management, resource visibility, & audit history, Enterprise support, SLAs, and accelerated updates. In short, the open-source edition is your playground; the commercial edition is your production-ready control plane.
Can Intent adhere to our existing guardrails, policies, and restrictions when creating resources?
Yes. Policy enforcement is at the core of Intent’s design. Every Intent action passes through Spacelift’s policy engine, the same system that governs your standard IaC workflows. If a request violates your rules, it can be automatically denied or flagged for approval, ensuring complete governance control.
Can Intent use our existing OpenTofu/Terraform modules?
Not yet. The initial version of Intent interacts directly with cloud provider APIs and doesn’t use custom OpenTofu or Terraform modules. However, we are actively exploring ways to incorporate module reuse in future releases.
If we use Intent, can we audit changes and roll them back if needed?
Absolutely. Every Intent operation is logged with full auditability, detailing who made changes, when, and what was affected. While rollbacks don’t happen through code reverts, you can instruct Intent to delete or revert resources to a previous state. You can also export Intent-created infrastructure to code later, bringing it under traditional IaC management once it’s stable.