wtf is terraform-provider-docker?

Terraform Provider for Docker lets you manage Docker containers and images using Terraform, a popular infrastructure-as-code tool. Instead of running Docker commands by hand every time you want to start, stop, or update a container, you write a configuration file describing what you want, and the provider makes it happen automatically. In practical terms, the example in the README shows someone defining an Nginx web server container. They write a few lines specifying the image name, the port mapping (8080 on the outside, 80 on the inside), and Terraform handles pulling the image and starting the container. You can also define Docker Services with multiple replicas, which means you can spin up several copies of the same container for load balancing, all from the same configuration file. This tool is built for teams and individuals who already use Terraform to manage their cloud infrastructure (servers, databases, networks) and want to bring Docker containers into that same workflow. For example, a startup that uses Terraform to provision AWS instances might also want to define the Docker containers running on those instances in the same place, rather than maintaining a separate set of scripts or manual processes. It keeps everything version-controlled and reproducible. The project is written in Go and requires at least Terraform version 1.1.5. It's maintained by a company called Kreuzwerker and sponsored by Coder. The README includes migration guides for users upgrading between major versions (v2 to v3, v3 to v4), suggesting an actively maintained project with breaking changes over time. Beyond that, the README directs readers to the Terraform Registry for full documentation, so the repo itself is fairly sparse on usage details.