v1.13.2/website/docs/language/modules/develop/publish.mdx

---
description: A module is a container for multiple resources that are used together.
---

# Publishing Modules

If you've built a module that you intend to be reused, we recommend
[publishing the module](https://github.com/opentofu/registry/issues/new/choose) on the
[Public OpenTofu Registry](https://registry.opentofu.org). This will version
your module, generate documentation, and more.

Published modules can be easily consumed by OpenTofu, and users can
[constrain module versions](../../../language/modules/syntax.mdx#version)
for safe and predictable updates. The following example shows how a caller
might use a module from the Module Registry:

```hcl
module "consul" {
  source = "hashicorp/consul/aws"
}
```

If you do not wish to publish your modules in the public registry, you can
instead use a [private registry](../../../internals/module-registry-protocol.mdx) to get
the same benefits.

We welcome contributions of modules from our community members, partners, and customers. Our ecosystem is made
richer by each new module created or an existing one updated, as they reflect the wide range of experience and
technical requirements of the community that uses them. Our cloud provider partners often seek to develop specific
modules for popular or challenging use cases on their platform and utilize them as valuable learning experiences to
empathize with their users. Similarly, our community module developers incorporate a variety of opinions and use cases
from the broader OpenTofu community. Both types of modules have their place in the registry, accessible to
practitioners who can decide which modules best fit their requirements.

## Distribution via other sources

Although the registry is the native mechanism for distributing re-usable
modules, OpenTofu can also install modules from
[various other sources](../../../language/modules/sources.mdx). The alternative sources
do not support the first-class versioning mechanism, but some sources have
their own mechanisms for selecting particular VCS commits, etc.

We recommend that modules distributed via other protocols still use the
[standard module structure](../../../language/modules/develop/structure.mdx) so that they can
be used in a similar way as a registry module or be published on the registry
at a later time.

## OpenTofu registry module submission requirements
To be able to submit a module to the [OpenTofu registry](https://search.opentofu.org/), the following are the
requirements that need to be met:

* The module must be hosted in a public GitHub repository.
* The module must be structured as described in [Building blocks of a module](./index.mdx#building-blocks-of-a-module).
* The module repository needs to follow the `terraform-<NAME>-<TARGETSYSTEM>` naming convention.
  * `<NAME>` represents the platform on which the module acts. E.g.: `aws`.
  * `<TARGETSYSTEM>` represents the type of infrastructure on the platform on which the module acts. This can be a multi-token string separated by hyphens (`-`). E.g.: `secret-manager`.
  * Some examples of names: `terraform-aws-secret-manager`, `terraform-azurerm-avm-ptn-network-private-link-private-dns-zones`.
* Each version of the module should be a [`git tag`](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Basics-Tagging) whose name follows the [semantic versioning scheme](https://semver.org/).

## Submitting the module to the OpenTofu registry
A module can be added to the OpenTofu registry by simply creating an issue by using the provided
[module template](https://github.com/opentofu/registry/issues/new?template=module.yml) and following the instructions
provided by it.