| --- |
| page_title: file - Functions - Configuration Language |
| description: |- |
| The file function reads the contents of the file at the given path and |
| returns them as a string. |
| --- |
| |
| # `file` Function |
| |
| `file` reads the contents of a file at the given path and returns them as |
| a string. |
| |
| ```hcl |
| file(path) |
| ``` |
| |
| Strings in the Terraform language are sequences of Unicode characters, so |
| this function will interpret the file contents as UTF-8 encoded text and |
| return the resulting Unicode characters. If the file contains invalid UTF-8 |
| sequences then this function will produce an error. |
| |
| This function can be used only with files that already exist on disk |
| at the beginning of a Terraform run. Functions do not participate in the |
| dependency graph, so this function cannot be used with files that are generated |
| dynamically during a Terraform operation. We do not recommend using dynamic |
| local files in Terraform configurations, but in rare situations where this is |
| necessary you can use |
| [the `local_file` data source](https://registry.terraform.io/providers/hashicorp/local/latest/docs/data-sources/file) |
| to read files while respecting resource dependencies. |
| |
| ## Examples |
| |
| ``` |
| > file("${path.module}/hello.txt") |
| Hello World |
| ``` |
| |
| ## Related Functions |
| |
| * [`filebase64`](/language/functions/filebase64) also reads the contents of a given file, |
| but returns the raw bytes in that file Base64-encoded, rather than |
| interpreting the contents as UTF-8 text. |
| * [`fileexists`](/language/functions/fileexists) determines whether a file exists |
| at a given path. |
| * [`templatefile`](/language/functions/templatefile) renders using a file from disk as a |
| template. |
