| --- |
| page_title: fileexists - Functions - Configuration Language |
| description: The fileexists function determines whether a file exists at a given path. |
| --- |
| |
| # `fileexists` Function |
| |
| `fileexists` determines whether a file exists at a given path. |
| |
| ```hcl |
| fileexists(path) |
| ``` |
| |
| Functions are evaluated during configuration parsing rather than at apply time, |
| so this function can only be used with files that are already present on disk |
| before Terraform takes any actions. |
| |
| This function works only with regular files. If used with a directory, FIFO, |
| or other special mode, it will return an error. |
| |
| ## Examples |
| |
| ``` |
| > fileexists("${path.module}/hello.txt") |
| true |
| ``` |
| |
| ```hcl |
| fileexists("custom-section.sh") ? file("custom-section.sh") : local.default_content |
| ``` |
| |
| ## Related Functions |
| |
| * [`file`](/language/functions/file) reads the contents of a file at a given path |
