pltf keeps Docker builds fast via Dagger cache layers and lets Terraform reuse its own provider cache inside the generated workspace.

Docker / BuildKit

• Image builds run through Dagger’s Directory.DockerBuild with a shared pltf-image-cache volume at /dagger/image-cache.
• pltf terraform plan builds every declared image locally; pltf terraform apply builds the images, pushes the tags using host registry credentials, and then runs Terraform; destroy skips image builds entirely.
• Reusing the same context and Dockerfile lets BuildKit layers persist across commands and sessions, so both plan and apply benefit from cached layers.

Terraform cache

• Terraform executes on the host inside .pltf/<environment_name>/workspace (env) or .pltf/<environment_name>/<service_name>/workspace (service), and its .terraform directory caches providers/plugins there.
• Keep the workspace between runs (or share it across CI agents) to benefit from cached downloads; no extra .terraform-plugin-cache file or wrapper is required.
• The workspace also stores plan artifacts (.pltf-plan.tfplan, .pltf-plan.json) for downstream workflows or terraform show references.

Tips

• Inspect or archive the workspace directory if you need to copy provider binaries or debug plugin downloads.
• Ensure your host credentials (AWS, GCP, Azure, Docker) can read the generated workspace when sharing caches across teams.