TerraFormer: Automated Infrastructure-as-Code with LLMs Fine-Tuned via Policy-Guided Verifier Feedback

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Authors: Prithwish Kumar Jana, Sam R. Davidson, Bhavana Bhasker, Andrey Kan, Anoop Deoras, Laurent Callot
Cited by: 1
References: 57

Abstract

Automating Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) is challenging, and large language models (LLMs) often produce incorrect configurations from natural language (NL). We present TerraFormer, a neuro-symbolic framework for IaC generation and mutation that combines supervised fine-tuning with verifier-guided reinforcement learning, using formal verification tools to provide feedback on syntax, deployability, and policy compliance. We curate two large, high-quality NL-to-IaC datasets, TF-Gen (152k instances) and TF-Mutn (52k instances), via multi-stage verification and iterative LLM self-correction. Evaluations against 17 state-of-the-art LLMs, including ∼ 50 × larger models like Sonnet 3.7, DeepSeek-R1, and GPT-4.1, show that TerraFormer improves correctness over its base LLM by 15.94% on IaC-Eval, 11.65% on TF-Gen (Test), and 19.60% on TF-Mutn (Test). It outperforms larger models on both TF-Gen (Test) and TF-Mutn (Test), ranks third on IaC-Eval, and achieves top best-practices and security compliance.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Adversarial Robustness in Machine Learning Ethics and Social Impacts of AI Advanced Malware Detection Techniques

Publication details

Journal / source
Proceedings of the IEEE/ACM 48th International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering in Practice
Publisher
ACM
Pages
578–589
Publication date
12 April 2026