Docs / Quickstart

Install and analyze in 30 seconds.

From zero to first risk report. No accounts, no uploads, no config files.

1. Install

Python 3.10+ required. One command:

pip install readtheplan

Verify it works:

readtheplan --help

If you have Terraform, generate a plan JSON:

terraform plan -out=tfplan -input=false
terraform show -json tfplan > plan.json

No Terraform? Try the example plans in the repo:

git clone https://github.com/readtheplan/readtheplan.git
cd readtheplan/examples/02-dangerous-replacement
readtheplan analyze plan.json

Basic analysis — human-readable output:

readtheplan analyze plan.json

With compliance framework mapping (SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA):

readtheplan analyze --framework soc2 plan.json

Machine-readable JSON output:

readtheplan analyze --format json plan.json

Every change gets one of four risk tiers:

🟢 Safe

No-op, tag update, read-only change. Auto-approve.

🟡 Review

Security group rule change, minor config drift. Human should check.

🟠 Dangerous

Instance replacement, IAM policy change, DB modification. Approve with caution.

🔴 Irreversible

Data deletion, KMS key destruction, RDS termination. Block unless explicitly authorized.

With --framework soc2, each change also shows compliance control IDs (e.g. CC6.1, CC7.1).

Every command and flag explained.

Gate your CI pipeline automatically.

See an analysis in action without installing anything.