Push To Registry

This configures Packer to push build metadata to HCP Packer's registry so you can track which image versions exist and promote them through channels like production or staging. The actual setup is a single hcp_packer_registry block in your build with bucket_name, labels, and descriptions. The real value shows up in Terraform where you query by channel name instead of hardcoding AMI IDs, which means your infrastructure code stays stable while images get updated. Authentication needs a service principal with four environment variables. One thing to watch: bucket_name must stay consistent across builds or you'll fragment your registry into multiple buckets accidentally.

skills.sh installs: 3.1K
GitHub stars: 924
last updated: Aug 21, 2026

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Install

$ npx -y skills add hashicorp/agent-skills --skill push-to-registry --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

Files

Push to HCP Packer Registry

Configure Packer templates to push build metadata to HCP Packer registry.

Reference: HCP Packer Registry

Note: HCP Packer is free for basic use. Builds push metadata only (not actual images), adding minimal overhead (<1 minute).

Basic Registry Configuration

packer {
  required_version = ">= 1.7.7"
}

variable "image_name" {
  type    = string
  default = "web-server"
}

locals {
  timestamp = regex_replace(timestamp(), "[- TZ:]", "")
}

source "amazon-ebs" "ubuntu" {
  region        = "us-west-2"
  instance_type = "t3.micro"

  source_ami_filter {
    filters = {
      name = "ubuntu/images/*ubuntu-jammy-22.04-amd64-server-*"
    }
    most_recent = true
    owners      = ["099720109477"]
  }

  ssh_username = "ubuntu"
  ami_name     = "${var.image_name}-${local.timestamp}"
}

build {
  sources = ["source.amazon-ebs.ubuntu"]

  hcp_packer_registry {
    bucket_name = var.image_name
    description = "Ubuntu 22.04 base image for web servers"

    bucket_labels = {
      "os"   = "ubuntu"
      "team" = "platform"
    }

SKILL.md on GitHub