What is Ankra CLI?
The Ankra CLI is a powerful command-line interface for interacting with the Ankra platform. It enables you to manage clusters, chat with AI about your infrastructure, browse Helm charts, manage credentials, deploy stacks, and automate platform operations directly from your terminal.
Main use cases:
- SSO authentication with the Ankra platform
- AI-powered chat for troubleshooting and assistance
- Cluster management (list, select, reconcile, clone)
- Stack management (create, list, rename, delete)
- Helm chart discovery and search
- Credentials management
- API token management
Features
- SSO Login - Browser-based authentication with PKCE
- AI Chat - Interactive and one-shot AI-powered troubleshooting
- Cluster Management - List, select, reconcile, and clone clusters
- Stack Management - Create, list, rename, delete, and view stack history
- Helm Charts - Browse, search, and get details on available charts
- Credentials - Manage cloud provider and Git credentials
- API Tokens - Create, list, revoke, and delete API tokens
- Secure - Credentials stored locally in
~/.ankra.yaml
Installation
Single Command Installation (Recommended)
bash <(curl -sL https://github.com/ankraio/ankra-cli/releases/latest/download/install.sh)
After installation, verify with:
Direct Download
Download the binary directly from GitHub Releases.
chmod +x ankra
mv ankra ~/bin/ankra # or /usr/local/bin/ankra
Authentication
SSO Login (Recommended)
The easiest way to authenticate is using browser-based SSO:
This will:
- Open your browser to the Ankra login page
- After you authenticate, save your credentials locally
- You can then use all ankra CLI commands
Your credentials are saved to ~/.ankra.yaml.
To logout and clear credentials:
Environment Variables (Alternative)
You can also use environment variables:
export ANKRA_API_TOKEN=your-token-here
export ANKRA_BASE_URL=https://platform.ankra.app # optional
Add to your shell profile (~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc) for persistence.
Quick Start
# 1. Login with SSO
ankra login
# 2. List your clusters
ankra cluster list
# 3. Select a cluster to work with
ankra cluster select
# 4. Start chatting with AI about your infrastructure
ankra chat "What's the status of my deployments?"
Command Reference
Authentication
login
Authenticate with the Ankra platform using browser-based SSO.
logout
Remove saved credentials from ~/.ankra.yaml.
AI Chat
chat
AI-powered chat for troubleshooting and assistance.
Interactive mode:
ankra chat
ankra chat --cluster my-cluster # with cluster context
One-shot mode:
ankra chat "Why are my pods in CrashLoopBackOff?"
ankra chat --cluster staging "How do I scale my deployment?"
Commands in interactive mode:
exit, quit, q - Exit chat
clear - Clear conversation history
chat health
Get AI-analyzed cluster health for the selected cluster.
ankra chat health
ankra chat health --ai # include detailed AI analysis
chat history
List previous chat conversations.
ankra chat history
ankra chat history --cluster my-cluster # filter by cluster
ankra chat history --limit 10
chat show
Show a specific conversation.
ankra chat show <conversation_id>
chat delete
Delete a conversation.
ankra chat delete <conversation_id>
Cluster Operations
cluster list
List all clusters.
cluster get
Get details of a specific cluster.
ankra cluster get <cluster-name>
cluster select
Interactively select a cluster for subsequent commands.
cluster reconcile
Trigger cluster reconciliation to sync desired state with actual state.
ankra cluster reconcile # uses selected cluster
ankra cluster reconcile <cluster-name> # specific cluster
cluster clone
Clone stacks from an existing cluster to a new cluster configuration.
# Clone all stacks
ankra cluster clone source-cluster.yaml new-cluster.yaml
# Clone from a remote URL
ankra cluster clone https://github.com/org/repo/raw/main/cluster.yaml new-cluster.yaml
# Clone only specific stacks
ankra cluster clone cluster.yaml new-cluster.yaml --stack "monitoring" --stack "networking"
# Replace all stacks in target
ankra cluster clone cluster.yaml new-cluster.yaml --clean
# Force merge even with conflicts
ankra cluster clone cluster.yaml new-cluster.yaml --force
# Copy missing files from skipped stacks
ankra cluster clone cluster.yaml new-cluster.yaml --copy-missing
SOPS Encryption
Encrypt and decrypt manifest and addon configuration files using SOPS.
cluster encrypt manifest
Encrypt a specific key in a manifest file.
ankra cluster encrypt manifest <manifest_name> --key <key_name> -f <cluster.yaml>
Example:
ankra cluster encrypt manifest trinity-database-secret --key TRINITY_DB_PASSWORD -f cluster.yaml
This will:
- Find the manifest in the cluster YAML
- Read the referenced manifest file
- Encrypt the specified key using your organisation’s SOPS key
- Update the manifest file with encrypted values
- Add the key to
encrypted_paths in the cluster YAML
cluster encrypt addon
Encrypt a specific key in an addon configuration file.
ankra cluster encrypt addon --name <addon_name> --key <key_name> -f <cluster.yaml>
Example:
ankra cluster encrypt addon --name grafana --key adminPassword -f cluster.yaml
cluster decrypt manifest
Decrypt and print a manifest file.
ankra cluster decrypt manifest <manifest_name> -f <cluster.yaml>
Example:
ankra cluster decrypt manifest trinity-database-secret -f cluster.yaml
You can add new encrypted keys to files that are already SOPS-encrypted, as long as they were encrypted with your organisation’s key.
If a file was encrypted by a different organisation, you’ll need to decrypt it first using the original key, then encrypt it with your organisation’s key.
Stack Management
All stack commands operate on the currently selected cluster.
cluster stacks list
List all stacks for the active cluster.
ankra cluster stacks list
ankra cluster stacks list <stack-name> # show details for a specific stack
cluster stacks create
Create a new stack.
ankra cluster stacks create my-stack
ankra cluster stacks create my-stack --description "Application stack"
cluster stacks delete
Delete a stack.
ankra cluster stacks delete <stack-name>
cluster stacks rename
Rename a stack.
ankra cluster stacks rename <old-name> <new-name>
cluster stacks history
Show change history for a stack.
ankra cluster stacks history <stack-name>
cluster stacks clone
Clone a stack to another cluster as a draft.
ankra cluster stacks clone <stack-name> --to <target-cluster>
ankra cluster stacks clone my-stack --to production --name my-stack-prod
ankra cluster stacks clone my-stack --to production --include-config=false
| Flag | Short | Description |
|---|
--to | -t | Target cluster name or ID (required) |
--name | -n | Custom name for the cloned stack |
--include-config | | Include addon configurations (default: true) |
Encrypted values are not transferred during cloning. You’ll need to reconfigure secrets in the target cluster.
Helm Charts
charts list
List available Helm charts.
ankra charts list
ankra charts list --page 2 --page-size 50
ankra charts list --subscribed # show only subscribed charts
charts search
Search for Helm charts by name.
ankra charts search nginx
ankra charts search prometheus
charts info
Get detailed information about a chart.
ankra charts info nginx
ankra charts info grafana --repository https://grafana.github.io/helm-charts
Credentials
credentials list
List all credentials.
ankra credentials list
ankra credentials list --provider github # filter by provider
Aliases: ankra creds, ankra cred, ankra credential
credentials get
Get details of a specific credential.
ankra credentials get <credential_id>
credentials validate
Check if a credential name is available.
ankra credentials validate my-new-credential
credentials delete
Delete a credential.
ankra credentials delete <credential_id>
API Tokens
tokens list
List all API tokens.
Alias: ankra token list
tokens create
Create a new API token.
ankra tokens create my-ci-token
ankra tokens create my-temp-token --expires "2024-12-31T00:00:00Z"
tokens revoke
Revoke an API token (must be revoked before deletion).
ankra tokens revoke <token_id>
tokens delete
Delete a revoked API token.
ankra tokens delete <token_id>
Global Flags
| Flag | Description |
|---|
--version | Show CLI version |
--help | Show help for any command |
--base-url | Base URL for the Ankra API |
--config | Config file (default: ~/.ankra.yaml) |
--token | API token for authentication |
Configuration
The CLI stores configuration in ~/.ankra.yaml:
token: your-api-token
base-url: https://platform.ankra.app
token_id: token-uuid
token_name: ankra-cli-hostname-username
Environment variables take precedence over config file values:
ANKRA_API_TOKEN - Override the stored token
ANKRA_BASE_URL - Override the base URL
Troubleshooting
Common Issues
PATH issues:
which ankra # verify installation location
echo $PATH # check PATH includes ankra location
Authentication errors:
ankra logout # clear credentials
ankra login # re-authenticate
Check version:
Get help:
ankra --help
ankra cluster --help
ankra chat --help
Error Messages
- “No active cluster selected” - Run
ankra cluster select first
- “Resource not found” - Verify the resource name and selected cluster
- “Unauthorized” - Re-authenticate with
ankra login
Support & Resources
For more advanced usage, see the full documentation or contact support.