CLI Overview

Install

One-line install (Linux/macOS):

curl -fsSL https://cloudticon.com/install.sh | sudo sh

Via go install:

go install github.com/cloudticon/ct/cmd/ct@latest

Or build from source:

git clone https://github.com/cloudticon/ct.git
cd ct
go build -o ct ./cmd/ct

Command index

ct [global flags] <command> [args]

Commands:
  init        Create a new CT project scaffold
  template    Render manifests from .ct entrypoint + release name
  apply       Render and apply manifests for a release
  delete      Delete a release from cluster using inventory
  dev         Run live development workflows on cluster workloads
  types       Generate IDE types (.d.ts) for Values and runtime globals
  version     Print CLI version information
  help        Show help for any command

Command	Description	Page
ct init	Create a new CT project scaffold	→
ct template	Render manifests from .ct entrypoint + release name	→
ct apply	Render and apply manifests to a Kubernetes cluster	→
ct delete	Delete release resources tracked by inventory	→
ct dev	Run live development workflows on cluster workloads	→
ct types	Generate IDE types (.d.ts) for Values and runtime globals	→

Global flags

--help, -h      Show help
--verbose       Enable verbose logs
--no-color      Disable ANSI colors in CLI output

ct version

Print installed version details.

ct version

ct help

Get command docs quickly:

ct help
ct help template
ct template --help

End-to-end scenarios

Scenario A: Bootstrap and render

ct init
ct template my-app . --namespace production

Scenario B: Multi-environment rendering

ct template my-app . --values values-dev.yaml --namespace dev
ct template my-app . --values values-staging.yaml --namespace staging
ct template my-app . --values values-prod.yaml --namespace prod

Scenario C: GitOps (ArgoCD style)

ct template my-app . --values values-prod.yaml --namespace prod > apps/my-app/manifests.yaml
git add apps/my-app/manifests.yaml
git commit -m "update prod manifests"

Scenario D: Apply directly to cluster

ct apply my-app . --namespace development --context dev
ct apply my-app . --namespace production --context prod --values values-prod.yaml

Scenario E: Deploy from GitHub source

ct template my-app github.com/cloudticon/my-app@v1.0 --namespace staging
ct apply my-app github.com/cloudticon/my-app@v1.0 --namespace staging
ct apply my-app github.com/cloudticon/my-app@main --namespace staging --no-cache

Scenario F: Deploy and teardown

ct apply my-app . --namespace production --context prod
ct delete my-app --namespace production --context prod

Scenario G: IDE-first workflow

ct types .
ct types . --dev
ct template my-app . --namespace production

Regenerate types whenever .ct files or values change.

Scenario H: Dev loop with cleanup

ct dev --context staging --env-file .env.staging --name dev-alice
ct dev --delete --context staging --name dev-alice

Troubleshooting

ct: command not found

• Re-run installer.
• Confirm PATH includes CT install location.
• Restart shell session.

URL imports fail during template/types

• Check repository URL and branch/tag in import string.
• Verify network and git access.
• Clear CT cache (~/.ct/cache/) if stale packages are present.
• Use --no-cache on ct template/ct apply to force re-download.

Values file is not applied

• Ensure valid YAML/JSON syntax.
• Check key names used by templates.
• Use --set to test overrides quickly.
• Remember auto-detect order: values.json → values.yaml → values.yml.

Async/await errors

CT runtime is synchronous (Goja engine). An esbuild plugin rejects async/await at bundle time. Replace async flows with synchronous alternatives.

Inconsistent manifests across environments

• Keep one baseline values file plus thin env overlays.
• Version-control all rendered outputs used by GitOps.
• Avoid hidden defaults; prefer explicit values.
• Use stable release names so inventory and pruning stay predictable.

Best practices

• Keep main.ct small and split by domain modules.
• Use factory helpers in shared packages for consistency.
• Pin URL imports to tags for reproducibility.
• Run ct types in CI for editor parity in teams.
• Use ct apply for quick iteration, ct template + kubectl apply for controlled pipelines.