klausctl

klausctl

CLI for managing local klaus instances.

klausctl is the local-mode counterpart to the Helm chart and the klaus-operator. It produces the same env vars, flags, and file mounts that the klaus Go binary expects, but through a developer-friendly CLI backed by Docker or Podman.

Features

• Container lifecycle management -- start, stop, status, logs for local klaus instances
• Plugin fetching via ORAS -- pull Claude Code plugins from OCI registries before container start, with digest-based caching
• Config rendering -- generate .mcp.json, settings.json, SKILL.md files from a single config file
• Container runtime auto-detection -- Docker or Podman, with preference configurable
• Environment variable forwarding -- pass secrets from host to container
• Self-update -- klausctl update to fetch the latest release from GitHub

Quick Start

# Create a default configuration
klausctl config init

# Edit the configuration
$EDITOR ~/.config/klausctl/instances/default/config.yaml

# Set your API key
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

# Start a klaus instance
klausctl start default

# Check status
klausctl status default

# View logs
klausctl logs default -f

# Stop the instance
klausctl stop default

Usage

klausctl create <name> [workspace]   # Create and start a named instance
klausctl list                         # List known instances
klausctl delete <name>                # Delete an instance (container + files)
klausctl start <name>                 # Start an instance
klausctl start <name> --workspace .   # Start with workspace override
klausctl stop <name>                  # Stop an instance
klausctl status <name>                # Show instance status (running, MCP endpoint, uptime)
klausctl logs <name>                  # Stream container logs (-f to follow, --tail N for last N lines)
klausctl config               # Manage configuration (init, show, path, validate)
klausctl self-update           # Update klausctl to the latest release (--yes to skip prompt)
klausctl version              # Show version information

start, stop, status, and logs currently default to default when <name> is omitted. This implicit default is deprecated; use default explicitly to avoid future breakage.

OCI registry cache

klausctl keeps a persistent on-disk cache of OCI registry responses so that repeated invocations don't have to re-walk the catalog, re-list tags, or re-resolve references every time. The cache is driven by the shared klaus-oci cache store and is enabled by default.

Location (first match wins):

1. --cache-dir <dir> (global flag)
2. KLAUSCTL_CACHE_DIR=<dir> (env var)
3. $XDG_CACHE_HOME/klausctl/oci (XDG default)
4. ~/.cache/klausctl/oci (fallback when XDG is unset)

The cache is safe to delete at any time; the next invocation will repopulate the entries it needs.

Commands

klausctl cache info              # show location, size, per-layer entry counts
klausctl cache prune             # remove stale entries (safe default)
klausctl cache prune --all       # wipe everything, including fresh entries and blobs
klausctl cache refresh           # invalidate all index entries (blobs kept)
klausctl cache refresh --registry gsoci.azurecr.io
klausctl cache refresh --repo   gsoci.azurecr.io/giantswarm/klaus-plugins/gs-platform

All three commands support --output json for scripting.

Bypassing the cache

Occasionally you want to skip the cache for a single command — e.g. to confirm a registry change is visible right now:

klausctl --no-cache create --personality coding my-instance
KLAUSCTL_NO_CACHE=1 klausctl list

Neither --no-cache nor the env var are persistent; later invocations will use the cache again.

MCP tools

klausctl serve exposes three tools so agents can manage the cache:

• klausctl_cache_info — same data as klausctl cache info --output json.
• klausctl_cache_prune — accepts a boolean all argument.
• klausctl_cache_refresh — accepts optional registry / repo strings (mutually exclusive).

See docs/cache-reproduction.md for a back-to-back reproduction that shows a second klausctl create skipping catalog/tag/reference traffic entirely.

Configuration

Config file at ~/.config/klausctl/instances/default/config.yaml:

# Container runtime (auto-detected if not set)
runtime: docker  # or: podman

# Klaus image
image: gsoci.azurecr.io/giantswarm/klaus:latest

# Workspace to mount
workspace: ~/projects/my-repo

# Port for the MCP endpoint
port: 8080

# Claude configuration
claude:
  model: sonnet
  systemPrompt: "You are a helpful coding assistant."
  maxBudgetUsd: 5.0
  permissionMode: plan

# Forward host environment variables
envForward:
  - GITHUB_TOKEN

# Inline skills
skills:
  api-conventions:
    description: "API design patterns"
    content: |
      When writing API endpoints...

# Subagents (JSON format, highest priority)
agents:
  reviewer:
    description: "Reviews code changes"
    prompt: "You are a senior code reviewer..."

# Lifecycle hooks
hooks:
  PreToolUse:
    - matcher: "Bash"
      hooks:
        - type: command
          command: /etc/klaus/hooks/block-dangerous.sh

# MCP servers
mcpServers:
  github:
    type: http
    url: https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/
    headers:
      Authorization: "Bearer ${GITHUB_TOKEN}"

# OCI plugins (pulled via ORAS before container start)
plugins:
  - repository: gsoci.azurecr.io/giantswarm/klaus-plugins/gs-platform
    tag: v1.2.0

The configuration intentionally mirrors the Helm chart values structure so that knowledge transfers between local, standalone, and operator-managed modes.

Architecture

~/.config/klausctl/instances/default/config.yaml
         |
         v
    klausctl CLI
         |
         +-- ORAS client (pkg/oci/)
         |      Pull plugins to ~/.config/klausctl/plugins/
         |
         +-- Config renderer (pkg/renderer/)
         |      Generate mcp-config.json, settings.json, SKILL.md files
         |      in ~/.config/klausctl/instances/default/rendered/
         |
         +-- Container runtime (Docker or Podman, auto-detect)
                docker/podman run with:
                  -e ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=...
                  -e CLAUDE_AGENTS=...
                  -e CLAUDE_ADD_DIRS=/etc/klaus/extensions
                  -e CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DIRS=/var/lib/klaus/plugins/gs-platform,...
                  -v ~/.config/klausctl/plugins/gs-platform:/var/lib/klaus/plugins/gs-platform
                  -v ~/.config/klausctl/instances/default/rendered/extensions:/etc/klaus/extensions
                  -v ~/workspace:/workspace
                  -p 8080:8080
                  gsoci.azurecr.io/giantswarm/klaus:latest

Development

# Build
go build -o klausctl .

# Run
./klausctl version

# Run tests
go test ./...

See docs/development.md for development instructions.

License

Apache 2.0 -- see LICENSE.