Quick start

This guide takes you from zero to running infrastructure: install formae, start the agent, deploy a ready-made example to AWS, Azure, or GCP, verify it, and tear it back down.

Prefer to work through an AI assistant? Follow the Quick start with an AI assistant and describe what you want instead of writing Pkl by hand.

Install formae

Install the CLI and agent with one command:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://hub.platform.engineering/get/formae.sh)"

Add the binary to your PATH:

echo 'export PATH=/opt/pel/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

echo 'export PATH=/opt/pel/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

fish_add_path /opt/pel/bin

Verify the install:

formae --version

Start the formae agent

The agent runs the infrastructure operations and keeps state in sync with your cloud. Start it in its own terminal and leave it running:

formae agent start

It prints its banner, confirms it has started, and registers the bundled providers:

2026-07-20T16:52:21-07:00 INF Starting agent id=37MG2qUmBGgcOdFOg2kaHU2xk6P
2026-07-20T16:52:21-07:00 INF Agent started
2026-07-20T16:52:21-07:00 INF Plugin registered: namespace=AZURE node=formae-azure-plugin@localhost rateLimit=10 resources=43 [pid=<8E428C64.0.1009>] [name=‘PluginCoordinator’] [behavior=plugin_coordinator.PluginCoordinator]
2026-07-20T16:52:21-07:00 INF Plugin registered: namespace=GCP node=formae-gcp-plugin@localhost rateLimit=10 resources=65 [pid=<8E428C64.0.1009>] [name=‘PluginCoordinator’] [behavior=plugin_coordinator.PluginCoordinator]
2026-07-20T16:52:23-07:00 INF Plugin registered: namespace=AWS node=formae-aws-plugin@localhost rateLimit=2 resources=239 [pid=<8E428C64.0.1009>] [name=‘PluginCoordinator’] [behavior=plugin_coordinator.PluginCoordinator]
2026-07-20T16:52:28-07:00 INF Plugin registered: namespace=K8S node=formae-k8s-plugin@localhost rateLimit=10 resources=575 [pid=<8E428C64.0.1009>] [name=‘PluginCoordinator’] [behavior=plugin_coordinator.PluginCoordinator]

Leave it running in this terminal, and open a second terminal for the remaining steps.

Copy an example to your workspace

formae ships runnable examples for each cloud. Copy one into a working directory, along with the PklProject files that declare its Pkl dependencies (the formae SDK and cloud schemas). Choose your cloud in the next step for the exact example.

ls /opt/pel/formae/examples/

Deploy to your cloud

AWS
Azure
GCP

Prerequisites: AWS credentials in your environment, for example via aws configure or AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY.This example provisions a complete ECS stack: VPC and subnets, security groups, an ECS cluster, an Application Load Balancer, and a running service.Copy the example and its Pkl project files:

mkdir -p ~/projects && cd ~/projects
cp -R /opt/pel/formae/examples/aws/ecs-hello-world ./
cp /opt/pel/formae/examples/aws/PklProject* ./ecs-hello-world/
cd ecs-hello-world

Apply the example. formae shows you the plan and waits for your confirmation before it changes anything, then opens a live view of the run. The example exposes --region as a property, so you can pick a region without editing any code:

formae apply --mode reconcile --region eu-central-1 ecs_hello_world.pkl

Prerequisites: Azure CLI signed in (az login) and an SSH public key.This example provisions an SSH-accessible Ubuntu 22.04 VM with its networking: resource group, virtual network, subnet, security group, public IP, and network interface.

export SSH_PUBLIC_KEY=$(cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub)

mkdir -p ~/projects && cd ~/projects
cp -R /opt/pel/formae/examples/azure/virtual-machine ./
cp /opt/pel/formae/examples/azure/PklProject* ./virtual-machine/
cd virtual-machine

Set your subscriptionId in vars.pkl, then apply. formae shows the plan and asks you to confirm before making changes, then opens a live view:

formae apply --mode reconcile main.pkl

Prerequisites: GCP credentials exported as GCP_CREDENTIALS_FILE (path to a service account key) or GCP_CREDENTIALS_JSON (the key itself).This example provisions a global external HTTP(S) load balancer.

export GCP_CREDENTIALS_FILE=~/.config/gcloud/my-service-account.json

mkdir -p ~/projects && cd ~/projects
cp -R /opt/pel/formae/examples/gcp/gcp-loadbalancer ./
cp /opt/pel/formae/examples/gcp/PklProject* ./gcp-loadbalancer/
cd gcp-loadbalancer

Open gcp_loadbalancer.pkl and set Project near the top of the file to your GCP project ID:

local Project = "your-project-id"

Apply the change. formae shows the plan and asks you to confirm before making changes, then opens a live view:

formae apply --mode reconcile gcp_loadbalancer.pkl

apply runs for real, so formae first shows you the plan and asks you to confirm. Press y to continue, or q to abort. This is the AWS ecs-hello-world plan:

  formae apply · reconcile                                                                       ecs_hello_world.pkl
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  + 22 create

  ▌ Targets
  Operation ▲   Label
  + create      default-aws-target

  ▌ Stacks
  Operation ▲   Label
  + create      ecs-hello-world

  ▌ Resources
  Operation ▲   Label                                                       Type
  + create      ecs-vpc                                                     AWS::EC2::VPC
  + create      ecs-igw                                                     AWS::EC2::InternetGateway
  + create      ecs-igw-attachment                                          AWS::EC2::VPCGatewayAttachment
  + create      ecs-public-subnet-1                                         AWS::EC2::Subnet
  + create      ecs-public-subnet-2                                         AWS::EC2::Subnet
  + create      ecs-public-rt                                               AWS::EC2::RouteTable
  + create      ecs-public-route                                            AWS::EC2::Route
  + create      ecs-public-subnet-1-assoc                                   AWS::EC2::SubnetRouteTableAssociation
  + create      ecs-public-subnet-2-assoc                                   AWS::EC2::SubnetRouteTableAssociation
  + create      ecs-alb-sg                                                  AWS::EC2::SecurityGroup
      ↓ show 10 more (10 remaining)

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  ↑↓: select  space: expand  →←: column  s: sort  y: confirm  q: abort This operation will create 1 stack(s), create
1 target(s) and create 20 resource(s).  Do you want to continue? (y/N)  ?: help

Once you confirm, formae opens a live view of the run. Press q to leave the view at any time; the operation keeps running on the agent. To re-attach to it, run:

formae status command

When the run finishes, every resource is applied:

  formae status command                                                                                     ↻ live
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
     ID                          Command   Mode        Progress                         ✓    ✗    ◐    ○    Time
✓    3Gmw76N43M4ysS54phFL3naR57p apply     reconcile   completed 22/22                  22   0    0    0    04:19
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

  ▌ Targets
        Label ▲                                                                                   Operation   Time
   ✓    default-aws-target                                                                        create      00:00

  ▌ Stacks
        Label ▲                                                                                   Operation   Time
   ✓    ecs-hello-world                                                                           create      00:00

  ▌ Resources
        Label ▲                                               Type                                Operation   Time
   ✓    ecs-alb                                               AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::Load…  create      02:45
   ✓    ecs-alb-sg                                            AWS::EC2::SecurityGroup             create      00:22
   ✓    ecs-alb-sg-ingress                                    AWS::EC2::SecurityGroupIngress      create      00:22
   ✓    ecs-hello-cluster2                                    AWS::ECS::Cluster                   create      00:23
   ✓    ecs-hello-task-def                                    AWS::ECS::TaskDefinition            create      00:24
   ✓    ecs-hello-world-cluster                               AWS::ECS::Cluster                   create      00:21
   ✓    ecs-igw                                               AWS::EC2::InternetGateway           create      00:23
   ✓    ecs-igw-attachment                                    AWS::EC2::VPCGatewayAttachment      create      00:22
   ✓    ecs-listener                                          AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::List…  create      00:23
   ✓    ecs-public-route                                      AWS::EC2::Route                     create      00:02
   ✓    ecs-public-rt                                         AWS::EC2::RouteTable                create      00:21
   ✓    ecs-public-subnet-1                                   AWS::EC2::Subnet                    create      00:22
   ✓    ecs-public-subnet-1-assoc                             AWS::EC2::SubnetRouteTableAssocia…  create      00:24
   ✓    ecs-public-subnet-2                                   AWS::EC2::Subnet                    create      00:21
   ✓    ecs-public-subnet-2-assoc                             AWS::EC2::SubnetRouteTableAssocia…  create      00:23
   ✓    ecs-task-exec-role                                    AWS::IAM::Role                      create      00:22
   ✓    ecs-task-sg                                           AWS::EC2::SecurityGroup             create      00:21
   ✓    ecs-task-sg-ingress                                   AWS::EC2::SecurityGroupIngress      create      00:22
   ✓    ecs-tg                                                AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::Targ…  create      00:21
   ✓    ecs-vpc                                               AWS::EC2::VPC                       create      00:23

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  →←: column  s: toggle sort  space: expand  d: details  q: quit                                           ?: help

--mode is required on apply. Learn the difference between reconcile and patch in Apply modes.

Verify your deployment

Confirm formae created the resources. Filter the inventory by the stack you just deployed:

formae inventory resources --query "stack:ecs-hello-world"

For the AWS example, that lists the stack it just deployed:

  formae inventory
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
╭─────────────╮
│ 1 Resources │   2 Targets    3 Stacks    4 Policies
─╯             ╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Label ▲                           Stack                  Type                                   NativeID
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
ecs-alb                           ecs-hello-world        AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::LoadBalan…arn:aws:elasticloadbalancing:eu-central-1:897…
ecs-alb-sg                        ecs-hello-world        AWS::EC2::SecurityGroup                sg-0ce41bacf1d67b147
ecs-alb-sg-ingress                ecs-hello-world        AWS::EC2::SecurityGroupIngress         sgr-0fbb692f2f8d5636d
ecs-hello-cluster2                ecs-hello-world        AWS::ECS::Cluster                      ecs-hello-world-cluster2
ecs-hello-task-def                ecs-hello-world        AWS::ECS::TaskDefinition               arn:aws:ecs:eu-central-1:897722706215:task-de…
ecs-hello-world-cluster           ecs-hello-world        AWS::ECS::Cluster                      ecs-hello-world-cluster
ecs-igw                           ecs-hello-world        AWS::EC2::InternetGateway              igw-047bab59003537498
ecs-igw-attachment                ecs-hello-world        AWS::EC2::VPCGatewayAttachment         IGW|vpc-02e1b0b73a5730d65
ecs-listener                      ecs-hello-world        AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::Listener  arn:aws:elasticloadbalancing:eu-central-1:897…
ecs-public-route                  ecs-hello-world        AWS::EC2::Route                        rtb-0bab9fbbf4c0010e5|0.0.0.0/0|GatewayId=igw…
ecs-public-rt                     ecs-hello-world        AWS::EC2::RouteTable                   rtb-0bab9fbbf4c0010e5
ecs-public-subnet-1               ecs-hello-world        AWS::EC2::Subnet                       subnet-0b38a309934e06276
ecs-public-subnet-1-assoc         ecs-hello-world        AWS::EC2::SubnetRouteTableAssociation  rtbassoc-013308e76c96ade7c
ecs-public-subnet-2               ecs-hello-world        AWS::EC2::Subnet                       subnet-08999cc2f4fb40e87
ecs-public-subnet-2-assoc         ecs-hello-world        AWS::EC2::SubnetRouteTableAssociation  rtbassoc-0d4512b6e49506eba
ecs-task-exec-role                ecs-hello-world        AWS::IAM::Role                         6cfPoszejP6KRJElRijPynvA8-SMXNaMlk1MfC
ecs-task-sg                       ecs-hello-world        AWS::EC2::SecurityGroup                sg-075d33812aa776116
ecs-task-sg-ingress               ecs-hello-world        AWS::EC2::SecurityGroupIngress         sgr-068746b2de1bad0c0
ecs-tg                            ecs-hello-world        AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::TargetGro…arn:aws:elasticloadbalancing:eu-central-1:897…
Showing 20 of 20 resources (filtered)
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  / stack:ecs-hello-world                                                                                                              /: edit query
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  ↑↓/j/k: navigate  enter: detail  /: search  s: sort  r: refresh  1-4: tab  q: quit                                                         ?: help

Each example uses its own stack name. You can also check your cloud’s web console to see the created resources.

Clean up

To avoid ongoing charges, destroy what you created:

AWS
Azure
GCP

formae destroy ecs_hello_world.pkl

formae destroy main.pkl

formae destroy gcp_loadbalancer.pkl

destroy shows a plan and asks you to confirm too; press y to proceed. The completed teardown looks like this:

  formae status command                                                                                     ↻ live
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
     ID                          Command   Mode        Progress                         ✓    ✗    ◐    ○    Time
✓    3Gmwiy52PNdn5rJiu3nWhLDPxJf destroy   -           completed 20/20                  20   0    0    0    02:35
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

  ▌ Resources
        Label ▲                                               Type                                Operation   Time
   ✓    ecs-alb                                               AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::Load…  delete      01:02
   ✓    ecs-alb-sg                                            AWS::EC2::SecurityGroup             delete      00:21
   ✓    ecs-alb-sg-ingress                                    AWS::EC2::SecurityGroupIngress      delete      00:21
   ✓    ecs-hello-cluster2                                    AWS::ECS::Cluster                   delete      00:21
   ✓    ecs-hello-task-def                                    AWS::ECS::TaskDefinition            delete      00:21
   ✓    ecs-hello-world-cluster                               AWS::ECS::Cluster                   delete      00:21
   ✓    ecs-igw                                               AWS::EC2::InternetGateway           delete      00:21
   ✓    ecs-igw-attachment                                    AWS::EC2::VPCGatewayAttachment      delete      01:02
   ✓    ecs-listener                                          AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::List…  delete      00:22
   ✓    ecs-public-route                                      AWS::EC2::Route                     delete      00:01
   ✓    ecs-public-rt                                         AWS::EC2::RouteTable                delete      00:21
   ✓    ecs-public-subnet-1                                   AWS::EC2::Subnet                    delete      00:22
   ✓    ecs-public-subnet-1-assoc                             AWS::EC2::SubnetRouteTableAssocia…  delete      00:21
   ✓    ecs-public-subnet-2                                   AWS::EC2::Subnet                    delete      00:21
   ✓    ecs-public-subnet-2-assoc                             AWS::EC2::SubnetRouteTableAssocia…  delete      00:21
   ✓    ecs-task-exec-role                                    AWS::IAM::Role                      delete      00:21
   ✓    ecs-task-sg                                           AWS::EC2::SecurityGroup             delete      00:21
   ✓    ecs-task-sg-ingress                                   AWS::EC2::SecurityGroupIngress      delete      00:21
   ✓    ecs-tg                                                AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::Targ…  delete      00:21
   ✓    ecs-vpc                                               AWS::EC2::VPC                       delete      00:22

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  →←: column  s: toggle sort  space: expand  d: details  esc: back  q: quit                                ?: help

destroy takes no --mode. It removes every resource in the forma, so there is nothing for reconcile or patch to differ on.

What’s next?

Write your first forma

Build a forma from scratch and learn how properties and resource references work.

Quick start with an AI assistant

Deploy by describing what you want to Claude Code, Codex, or another MCP client.

Core concepts

Understand labels, resources, stacks, targets, and formas.

Configure Pkl in your IDE

Set up your editor for Pkl authoring.

Architecture

See how the agent, CLI, and plugins fit together.

Get started

Guides

Concepts

Reference

What’s next?

Write your first forma

Quick start with an AI assistant

Core concepts

Configure Pkl in your IDE

Architecture

​What’s next?

Write your first forma

Quick start with an AI assistant

Core concepts

Configure Pkl in your IDE

Architecture

What’s next?