Install the agent with Helm

The one-command bootstrap installer currently targets AWS. To run the agent in Kubernetes, deploy it with the formae Helm chart. This is the interim manual path until Helm lands in the bootstrap installer.

Prerequisites

A Kubernetes cluster.
Helm 3.x.
kubectl configured for your cluster.
The formae CLI on your local machine (see the Quick start).

Install from source

The formae Helm chart is installed from its source repository:

git clone https://github.com/platform-engineering-labs/formae-helm.git
cd formae-helm

Standalone (SQLite, good for evaluation):

helm install formae . -f examples/formae-only.yaml

With PostgreSQL:

helm install formae . -f examples/formae-db.yaml \
  --set postgresql.auth.password=<your-password>

Full monitoring stack (requires Prometheus and Grafana):

helm install formae . -f examples/formae-db-grafana.yaml \
  --set postgresql.auth.password=<your-password>

Example values files

File	Description
`formae-only.yaml`	SQLite, ephemeral storage
`formae-only-persistent.yaml`	SQLite with PVC
`formae-db.yaml`	In-cluster PostgreSQL
`formae-db-grafana.yaml`	PostgreSQL + Grafana + OTel
`formae-external-db.yaml`	External PostgreSQL
`formae-external-db-grafana.yaml`	External PostgreSQL + Grafana + OTel
`formae-aurora.yaml`	Aurora Data API

See the chart README for all configuration parameters.

Connect your CLI

The CLI runs on your machine, evaluates Pkl locally, and sends the result to the agent API. No forma files need to be loaded into the cluster. For quick access, port-forward the agent service. The agent then answers on http://localhost:49684, which is exactly where the default profile already points, so no profile setup is needed:

kubectl port-forward svc/formae 49684:49684

With the port forward running, check connectivity and apply from your machine:

formae status agent
formae apply --mode reconcile your-forma.pkl

For persistent access without port-forwarding, expose the agent with an ingress or a LoadBalancer service, then add a profile whose cli.api.url is that endpoint, on port 49684:

cli {
  api {
    url = "http://<ingress-or-service-url>"
    port = 49684
  }
}

Then target it per command:

formae status agent --profile helm
formae apply --mode reconcile your-forma.pkl --profile helm

Adding plugins beyond the defaults

To add plugins the base image does not ship, build a derived image, push it to a registry the cluster can pull from, and override the chart’s image on helm install:

helm install formae . -f examples/formae-only.yaml \
  --set image.repository=<your-registry>/formae-extended \
  --set image.tag=<your-tag>

Next steps

Manage profiles: switch the CLI between this agent and others.
Configuration: agent and CLI options.

Get started

Guides

Concepts

Reference

Install the agent with Helm

Prerequisites

Install from source

Example values files

Connect your CLI

Adding plugins beyond the defaults

Next steps

​Prerequisites

​Install from source

​Example values files

​Connect your CLI

​Adding plugins beyond the defaults

​Next steps

Prerequisites

Install from source

Example values files

Connect your CLI

Adding plugins beyond the defaults

Next steps