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Common workflows

Use these recipes to weave babyctl into your day-to-day operations.

Bring existing infrastructure under control

  1. Export the current definition using whatever tooling is available (Terraform state, cloud console export, etc.).
  2. Convert it to YAML if needed: 
    babyctl convert -f terraform.tfstate -oyaml > imported.yaml
  3. Review the manifest, trim any drift you want babyctl to own, and run: 
    babyctl apply -f imported.yaml
  4. Repeat with babyctl diff until the declarative state matches reality.

Manage everything through overlays

Use your existing Kustomize/Helm/ytt pipelines and pipe the rendered output into babyctl:

kustomize build overlays/prod | babyctl apply -f-

Pair babyctl diff -f- with the same pipeline to preview changes in CI before you deploy.

Emergency edits

When latency matters more than automation:

BABYCTL_EDITOR="vim" babyctl edit --path examples/api-definitions/apis widget cli-demo

babyctl downloads the resource, opens $BABYCTL_EDITOR (falling back through $KUBE_EDITOR, $VISUAL, $EDITOR, and finally vi), and applies the diff. Use babyctl get <resource> -oyaml afterwards to confirm that the update landed as expected. The initial implementation focuses on the bundled babyctl.dev/v1alpha1 Widget resource when you run against the local API definitions.

Convert formats for hybrid teams

# HCL -> YAML
babyctl convert -f terraform.tf -oyaml > infra.yaml

# YAML -> HCL
babyctl convert -f infra.yaml -ohcl > terraform.tf

This enables GitOps teams that prefer YAML while still producing Terraform-friendly configuration.

Expose discovery data to kubectl

  1. Install the sample API definitions under ~/.babyctl/apis as described in the getting started guide.
  2. Start the discovery server: 
    babyctl api-server --port 8080
  3. Point kubectl at it: 
    kubectl config set-cluster babyctl-api --server=http://localhost:8080
kubectl config set-context babyctl-api --cluster=babyctl-api
kubectl config use-context babyctl-api
kubectl api-resources

See the kubectl integration guide for more detail.

Automate with CI/CD

  • Run babyctl diff in pull requests to show proposed infrastructure changes.
  • Use babyctl apply in a controlled environment (e.g. GitHub Actions job) once changes are approved.
  • Leverage the release automation to ship binaries for consumers.