# nu_plugin_kcl A powerful [Nushell](https://nushell.sh/) plugin for [KCL (Kubernetes Configuration Language)](https://www.kcl-lang.io/) workflows, providing seamless integration between Nushell's data processing capabilities and KCL's configuration management system. ## Overview This plugin wraps the KCL CLI to provide native Nushell commands for running, formatting, and validating KCL configurations. Perfect for Infrastructure as Code (IaC), Kubernetes manifests, and configuration management workflows where you need to combine structured data processing with declarative configuration. ## Installing > [!CAUTION] > Require to have [KCL](https://www.kcl-lang.io/) CLI wrapper > use [KCL installation documentation](https://www.kcl-lang.io/docs/user_docs/getting-started/install) Clone this repository > [!WARNING] > **nu_plugin_kcl** has dependencies to nushell source via local path in Cargo.toml > Nushell and plugins require to be **sync** with same **version** Clone [Nushell](https://nushell.sh/) alongside this plugin or change dependencies in [Cargo.toml](Cargo.toml) This plugin is also included as submodule in [nushell-plugins](https://repo.jesusperez.pro/jesus/nushell-plugins) as part of plugins collection for [Provisioning project](https://rlung.librecloud.online/jesus/provisioning) Build from source ```nushell > cd nu_plugin_kcl > cargo install --path . ``` ### Nushell In a [Nushell](https://nushell.sh/) ```nushell > plugin add ~/.cargo/bin/nu_plugin_kcl ``` ## Commands ### `kcl-run` Execute KCL files and return their output with support for variables, output formats, and settings. ```nushell > kcl-run [--format] [--output] [--define] [--setting] ``` **Parameters:** - **file** ``: KCL file to execute **Flags:** - **--format** `-f` ``: Output format (yaml/json) - **--output** `-o` ``: Output file path - **--define** `-D` ``: Variables to define (key=value) - **--setting** `-Y` ``: Setting files to include **Example:** ```nushell > kcl-run myfile.k -D foo=bar -f json { "foo": "bar" } ``` ### `kcl-format` Format KCL files according to standard KCL formatting rules. ```nushell > kcl-format ``` **Parameters:** - **file** ``: KCL file to format **Example:** ```nushell > kcl-format myfile.k ✅ File formatted: myfile.k ``` ### `kcl-validate` Validate all KCL files in a directory for syntax and semantic correctness. ```nushell > kcl-validate [directory] ``` **Parameters:** - **directory** ``: Directory to validate (defaults to current directory) **Example:** ```nushell > kcl-validate ./project_dir ✅ All 3 files are valid ✅ ./project_dir/main.k ✅ ./project_dir/vars.k ✅ ./project_dir/other.k ``` ## KCL Configuration Language KCL is a constraint-based record and functional programming language hosted by CNCF. It provides powerful features for configuration management: ### Basic Syntax ```kcl # Simple configuration name = "my-app" version = "1.0.0" # Schema definition schema Config: name: str version: str replicas: int = 3 # Configuration instance config: Config = { name = name version = version replicas = 5 } ``` ### Advanced Features ```kcl # Constraints and validation schema Service: name: str port: int check: 1 <= port <= 65535, "port must be between 1 and 65535" len(name) > 0, "name cannot be empty" # Conditional logic config = { env = "production" database = { host = "prod-db.example.com" if env == "production" else "localhost" port = 5432 ssl = True if env == "production" else False } } # List comprehensions and filters services = [ {name = "web-${i}", port = 8000 + i} for i in range(3) ] + [ {name = "worker-${i}", port = 9000 + i} for i in range(2) ] # Filtering web_services = [s for s in services if "web" in s.name] ``` ## Usage Examples ### Basic Configuration Management **app-config.k** ```kcl # Application configuration schema schema AppConfig: name: str version: str environment: str database: DatabaseConfig server: ServerConfig schema DatabaseConfig: host: str port: int = 5432 name: str ssl: bool = True schema ServerConfig: host: str = "0.0.0.0" port: int = 8080 workers: int = 4 # Configuration instance config: AppConfig = { name = "my-microservice" version = "1.2.3" environment = "production" database = { host = "db.example.com" name = "myapp_prod" ssl = True } server = { port = 8080 workers = 8 } } ``` **Usage:** ```nushell > kcl-run app-config.k -f yaml name: my-microservice version: 1.2.3 environment: production database: host: db.example.com port: 5432 name: myapp_prod ssl: true server: host: 0.0.0.0 port: 8080 workers: 8 ``` ### Dynamic Configuration with Variables **kubernetes-deployment.k** ```kcl # Kubernetes deployment template schema Deployment: apiVersion: str = "apps/v1" kind: str = "Deployment" metadata: { name: str namespace?: str } spec: { replicas: int selector: { matchLabels: {str:} } template: { metadata: { labels: {str:} } spec: { containers: [Container] } } } schema Container: name: str image: str ports?: [{ containerPort: int protocol?: str = "TCP" }] env?: [{ name: str value: str }] # Variables with defaults app_name = option("app_name") or "my-app" app_version = option("app_version") or "latest" replicas = option("replicas") or 3 namespace = option("namespace") or "default" # Generate deployment deployment: Deployment = { metadata = { name = app_name namespace = namespace } spec = { replicas = replicas selector.matchLabels = {"app": app_name} template = { metadata.labels = {"app": app_name} spec.containers = [{ name = app_name image = "${app_name}:${app_version}" ports = [{containerPort = 8080}] env = [ {name = "APP_NAME", value = app_name} {name = "APP_VERSION", value = app_version} ] }] } } } ``` **Usage:** ```nushell # Basic deployment > kcl-run kubernetes-deployment.k -D app_name=web-service -D app_version=v1.2.3 -f yaml # Multiple environment deployment > ["dev", "staging", "prod"] | each { |env| kcl-run kubernetes-deployment.k -D app_name=web-service -D app_version=v1.2.3 -D namespace=$env -f yaml | save $"manifests/($env)/deployment.yaml" } ``` ### Multi-Environment Configuration **base-config.k** ```kcl # Base configuration shared across environments schema BaseConfig: app: { name: str version: str } features: { auth: bool = True metrics: bool = True logging: bool = True } base: BaseConfig = { app = { name = "my-service" version = "1.0.0" } features = { auth = True metrics = True logging = True } } ``` **environments/dev.k** ```kcl import base # Development environment overrides config = base.base | { environment = "development" database = { host = "localhost" port = 5432 name = "myapp_dev" ssl = False } server = { host = "localhost" port = 3000 debug = True } features = base.base.features | { auth = False # Disable auth in dev } } ``` **environments/prod.k** ```kcl import base # Production environment configuration config = base.base | { environment = "production" database = { host = "prod-db.example.com" port = 5432 name = "myapp_prod" ssl = True pool_size = 20 } server = { host = "0.0.0.0" port = 8080 workers = 16 debug = False } security = { rate_limit = 1000 cors_origins = ["https://myapp.com"] } } ``` **Usage:** ```nushell # Generate configurations for all environments > ["dev", "staging", "prod"] | each { |env| let config = (kcl-run $"environments/($env).k" -f json | from json) $config | to yaml | save $"configs/($env).yaml" print $"Generated config for ($env)" } ``` ## Workflow Examples ### Infrastructure as Code Pipeline ```nushell # Complete IaC workflow with KCL def deploy-infrastructure [environment: string] { print $"🚀 Deploying infrastructure for ($environment)" # 1. Validate all KCL files print "📋 Validating KCL configurations..." let validation = (kcl-validate ./infrastructure) print $validation # 2. Generate environment-specific configs print $"⚙️ Generating ($environment) configuration..." let config = (kcl-run $"infrastructure/($environment).k" -f yaml) $config | save $"output/($environment)/config.yaml" # 3. Generate Kubernetes manifests print "🎯 Generating Kubernetes manifests..." ls infrastructure/kubernetes/*.k | each { |manifest| let name = ($manifest.name | path basename | str replace '.k' '') kcl-run $manifest.name -D environment=$environment -f yaml | save $"output/($environment)/k8s/($name).yaml" } # 4. Validate generated YAML print "✅ Validating generated manifests..." ls $"output/($environment)/k8s/*.yaml" | each { |file| # You could add kubectl validation here print $"Validated: ($file.name)" } print $"✨ Infrastructure deployment for ($environment) complete!" } # Usage > deploy-infrastructure "staging" ``` ### Configuration Validation and Testing ```nushell # Comprehensive validation workflow def validate-all-configs [] { print "🔍 Starting comprehensive validation..." # 1. Validate KCL syntax print "📝 Validating KCL syntax..." let kcl_validation = (kcl-validate .) print $kcl_validation # 2. Test all environment configurations print "🌍 Testing environment configurations..." let environments = ["dev", "staging", "prod"] let results = ($environments | each { |env| try { let config = (kcl-run $"environments/($env).k" -f json | from json) { environment: $env status: "✅ valid" config_keys: ($config | columns | length) } } catch { |err| { environment: $env status: "❌ invalid" error: $err.msg } } }) $results | table # 3. Check for required configuration keys print "🔑 Checking required configuration keys..." let required_keys = ["app", "database", "server"] $environments | each { |env| let config = (kcl-run $"environments/($env).k" -f json | from json) let missing = ($required_keys | where $it not-in ($config | columns)) if ($missing | length) > 0 { print $"⚠️ ($env): Missing keys: ($missing | str join ', ')" } else { print $"✅ ($env): All required keys present" } } } # Schema validation helper def validate-schema [config_file: string, schema_file: string] { try { kcl-run $config_file -Y $schema_file -f json | from json print $"✅ ($config_file) validates against schema" } catch { |err| print $"❌ ($config_file) schema validation failed: ($err.msg)" } } ``` ### Continuous Integration Integration ```nushell # CI/CD pipeline integration def ci-kcl-pipeline [] { print "🏗️ Starting KCL CI pipeline..." # 1. Format check print "📐 Checking code formatting..." let unformatted = (ls **/*.k | each { |file| let original = (open $file.name) kcl-format $file.name let formatted = (open $file.name) if $original != $formatted { $file.name } } | compact) if ($unformatted | length) > 0 { print $"❌ Unformatted files found: ($unformatted | str join ', ')" exit 1 } print "✅ All files properly formatted" # 2. Validation print "🔍 Validating configurations..." let validation = (kcl-validate .) if "❌" in $validation { print "❌ Validation failed" print $validation exit 1 } print "✅ All configurations valid" # 3. Generate and test configurations print "⚙️ Testing configuration generation..." ["dev", "staging", "prod"] | each { |env| try { kcl-run $"environments/($env).k" -f json | from json | ignore print $"✅ ($env) configuration generates successfully" } catch { |err| print $"❌ ($env) configuration failed: ($err.msg)" exit 1 } } print "🎉 KCL CI pipeline completed successfully!" } ``` ### Configuration Management and Templating ```nushell # Generate application configurations from templates def generate-app-config [app_name: string, version: string, environment: string] { let template = "templates/app-template.k" let settings = $"settings/($environment).yaml" kcl-run $template -D app_name=$app_name -D version=$version -Y $settings -f yaml | save $"configs/($app_name)-($environment).yaml" print $"Generated config for ($app_name) v($version) in ($environment)" } # Bulk configuration generation def generate-all-configs [] { let apps = [ {name: "web-service", version: "1.2.3"} {name: "api-service", version: "2.1.0"} {name: "worker-service", version: "1.5.2"} ] let environments = ["dev", "staging", "prod"] $apps | each { |app| $environments | each { |env| generate-app-config $app.name $app.version $env } } } # Configuration diff and comparison def compare-configs [env1: string, env2: string] { print $"Comparing ($env1) vs ($env2) configurations..." let config1 = (kcl-run $"environments/($env1).k" -f json | from json) let config2 = (kcl-run $"environments/($env2).k" -f json | from json) # Find differences in configuration keys let keys1 = ($config1 | columns) let keys2 = ($config2 | columns) let only_in_env1 = ($keys1 | where $it not-in $keys2) let only_in_env2 = ($keys2 | where $it not-in $keys1) if ($only_in_env1 | length) > 0 { print $"Keys only in ($env1): ($only_in_env1 | str join ', ')" } if ($only_in_env2 | length) > 0 { print $"Keys only in ($env2): ($only_in_env2 | str join ', ')" } print "Configuration comparison complete" } ``` ### Advanced KCL Patterns ```nushell # Modular configuration management def build-modular-config [base_config: string, modules: list, output: string] { # Combine base configuration with modules let module_imports = ($modules | each { |m| $"-Y ($m)" } | str join " ") kcl-run $base_config $module_imports -f yaml | save $output print $"Built modular configuration: ($output)" } # Configuration validation with custom rules def validate-with-rules [config_file: string, rules_file: string] { try { kcl-run $config_file -Y $rules_file print $"✅ ($config_file) passes all validation rules" true } catch { |err| print $"❌ ($config_file) validation failed: ($err.msg)" false } } # Generate documentation from KCL schemas def generate-config-docs [schema_dir: string] { ls $"($schema_dir)/*.k" | each { |schema| let schema_name = ($schema.name | path basename | str replace '.k' '') print $"## ($schema_name | str title-case)" print "" # Extract schema documentation (would need KCL introspection) # This is a simplified example open $schema.name | lines | each { |line| if ($line | str starts-with "# ") { $line | str replace "# " "" } } | str join "\n" print "" } } ``` ## Integration with Nushell Data Processing Leverage Nushell's powerful data manipulation with KCL configuration management: ```nushell # Process and generate configurations from CSV data > open services.csv | each { |service| kcl-run service-template.k -D name=$service.name -D port=$service.port -f yaml | save $"configs/($service.name).yaml" } # Combine multiple data sources for configuration > let infrastructure = (sys) > let settings = (open settings.json) > { infrastructure: $infrastructure, settings: $settings, timestamp: (date now | format date "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S") } | to json | save runtime-config.json > kcl-run dynamic-config.k -Y runtime-config.json # Batch process and validate configurations > ls configs/*.k | par-each { |config| let result = (kcl-validate $config.name) { file: $config.name, valid: ("✅" in $result), result: $result } } | where valid == false ``` ## Error Handling The plugin provides detailed error messages for common issues: ```nushell # Syntax errors in KCL files > kcl-run broken-config.k Error: Error executing KCL ╭─[calling kcl-run] │ KCL syntax error: unexpected token at line 5 # Missing files > kcl-run nonexistent.k Error: Error executing KCL ╭─[calling kcl-run] │ File not found: nonexistent.k # Validation errors > kcl-validate invalid-project/ ❌ Validation failed in invalid-project/ - main.k: schema validation error - config.k: undefined variable 'missing_var' ``` ## Features - ✅ **KCL Execution** - Run KCL files with variable substitution and output formatting - ✅ **Code Formatting** - Automatic KCL code formatting according to standards - ✅ **Project Validation** - Comprehensive validation of KCL projects and files - ✅ **Variable Support** - Dynamic configuration through command-line variables - ✅ **Multiple Formats** - Support for YAML and JSON output formats - ✅ **Settings Integration** - Include external setting files in KCL execution - ✅ **Error Reporting** - Detailed error messages with context - ✅ **Nushell Integration** - Seamless data flow between Nushell and KCL ## Use Cases - **Infrastructure as Code**: Manage Kubernetes, Terraform, and cloud configurations - **Configuration Management**: Environment-specific application configurations - **Policy as Code**: Define and enforce organizational policies - **CI/CD Pipelines**: Validate and generate configurations in automated workflows - **Multi-Environment Deployments**: Consistent configurations across environments - **Schema Validation**: Ensure configuration correctness with KCL schemas - **Template Generation**: Dynamic configuration templates with variable substitution - **Compliance Management**: Configuration compliance checking and reporting ## Best Practices ### 1. Organize KCL Projects ``` project/ ├── schemas/ # Reusable schemas │ ├── app.k │ ├── database.k │ └── server.k ├── environments/ # Environment-specific configs │ ├── dev.k │ ├── staging.k │ └── prod.k ├── templates/ # Configuration templates │ └── service.k ├── settings/ # External settings │ └── common.yaml └── output/ # Generated configurations ├── dev/ ├── staging/ └── prod/ ``` ### 2. Use Schema-Driven Development ```kcl # Define schemas first schema AppConfig: name: str version: str replicas: int check: 1 <= replicas <= 100, "replicas must be between 1 and 100" len(name) > 0, "name cannot be empty" # Then implement configurations config: AppConfig = { name = "my-app" version = "1.0.0" replicas = 3 } ``` ### 3. Create Reusable Functions ```nushell # KCL helper functions def kcl-dev [config: string] { kcl-run $config -D environment=dev -f yaml } def kcl-prod [config: string] { kcl-run $config -D environment=prod -Y settings/prod.yaml -f yaml } # Validation helpers def validate-project [dir: string = "."] { kcl-validate $dir } def format-all-kcl [] { ls **/*.k | each { |file| kcl-format $file.name } } ``` ## Contributing Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues, feature requests, or pull requests. ## License This project is licensed under the MIT License. ## Related Projects - [KCL](https://www.kcl-lang.io/) - Kubernetes Configuration Language - [Nushell](https://nushell.sh/) - A new type of shell - [nu_plugin_tera](../nu_plugin_tera/) - Tera templating plugin for Nushell - [nu_plugin_fluent](../nu_plugin_fluent/) - Fluent localization plugin for Nushell