CLI Overview

Pipelines-as-Code provides a powerful CLI designed to work as a plug-in to the Tekton CLI (tkn).

What is tkn-pac?

tkn-pac (or tkn pac when used as a plugin) is the command-line interface for Pipelines-as-Code. It provides a comprehensive set of commands to manage your CI/CD pipelines, repositories, and infrastructure.

Key Features

Bootstrap installations: Quickly set up Pipelines-as-Code on your cluster
Repository management: Create, list, describe, and delete Repository CRDs
Pipeline generation: Generate PipelineRun templates with language detection
Logs and debugging: View logs and describe PipelineRun status
Webhook management: Configure webhooks and tokens for Git providers
Local testing: Resolve and test pipelines locally before pushing

Available Commands

Command	Description
`bootstrap`	Bootstrap Pipelines-as-Code installation
`create`	Create a new Repository CRD
`generate`	Generate PipelineRun templates
`list`	List Repository CRDs
`describe`	Describe a Repository and its runs
`logs`	Show PipelineRun logs
`resolve`	Resolve PipelineRuns locally
`webhook`	Manage webhook configuration
`version`	Display CLI version

Installation

See the Installation Guide for detailed instructions on installing tkn-pac.

Usage Pattern

Most commands follow this pattern:

tkn pac <command> [subcommand] [flags] [arguments]

Examples

tkn pac list

Global Flags

Most commands support these common flags:

-n, --namespace

string

Kubernetes namespace to use (defaults to current context namespace)

-C, --no-color

boolean

Disable colored output

--kubeconfig

string

Path to kubeconfig file (defaults to ~/.kube/config)

Getting Help

You can get help for any command by adding --help or -h:

tkn pac --help
tkn pac create --help
tkn pac bootstrap github-app --help

Configuration

Kubeconfig

The CLI looks for Kubernetes configuration in:

Linux/macOS: $HOME/.kube/config
Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.kube\config

You can override this with the --kubeconfig flag or KUBECONFIG environment variable.

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
`KUBECONFIG`	Path to kubeconfig file
`PAC_PROVIDER_TOKEN`	Provider token for `resolve` command
`PAC_TEKTON_DASHBOARD_URL`	Tekton Dashboard URL for `logs` command
`TEKTON_DASHBOARD_URL`	Alternative Tekton Dashboard URL

Next Steps

Install CLI

Get started by installing tkn-pac

Bootstrap Setup

Bootstrap your first installation

Create Repository

Create your first Repository CRD

Generate Pipeline

Generate a PipelineRun template

Overview

Commands

​CLI Overview

​What is tkn-pac?

​Key Features

​Available Commands

​Installation

​Usage Pattern

​Examples

​Global Flags

​Getting Help

​Configuration

​Kubeconfig

​Environment Variables

​Next Steps