cmd k8s

nself k8s

Deploy and manage nSelf on any Kubernetes cluster using the official Helm chart.

Synopsis

nself k8s <subcommand> [flags]

Description

nself k8s deploys and manages the nSelf stack on Kubernetes via the official Helm chart, published at https://charts.nself.org.

The chart provisions Postgres (StatefulSet), Hasura, Auth, and an Nginx Ingress in a single helm install call. TLS is handled by cert-manager, which must be pre-installed in the cluster before running nself k8s install.

Three subcommands cover the full lifecycle:

• install performs a first-time deployment and waits up to five minutes for all pods to become ready.
• upgrade applies the latest chart version with a rolling update, reusing existing values.
• status returns the Helm release status as JSON output from helm status.

The --domain flag on install sets the primary ingress hostname for the deployment. Plugins can be installed at deploy time via --plugins; a valid license key must be available in the NSELF_PLUGIN_LICENSE_KEY environment variable for pro plugins to activate.

helm must be installed and available in PATH. Install from helm.sh.

Subcommands

Subcommand	Description
install	Install nSelf on a Kubernetes cluster
upgrade	Upgrade the nSelf Helm release to the latest chart version
status	Show the Helm release status

Flags

install

Flag	Short	Type	Default	Description
--domain		string		Domain for the nSelf deployment (required)
--cluster		string		Path to kubeconfig (defaults to KUBECONFIG env or ~/.kube/config)
--release		string	nself	Helm release name
--plugins		string		Comma-separated list of plugins to install at deploy time

upgrade

Flag	Short	Type	Default	Description
--cluster		string		Path to kubeconfig
--release		string	nself	Helm release name

status

Flag	Short	Type	Default	Description
--cluster		string		Path to kubeconfig
--release		string	nself	Helm release name

Helm Chart Specifics

The chart is published under the nself repository alias at https://charts.nself.org. The chart name is nself/nself. The CLI adds and updates the repository automatically before install or upgrade runs.

Key Helm values set by the CLI:

Value	Set by flag	Description
domain	--domain	Primary ingress hostname
license.key	env NSELF_PLUGIN_LICENSE_KEY	Pro plugin license key
plugins.install[N]	--plugins	Plugin names to install at deploy time

The upgrade path uses --reuse-values, so previously set values persist across upgrades unless explicitly overridden with --set passed directly to helm. To override values not exposed as CLI flags, run helm upgrade directly against the nself/nself chart using the same release name.

Examples

Install nSelf on a cluster with the default release name, pointing at a domain:

nself k8s install --domain myapp.example.com

Install with a custom release name and a specific kubeconfig:

nself k8s install --domain myapp.example.com --cluster ~/.kube/staging.yaml --release myapp-nself

Install and activate pro plugins at deploy time (requires NSELF_PLUGIN_LICENSE_KEY):

export NSELF_PLUGIN_LICENSE_KEY=nself_pro_...
nself k8s install --domain myapp.example.com --plugins ai,claw,mux

Check the Helm release status for the default release:

nself k8s status

Check status for a named release using a specific kubeconfig:

nself k8s status --release myapp-nself --cluster ~/.kube/prod.yaml

Upgrade the default release to the latest chart version:

nself k8s upgrade

Upgrade a specific release using a non-default kubeconfig:

nself k8s upgrade --release myapp-nself --cluster ~/.kube/prod.yaml

See Also

• cmd-start.md — start the nSelf stack on a local or VPS deployment
• cmd-init.md — initialise a new nSelf project
• cmd-plugin.md — manage plugins after the stack is running

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