CLI Commands

Table of contents

  1. Overview
  2. bekind start
    1. Usage
    2. Flags
    3. Examples
    4. Behavior
  3. bekind run
    1. Usage
    2. Arguments
    3. Flags
    4. Examples
    5. Profile Structure
    6. Multiple Configuration Files
    7. Behavior
  4. bekind list
    1. Usage
    2. Aliases
    3. Examples
    4. Behavior
  5. bekind destroy
    1. Usage
    2. Aliases
    3. Flags
    4. Examples
    5. Behavior
  6. bekind purge
    1. Usage
    2. Flags
    3. Examples
  7. bekind showconfig
    1. Usage
    2. Aliases
    3. Flags
    4. Examples
    5. Behavior
  8. bekind version
    1. Usage
    2. Examples
    3. Behavior
  9. Global Flags
  10. Tab Completion
    1. Bash
    2. Zsh
    3. Fish
    4. PowerShell
  11. Common Workflows
    1. Quick Start Development Cluster
    2. Use a Saved Profile
    3. Check What’s Configured
    4. Multiple Environments
    5. Test Configuration Changes
  12. Exit Codes
  13. Tips
    1. Profile vs Config File
    2. Multiple Clusters
    3. Debugging
    4. Cleaning Up

Overview

BeKind provides several commands to manage your KIND clusters. This page documents all available commands and their options.

bekind start

Start a new KIND cluster with the specified configuration.

Usage 

bekind start [flags]

Flags

Flag Type Description Default
--config string Path to config file $HOME/.bekind/config.yaml
--name string Name of the KIND cluster kind

Examples

Start with default configuration:

bekind start

Start with a custom config file:

bekind start --config /path/to/config.yaml

Start with a custom cluster name:

bekind start --name my-cluster

Combine flags:

bekind start --config /path/to/config.yaml --name dev-cluster

Behavior

When you run bekind start:

  1. Reads the configuration file (default: ~/.bekind/config.yaml)
  2. Creates a KIND cluster with the specified settings
  3. Loads Docker images (if configured)
  4. Installs Helm charts (if configured)
  5. Applies Kubernetes manifests (if configured)
  6. Performs post-install actions (if configured)

bekind run

Run a saved profile. Profiles allow you to save and reuse cluster configurations.

Usage 

bekind run <profile-name> [flags]

Arguments

Argument Required Description
profile-name Yes Name of the profile to run

Flags

Flag Short Type Description Default
--view -v boolean View the profile configuration without running it false
--profile-dir -p string Directory where profiles are stored $HOME/.bekind/profiles
--name   string Name of the KIND cluster kind

Examples

Run a profile:

bekind run argocd

This looks for configuration files in ~/.bekind/profiles/argocd/.

View profile configuration without running:

bekind run argocd --view

Run profile from custom directory:

bekind run myprofile --profile-dir /tmp

This looks for configuration files in /tmp/myprofile/.

Run profile with custom cluster name:

bekind run argocd --name my-cluster

Profile Structure

Profiles are stored in directories under ~/.bekind/profiles/:

~/.bekind/profiles/
├── argocd/
│   ├── config.yaml
│   └── extra-config.yaml
├── dev/
│   └── config.yaml
└── production/
    └── config.yaml

Multiple Configuration Files

If a profile directory contains multiple .yaml files, bekind run will execute each configuration file in sequence:

# Given this structure:
~/.bekind/profiles/argocd/
├── base-cluster.yaml
├── argocd-setup.yaml
└── apps.yaml

# Running this:
bekind run argocd

# Will execute all three YAML files

Behavior

When you run bekind run <profile>:

  1. Locates the profile directory (~/.bekind/profiles/<profile>/)
  2. Finds all .yaml files in the directory
  3. For each configuration file:
    • Creates/updates the KIND cluster
    • Applies the configuration
    • Resets state between files
  4. Multiple configs in the same profile can create different clusters or update the same cluster

bekind list

List all running KIND clusters.

Usage 

bekind list

Aliases

ls

Examples

List all clusters:

bekind list
# or
bekind ls

Example output:

kind
argocd-cluster
dev-cluster

If no clusters are found:

INFO[0000] No clusters found

Behavior

Lists all KIND clusters on the system, including:

  • Clusters created by BeKind
  • Clusters created directly with KIND
  • Any cluster managed by KIND, regardless of origin

bekind destroy

Destroy (delete) a KIND cluster.

Usage 

bekind destroy [flags]

Aliases

delete, del

Flags

Flag Type Description Default
--name string Name of the cluster to destroy kind
--config string Config file to read cluster name from $HOME/.bekind/config.yaml

Examples

Destroy the default cluster:

bekind destroy

Destroy a specific cluster by name:

bekind destroy --name argocd-cluster

Use aliases:

bekind delete --name my-cluster
bekind del --name my-cluster

Destroy cluster specified in config:

bekind destroy --config /path/to/config.yaml

Behavior

The destroy command will:

  1. Check if a cluster name is specified with --name
  2. If a config file is provided, read the cluster name from the kindConfig.name field
  3. Delete the specified KIND cluster

If the cluster name is specified in both the --name flag and the config file, the config file takes precedence.

bekind purge

Remove all KIND clusters.

Usage 

bekind purge [flags]

Flags

Flag Short Type Description Default
--confirm -c boolean Skip confirmation prompt and purge immediately false

Examples

Purge with confirmation prompt:

bekind purge
# Are you sure you want to delete all KIND clusters on the system? [y/N]:

Purge without confirmation (bypass prompt):

bekind purge --confirm
# or
bekind purge -c

This command destroys all KIND clusters on your system, regardless of whether they were created by BeKind or not. Use with caution!

bekind showconfig

Display the current configuration.

Usage 

bekind showconfig [flags]

Aliases

sc, configShow

Flags

Flag Short Type Description Default
--system -s boolean Print the config saved on the cluster false
--config   string Config file to display $HOME/.bekind/config.yaml

Examples

Show default configuration:

bekind showconfig

Show specific config file:

bekind showconfig --config /path/to/config.yaml

Show configuration saved on the cluster:

bekind showconfig --system
# or
bekind showconfig -s

Use aliases:

bekind sc
bekind configShow

Behavior

The showconfig command displays configuration in two modes:

Local mode (default):

  • Reads the configuration file from disk
  • Shows the merged configuration from Viper
  • Displays what would be used when starting a cluster

System mode (--system flag):

  • Connects to a running cluster
  • Retrieves the configuration from the bekind-config secret in the kube-public namespace
  • Shows the configuration that was used when the cluster was created

This is useful for:

  • Verifying your configuration before starting a cluster
  • Debugging configuration issues
  • Comparing local config with what’s deployed
  • Documenting cluster setup

bekind version

Display the BeKind version.

Usage 

bekind version

Examples 

bekind version

Example output:

{"bekind":"v0.5.1"}

Behavior

Returns version information in JSON format with the command name as the key and version as the value.

Global Flags

These flags are available for all commands:

Flag Type Description Default
--config string Config file path $HOME/.bekind/config.yaml
--name string KIND cluster name kind

Tab Completion

BeKind supports shell completion for commands, flags, and profile names.

Bash 

bekind completion bash > /etc/bash_completion.d/bekind

Zsh 

bekind completion zsh > "${fpath[1]}/_bekind"

Fish 

bekind completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/bekind.fish

PowerShell 

bekind completion powershell > bekind.ps1

Common Workflows

Quick Start Development Cluster 

bekind start

Use a Saved Profile 

bekind run argocd

Check What’s Configured 

bekind run argocd --view

Multiple Environments 

# Development
bekind run dev --name dev-cluster

# Staging
bekind run staging --name staging-cluster

# Clean up
bekind destroy dev-cluster
bekind destroy staging-cluster

Test Configuration Changes 

# View the config first
bekind showconfig --config ./new-config.yaml

# If it looks good, start the cluster
bekind start --config ./new-config.yaml

Exit Codes

Code Meaning
0 Success
1 Error occurred

Tips

Profile vs Config File

  • Use bekind run <profile> when you have multiple reusable configurations
  • Use bekind start --config for one-off configurations or testing

Multiple Clusters

You can run multiple KIND clusters simultaneously by using different --name values:

bekind start --name cluster1
bekind start --name cluster2 --config other-config.yaml
bekind list
# cluster1
# cluster2

Debugging

Use bekind showconfig to verify your configuration before starting a cluster:

bekind showconfig --config ./my-config.yaml

Cleaning Up

Remove all clusters when done:

bekind purge

Or remove specific clusters:

bekind destroy cluster1
bekind destroy cluster2