Deploying agentkernel

Run agentkernel as a service on Kubernetes or Nomad clusters, managing sandboxes via the HTTP API.

Docker Image

Pre-built images are published to GitHub Container Registry on each release:

ghcr.io/thrashr888/agentkernel:latest
ghcr.io/thrashr888/agentkernel:<version>    # e.g. 0.5.0

Note: The Docker image is published automatically when a version tag (v*) is pushed. If no image exists yet, build locally with docker build -t agentkernel . from the repo root.

The Dockerfile builds a release binary with both kubernetes and nomad feature flags enabled.

Building from Source

If you prefer to build from source instead of using the Docker image:

cargo build --release --features kubernetes,nomad

Or build only the backend you need:

cargo build --release --features kubernetes
cargo build --release --features nomad

Backend-Specific Deployment

Kubernetes — Helm chart install, values, RBAC: Kubernetes Backend
Nomad — Job file, Nomad Pack, ACL tokens: Nomad Backend

Environment Variables

Variable	Backend	Description
`KUBECONFIG`	Kubernetes	Path to kubeconfig file
`NOMAD_ADDR`	Nomad	Nomad API address
`NOMAD_TOKEN`	Nomad	Nomad ACL token
`AGENTKERNEL_API_KEY`	Both	API key for HTTP authentication

Using the HTTP API

Once deployed, interact with agentkernel via its REST API:

# Create a sandbox
curl -X POST http://agentkernel:18888/sandboxes \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "my-sandbox", "image": "python:3.12-alpine"}'

# Execute a command
curl -X POST http://agentkernel:18888/sandboxes/my-sandbox/exec \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command": ["python", "-c", "print(42)"]}'

# Delete the sandbox
curl -X DELETE http://agentkernel:18888/sandboxes/my-sandbox

See the HTTP API Reference for the full endpoint list.