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Deployment Operations

These commands manage the active state of your application within the Kubernetes cluster.

up {environment}​

The "Launch" button. Deploys your infrastructure and application to the cluster.

  • Automated Workflow: Automatically runs migrations and performs a connectivity smoke test.
  • Validation: Use --dry-run to perform a full architectural validation of your manifests before deploying.
  • Deduplicated Manifests: LaraKube CLI uses a unique single-pass engine to ensure your Kubernetes resources are never registered twice.

build​

The "Image Builder." Rebuild the local Docker image for the project and re-import it into the local k3d cluster.

  • Use Cases: After a Dockerfile.php change, or to refresh a stale local image without a full up.
  • Automatic Sideload: Images are automatically imported into the k3d cluster via k3d image import.
info
Looking for deploy?

Production deployments are now under the cloud:* namespace — use larakube cloud:deploy {environment}. The flat larakube deploy was renamed in v0.3.0 to consolidate all cloud-related commands.

env {name}​

The "Workspace" tool. Create a new Kubernetes environment overlay (e.g., staging, production).

  • Isolation: Each environment gets its own namespace and dedicated resources.
  • Blueprint Inheritance: Inherits your base architectural DNA while allowing environment-specific overrides.

smoke {environment}​

The "Smoke Test" tool. Performs a connectivity smoke test to ensure the application is reachable and responding correctly.

  • Automatic Execution: Usually run automatically after up, but can be called manually for verification.
  • Default: Targets the local environment if no argument is provided.
Renamed in v0.3.0

This was previously larakube test. The new larakube test is a phpunit/pest runner — separate, dedicated command. Scripts that called the old name should switch to larakube smoke.

about {environment}​

The "Health Check" button. Display a unified architectural and health overview of the project.

  • Visual Feedback: Shows 🟢 Ready for healthy services and 🔴 Not Ready for issues.
  • Metrics: Quickly see container restarts and pod age to identify unstable services.
  • Default: Targets the local environment if no argument is provided.

stop {environment}​

The "Safe Pause" button. Scales all application and database pods to 0.

  • Data Safety: Your data remains perfectly safe in the cluster volumes (PVCs).
  • Stability: Use this instead of down for daily development to avoid volume permission issues.
  • Quick Resume: Use larakube start to bring your environment back to life in seconds.

start {environment}​

The "Resume" button. Scales your pods back to their original replica counts.

down {environment}​

The "Cleanup" button. Removes your application's resources and internal volumes from the cluster.

  • Safety Preview: Use --dry-run to see which resources will be deleted before they are removed.
  • Confirmation: Requires you to type the project name to confirm the deletion.
  • Force Mode: Use --force to skip the manual confirmation.

purge {environment}​

The "Nuclear Cleanup." Completely removes LaraKube CLI manifests AND all cluster resources for the project, including database PVCs.

  • More destructive than down: down removes app/internal volumes but purge also wipes persistent data (databases, storage volumes).
  • Use when: Starting completely fresh, or when reset of the project's blueprint is also planned.
  • Confirmation: Requires explicit project-name confirmation.

reset​

The "Hard Reset." Remove all LaraKube CLI DNA and manifests from the project.

  • Action: Deletes .larakube.json, .infrastructure, and other LaraKube CLI-generated files.
  • Destructive: This is a destructive action that wipes the project's Kubernetes configuration.
  • Force Mode: Use --force to skip confirmation.

purge​

The "Total Project Cleanup." Completely remove LaraKube CLI manifests and cluster resources from this project.

  • Action: Deletes cluster resources (Namespaces, PersistentVolumes) and local files (.infrastructure, .larakube.json, Dockerfiles).
  • Preservation: Your actual Laravel source code and database data (in volume_data) remain safe.
  • Best Practice: Use purge followed by init if you want to re-architect a project from a clean slate.

uninstall​

The "System Cleanup." Remove the LaraKube CLI application from your system.

  • Action: Deletes the larakube binary from your system path.
  • Recommendation: Run trust:remove first to clean up the SSL root CA from your system trust store.

GitHub Actions

LaraKube CLI provides built-in tools to manage your CI/CD workflows directly from the CLI.

gha:configure {environment}​

The "CI Architect." Configure GitHub Actions secrets and workflows for a specific environment using the native GitHub CLI container.

gha:login​

The "CI Authenticator." Authenticate with GitHub using the official CLI.

gha:switch​

The "Context Switcher." Switch between different GitHub accounts.