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Astra CLI Auto-Configuration

When the DataStax astra CLI is installed and you have at least one configured profile, the TypeScript runtime can pick up ASTRA_DB_APPLICATION_TOKEN and ASTRA_DB_API_ENDPOINT from the CLI at startup — no manual .env editing required.

This is purely a developer convenience layered on top of the existing env-var contract. The runtime still reads the same two variables; the CLI integration just fills them in when they're missing.

Quick start

# 1) Install astra-cli (if you haven't already)
brew install datastax/astra-cli/astra
# or follow https://github.com/datastax/astra-cli#installation

# 2) Create a profile (one-time, interactive)
astra setup

# 3) Boot the runtime — it'll discover the profile and prompt for a database
npm run dev

If exactly one profile and one database are visible to your token, the runtime picks them automatically and prints the resolved profile, database, and region in the boot log.

Resolution order

The runtime applies each rule in order; first match wins.

  1. Both env vars already set. If ASTRA_DB_APPLICATION_TOKEN and ASTRA_DB_API_ENDPOINT are present in process.env (from the shell, a .env file, a Docker -e flag, K8s Secret, etc.) the CLI is not consulted at all. This keeps existing deployments deterministic.
  2. WORKBENCH_DISABLE_ASTRA_CLI=1. Hard off-switch, useful in CI where the CLI may be installed but you don't want it consulted.
  3. astra binary not on PATH. Skip silently. The runtime continues to boot — it's still a no-op when the user hasn't asked for Astra anywhere.
  4. CLI consulted. The runtime runs astra config list -o json and astra db list -p <profile> -o json and applies the rules below.

Profile selection

Condition Outcome
ASTRA_PROFILE=<name> set Use the named profile (no prompt).
Exactly one profile configured Use it.
TTY available, multiple profiles Prompt the user to choose.
Non-TTY, multiple profiles Use the profile flagged isUsedAsDefault: true.
Non-TTY, multiple profiles, no default Skip with a warning.

Database selection

Condition Outcome
ASTRA_DB=<name-or-id> set Use the matching database (no prompt).
Exactly one database visible Use it.
TTY available, multiple databases Prompt the user to choose.
Non-TTY, multiple databases Skip with a warning.

TERMINATED and TERMINATING databases are filtered out.

Environment variables

Variable Effect
ASTRA_DB_APPLICATION_TOKEN If set, takes precedence over the CLI-resolved value. The runtime never overwrites it.
ASTRA_DB_API_ENDPOINT Same precedence as the token.
ASTRA_PROFILE Skip the profile prompt by selecting an astra-cli profile by name. Same variable astra-cli itself respects.
ASTRA_DB Skip the database prompt by selecting a database by name or id.
WORKBENCH_DISABLE_ASTRA_CLI 1/true → never consult the CLI. Disables both boot-time auto-detection and the per-workspace astra-cli: secret resolver.

What gets shown

Terminal banner

On a successful auto-config, the runtime prints a banner to stdout before the rest of startup, so the selection is impossible to miss:

[astra-cli] using profile "workbench-dev"
  database: mydb  (id: 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000)
  region:   us-east-2
  endpoint: https://00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000-us-east-2.apps.astra.datastax.com
  keyspace: default_keyspace
  token:    from profile "workbench-dev"

If ASTRA_DB_API_ENDPOINT was already set in the environment when the integration ran, the endpoint line is annotated:

  endpoint: https://...  (overridden by ASTRA_DB_API_ENDPOINT)

The same fields are also emitted as a structured info log line so production deployments can scrape them. Tokens are never logged or printed — only profile name, database name/id, region, and keyspace.

Onboarding page

The web UI exposes the inventory on the workspace onboarding page. After picking the Astra (or HCD) backend, the user sees a green picker showing every available profile and the databases each can see. The first selection auto-populates from the default profile

  • its first database; the user can switch either one at any time.

When the picker is showing, the form's credentialsRef.token and url are filled with astra-cli:<profile>:<dbId>:<token|endpoint> refs that the runtime resolves on demand at use-time — see the astra-cli secret resolver section below.

If the inventory endpoint can't be reached (older runtime, network blip), the page falls back to the read-only confirmation card built on GET /astra-cli — the boot-time pick — and the form keeps its legacy env:ASTRA_DB_APPLICATION_TOKEN / env:ASTRA_DB_API_ENDPOINT defaults.

Discovery endpoints

Two operational endpoints surface astra-cli state, both auth-free (same precedent as /healthz / /version) and both token-redacted:

GET /astra-cli — boot-time pick

The single profile + database the runtime auto-selected at startup. Schema:

{
  "detected": true,
  "profile": "workbench-dev",
  "database": {
    "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
    "name": "mydb",
    "region": "us-east-2",
    "endpoint": "https://00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000-us-east-2.apps.astra.datastax.com",
    "keyspace": "default_keyspace"
  }
}

When detection didn't run or skipped, the response is:

{ "detected": false, "reason": "binary-not-found" }

GET /astra-cli/profiles — full inventory

Every configured profile and the databases each can see. Drives the onboarding picker. Schema:

{
  "available": true,
  "profiles": [
    {
      "name": "workbench-dev",
      "env": "PROD",
      "isUsedAsDefault": true,
      "databases": [
        {
          "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
          "name": "mydb",
          "region": "us-east-2",
          "endpoint": "https://00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000-us-east-2.apps.astra.datastax.com",
          "keyspace": "default_keyspace"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

When the CLI isn't installed, disabled, or returns an error:

{ "available": false, "reason": "binary-not-found" }

A failing per-profile listing surfaces as that profile with an empty databases array — the rest of the inventory still renders so the user can pick a working profile.

Per-workspace astra-cli secret refs

Workspace credentialsRef values can carry the astra-cli: prefix to source a token + endpoint from a specific CLI profile + database on demand:

astra-cli:<profile>:<dbId>:token
astra-cli:<profile>:<dbId>:endpoint
  • profile — name of an astra config list entry
  • dbId — UUID-shaped database id from astra db list (names are mutable; ids aren't, so workspace records bind to the immutable identifier)
  • token resolves to the profile's API token; endpoint resolves to https://<dbId>-<region>.apps.astra.datastax.com

The resolver caches profile + database listings for the process lifetime, so a workspace creating ten knowledge bases doesn't re-shell out ten times. Errors aren't cached — a transient CLI failure recovers on the next attempt.

When the picker is open in the onboarding UI, this is the ref scheme it generates. Operators editing workbench.yaml directly can also write these refs by hand for seedWorkspaces. The same paths work for any field that takes a SecretRef.

When the astra binary isn't on PATH, every astra-cli: resolve fails with an actionable error pointing the operator at https://github.com/datastax/astra-cli or suggesting they replace the ref with a literal env: token.

Troubleshooting

Boot log message Meaning Fix
astra cli not found on PATH (debug level) The runtime didn't find an astra binary. Install it or set WORKBENCH_DISABLE_ASTRA_CLI=1 to silence.
astra config list failed The CLI returned a non-zero exit. Most often: profile expired or the CLI isn't set up yet. astra setup or astra config list to confirm.
astra-cli profile has no accessible databases The token associated with the profile sees zero non-terminated databases. Create a database in the Astra console, or pick a different profile.
could not determine which astra-cli profile to use Multiple profiles, non-interactive shell, no isUsedAsDefault. Set ASTRA_PROFILE.
could not determine which astra database to use Multiple databases, non-interactive shell. Set ASTRA_DB to a database name or id.

CI / production

Most production deployments inject ASTRA_DB_APPLICATION_TOKEN and ASTRA_DB_API_ENDPOINT from a secret manager — in which case the CLI integration is automatically inert (rule 1 above). For belt-and-braces hardening you can also set WORKBENCH_DISABLE_ASTRA_CLI=1 to guarantee the CLI is never shelled out to.

Related

  • configuration.md — how the runtime reads Astra credentials in general.
  • workspaces.md — how workspace credentialsRef values flow back through the same env vars.