Tekton CLI (tkn)

The Tekton CLI, tkn, is a command-line interface for Tekton Pipelines. It allows you to create, manage, and interact with Tekton resources such as tasks, pipelines, and pipeline runs from your terminal.

Tekton CLI is available for macOS and Linux and supports the Arm architecture.

What should I consider before installing the Tekton CLI?

This article provides a quick way to install the latest version of the Tekton CLI for Ubuntu on Arm and macOS with Apple Silicon.

Confirm you are using an Arm computer by running:

    

        
        
uname -m

    

If you are on Arm Linux the output should be:

    

        
        aarch64

        
    

If you are on macOS with Apple Silicon the output should be:

    

        
        arm64

        
    

How do I download and install the Tekton CLI?

You can install the Tekton CLI in multiple ways. The following methods download the latest stable release directly from GitHub.

Install on Arm Linux

To install the Tekton CLI on Arm Linux:

    

        
        
TKN_VERSION=$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/tektoncd/cli/releases/latest | grep tag_name | cut -d '"' -f 4)
curl -LO https://github.com/tektoncd/cli/releases/download/${TKN_VERSION}/tektoncd-cli-${TKN_VERSION#v}_Linux-ARM64.deb
sudo apt install ./tektoncd-cli-${TKN_VERSION#v}_Linux-ARM64.deb

    

Install on macOS

To install the Tekton CLI on macOS with Apple Silicon:

    

        
        
TKN_VERSION=$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/tektoncd/cli/releases/latest | grep tag_name | cut -d '"' -f 4)
curl -LO https://github.com/tektoncd/cli/releases/download/${TKN_VERSION}/tkn_${TKN_VERSION#v}_Darwin_all.tar.gz
tar -xzf tkn_${TKN_VERSION#v}_Darwin_all.tar.gz
sudo mv tkn /usr/local/bin/
rm tkn_${TKN_VERSION#v}_Darwin_all.tar.gz README.md LICENSE

    

Alternatively, you can install using Homebrew on macOS:

    

        
        
brew install tektoncd-cli

    

How do I verify the Tekton CLI installation?

Verify the Tekton CLI is installed by checking the version:

    

        
        
tkn version

    

The output shows the client version information:

    

        
        Client version: 0.41.0

        
    

You can also check that the command is working by displaying the help:

    

        
        
tkn help

    

This displays the main command groups and options:

    

        
        CLI for tekton pipelines

Usage:
  tkn [flags]
  tkn [command]

Available Commands:
  bundle              Manage Tekton Bundles
  chain               Manage Chains
  clustertask         Manage ClusterTasks
  clustertriggerbinding Manage ClusterTriggerBindings
  completion          Prints shell completion scripts
  eventlistener       Manage EventListeners
  help                Help about any command
  hub                 Interact with tekton hub
  pipeline            Manage pipelines
  pipelinerun         Manage pipeline runs
  resource            Manage pipeline resources
  task                Manage Tasks
  taskrun             Manage TaskRuns
  triggerbinding      Manage TriggerBindings
  triggertemplate     Manage TriggerTemplates
  version             Prints version information

Flags:
  -h, --help   help for tkn

Use "tkn [command] --help" for more information about a command.

        
    

How do I get started with the Tekton CLI?

To use the Tekton CLI effectively, you need access to a Kubernetes cluster with Tekton Pipelines installed. You can check if Tekton is available in your cluster:

    

        
        
tkn pipeline list

    

If Tekton Pipelines is not installed, you might see an error message. In that case, you need to install Tekton Pipelines on your cluster first.

Common Tekton CLI commands

Below are some common commands to get you started.

List pipelines:

    

        
        
tkn pipeline list

    

List pipeline runs:

    

        
        
tkn pipelinerun list

    

List tasks:

    

        
        
tkn task list

    

List task runs:

    

        
        
tkn taskrun list

    

Start a pipeline:

    

        
        
tkn pipeline start <pipeline-name>

    

Show pipeline run logs:

    

        
        
tkn pipelinerun logs <pipelinerun-name>

    

Describe a pipeline:

    

        
        
tkn pipeline describe <pipeline-name>

    

You are now ready to use the Tekton CLI to manage your CI/CD pipelines with Tekton Pipelines on Kubernetes or OpenShift.