kuadrant development setup¶

development environment for kuadrant plugins in rhdh.

quick start¶

# create kind cluster with kuadrant
make kind-create

# start rhdh with hot reload
cd ..
yarn dev

visit http://localhost:3000/kuadrant

what gets installed¶

kubernetes cluster (kind):

kind cluster named local-cluster
kuadrant operator (from main)
gateway api crds v1.2.0
istio service mesh (base + istiod)

kuadrant components:

custom crds: APIProduct, APIKey
kuadrant instance in kuadrant-system namespace

demo resources (toystore):

toystore namespace
gateway with httproute
authpolicy for api key authentication
planpolicy for rate limiting
sample api products
example secrets

rbac:

rhdh service account with cluster access
permissions for kuadrant crds and secrets

directory structure¶

kuadrant-dev-setup/
├── Makefile                  # cluster and kuadrant setup
├── README.md                 # this file
├── crds/                     # custom resource definitions
│   ├── devportal.kuadrant.io_apiproduct.yaml
│   └── devportal.kuadrant.io_apikey.yaml
├── demo/                     # demo resources
│   └── toystore-demo.yaml    # toystore api with policies
├── rbac/                     # rbac configs
│   └── rhdh-rbac.yaml        # rhdh service account permissions
└── scripts/                  # helper scripts
    └── kind-cluster.yaml     # kind cluster configuration

commands¶

cluster management¶

make kind-create    # create cluster + install kuadrant + demo
make kind-delete    # delete cluster
make clean          # delete cluster + cleanup bin/

kuadrant¶

make kuadrant-install [KUADRANT_VERSION=v1.3.0] # install kuadrant. Version defaults to main branch
make demo-install       # install toystore demo
make demo-uninstall     # remove toystore demo

verify installation¶

# check kuadrant pods
kubectl get pods -n kuadrant-system

# check demo resources
kubectl get pods -n toystore
kubectl get apiproducts -n toystore
kubectl get gateway -n toystore
kubectl get httproute -n toystore
kubectl get authpolicies -n toystore
kubectl get planpolicies -n toystore

# check api keys
kubectl get secrets -n toystore

development workflow¶

create cluster (once):
```
make kind-create
```
develop plugins (with hot reload):
```
cd ..
yarn dev
```
changes to plugin code automatically rebuild
test in browser:
main page: http://localhost:3000/kuadrant
catalog: http://localhost:3000/catalog
api entity: http://localhost:3000/catalog/default/api/toystore-api
cleanup (when done):
```
make kind-delete
```

troubleshooting¶

cluster won't start¶

# delete and recreate
make kind-delete
make kind-create

kuadrant not installing¶

# check helm repos
./bin/helm-v3.13.0 repo list

# reinstall
make kuadrant-install

demo resources missing¶

# reinstall demo
make demo-uninstall
make demo-install

rhdh can't connect to cluster¶

# verify service account
kubectl get sa rhdh-service-account -n rhdh

# check rbac
kubectl get clusterrole rhdh-kuadrant
kubectl get clusterrolebinding rhdh-kuadrant

# check kubeconfig (rhdh uses local ~/.kube/config in dev mode)
kubectl config current-context

dependencies¶

the makefile automatically downloads:

kind v0.20.0 (to bin/kind-v0.20.0)
helm v3.13.0 (to bin/helm-v3.13.0)

no manual installation needed.

differences from kuadrant-backstage-plugin repo¶

this setup is simplified for rhdh development:

what we kept:

kind cluster creation
kuadrant installation
toystore demo resources
custom crds

what we simplified:

single makefile (no complex includes)
no rhdh-local submodule (uses rhdh's yarn dev)
no dynamic plugin export (direct imports)
no rbac user switching (uses guest auth)
no separate backstage mode (only hot reload mode)

result: cleaner development experience with hot reload and full catalog integration.