> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://notes.kodekloud.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Demo KAgent Installation > Guide to installing and uninstalling kagent on Kubernetes using either the kagent CLI installer or Helm charts, including prerequisites and verification steps Hello everyone. A presentation slide titled "Kagent Installation" with a dark curved shape on the right containing the word "Demo." A small "© Copyright KodeKloud" appears in the bottom-left corner. Welcome to this lesson. Here you'll learn two ways to install kagent on Kubernetes: * Using the kagent CLI installer, and * Using Helm charts (recommended for cluster-managed installations). Objective: be able to install and uninstall kagent with either method and choose the best approach for your environment. ## Prerequisites * A Kubernetes cluster and kubectl configured to target it. * Helm installed if you plan to use the Helm method. * An LLM provider API key (the examples below use OpenAI). Export your OpenAI key into the environment so the installer can pick it up automatically. Make sure your `OPENAI_API_KEY` is set in the environment before installing kagent. You can export it like: ```bash theme={null} export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..." ``` Verify the environment variable is set: ```bash theme={null} # Verify the key is available in the environment echo $OPENAI_API_KEY # Example output (truncated for security): # sk-kkAI-7f4db864d4a30df42264af74c22f4f1c5bf51... ``` ## Quick comparison | Installation Method | Best for | Key command | | | ------------------- | -------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------ | | CLI installer | Local testing, quick installs | \`curl -fsSL [https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kagent-dev/kagent/refs/heads/main/scripts/get-kagent](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kagent-dev/kagent/refs/heads/main/scripts/get-kagent) | bash\` | | Helm chart | Production or cluster-managed installs | `helm install kagent oci://ghcr.io/kagent-dev/kagent/helm/kagent` | | *** ## CLI-based installation Follow these steps to install kagent using the kagent CLI installer. 1. Install the kagent CLI (the installer fetches the latest stable binary): ```bash theme={null} curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kagent-dev/kagent/refs/heads/main/scripts/get-kagent | bash ``` Example installer output: ```text theme={null} Downloading https://cr.kagent.dev/v0.7.7/kagent-linux-amd64 Verifying checksum... Done. Preparing to install kagent into /usr/local/bin kagent installed into /usr/local/bin/kagent ``` 2. Confirm the installed kagent version: ```bash theme={null} kagent version ``` Example output: ```json theme={null} {"backend_version":"unknown","build_date":"2025-12-11","git_commit":"bfe15ba","kagent_version":"0.7.7"} ``` 3. Inspect available CLI commands and flags: ```bash theme={null} kagent --help ``` Trimmed sample output (top-level commands and flags): ```text theme={null} kagent is a CLI and TUI for kagent Usage: kagent [flags] kagent [command] Available Commands: add-mcp Add an MCP server entry to kagent.yaml bug-report Generate a bug report build Build a Docker images for an agent project completion Generate the autocompletion script for the specified shell dashboard Open the kagent dashboard deploy Deploy an agent to Kubernetes get Get a kagent resource help Help about any command init Initialize a new agent project install Install kagent invoke Invoke a kagent agent mcp MCP (Model Context Protocol) server management run Run agent project locally with docker-compose and launch chat interface uninstall Uninstall kagent version Print the kagent version Flags: --config string config file (default is $HOME/.kagent/config.yaml) -h, --help help for kagent --kagent-url string KAgent URL (default "http://localhost:8083") -n, --namespace string Namespace (default "kagent") -o, --output-format string Output format (default "table") --timeout duration Timeout (default 5m0s) -v, --verbose Verbose output ``` 4. Ensure the `kagent` namespace exists (this creates it if absent): ```bash theme={null} kubectl create namespace kagent --dry-run=client -o yaml | kubectl apply -f - ``` 5. Install kagent into the `kagent` namespace. The installer will use the `OPENAI_API_KEY` environment variable (no additional flag required for the key): ```bash theme={null} kagent install -n kagent ``` Example confirmation: ```text theme={null} kagent installed successfully ``` 6. Verify the deployed pods in the `kagent` namespace: ```bash theme={null} kubectl get pods -n kagent ``` Example output (trimmed): ```text theme={null} NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE argo-rollouts-conversion-agent-6b75f48f84-skzsc 1/1 Running 0 40s cilium-debug-agent-5c7798b559-9bbzh 1/1 Running 0 40s cilium-manager-agent-5dc4964899-2vkn4 0/1 Running 0 40s helm-agent-66d7fd5fb8-dvbr6 0/1 Running 0 40s kagent-controller-6886fc4f5c-wn2xm 1/1 Running 0 97s kagent-grafana-mcp-5cc85fd598-hw6bk 1/1 Running 0 97s kagent-kmcp-controller-manager-76645f577f-n2r5v 1/1 Running 0 97s kagent-querydoc-5f6fd94c98-64kxn 1/1 Running 0 97s kagent-tools-56c49d7d4d-6h8zg 1/1 Running 0 97s kagent-ui-59d5bbd564-r7j5q 1/1 Running 0 97s kgateway-agent-d97c5f7d-5qg2c 0/1 Running 0 40s observability-agent-55d64bd489-987hm 1/1 Running 0 40s promql-agent-56c56b98bd-xvlzw 0/1 Running 0 39s ``` ### Uninstalling kagent (CLI) To remove the kagent installation created via the CLI: ```bash theme={null} kagent uninstall -n kagent ``` Example output: ```text theme={null} Warning: kagent release not found, skipping uninstallation Warning: kagent-crds release not found, try to delete crds directly Successfully deleted CRD agents.kagent.dev Successfully deleted CRD modelconfigs.kagent.dev Successfully deleted CRD toolservers.kagent.dev kagent uninstalled successfully ``` *** ## Helm-based installation Helm is a common method for installing kagent in production environments. The recommended sequence is: install CRDs first, then install the application Helm chart. 1. Install the kagent CRDs from the public Helm OCI chart: ```bash theme={null} helm install kagent-crds oci://ghcr.io/kagent-dev/kagent/helm/kagent-crds \ --namespace kagent \ --create-namespace ``` Example output (trimmed): ```text theme={null} Pulled: ghcr.io/kagent-dev/kagent/helm/kagent-crds:0.7.7 Digest: sha256:9e3a92d7636bf1485fb1de984d579543fd7c1bb8dc57312401e462edc209df91 I1215 09:13:10.543041 47158 warnings.go:110] "Warning: unrecognized format \"int64\"" NAME: kagent-crds LAST DEPLOYED: Mon Dec 15 09:13:10 2025 NAMESPACE: kagent STATUS: deployed REVISION: 1 ``` 2. Verify the CRDs are present: ```bash theme={null} kubectl get crd | grep kagent ``` Example output: ```text theme={null} agents.kagent.dev 2025-12-15T09:13:10Z mcpservers.kagent.dev 2025-12-15T09:13:10Z memories.kagent.dev 2025-12-15T09:13:10Z modelconfigs.kagent.dev 2025-12-15T09:13:10Z remotemcpservers.kagent.dev 2025-12-15T09:13:10Z toolservers.kagent.dev 2025-12-15T09:13:10Z ``` 3. Install the kagent Helm chart. Pass the OpenAI API key via Helm values so components can use it. The exact value key name may vary by chart — one common pattern is `openai.apiKey`. Replace with the correct key for your chart if different: ```bash theme={null} helm install kagent oci://ghcr.io/kagent-dev/kagent/helm/kagent \ --namespace kagent \ --set openai.apiKey="$OPENAI_API_KEY" ``` 4. Verify Helm releases: ```bash theme={null} helm list -n kagent ``` Example output: ```text theme={null} NAME NAMESPACE REVISION UPDATED STATUS CHART APP VERSION kagent kagent 1 2025-12-15 09:14:04.750303641 +0000 UTC deployed kagent-0.7.7 kagent-crds kagent 1 2025-12-15 09:13:10.339038232 +0000 UTC deployed kagent-crds-0.7.7 ``` 5. Confirm services and pods are running: ```bash theme={null} kubectl get svc -n kagent kubectl get pods -n kagent ``` Example services (trimmed): ```text theme={null} service/kagent-controller 8083/TCP service/kagent-grafana-mcp 8000/TCP service/kagent-querydoc 8080/TCP service/kagent-tools 8084/TCP service/kagent-ui 8080/TCP service/kgateway-agent 8080/TCP service/observability-agent 8080/TCP service/promql-agent 8080/TCP ``` When removing kagent, uninstall the application release first and remove CRDs separately. Deleting CRDs before removing dependent resources can leave orphaned resources or break uninstall workflows. ### Uninstalling Helm release and CRDs 1. Uninstall the kagent release: ```bash theme={null} helm uninstall kagent -n kagent ``` Example output: ```text theme={null} release "kagent" uninstalled ``` 2. Uninstall the CRDs Helm release: ```bash theme={null} helm uninstall kagent-crds -n kagent ``` Example output: ```text theme={null} release "kagent-crds" uninstalled ``` 3. Confirm the namespace no longer contains kagent resources: ```bash theme={null} kubectl get pods -n kagent ``` Example output: ```text theme={null} No resources found in kagent namespace. ``` *** ## Conclusion This lesson covered how to install and uninstall kagent using: * the kagent CLI (quick installer + `kagent install`), and * Helm charts (install CRDs first, then the application chart). Choose CLI for quick experimentation and Helm for production/cluster-managed deployments. After installation, you can explore the kagent UI, interact with deployed agents, and configure providers via the kagent configuration. ## Links and references * [OpenAI](https://openai.com) * [Kubernetes Documentation](https://kubernetes.io/docs/) * [Helm Documentation](https://helm.sh/docs/) * kagent project: [https://github.com/kagent-dev/kagent](https://github.com/kagent-dev/kagent)