The cortex CLI can be used to deploy models locally and/or to any number of clusters. Environments are used to select which cluster to use for a cortex command. An environment contains the information required to connect to a cluster (e.g. AWS credentials and Cortex operator URL).

Example: aws only

cortex cluster up       # configures the aws env; same as `cortex cluster up --configure-env aws`
cortex env default aws  # sets aws as the default env
cortex deploy           # uses aws env; same as `cortex deploy --env aws`
cortex logs my-api      # uses aws env; same as `cortex logs my-api --env aws`
cortex delete my-api    # uses aws env; same as `cortex delete my-api --env aws`

Example: local only

cortex deploy         # uses local env; same as `cortex deploy --env local`
cortex logs my-api    # uses local env; same as `cortex logs my-api --env local`
cortex delete my-api  # uses local env; same as `cortex delete my-api --env local`

Example: local and aws

cortex deploy         # uses local env; same as `cortex deploy --env local`
cortex logs my-api    # uses local env; same as `cortex logs my-api --env local`
cortex delete my-api  # uses local env; same as `cortex delete my-api --env local`
​
cortex cluster up       # configures the aws env; same as `cortex cluster up --configure-env aws`
cortex deploy --env aws
cortex deploy           # uses local env; same as `cortex deploy --env local`
​
# optional: change the default environment to aws
cortex env default aws    # sets aws as the default env
cortex deploy             # uses aws env; same as `cortex deploy --env aws`
cortex deploy --env local

Example: multiple clusters

cortex cluster up --config cluster1.yaml --configure-env cluster1  # configures the cluster1 env
cortex cluster up --config cluster2.yaml --configure-env cluster2  # configures the cluster2 env
​
cortex deploy --env cluster1
cortex logs my-api --env cluster1
cortex delete my-api --env cluster1
​
cortex deploy --env cluster2
cortex logs my-api --env cluster2
cortex delete my-api --env cluster2

Example: multiple clusters, if you omitted the --configure-env on cortex cluster up

cortex cluster info --config cluster1.yaml --configure-env cluster1  # configures the cluster1 env
cortex cluster info --config cluster2.yaml --configure-env cluster2  # configures the cluster2 env
​
cortex deploy --env cluster1
cortex logs my-api --env cluster1
cortex delete my-api --env cluster1
​
cortex deploy --env cluster2
cortex logs my-api --env cluster2
cortex delete my-api --env cluster2

Example: configure cortex CLI to connect to an existing cluster

If you are installing the cortex CLI on a new computer, you can configure it to access an existing Cortex cluster.

On the computer which already has the CLI configured, run:

cortex env list

Take note of the environment name and operator endpoint of the desired environment.

On your new machine, run:

cortex env configure

This will prompt for the necessary configuration. Note that the AWS credentials that you use here do not need any IAM permissions attached. If you will be running any cortex cluster commands specify the preferred AWS credentials using cli flags --aws-key AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID --aws-secret AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY. See IAM permissions for more details.

Environments overview

By default, the CLI ships with a single environment named local. This is the default environment for all Cortex commands (other than cortex cluster commands), which means that APIs will be deployed locally by default.

When you create a cluster with cortex cluster up, an environment named aws is automatically created to point to your new cluster. You can name the environment something else via the --configure-env flag, e.g. cortex cluster up --configure-env prod. You can also use the --configure-env flag with cortex cluster info and cortex cluster configure to create/update the specified environment. You may interact with your cluster by appending --env aws to your cortex commands, e.g. cortex deploy --env aws.

You can list your environments with cortex env list, change the default environment with cortex env default, delete an environment with cortex env delete, and create/update an environment with cortex env configure.