Considering a func environment command

[lance]

I was going through some old issues and came across this one #954. That request may be a bit more specific than we want, but I think it concerns a general need for metadata which might be useful in automated or integrated environments - pipelines and IDEs, for example.

Should we consider a func environment command, capable of providing machine readable information about what func is capable of in the current execution environment, whether that is the developer's laptop, running in a cluster pipeline, or from the API. We already have the languages , templates and repository subcommands which provide this information piece-meal.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have something like this?

{
  "environment": {
    "version": "1.10.3",
    "build": "dbcf68fc-20230411T172635Z",
    "spec-version": "0.35.0",
    "socat-image": "quay.io/boson/alpine-socat:1.7.4.3-r1-non-root",
    "tar-image ": "alpine-socat:1.7.4.3-r1-non-root",
    "languages": [
      "go",
      "node",
      "nodejs",
      "python",
      "quarkus",
      "rust",
      "springboot",
      "typescript"
    ],
    "templates": {
      "go": [
        "cloudevents",
        "http",
        "functastic/improve"
      ],
      "node": [
        "cloudevents",
        "http",
        "dapr/configuration",
        "dapr/invocation",
        "dapr/pubsub",
        "dapr/secrets"
      ],
      "nodejs": [
        "functastic/metacontroller"
      ],
      "python": [
        "cloudevents",
        "flask",
        "http",
        "wsgi"
      ],
      "quarkus": [
        "cloudevents",
        "http"
      ],
      "rust": [
        "cloudevents",
        "http"
      ],
      "springboot": [
        "cloudevents",
        "http",
        "functastic/uppercase"
      ],
      "typescript": [
        "cloudevents",
        "http"
      ]
    },
    "defaults": {
      "comment": "This section would probably be empty in a pipeline execution context",
      "language": "python",
      "confirm": false,
      "remote": true,
      "namespace": "default",
      "registry": "quay.io/lanceball",
      "build": {
        "builder": "pack",
        "pvc-size": "256Mi"
      }
    }
  }
}

I am leaning against having docker daemon information in this output. That just feels wrong in a way, since the daemon is not really a part of func. But I'm not sure. It could be useful information in debugging user problems... maybe with a --verbose flag.

Happy to hear any feedback on this idea.

[danieloh30]

what are the functastic/uppercase and functastic/improve in the template? Are they a sample project?

[lance]

Those are just language packs that I have installed locally using func repo add functastic https://github.com/knative-sandbox/func-tastic. They aren't really a part of the proposal other than to simply show that all metadata is provided in the output, even template repos that have been added locally.

[danieloh30]

Good to know. Without that, I think it's helpful to understand the environment and structure.

[nainaz]

I like it. This could be really useful and you said the info is available already just scattered. I am also against putting docker daemon info. I see your point about could be useful. But, then how deep do we have to go? I would introduce it like this at the moment,

[lkingland]

Seems like this could be quite helpful for integrations: a quick snapshot of the entire system; taking the place of parsing individual command outputs. It also means that any integrations are less likely to break on our way to a stable release, since we will probably continue to alter the default output of several commands slightly over time.

[lkingland]

Now that this feature is implemented, closing the related discussion 👍🏻