amdf validate¶

Preview Feature

The amdf validate command is in preview and experimental. Use at your own discretion. This feature may change or be removed in future versions.

Validate Kubernetes manifests against Kyverno policies before deployment.

Synopsis¶

amdf validate MANIFEST_PATH [OPTIONS]

Description¶

The validate command provides optional pre-deployment validation using Kyverno CLI. By default, it validates against policies deployed in your Kubernetes cluster. You can also validate against specific local policy files or directories.

Prerequisites¶

Install Kyverno CLI:

# macOS
brew install kyverno

# Linux
curl -L https://github.com/kyverno/kyverno/releases/latest/download/kyverno-cli_linux_x86_64.tar.gz | tar -xz
sudo mv kyverno /usr/local/bin/

# Windows
# Download from: https://github.com/kyverno/kyverno/releases/latest

Options¶

Option	Short	Description
`--policy`	`-p`	Path to specific policy file/directory. If not provided, validates against cluster policies

Examples¶

Validate Against Cluster Policies¶

# Validate against policies deployed in your cluster
amdf validate deployment.yaml

Validate Against Local Policies¶

# Validate against single policy file
amdf validate manifest.yaml --policy policy.yaml

# Validate against policy directory
amdf validate manifest.yaml --policy ./policies/

Validate Against Remote Policies¶

# Validate against Git repository
amdf validate manifest.yaml --policy https://github.com/kyverno/policies/pod-security/baseline/

Workflow Integration¶

The validate command fits into the AMDF workflow as an optional pre-deployment check:

# 1. Generate KCL schemas
amdf generate deployments.apps

# 2. Create your configuration
kcl library/main.k -S items > deployment.yaml

# 3. Optional: Validate before deployment
amdf validate deployment.yaml

# 4. Deploy to cluster
kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml

Policy Strategy¶

For organizations with existing Kyverno policies:

Keep Kyverno policies as the source of truth for organizational rules
Use KCL policies for team-specific validation and fast feedback
Use amdf validate as a bridge to catch organizational policy violations early

This approach avoids duplicating policies while providing fast local validation.