dtctl

Category: Testing & Security | Uploader: dynatrace-oss | Downloads: 0 | Version: v1.0（Latest）
Manage Dynatrace environments using dtctl - install/update the CLI, configure authentication with OS keyring tokens, and run kubectl-style operations (get/describe/edit/apply/delete/query/exec/commands) for workflows, dashboards, notebooks, DQL, SLOs, settings, buckets, lookups, OpenPipeline, and Davis AI. Use when the user wants to control Dynatrace resources via dtctl.
Changelog: Source: GitHub https://github.com/dynatrace-oss/dtctl
Directory Structure

Current level: skills/dtctl/
📁 references/
- 📁 resources/
  - 📄 dashboards.md 9.8 KB
  - 📄 notebooks.md 6.8 KB
- 📄 config-management.md 1.4 KB
- 📄 DQL-reference.md 4.4 KB
- 📄 troubleshooting.md 2.2 KB
📄 embed.go 399 B
📄 SKILL.md 9.9 KB
SKILL.md

---
name: dtctl
description: Manage Dynatrace environments using dtctl - install/update the CLI, configure authentication with OS keyring tokens, and run kubectl-style operations (get/describe/edit/apply/delete/query/exec/commands) for workflows, dashboards, notebooks, DQL, SLOs, settings, buckets, lookups, OpenPipeline, and Davis AI. Use when the user wants to control Dynatrace resources via dtctl.
---

# Dynatrace Control with dtctl

Operate `dtctl`, the kubectl-style CLI for Dynatrace. This skill teaches core dtctl command patterns and operations.

## Recommended Initialization

At the start of a task, run these checks to establish context and permissions:

```bash
# Discover all available commands, flags, and resources
dtctl commands --brief -o json

# Show current context
dtctl config current-context

# Show context details
dtctl config describe-context $(dtctl config current-context) --plain

# Show authenticated user
dtctl auth whoami --plain
```

This displays:
- Current context name and environment URL
- Safety level (readonly, readwrite-mine, readwrite-all, dangerously-unrestricted)
- Authenticated user identity (name, email, UUID)

## DQL Reference Usage

Before writing, modifying, or executing any DQL that fetches Dynatrace data (for example via `dtctl query`, `dtctl wait query`, or query files), you MUST consult `references/DQL-reference.md` and follow its documented syntax and templates.

If there is any conflict between memory/assumptions and the reference, prefer the reference.

## Prerequisites

If dtctl is not installed or not working, see [references/troubleshooting.md](references/troubleshooting.md) for installation and setup.

## Resources & Commands

### Available Resources

dtctl uses a uniform pattern for all resource types. Discover schema from actual output with `dtctl describe <resource> <id> -o json --plain`.

| Resource | Aliases |
|----------|---------|
| analyzer | analyzers |
| app | apps |
| bucket | bkt |
| copilot-skill | copilot-skills |
| dashboard | dash |
| edgeconnect | ec |
| function | fn, func |
| group | groups |
| intent | intents |
| lookup | lookups, lkup |
| notebook | nb |
| notification | notifications |
| sdk-version | sdk-versions |
| settings | setting |
| settings-schema | schema |
| slo | - |
| slo-template | slo-templates |
| trash | deleted |
| user | users |
| workflow | wf |
| workflow-execution | wfe |

Use IDs whenever possible instead of names to avoid ambiguity.

### Command Verbs

| Verb | Description | Example |
|------|-------------|---------|
| **get** | List resources | `dtctl get workflows --mine` |
| **describe** | Show resource details | `dtctl describe workflow <id>` |
| **edit** | Edit resource interactively | `dtctl edit dashboard <id>` |
| **apply** | Create/update from file | `dtctl apply -f workflow.yaml --set env=prod` |
| **delete** | Delete resource | `dtctl delete workflow <id>` |
| **exec** | Execute workflow/function/analyzer/copilot | `dtctl exec workflow <id>` |
| **query** | Run DQL query | `dtctl query "fetch logs \| limit 10"` |
| **logs** | Print resource logs | `dtctl logs workflow-execution <id>` |
| **wait** | Wait for conditions | `dtctl wait query "fetch logs" --for=any` |
| **history** | Show document history | `dtctl history dashboard <id>` |
| **restore** | Restore document version | `dtctl restore dashboard <id> --version 3` |
| **share** | Share document | `dtctl share dashboard <id> --user email@example.com` |
| **unshare** | Remove sharing | `dtctl unshare dashboard <id> --user email@example.com` |
| **find** | Discover resources | `dtctl find intents --data trace.id=abc` |
| **open** | Open in browser | `dtctl open intent <app/intent> --data key=value` |
| **diff** | Compare resources | `dtctl diff -f workflow.yaml` |
| **verify** | Validate without executing | `dtctl verify query 'fetch logs' --fail-on-warn` |
| **commands** | List all commands (machine-readable) | `dtctl commands --brief -o json` |

## Key Concepts for AI Agents

### Output Modes

```bash
# Agent envelope mode (auto-detected in AI environments)
-A, --agent      # Structured JSON envelope with ok/result/error/context
--no-agent       # Opt out of auto-detected agent mode

# Machine-readable formats (use these for AI agents)
-o json          # JSON output
-o yaml          # YAML output
-o csv           # CSV output
-o chart         # ASCII chart (for time series)
-o sparkline     # ASCII sparkline (for time series)
-o barchart      # ASCII bar chart (for time series)

# Human-readable formats
-o table         # Table format (default)
-o wide          # Wide table with more columns

# Always use --plain flag for AI consumption (implied by --agent)
--plain          # Strips colors and prompts, best for parsing
```

**For AI agents, prefer:** `dtctl <command> --agent` (auto-detected) or `dtctl <command> -o json --plain`

The `--agent` envelope provides structured metadata alongside results:

```json
{
  "ok": true,
  "result": [ ... ],
  "context": {
    "verb": "get", "resource": "workflow",
    "total": 5, "has_more": false,
    "suggestions": ["Run 'dtctl describe workflow <id>' for details"]
  }
}
```

### Template Variables

In YAML/DQL files, use Go template syntax:

```yaml
# workflow.yaml
title: "{{.environment}} Deployment"
owner: "{{.team}}"
trigger:
  schedule:
    cron: "{{.schedule | default "0 0 * * *"}}"
```

```dql
# query.dql
fetch logs
| filter host.name == "{{.host}}"
| filter timestamp > now() - {{.timerange | default "1h"}}
```

Execute with: `dtctl apply -f file.yaml --set environment=prod --set team=platform`

### Copilot, Functions, Analyzers

```bash
# Copilot skills
dtctl get copilot-skills -o json --plain

# Functions
dtctl get functions -o json --plain
dtctl exec function <id-or-name> --payload '{"key":"value"}' --plain

# Analyzers
dtctl get analyzers -o json --plain
dtctl exec analyzer <id-or-name> --input '{"timeframe":"now-2h"}' --plain
```

Prefer `get ... -o json --plain` first, then `describe`/`exec` with explicit IDs.

### Authentication & Permissions

```bash
# Check current user and permissions
dtctl auth whoami --plain
dtctl auth can-i create workflows
dtctl auth can-i delete dashboards
```

Use `can-i` to verify permissions before attempting operations.

## Quick Reference: DQL Queries

**Required workflow for DQL data fetching:**
1. First consult `references/DQL-reference.md`
2. Build/validate the query using the documented patterns
3. Execute with `dtctl query ... -o json --plain` (or `dtctl wait query ...` when waiting for results)

```bash
# Inline query
dtctl query "fetch logs | filter status='ERROR' | limit 100" -o json --plain

# Query from file with variables
dtctl query -f query.dql --set host=h-123 --set timerange=2h -o json --plain

# Wait for query results
dtctl wait query "fetch spans | filter test_id='test-123'" --for=count=1 --timeout 5m

# Query with chart output
dtctl query "timeseries avg(dt.host.cpu.usage)" -o chart --plain
```



## Dashboards

For full examples and field-level gotchas, see [references/resources/dashboards.md](references/resources/dashboards.md).

Create/update: `dtctl apply -f dashboard.yaml --plain`. Export for reference: `dtctl get dashboard <id> -o yaml --plain`.

### YAML skeleton

```yaml
name: "Dashboard Name"
type: dashboard
content:
  annotations: []
  importedWithCode: false
  settings:
    defaultTimeframe:
      enabled: true
      value: { from: now()-2h, to: now() }
  layouts:
    "1":                    # string key, must match a tile key
      x: 0                 # 24-column grid (full=24, half=12, third=8)
      "y": 0               # MUST quote "y" to avoid YAML boolean parse
      w: 12
      h: 6
  tiles:
    "1":
      title: "Tile Title"
      type: data            # data | markdown
      query: |
        fetch logs | limit 10
      visualization: lineChart
      visualizationSettings:
        autoSelectVisualization: false
      davis: { enabled: false, davisVisualization: { isAvailable: true } }
```

### Tile types & visualizations

- **`type: data`** — DQL tile with `query` + `visualization`: `singleValue`, `lineChart`, `areaChart`, `barChart`, `pieChart`, `table`, `honeycomb`, `scatterplot`
- **`type: markdown`** — static text via `content` field (supports markdown)

For detailed visualizationSettings (singleValue, charts, tables, thresholds, unit overrides), see [references/resources/dashboards.md](references/resources/dashboards.md).

### Gotchas
- Always set `davis.enabled: false` on data tiles.
- Use `makeTimeseries` for log/span time series; `timeseries` for metrics.
- `version` field warning on create is benign.
- No `id` field → creates new; with `id` field → updates existing.

## Common Issues

**Name resolution ambiguity:**
- If a name matches multiple resources, dtctl will fail
- Solution: Use IDs instead of names
- Find ID: `dtctl get <resource> -o json --plain | jq -r '.[] | "\(.id) | \(.name)"'`

**Permission denied:**
- Check token scopes: https://github.com/dynatrace-oss/dtctl/blob/main/docs/TOKEN_SCOPES.md
- Verify permissions: `dtctl auth can-i <verb> <resource>`
- Check safety level: `dtctl config describe-context $(dtctl config current-context) --plain`

**Context/safety blocks:**
- Destructive operations may be blocked by safety level
- Switch context: `dtctl config use-context <name>`
- Adjust safety level when creating context

## Additional Resources

- **Troubleshooting**: [references/troubleshooting.md](references/troubleshooting.md)
- **Multi-tenant setup**: [references/config-management.md](references/config-management.md)
- **DQL syntax and templates**: [references/DQL-reference.md](references/DQL-reference.md)
- **Notebooks**: [references/resources/notebooks.md](references/resources/notebooks.md)
- **CLI help**: `dtctl --help`, `dtctl <command> --help`

## Safety Reminders

- Use `--plain` for machine/AI consumption
- Confirm context + safety level before destructive ops; prefer `get/describe` first
- Use `--mine` flag to filter resources you own
- For multi-tenant work, see [references/config-management.md](references/config-management.md)
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