Mantis

🚀 AI-first queryable Infrastructure as Code tool that is an alternative to Terraform and Helm

Introduction

Mantis is a next-generation Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tool that reimagines how we manage cloud and Kubernetes resources. Built as a fork of OpenTofu and powered by CUE, Mantis combines the best of Terraform and Helm while solving their limitations.

To manage cloud resources, Mantis compiles CUE configurations into Terraform compatible json and leverages the Opentofu engine to orchestrate it. To manage K8s resources, Mantis compiles CUE configurations yaml manifests which can be deployed either using mantis or via integrations with Gitops tools like ArgoCD or FluxCD

Key Features

• Unified Configuration: Single tool to replace both Terraform and Helm workflows
• Task-Centric State Management: Unlike Terraform's global state, Mantis manages state at the task level, eliminating lock contentions and speeding up deployments
• AI-first: Mantis treats configuration as code and applies Gen-AI to generate, validate, query and visualize configuration and config changes
• Built-in Policy Engine: Define and enforce security, compliance, and operational policies

⚠️ Note: Mantis is under active development. APIs and CLI interfaces may change.

Installation

Prerequisites

• Basic understanding of IaC concepts
• Familiarity with Terraform or Helm (helpful but not required)

Quick Install

MacOS/Linux

brew install pranil-augur/homebrew-mantis/mantis

Usage

Basic Example - Install a K8s based Flask app

Deploy a cloud-native Flask application integrated with AWS RDS and managed through Kubernetes. We'll walk through the structure of the example code, how the tasks are broken down, and how the CUE-based modules simplify reusable infrastructure components.

Let’s dive into the file structure and flow that powers this deployment.

Project File Structure Below is the structure of the example deployment:

tree -L 2
.
├── cue.mod
│   └── module.cue           # Defines the module name and CUE version
├── defs
│   ├── deployment.cue       # Deployment configurations for the Flask app
│   ├── rds.cue              # RDS database configurations
│   ├── variables.cue        # Variable definitions and inputs
│   └── providers.cue        # Providers configuration
└── install_flask_app.tf.cue  # Main Mantis flow for deploying the app

This file structure reflects how Mantis organizes infrastructure code using modular and reusable CUE configurations. Let's look at what each file and directory does.

1. Main Flow (install_flask_app.tf.cue)​

Main Flow Code

The main flow file orchestrates the entire deployment process by:

• Importing and using the definitions from defs/
• Defining task dependencies and execution order
• Managing state and variable passing between tasks
• Coordinating both AWS and Kubernetes resources

The core syntax of the main flow is:

deploy_flask_rds: {
   @flow(deploy_flask_rds)
   # Define the tasks that make up the flow
   task_1: {
       @task(mantis.core.TF) // Terraform task
       ...
   }
   task_2: {
       @task(mantis.core.TF)
       dep: [task_1] // Define task dependencies
       ...
   }
   task_3: {
       @task(mantis.core.K8s) // Kubernetes task
       dep: [task_1, task_2] // Define task dependencies
       ...
   }
}

2. cue.mod/module.cue​

This file defines the module name and CUE language version being used for the project. It also allows dependencies to be managed across the project.

module: "augur.ai/rds-flask-app"
language: {
   version: "v0.10.0"
}

// Define the dependencies for the project
dependencies: [
   "abc.xyz.com/module1",
   "abc.xyz.com/module2",
]

Purpose: This ensures the project remains compatible across various CUE versions and clearly identifies the module for import across multiple flows.

3. defs Directory​

• defs/deployment.cue
• defs/variables.cue
• defs/providers.cue
• defs/rds.cue

package defs

flaskRdsDeployment: {
apiVersion: "apps/v1"
kind:       "Deployment"
metadata: {
   name:   "flask-rds-deployment"
   labels: {
       app: "flask-rds"
   }
}
spec: {
   replicas: 2
   selector: {
       matchLabels: {
           app: "flask-rds"
       }
   }
   template: {
       metadata: {
           labels: {
               app: "flask-rds"
           }
       }
       spec: {
           containers: [{
               name:  "flask-rds"
   	    image: "\(common.container_repo)"
               ports: [{
                   containerPort: 80
               }]
               env: [
                   {
                       name:  "DB_HOST"
                       value: "@var(rds_endpoint)"
                   },
                   {
                       name:  "DB_NAME"
                       value: "\(common.db_name)"
                   },
                   {
                       name:  "DB_USER"
                       value: "\(common.db_username)"
                   },
                   {
                       name:  "DB_PASSWORD"
                       value: "\(common.db_password)"
                   }
               ]
               resources: {
                   limits: {
                       memory: "256Mi"
                       cpu:    "250m"
                   }
                   requests: {
                       memory: "128Mi"
                       cpu:    "80m"
                   }
               }
           }]
           }
       }
   }

Demo video

Introduction to Mantis

Documentation

Core Concepts

• Tasks & flows
• Configuration Query Language

Guides

• Getting Started
• [Migrating from Terraform](Coming soon)
• [Migrating from Helm](Coming soon)
• [Codifying Cloud Infrastructure](Coming soon)

Contributing

• The easiest way to contribute is to pick an issue with the good first issue tag 💪. Read the contribution guidelines here.
• Submit your bug reports and feature requests here

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Community

• Join our growing community around the world, for help, ideas, and discussions
  • Discord https://discord.gg/BJ8nKSmH
  • Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/company/augur-ai-inc/