Skip to main content

​
Connect your first cluster

Start with a real cluster and a safe default: the Niro agent enrolls read-only, calls home over outbound HTTPS, and begins sending live fleet context without opening public ports.
Niro dashboard showing connected cluster health and workload incident context

k3s cluster

Any k3s installation works. A single-node homelab cluster is enough.

kubectl access

Run the installer from a machine that can apply resources to the cluster.

Niro account

Start free. No credit card required for the first cluster.

​
Enroll the agent

1

Create a cluster in Niro

Sign in to app.niro.cx and choose Add cluster from the fleet view.Give the cluster a name like homelab, edge-site-01, or customer-prod-1, then choose its environment. Niro generates a single-use enrollment token.
2

Run the install command

Copy the command from the dashboard and run it with kubectl access to the target cluster:
curl -fsSL https://get.niro.cx/install.sh | NIRO_TOKEN=<your-token> sh
The installer creates the niro-system namespace, applies read-only RBAC, deploys the agent, and stores the long-lived cluster key inside the cluster.
The enrollment token is single-use and expires in 1 hour. Regenerate it from cluster settings if the install window expires.
3

Confirm the heartbeat

Return to the dashboard. Within about 15 seconds, your cluster should show a fresh heartbeat, node count, pod inventory, and health state.
The cluster is connected when it shows a green Healthy badge and a recent last heartbeat timestamp.

​
Deploy your first app

Niro gives you two delivery paths. Use the visual builder for a fast first deploy, then move production remediation through Git when your workflow needs review gates.
The visual builder turns application settings into Kubernetes manifests and shows policy findings before you apply.
1

Enable apply capability

The agent starts read-only. Re-run the installer with apply enabled before deploying workloads:
curl -fsSL https://get.niro.cx/install.sh | NIRO_ENABLE_APPLY=1 sh
2

Open the builder

In the dashboard, go to Apps → Deploy app, then select your cluster.
3

Fill in the workload form

Enter the container image, ports, environment variables, resource limits, and private registry settings if needed.
4

Apply to cluster

Click Apply to cluster. Niro sends the generated manifests to the agent and shows per-object results within seconds.
Continue with Deploy an App for the full walkthrough.

​
Enable optional capabilities

Capabilities are explicit so cluster owners decide exactly what Niro can do. 
curl -fsSL https://get.niro.cx/install.sh | NIRO_ENABLE_LOGS=1 sh
Each capability appears in the dashboard after the next heartbeat. See Agent Capabilities for the complete matrix.

​
What’s next?

Monitor your fleet

Use cluster health, pod inventory, and timelines to understand operations across environments.

Stream pod logs

View live logs from any enabled cluster directly in the browser.

Set up alerts

Get notified when incidents fire and trigger AI investigations on Pro.

Add private registries

Pull private images with scoped registry credentials and image pull secret injection.
Last modified on June 12, 2026