Install the Agent Runtime Operator

This guide walks you through installing the Agent Runtime Operator on your Kubernetes cluster. The operator provides a unified, framework-agnostic way to deploy and manage agentic workloads.

Dependencies

The Agent Runtime Operator requires the following dependencies:

  • Kubernetes: A running Kubernetes cluster

  • cert-manager: For managing TLS certificates for webhooks

Installation

Install with Kubernetes YAML

Step 1: Install cert-manager

The Agent Runtime Operator requires cert-manager for webhook support:

# Install cert-manager
kubectl apply -f https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/releases/download/v1.18.2/cert-manager.yaml

# Wait for cert-manager to be ready
kubectl wait --for=condition=ready pod -l app.kubernetes.io/name=cert-manager -n cert-manager --timeout=60s

Step 2: Install the Agent Runtime Operator

# Install the operator
kubectl apply -f https://github.com/agentic-layer/agent-runtime-operator/releases/download/v0.4.4/install.yaml

# Wait for the operator to be ready
kubectl wait --for=condition=Available --timeout=60s -n agent-runtime-operator-system deployment/agent-runtime-operator-controller-manager

Find the latest version at https://github.com/agentic-layer/agent-runtime-operator/releases

Install with Flux

If you’re using Flux for GitOps, you can install the operator using an OCI repository:

apiVersion: source.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
kind: OCIRepository
metadata:
  name: agent-runtime-operator
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  interval: 5m
  url: oci://ghcr.io/agentic-layer/manifests/agent-runtime-operator
  ref:
    semver: ">= 0, < 1"
---
apiVersion: kustomize.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
kind: Kustomization
metadata:
  name: agent-runtime-operator
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  sourceRef:
    kind: OCIRepository
    name: agent-runtime-operator
  interval: 10m
  path: ./default
  prune: true
  wait: true
  dependsOn:
    # Ensure cert-manager is installed first (if you install it with Flux as well)
    - name: cert-manager

Verify the installation

# Check that the operator is running
kubectl get pods -n agent-runtime-operator-system

# Check that the CRDs are installed
kubectl get crd agents.runtime.agentic-layer.ai

You should see the operator pod running and the Agent CRD available.

Next Steps

Now that you have the Agent Runtime Operator installed, you can:

  1. Create your first agent - Learn how to deploy template-based and custom agents

  2. Explore agent samples at https://github.com/agentic-layer/agent-samples

  3. Build custom agents using the SDK at https://github.com/agentic-layer/sdk-python

The operator is now ready to manage your agent workloads! 🚀