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| 1 | +# Argo CD Agent Visibility UI |
| 2 | + |
| 3 | +## Summary |
| 4 | + |
| 5 | +This proposal introduces a new **Agent Visibility UI** for Argo CD Agent. |
| 6 | +Its purpose is to provide a clear and intuitive way to visualize the **connection and synchronization status** of multiple **Agents** within the Argo CD web interface. |
| 7 | + |
| 8 | +Currently, users can only inspect Agent information using the `argocd-agentctl` CLI, making it difficult to monitor multi-cluster environments or understand Agent connectivity at a glance. |
| 9 | +This proposal adds a **simple, visibility-focused UI** integrated into the existing Argo CD dashboard. |
| 10 | + |
| 11 | +--- |
| 12 | + |
| 13 | +## Motivation |
| 14 | + |
| 15 | +The Argo CD Agent project enables distributed GitOps by allowing multiple Agents — running across different clusters or namespaces — to connect to a single Principal. |
| 16 | +While this architecture supports large-scale operations, the current lack of visual monitoring introduces key challenges: |
| 17 | + |
| 18 | +- No unified view of all Agents connected to the Principal. |
| 19 | +- Difficult to identify unreachable or disconnected Agents. |
| 20 | +- No easy way to inspect Agent configurations such as mode, TLS setup, or Redis linkage. |
| 21 | + |
| 22 | +A native visibility UI allows operators and developers to quickly assess cluster connectivity and inspect configuration details—all within Argo CD. |
| 23 | + |
| 24 | +--- |
| 25 | + |
| 26 | +## Goals |
| 27 | + |
| 28 | +- Introduce a new **“Agents”** navigation item in the Argo CD sidebar. |
| 29 | +- Display **Principal & Agents** relationship overview. |
| 30 | +- Provide **Tile, List, Tree, and Detail** views for clear visualization. |
| 31 | +- Show key Agent data: connection, sync status, mode, namespace, and Principal linkage. |
| 32 | +- Keep v1 focused on **simple visibility and clarity**, without complex interactions. |
| 33 | + |
| 34 | +--- |
| 35 | + |
| 36 | +## Non-Goals |
| 37 | + |
| 38 | +- Deploying, deleting, or reconfiguring Agents. |
| 39 | +- Real-time metric streaming or Prometheus integration. |
| 40 | +- Editing configuration fields within the UI. |
| 41 | + |
| 42 | +--- |
| 43 | + |
| 44 | +## Proposal |
| 45 | + |
| 46 | +### 1. Agents Overview Page |
| 47 | + |
| 48 | +The **Agents** entry in the sidebar opens the overview page, which supports two layouts: |
| 49 | +**Tile View** and **List View**. Users can toggle between them. |
| 50 | + |
| 51 | +#### Tile View |
| 52 | + |
| 53 | +Each card represents either the **Principal** or an **Agent**. |
| 54 | + |
| 55 | +**Principal Card Fields** |
| 56 | + |
| 57 | +- **Name:** Principal name |
| 58 | +- **Connecting Agents:** number of Agents currently linked |
| 59 | +- **Listen Port / Redis Address:** summary of current operational endpoints |
| 60 | + |
| 61 | +**Agent Card Fields** |
| 62 | + |
| 63 | +- **Mode:** `Managed` or `Autonomous` |
| 64 | +- **Connection Status:** `Connected`, `Unreachable`, `Disconnected` |
| 65 | +- **Sync Status:** `Synced` or `OutOfSync` |
| 66 | +- **Principal:** shows associated Principal name |
| 67 | +- **Destination:** deployment location (e.g. `in-cluster`) |
| 68 | +- **Server Address / Port:** connection endpoint if available |
| 69 | +- **Actions:** `Refresh` |
| 70 | + |
| 71 | +Color borders indicate connection health: |
| 72 | + |
| 73 | +- 🟢 Green → Connected |
| 74 | +- 🟡 Yellow → Unreachable |
| 75 | +- 🔴 Red → Disconnected |
| 76 | + |
| 77 | +#### List View |
| 78 | + |
| 79 | +A compact version of the Tile View with rows for each Agent. |
| 80 | + |
| 81 | +#### Principal Header Row |
| 82 | + |
| 83 | +- **Name:** The name of the Principal (e.g., `agent-principal`) |
| 84 | +- **Connecting Agents:** Number of Agents currently connected (e.g., `2`) |
| 85 | + |
| 86 | +#### Agent Rows |
| 87 | + |
| 88 | +Each Agent entry displays key configuration and status information: |
| 89 | + |
| 90 | +- **Principal:** The associated Principal (always the same single Principal) |
| 91 | +- **Name:** The Agent name (e.g., `agent-1`) |
| 92 | +- **Mode:** `Managed` or `Autonomous` |
| 93 | +- **Destination:** The deployment location (e.g., `in-cluster`) |
| 94 | +- **Status (right side):** |
| 95 | + - **Connection:** `Connected`, `Unreachable`, or `Disconnected` |
| 96 | + - **Sync:** `Synced` or `OutOfSync` |
| 97 | + |
| 98 | +#### Visual Cues |
| 99 | + |
| 100 | +- Left border color indicates **connection** state: |
| 101 | + - 🟢 **Green** → Connected |
| 102 | + - 🟡 **Yellow** → Unreachable |
| 103 | + - 🔴 **Red** → Disconnected |
| 104 | + |
| 105 | +#### Navigation |
| 106 | + |
| 107 | +- Clicking an **Agent row** opens the **Agent Detail View**. |
| 108 | +- Clicking the **Principal header row** (or its “Details” action) opens the **Principal Detail View**. |
| 109 | + |
| 110 | +--- |
| 111 | + |
| 112 | +### 2. Agents Tree View |
| 113 | + |
| 114 | +Displays a hierarchical **Principal → Agents** visualization. |
| 115 | + |
| 116 | +- The Principal appears as the **root node** (e.g., `agent-principal`). |
| 117 | +- Each Agent node branches from it, showing: |
| 118 | + - Connection (`conn:`) and Sync (`sync:`) indicators. |
| 119 | + - **Mode** (Managed / Autonomous) displayed as a small tag. |
| 120 | +- Unreachable or disconnected Agents are visually dimmed or marked with warning icons. |
| 121 | + |
| 122 | +Clicking an **Agent node** opens the **Agent Detail View**. |
| 123 | +Clicking the **Principal header row** (or its “Details” action) navigates to the **Principal Tree View**. |
| 124 | + |
| 125 | +--- |
| 126 | + |
| 127 | +### 3. Detail Views |
| 128 | + |
| 129 | +#### Principal Detail View |
| 130 | + |
| 131 | +A configuration-oriented detail sheet showing all runtime parameters grouped by section: |
| 132 | + |
| 133 | +**General** |
| 134 | + |
| 135 | +- Namespace |
| 136 | +- Allowed Namespaces |
| 137 | +- Log Level / Format |
| 138 | + |
| 139 | +**Network** |
| 140 | + |
| 141 | +- Listen Port |
| 142 | +- Metrics Port |
| 143 | +- Health Check Port |
| 144 | +- gRPC / Proxy Ports |
| 145 | + |
| 146 | +**Namespace Management** |
| 147 | + |
| 148 | +- Auto-Create Namespace |
| 149 | +- Create Pattern / Create Labels |
| 150 | + |
| 151 | +**Authentication / TLS** |
| 152 | + |
| 153 | +- Authentication Method |
| 154 | +- Require Client Cert |
| 155 | +- TLS Secret / Key Paths |
| 156 | +- Root CA Path |
| 157 | +- Mutual Subject Mapping |
| 158 | + |
| 159 | +**JWT / Token** |
| 160 | + |
| 161 | +- JWT Key Paths and Secrets |
| 162 | + |
| 163 | +**Resource Proxy** |
| 164 | + |
| 165 | +- Enabled |
| 166 | +- TLS Secret |
| 167 | +- Cert / Key Paths |
| 168 | + |
| 169 | +**Redis** |
| 170 | + |
| 171 | +- Redis Server Address |
| 172 | +- Compression Type |
| 173 | + |
| 174 | +**Communication** |
| 175 | + |
| 176 | +- Keep-Alive Interval |
| 177 | +- WebSocket Enabled |
| 178 | + |
| 179 | +#### Agent Detail View |
| 180 | + |
| 181 | +Displays the specific Agent’s runtime config and link to its Principal. |
| 182 | + |
| 183 | +**General** |
| 184 | + |
| 185 | +- Mode (`Managed` / `Autonomous`) |
| 186 | +- Namespace |
| 187 | +- Log Level / Format |
| 188 | + |
| 189 | +**Connection (Principal)** |
| 190 | + |
| 191 | +- Principal Address |
| 192 | +- Principal Port |
| 193 | +- Credentials |
| 194 | + |
| 195 | +**Network** |
| 196 | + |
| 197 | +- Metrics Port |
| 198 | +- Health Check Port |
| 199 | +- Proxy Port |
| 200 | + |
| 201 | +**TLS / Security** |
| 202 | + |
| 203 | +- Skip TLS Validation |
| 204 | +- Root CA Secret Name |
| 205 | +- TLS Secret Name (Agent Cert) |
| 206 | +- Client Cert / Key Paths |
| 207 | + |
| 208 | +**Resource Proxy** |
| 209 | + |
| 210 | +- Enabled |
| 211 | + |
| 212 | +**Redis** |
| 213 | + |
| 214 | +- Redis Server Address |
| 215 | + |
| 216 | +**Communication** |
| 217 | + |
| 218 | +- gRPC Compression Enabled |
| 219 | +- Keep-Alive Interval |
| 220 | +- WebSocket Enabled |
| 221 | + |
| 222 | +--- |
| 223 | + |
| 224 | +## Use Cases |
| 225 | + |
| 226 | +**Use case 1:** |
| 227 | +As an operator, I want to visually confirm which Agents are connected or unreachable, directly in Argo CD. |
| 228 | + |
| 229 | +**Use case 2:** |
| 230 | +As a developer, I want to quickly check the synchronization and connection status for each Agent. |
| 231 | + |
| 232 | +**Use case 3:** |
| 233 | +As an administrator, I want to review Principal and Agent configurations side by side for debugging or validation. |
| 234 | + |
| 235 | +--- |
| 236 | + |
| 237 | +## Implementation Details |
| 238 | + |
| 239 | +- The **UI** will be implemented within the Argo CD React/TypeScript frontend. |
| 240 | +- The **API server** will expose new endpoints for: |
| 241 | + - Listing Agents and their connection metadata. |
| 242 | + - Returning full Principal and Agent configuration payloads. |
| 243 | +- Data source: Argo CD’s internal cache or the `argocd-agent` control-plane API. |
| 244 | + |
| 245 | +--- |
| 246 | + |
| 247 | +## Security Considerations |
| 248 | + |
| 249 | +This proposal only surfaces existing configuration and status data. |
| 250 | +No additional privileges or mutating endpoints are required. |
| 251 | + |
| 252 | +--- |
| 253 | + |
| 254 | +## Risks and Mitigations |
| 255 | + |
| 256 | +| Risk | Mitigation | |
| 257 | +| ----------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | |
| 258 | +| High Agent count impacts UI | Implement pagination and lazy rendering | |
| 259 | +| Outdated cache data | Add manual “Refresh” button for quick reload | |
| 260 | +| Inconsistent status reporting | Use unified connection state from agent-controller | |
| 261 | + |
| 262 | +--- |
| 263 | + |
| 264 | +## Upgrade / Downgrade Strategy |
| 265 | + |
| 266 | +This change introduces only additional UI components and supporting APIs. |
| 267 | +Existing Argo CD instances remain unaffected. |
| 268 | +If no Agents are registered, the “Agents” section will show a neutral empty state. |
| 269 | + |
| 270 | +--- |
| 271 | + |
| 272 | +## Future Work |
| 273 | + |
| 274 | +- Provide Agent action controls such as **Reconnect**, **Restart**, and **Sync** |
| 275 | +- Add a UI to link and navigate between **Applications** and their managing **Agents** |
| 276 | +- Allow editing of **Agent configuration** directly from the Argo CD UI |
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