using-medusa-cloud

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Managing Medusa Cloud Resources

Operational guide for AI agents managing Medusa Cloud infrastructure through the mcloud CLI. Covers setup, deployments, debugging, environments, and variables.

Constraints

Always pass `--json` when parsing CLI output. Plaintext output is for humans and may change without warning.
Confirm context before mutating. Run mcloud whoami --json before any state change.
Read before you write. Run a get or list before any delete, redeploy, or trigger-build.
Use `--yes` for destructive operations. delete commands (including variables delete) require --yes in non-interactive mode.
Variable changes need a deploy to apply. variables set/delete don't rebuild or redeploy: redeploy for runtime changes, trigger-build for build changes.
Production environments cannot be deleted. mcloud environments delete errors on production by design.
Never pass `--reveal` unless the user explicitly asks. Secret values appear in terminal scrollback and logs.
`--json` and `--follow` are incompatible. Use bounded time windows (--from/--to) with --json for programmatic log ingestion.

CRITICAL: Load Reference Files When Needed

Load these references based on what you're doing:

Setting up the CLI? → MUST load setup.md first
Debugging a failed deployment? → MUST load debugging-deployments.md first
Managing environments or variables? → MUST load environments-and-variables.md first

Minimum requirement: Load at least one reference file before executing multi-step workflows.

Quick Reference

Authentication Check

Always verify auth and scope before mutating state:

bash

mcloud whoami --json | jq -e '.auth.kind != "none" and .organization.id != null'

Exit code 0 = authenticated and scoped. Non-zero = stop and ask the user.

Set Context Once

bash

mcloud use \
  --organization org_123 \
  --project proj_123 \
  --environment production

CRITICAL: mcloud use without flags is interactive and fails in CI/Docker/piped input. Always pass flags.

Deployment Status Routing

Route on backend_status (or storefront_status):

Status	Meaning	Logs to check
`build-failed`	Build step failed	`mcloud deployments build-logs <id>`
`deployment-failed`	Runtime crashed after build	`mcloud logs --deployment <id>`
`timed-out`	Exceeded time budget	Both: build-logs first, then runtime logs

Redeployment Decision

Command	When to use
`mcloud environments redeploy <env>`	Fix is environment-side (variable change, infra) — reruns existing build
`mcloud environments trigger-build <env>`	Fix is in source code on the tracked branch — starts new build

Common Pitfalls

TTY-only commands. mcloud login, mcloud use (without flags), and delete without --yes require a TTY. They fail in CI, Docker, or piped input.
`MCLOUD_TOKEN` precedence. When set, file-based credentials are ignored and mcloud login is rejected. Unset it to switch accounts.
Personal vs org access keys. Personal keys require --organization; org keys are pre-scoped.
`organizations list` requires personal auth. Org access keys return 401 on this command.
Build IDs vs deployment IDs. depl_* = deployment ID; anything else = build ID (resolved to latest deployment). mcloud logs --deployment accepts both; other commands take build IDs only.
`mcloud local build` has no `--json`. It streams plaintext and reports success via its exit code (0 = success). Requires Docker and must run inside the project's Git repo. Use it to reproduce build-failed failures locally — see debugging-deployments.md.

Reference Files

setup.md                       - CLI installation, authentication, context setup
debugging-deployments.md       - Build/deployment failure recipes and log analysis
environments-and-variables.md  - Environment lifecycle and variable management