Deploying to AKS

Chant supports cross-lexicon projects where Azure infrastructure and Kubernetes workloads live in the same src/ directory. The Azure lexicon produces an ARM template; the K8s lexicon produces kubectl-ready YAML.

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Azure Lexicon (ARM)                                    │
│  ├── VNet + Subnets + NSG + Route Table                 │
│  ├── AKS Cluster (SystemAssigned identity)              │
│  ├── Container Registry (Premium, admin disabled)       │
│  ├── 3× Managed Identities (app, dns, monitor)         │
│  ├── Role Assignments (ACR Pull, DNS Contributor, etc.) │
│  └── Azure DNS Zone                                     │
└────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────┘
                     │ client IDs via .env → config.ts
┌────────────────────▼────────────────────────────────────┐
│  K8s Lexicon                                            │
│  ├── Namespace (quotas, limits, network policy)         │
│  ├── AutoscaledService (Deployment + HPA + PDB)         │
│  ├── WorkloadIdentityServiceAccount (AKS)               │
│  ├── AGIC Ingress + AksExternalDnsAgent                 │
│  ├── AzureDiskStorageClass                              │
│  └── AzureMonitorCollector                              │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Cross-lexicon value flow

ARM template outputs map to K8s composite props via .env:

ARM Output	K8s Composite Prop
`APP_CLIENT_ID`	`AksWorkloadIdentityServiceAccount({ clientId })`
`EXTERNAL_DNS_CLIENT_ID`	`AksExternalDnsAgent({ clientId })`
`MONITOR_CLIENT_ID`	`AzureMonitorCollector({ clientId })`
`AZURE_TENANT_ID`	`tenantId` props on multiple composites
`AKS_CLUSTER_NAME`	`clusterName` props

Values flow through .env → config.ts → K8s source files. npm run load-outputs refreshes .env after any infra deploy.

K8s composites used

The K8s lexicon provides AKS-specific composites for the workload side:

AksWorkloadIdentityServiceAccount — ServiceAccount with Azure client ID annotation
AgicIngress — Ingress with Application Gateway annotations, WAF, health probes
AzureDiskStorageClass — Azure Disk CSI StorageClass (Premium/Standard/Ultra)
AzureFileStorageClass — ReadWriteMany StorageClass via Azure Files (SMB/NFS)
AksExternalDnsAgent — Azure DNS record management
AzureMonitorCollector — Log Analytics + OTel metrics

See the AKS Composites reference for full API details.

Deploy workflow

az group create --name $AZURE_RESOURCE_GROUP --location eastus
npm run build          # Build ARM template + K8s manifests
npm run deploy-infra   # Deploy ARM template
npm run configure-kubectl  # Set up kubeconfig
npm run load-outputs   # Write client IDs to .env
npm run build:k8s      # Rebuild K8s with real values
npm run apply          # kubectl apply