skills/cargo-cdk/SKILL.md

---
name: cargo-cdk
description: "Manage a whole Cargo workspace as code — declare connectors, models, plays, tools, agents, MCP servers, segments, context, folders, files, workers, and apps in TypeScript, then reconcile them with `cargo-ai cdk` (init → types → plan → deploy), the way you would run Pulumi or the AWS CDK. Triggers: \"as code\", \"in git\", \"version-controlled\", \"reproducible\", \"Terraform for Cargo\", \"set up a whole workspace\", \"staging and production\", \"deploy from CI\", \"review this in a PR\", \"cargo.state.json\", \"scaffold from a template\", \"is there a cookbook for this\", \"start from a cookbook\". Skills with a CDK example (TAM building, account scoring, contact sourcing, routing, AI SDR, rep cockpit) live in gtm-skills; menu in references/cookbooks.md. Skip when: it is a one-off operation, a read, or an ad-hoc query — use the matching capability skill."
version: "1.2.3"
compatibility: Requires @cargo-ai/cli (npm). Sign in or create an account with `cargo-ai login --email` (emailed code, no browser), `--oauth`, or an API token
homepage: https://github.com/getcargohq/cargo-skills
---

# Cargo CDK — declarative workspace-as-code

Use this skill to define a Cargo workspace in TypeScript (`define*` builders from
`@cargo-ai/cdk`) and reconcile it to live infrastructure with `cargo-ai cdk deploy`.
It is the **declarative** counterpart to the imperative capability skills: instead
of running one CLI command per resource, you write the whole graph once and deploy
it repeatably, with a committed `cargo.state.json` linking your code to what Cargo
created.

## Bootstrap

Already signed in (`cargo-ai whoami` returns a workspace)? Skip to the next section.

```bash
npm install -g @cargo-ai/cli            # no global install? prefix every command with `npx @cargo-ai/cli`
cargo-ai login --email you@company.com  # emailed code, no browser; creates the account on first use
                                        # alternatives: --oauth (browser) · --token <api-token> (CI)
cargo-ai whoami                         # confirm the active workspace before any write
cargo-ai cdk --help                     # `unknown command` = CLI too old; reinstall @cargo-ai/cli@latest
```

Two CDK-specific extras: the project needs **`@cargo-ai/cdk` as a dependency** for the `define*` builders you import (`cargo-ai cdk init` scaffolds a `package.json` with it — then `npm install`), and the `cargo-ai cdk` domain ships with the CLI itself.

Every command prints JSON to stdout; failures exit non-zero with `{"errorMessage": "..."}`. Anything that creates a run or a batch is async — pass `--wait-until-finished` or poll the matching `get`. When the full skill bundle is installed, [`../cargo/references/prerequisites.md`](../cargo/references/prerequisites.md) adds the CLI version pin, token scopes, and the admin-only surface.

## 1) What this skill governs

- **Authoring** every Cargo resource with a `define*` builder that returns a
  **handle**; wiring resources by passing handles to each other (the dependency
  graph is your variable graph).
- **Deploying** the graph: `plan` (offline diff) → `deploy` (create/update, write
  state) → `destroy` (tear down). Plus drift (`refresh`), adoption (`import`), and
  recovery (`rollback`).
- **Typing** the config against your workspace's real integration schemas
  (`cargo-ai cdk types`).

The CDK spans **every** resource kind — so it overlaps every imperative capability
skill (`cargo-connection`, `cargo-storage`, `cargo-ai`, `cargo-orchestration`,
`cargo-content`, `cargo-hosting`, …). Which to reach for is the first decision:

## 2) CDK or the CLI? — the routing decision

> **Declarative (this skill) vs imperative (a capability skill).**

Use the **CDK** when the user is **managing resources as an artifact**:

- "Set up / stand up / bootstrap a whole workspace (as code / from a template)."
- "Make this reproducible / version-controlled / in git / repeatable across
  environments (dev → prod)."
- "Deploy these connectors + models + agents together" (a multi-resource graph
  wired by dependency).
- Anything that should be re-runnable and diffable, where losing the definition
  would be a problem.

Use the matching **capability skill** (imperative `cargo-ai <domain>`) when the
user is doing a **one-off operation** or **exploring**:

- "Create one connector", "add a column to this model", "list connectors",
  "run this workflow", "query storage", "read this agent's memory."
- Any read, ad-hoc query, or single mutation that doesn't need to live in code.

When unsure, ask whether the result should be committed and re-deployable. If yes
→ CDK. If it's a quick action or a read → the capability skill (see the
[`cargo` router](../cargo/SKILL.md) to pick the right domain).

## 3) The lifecycle

```
cargo-ai cdk init <dir>     scaffold a project from a template (blank | full)
        │
cargo-ai cdk types          generate per-workspace types for typed config (optional)
        │
   (author define* files)   importing a .ts file IS registration — no manifest
        │
cargo-ai cdk plan           offline: compile the graph, diff against cargo.state.json
        │
cargo-ai cdk deploy         create/update resources in dependency order, write state
        │
cargo-ai cdk destroy        tear down resources recorded in state
```

> **`cdk plan` says what resources change; it doesn't show what a play does.**
> For a `definePlay` / `defineTool` graph past three nodes, present a Mermaid
> flowchart of the node graph alongside the plan — routing, fallbacks, and which
> nodes bill on every scheduled run are what the reviewer is approving. Generate it
> from the deployed release after the first deploy, or from the node array while
> authoring:
> [`../cargo-orchestration/references/node-diagram.md`](../cargo-orchestration/references/node-diagram.md).

Side branches: `cargo-ai cdk refresh` (read-only drift report) · `deploy --refresh`
(re-apply code over out-of-band edits) · `deploy --prune` (delete resources removed
from code) · `cargo-ai cdk import <id> <uuid>` (bind an existing live resource into
state) · `cargo-ai cdk rollback` (restore the pre-deploy state snapshot).

## 4) Documentation hierarchy

- **Level 1** — `SKILL.md` (this file): the decision model, lifecycle, critical
  rules, and routing.
- **Level 2** — Guides:
  [`guides/authoring-resources.md`](guides/authoring-resources.md),
  [`guides/deploy-and-state.md`](guides/deploy-and-state.md),
  [`guides/typed-config.md`](guides/typed-config.md).
- **Level 2.5** — Recipes: [`recipes/*.md`](recipes/) — step-by-step playbooks to
  follow as your execution plan.
- **References** — [`references/resources.md`](references/resources.md) (the full
  builder catalog), [`references/commands.md`](references/commands.md) (every
  `cargo-ai cdk` subcommand + flags),
  [`references/troubleshooting.md`](references/troubleshooting.md), and
  [`references/examples/full-workspace.md`](references/examples/full-workspace.md).

## 5) Read behavior — match the task to a doc and READ IT

| When the task involves… | Read this first | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Writing `define*` files, wiring resources, `secret()`/`env()`, `defineWorkflow` bodies (tool/play logic) | [`guides/authoring-resources.md`](guides/authoring-resources.md) | The builder catalog, the handle/ref model, secrets, and how workflow bodies compile. |
| `plan` / `deploy` / `destroy`, the state file, drift, adopting existing resources, CI | [`guides/deploy-and-state.md`](guides/deploy-and-state.md) | The deploy lifecycle, `cargo.state.json` semantics, drift/import/rollback, async builds. |
| Typed config, `cargo-ai cdk types`, tsconfig wiring, `integrations.*` in workflow bodies | [`guides/typed-config.md`](guides/typed-config.md) | What `cdk types` generates and how to wire it into your project. |
| A field/spec/output for a specific builder | [`references/resources.md`](references/resources.md) | Every builder → spec fields → which ref each takes → outputs. |
| Exact command flags | [`references/commands.md`](references/commands.md) | Every `cargo-ai cdk` subcommand and its flags. |
| A deploy error / footgun | [`references/troubleshooting.md`](references/troubleshooting.md) | The known failure modes and fixes. |
| A known GTM outcome, before authoring one | [`references/cookbooks.md`](references/cookbooks.md) | The cookbook menu: gtm-skills that carry a worked CDK example, and the adaptations each supports. |

### Cookbooks — check the menu before authoring a known outcome from scratch

[`getcargohq/gtm-skills`](https://github.com/getcargohq/gtm-skills) holds, beside its
one-off skills, **cookbooks**: skills that carry worked CDK resources, the same job as a deployed
pipeline that keeps producing the result (TAM building, account scoring, contact
sourcing, routing engine, AI SDR, rep cockpit, …). Every folder is self-contained: its
own models, connectors and folders, no shared foundation, no requires graph.

**The menu is local: [`references/cookbooks.md`](references/cookbooks.md).** Read it
before authoring a common GTM outcome from scratch. It is generated from gtm-skills'
`catalog.json`, so it cannot drift.

**A cookbook is a worked example, not a template to fill in.** Each one declares in its `SKILL.md` what may be reshaped, what must hold or it stops
working, and what has to be answered either way, and it carries its own procedure:
look at the repo, `cargo-ai cdk init --template blank` if there is no CDK project yet,
copy the folder in as a sibling and reconcile it with what is already declared, adapt,
plan and stop, deploy on a yes, walk its `Done when`. There is no scaffolder or copy
tool in the middle: **you place the code**, because you can see the project and a tool
cannot.

```sh
npx skills add getcargohq/gtm-skills/tam-building    # then: "keep our TAM current"
cargo-ai cdk init my-project --template blank        # only if there is no CDK project yet
```

**If you are mid-task and the skill is not in this session**, run the `skills add`
above and read `.agents/skills/<slug>/SKILL.md` directly; no reload needed. To read
one without installing, `npx skills use getcargohq/gtm-skills@<slug>` prints it.

**Routing rule: one-off versus standing.** A user who wants the list today wants
`cargo-gtm` (or gtm-skills' one-off `build-tam-list`); a user who wants a pipeline
that keeps producing it wants `tam-building`. The same words describe both ("build
our TAM"), so listen for whether the result is meant to keep arriving. A cookbook
matches → install it and follow it. No match → author from the recipes below.

**Never `cargo-ai cdk init --force` into a directory that is not empty.** It replaces
the project's `package.json` and reverts adapted code, while `cargo.state.json`
survives, so the next `plan` diffs a live workspace against code nobody wrote. Copy the
skill folder in as a sibling instead.

Caveat: the examples typecheck, but they are not yet deploy-verified against a live
workspace, and every one is `to-be-approved`. Treat each skill's `Done when` as the
acceptance test, and always review `cargo-ai cdk plan` before deploying.

### Recipes — follow step-by-step when one matches

| Recipe | Use when… |
|---|---|
| [`recipes/scaffold-a-workspace.md`](recipes/scaffold-a-workspace.md) | Standing up a new workspace from scratch (`init --template full` → types → plan → deploy). |
| [`recipes/add-connector-and-model.md`](recipes/add-connector-and-model.md) | Adding a data source + a model sourced from it, wired by handle. |
| [`recipes/build-an-agent.md`](recipes/build-an-agent.md) | Composing a model + tool + agent (with `uses` / `models` / `tools`) and deploying. |
| [`recipes/migrate-existing-workspace.md`](recipes/migrate-existing-workspace.md) | Bringing an already-live workspace under CDK management via `cdk import`. |
| [`recipes/deploy-from-ci.md`](recipes/deploy-from-ci.md) | Deploying non-interactively from CI (token auth + committed state). |

## 6) Critical rules

## Help

- `cargo-ai cdk --help` and `cargo-ai cdk <subcommand> --help` for the live flag
  surface.
- When a documented command/flag/response doesn't match what you observe, file a
  report: `cargo-ai workspaceManagement report create` (see
  [`../cargo-workspace-management/SKILL.md`](../cargo-workspace-management/SKILL.md)).