reana-client-docker

name	reana-client-docker
description	Use the Dockerized REANA client to ping a REANA server, list workflows, and format output with jq.
author	hermes
version	1

Overview

When to Use

Use the Dockerized REANA client to ping a REANA server, list workflows, and format output with jq.

Overview

This skill contains a reusable operational workflow. Follow the existing task-specific steps and examples in the sections below.

Pitfalls

• Do not hardcode credentials, tokens, or personal secrets.
• Verify external service URLs, paths, and permissions before making changes.
• Keep generated outputs reproducible and record input assumptions.

Verification

• Confirm required inputs and credentials are available.
• Run the smallest safe command or example before scaling up.
• Check produced files, API responses, or plots before reporting success.

This skill provides a reusable workflow for interacting with a REANA server using the reanahub/reana-client Docker image. It covers:

1. Ping the server to verify connectivity.
2. List workflows with JSON output.
3. Format the list for human‑readable display using jq and column.

The approach relies on setting the REANA_SERVER_URL and REANA_ACCESS_TOKEN environment variables at runtime, which avoids issues with the client not picking up the config file inside the container.

Prerequisites

• Docker must be installed and the current user must be able to run docker commands.
• REANA access token for the target server (dev or prod) must be available.
• Optional: the jq utility installed on the host for post‑processing (available in most Linux distributions).

Steps

1. Define variables (replace with your values):

   REANA_URL="https://reana-dev.kube.aip.de"
   REANA_TOKEN="<your‑access‑token>"
   

2. Important for workflow execution with mounted local files: when using the Dockerized REANA client to run or upload a local workflow directory, always set the container working directory to the mounted path, for example -w /workspace -v $(pwd):/workspace. Otherwise reana-client run may find reana.yaml but upload referenced input files from the wrong directory.

   Correct pattern:

   sg docker -c "docker run --rm -i \
     -w /workspace \
     -e REANA_SERVER_URL=${REANA_URL} \
     -e REANA_ACCESS_TOKEN=${REANA_TOKEN} \
     -v $(pwd):/workspace \
     reanahub/reana-client:0.95.0-alpha.3 \
     run -w my-workflow"
   

3. Ping the REANA server to verify the connection:

   sg docker -c "docker run --rm \
     -e REANA_SERVER_URL=${REANA_URL} \
     -e REANA_ACCESS_TOKEN=${REANA_TOKEN} \
     reanahub/reana-client:0.95.0-alpha.3 ping"
   

   Expected output includes Status: Connected.

4. List workflows (verbose JSON):

   sg docker -c "docker run --rm \
     -e REANA_SERVER_URL=${REANA_URL} \
     -e REANA_ACCESS_TOKEN=${REANA_TOKEN} \
     reanahub/reana-client:0.95.0-alpha.3 \
     list -v --json"
   

   This returns a JSON array with workflow metadata.

5. Show the most recent N workflows nicely (e.g., last 5):

   sg docker -c "docker run --rm \
     -e REANA_SERVER_URL=${REANA_URL} \
     -e REANA_ACCESS_TOKEN=${REANA_TOKEN} \
     reanahub/reana-client:0.95.0-alpha.3 \
     list -v --json" | \
     jq -r '.[:N][] | [.name, .run_number, .created, .status, (.duration|tostring), .id] | @tsv' | column -t
   

   Replace with the number of entries you want (e.g., ).

Pitfalls & Tips

• Config file not used: The client inside the container does not automatically read ~/.reana/config.yaml. Supplying REANA_SERVER_URL and REANA_ACCESS_TOKEN as environment variables is more reliable.
• Token safety: Avoid exposing the token in shell history. Consider exporting the variables in a secure session or using a secrets manager.
• sg docker wrapper: In this environment we use sg docker -c "..." to run Docker commands under the appropriate group/privileges.
• JSON parsing: If jq is not available, you can install it (apt-get install -y jq) or manually process the JSON.

Verification

After running the ping command, you should see:

REANA server: https://reana-dev.kube.aip.de
REANA server version: X.Y.Z
REANA client version: X.Y.Z
Authenticated as: <user>
Status: Connected

The formatted list command will produce a table similar to:

workflow-name                 12  2026-03-23T14:56:34   failed   6   <uuid>
shboost_...                  1   2026-03-21T23:31:39   finished 36344 <uuid>
... (up to N rows)

References

• REANA client documentation: https://reana-client.readthedocs.io/
• Docker image: reanahub/reana-client (tags: 0.95.0-alpha.3)